Nonprofits can leverage creators as ambassadors
Turning content creators into ambassadors
Today content creators have an incredible amount of influence across different social media platforms. While you determine which network would work best for your nonprofit organization and goals, influencers are found across almost every channel.
An example is the UK-based organization, Refuge, an organization based in the UK that focuses on helping women and children seek refuge when faced with domestic violence. They offer a variety of services and several award-winning awareness campaigns that have tapped into content creators and artists for both their talent and influence. One of the most popular campaigns is ‘How to look your best the morning after’, a YouTube video of beauty influencer Lauren Luke covering up ‘bruises’ to draw awareness to hiding domestic violence.
Refuge partnered (pro bono) with Lauren Luke for the ultimate collaboration:
The campaign encouraged viewers to bring domestic violence out of the shadows by sharing Lauren’s video which has been viewed by more than 2.6 million people
The campaign was referenced more than 550 times in earned media coverage worldwide
In the first 48 hours following the launch of the campaign, the Refuge’s website received as much traffic as usually received in 2 weeks
The campaign won more than 20 national accolades in both charity and marketing awards
Ultimately, this campaign was a success because the collaboration was mutually beneficial for both the organization and the content creator.
How can you find “influencers” for your next campaign? Consider both micro and macro-influencers.
Micro-influencers
Micro-influencers usually have more than 1,000 and less than 10,000 social media followers. They can usually be easily found through your existing network and are probably already spreading the word about what they love about your organization. You can put out a call to your own social media followers to see if they fit the bill.
The great thing about micro-influencers is if found within your network, usually have a great understanding of your mission, vision, and values and are passionate about your organization. Organic partnerships with influencers is a great first step in creating a genuine campaign.
Macro-influencers
This is what was traditionally referred to as “influencers” before the smaller influencers described above became common. Macro-influencers usually have more than 10,000 social media followers and rely on content creation as a main source of income. Macro-influencers can sometimes offer more insight on how to best interact with their audience for the largest amount of impressions. To find them, you can use hashtags that align with your organization. Some influencers also work through representative agencies and they can often recommend influencers that work with your vision and budget.
Read more in my article on CanadaHelps: 4 Modern Marketing Strategies for Nonprofits and Charities to Increase Impact
