  Social media engagement is an essential tool to attract new members Like most associations and nonprofits, you’ve likely either been utilizing social media to grow your membership or you are about to make the transition. If you want to effectively spread the word about your group, you’ll need to do it strategically. Using social media to blast out your organization’s name can sometimes be perceived as a walking advertisement rather than a source for interesting and relatable content. The following four strategies can help do it right – using social media to really grow your membership base: 1. Connect with other industry professionals In order to be viewed as a credible source of information in your industry, you should connect with like-minded professionals in the same sphere. On social media, most other associations and nonprofits are not competition, but prospective followers to engage with. Developing relationships like these can be helpful for cross-promotion and expanding who sees your content. Social media is a very reciprocal medium – when you promote or comment on another organization’s content, they will typically do the same. Use these connections as a resource to find individuals who share your values. Look at whom other groups are following (and vice versa) to expand your prospective membership base. 2. Encourage engagement If you really want to spread the word about your organization, you’ll need to inspire your current supporters to share your posts beyond the follower base. When you make a post about something that you want to go viral, email your members to tell them about it, with sharing buttons embedded within the email that make it easy for them to promote the post in their own networks. 3. Google loves social Social media channels rank high on search engines. This means that having an active Facebook or Twitter page can help new members find your organization online, even by accident, as they are conducting searches. When posting on social media, try to boost your Search Engine Optimization with SEO-friendly verbiage and news articles that improve your ranking on search engines – this makes it drastically easier for web users to encounter your organization and become new members. 4. Provide value in your space Use tools such as SocialMention to monitor mentions on industry or community topics that relate to your group and highlight those that you can participate in. When you come across an interesting exchange, join the discussion. Don’t use these interactions as a way to pitch membership – instead bring value to the conversation. Share helpful information, like links to related data. Remember, you are not trying to sell memberships, you are trying to develop relationships, provide value, and create awareness about your organization. As you do so, the memberships will come naturally. The name of the medium says it all Social media is about just that – being social. While you may have hopes of quickly growing your base through being active on social platforms, you will not get there by simply advertising your membership. Instead, give people a reason to want to learn more. Provide valuable, credible, and entertaining content and feedback. Highlight your members and your events. Show prospects who you are without asking for anything in return. And most importantly, make it easy for your current members to support your efforts. memberplanet’s purpose is to make life simplified for you and your group. Our platform eases the job of adding social media channels and gives you sharing capabilities on all pieces of marketing in order to expand your networks. For more optimization tips, read our blog on how to make this powerful tool work for your organization. 
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