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Allyson Kapin 7 min read

Facebook and Instagram's Latest Marketing Tools for Nonprofits

Social media marketing has become an integral part of building online community and advocacy. Through social media channels nonprofits are able to engage directly with their audiences, fundraise a bit, and have important conversations about the critical issues they work on. Facebook and Instagram are two of the most popular social media networks that nonprofits use and these platforms are continuously releasing new updates that can help nonprofits engage with their audiences more effectively.
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Check out the latest features that Facebook and Instagram have rolled out for 2017.

1.  Facebook Pinned Comments
Many of you are already familiar with pinned posts on your pages. Pinned posts are a great way to draw attention to important updates about your organization, and are helpful in communicating what matters to your organization. Facebook has now added a feature that lets you pin comments as well. This will make it easier to highlight the ones that convey a supporters message that you want to share with the rest of the community. Nonprofits, in particular, can benefit from this when streaming from live events, or when fundraising during a critical campaign. A pinned comment can help those that tune in live to follow the conversation and can guide people to engage in important discussions that spread awareness.Take a look at this helpful guide and begin learning to to use pinned comments to your advantage.

2. Instagram Live Video

Live video has become an important way of connecting with followers for many businesses and nonprofits alike. So far, it has only been available on Facebook and Periscope. This is no longer the case. Instagram Live Video has just now become available as part of Instagram Stories. Your nonprofit can benefit from this new feature because it allows you to share real-time updates of the projects and events you’re working on. Your organization can stream live content of rallies, lobby days, volunteer days, and fundraising efforts. Unfortunately, Live video is only available to verified pages and has not yet been rolled out for the general public, but if you have  a verified account and would like to know more about how to use the feature, read this.

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3. Add External Links, Stickers, and More to Instagram Stories

In conjunction with Instagram Live Video, the photo-sharing platform has added some updates to Instagram Stories. Some of the new features include stickers, the ability to mention other users in your story and, most importantly, the ability to add external links. Check out more updates here. If your nonprofit is not yet using Instagram Stories, we recommend you do. Is someone in your organization working on an important program you would like potential donors to know about? Do you have a special message you would like to share with advocates? Are you currently holding a big fundraising challenge that people need to know about? You can share all of these updates with Instagram Stories. The new features are a great way to engage with your followers and keep them up-to-date with what you’re currently doing. Check this out for a useful guide to making the most of Instagram Stories.

4. More Control Over Instagram Comments
Much like Facebook, Instagram has now released the ability to interact with individual comments. You are now able to turn off commenting for individual posts, remove followers, and likes and reply to comments. This update comes from a push to make Instagram a more inclusive community and help combat online harassment. The first two features may be particularly helpful for nonprofits that deal with hot button political issues and may want better control over their social media pages. The ability to like and reply to comments is also important because it allows you to engage with followers directly and encourages a conversation between supporters and your organization.

If your nonprofit isn’t already taking advantage of some of these updates, we suggest you start now. Be sure and also check out our nonprofit fundraising and marketing trends for 2017. 

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Allyson Kapin

Allyson has been named one of "Top Tech Titans" by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company, and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media. As Founding Partner of Rad Campaign, she leads the firm's client and online strategic services. For over a decade Allyson has helped non-profit organizations and political campaigns create dynamic and award-winning websites and online marketing and recruitment campaigns. She works side-by-side with her clients to meet their web needs and maximize their online effectiveness to create real world impact.

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