"It's horses for courses. It depends on what kind of charity you are and what your tone of voice is". This is how Vicky Browning, director of CharityComms, describes her organisation's philosophy on social media. "In general though, social media is a pretty chatty environment – it kind of says it in the name: it's social. Being open, honest, responsive and human is generally always going to be a good approach."

Social media has been around in one form or another for the best part of a decade, but seven years on from the birth of Twitter, and almost 10 years on from that of Facebook, it remains an ubiquitous but misunderstood force of communications. So where exactly does the value lie and why should a charity "do social media? Browning says: "[It] is an amazing opportunity for charities to have a conversation with their audiences. [To] talk to supporters, engage with donors, offer advice, information or sympathy to beneficiaries, influence journalists or decision-makers."

Susie Barber, digital communications manager with Oxfam, agrees. It is this capacity to connect that is the strength of social media, she says. "The main strength is bridging that gap between the supporters and the beneficiaries that work in the field." In general, Oxfam also advocates the "chatty" approach. "I think we do it on a case-by-case basis … but we prefer to play it out in public because if you don't do so it looks like you're trying to hide something. For the most part we want to be as transparent as possible."

Barber also says the ability to amplify voice and message is significant. "Recently we did a takeover on Twitter with a refugee in Syria, in which we did a whole day of tweets from him talking about his experiences." Oxfam estimates the initiative created a potential reach of 8 million people. "Social media can make this kind of thing so much more impactful," says Barber.

The ability to be more impactful is not limited to this kind of engagement alone. As noted already, social media offers the chance to connect with a variety of charitable stakeholders, from donors to decision-makers to journalists. Social media has been particularly disruptive of the last of these, with ever increasing evidence of its centrality to both the sourcing of a story and the dynamic of its dissemination.

Despite this, it still forms only a complementary part of charities' dealings with the media overall, says Browning. "Social media isn't replacing other channels of communication. Charities' websites, email and – dare I say it, press releases – are still effective. It's another channel that offers different opportunities. Susie Barber agrees. "Our Twitter account was set up for journalists to get up-to-the-minute news, but we still support this with emails, blogs and press releases."

Employing a strategic approach to social media is just as important as establishing a presence, particularly in the often resource constrained charity sector. This means knowing which platforms are important and which are not. "It goes back to communications fundamentals – audience, channel, message", says Browning. "Twitter is good for engaging journalists, celebrities or politicians. Facebook can be great for building communities and enabling supporters or beneficiaries to connect with and help each other. Pinterest or YouTube are good [for] sharing compelling visual stories which can add impact to your messages". Oxfam is present across nine social channels but "about 95% of our resources concentrate on our 'top four'", says Barber. "Those are Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube."

As with most technologies, social media can be a double-edged sword, and it is not without its challenges. Buy-in from senior management or trustees is one potential problem, says Browning. "Often they are very risk averse, and may be nervous of the power of social media, of the value of these channels."

The integration of social media across an organisation can also be an issue. "Ideally, social media should be a horizontal layer touching every part of it, from supporter acquisition to service delivery". Oxfam is in the process of just such an initiative, having recently recruited a social media manager and signed off on a cross-divisional social media strategy for the organisation.

In general, successful use of social media requires an understanding of its strengths, while acknowledging both its limitations and the need to invest sufficient time and effort. "It's just one of many communications channels. It's not the answer to everything and charities need to make sure they make the most of their owned channels, such as websites and supporter databases", says Browning. "And if they are using social media, they need to make sure they invest enough in it to make the exercise worthwhile".

Top five tips for charities' use of social media

1. Know what you're using it for. The lines between them are blurring, but different social channels are optimised for different things. Be clear on why your organisation is using each one and engage strategically.

2. Be social – social media is just that. Use it to broadcast, but don't forget to use it to listen and discuss as well. And while it's good to be prompt, it's better to be right, so always think before you tweet.

3. Be engaging. What exactly constitutes engaging content is debatable but in a media saturated world, it needs to stand out. Be careful to ensure the content is relevant to your organisation's activities so that you can both speak to it with authority and build a reputation as a credible source of that content.

4. Measure. As with traditional media and investment of any kind, measurement of social media activity is crucial. The raw numbers can never tell the whole story, but a grasp of the basics – retweets, shares or page impressions generated by them – is vital.

5. Invest fully. Social media can be cost-effective, but it's not free. It requires time and effort and that costs skilled staff and money. Be prepared to invest fully in this way to get the most out of it.

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