It’s time for another Louisiana’s Online Lagniappe, where we spotlight organizations around our great state who are doing an outstanding job marketing themselves through digital, social, and other non-traditional means. Then we look at what we highlighted, and see how you can apply it to your own business.
This week, we’re talking about non-profits around the region!
The Baton Rouge Youth Coalition (BRYC)
Companies that cater to youths absolutely have to be on the newest and most interesting social networks. That’s where the cool kids are, aren’t they? Thankfully, the BRYC does just that, and is smart enough to cross-promote their social media channels with each-other. This means that Facebook mentions their Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram accounts – and those all do likewise – which helps youths who find one channel to find the BRYC on all their networks. Is your organization promoting all of their social media channels?
Regular readers of this column will know how important we believe mobile / responsive design is to modernizing an organization’s website. After all, in some industries, up to 25% of website traffic is coming from non-traditional computer sources (i.e. phones or tablets.) News sites, in particular, get checked by many traveling around the city throughout the day, making it essential for them to be easy to read on all screens. The Lens’, a nonprofit nonpartisan public-interest newsroom, launched a new website this month which is exactly that. It also includes a bold header, simple menu navigation at the top highlighting the coverage they specialize in, featured images, videos, and quotes, as well as tightly integrated social media. It’s what every news organization’s website should look like in 2013. Is your website easy to navigate on a laptop, tablet, and phone?
The New Orleans Fruit Tree Project
The New Orleans Fruit Tree Project, which we’re pretty sure has the longest name of any organization we’ve ever discussed in this column, is a local nonprofit with constant branding as well as some great use of innovative technology across their entire brand. The website is clean and friendly – it looks simple, but for a non-profit that works! Better to make it easy-to-read than too stylish to use. In addition, they’re active on both Facebook and Twitter, using the social networks to both promote their activities as well as actively seek volunteers. In addition, they’re also taking advantage of Volunteer Spot – which handles all of their volunteer set-up and reminders. It’s a great technological tool that helps companies organize their volunteers, which was one of the most difficult jobs for non-profits in the past. Is your company advantage of other tech companies’ abilities?
And the Lagniappe’s Lagniappe
Our extra shout-out this week goes out to the Audubon Institute for the extra adorable poster you see below (which we found in New Orleans CBD.)
Hint: if you want to get spotlighted in this column (or do anything successful on the internet,) combining social media with animals is the way to go.
Send In Your Lagniappe
Is your Louisiana-based business doing stupendous things online? Send Flynn Zaiger of Online Optimism a note at Flynn@onlineoptimism.com and it just might be included in next week’s column.