In a recent study (and info graphic) published by VerticalResponse, a provider of self-service marketing tools, revealed that more and more nonprofits are investing more time and money in social media to augment their marketing strategies. By conducting a survey of 123 nonprofit organizations that work with VerticalResponse, researchers concluded the following:
- Non-profits are investing more time in social media. Sixty-one percent reported spending more time than they did a year ago year, with nearly 40 percent spending six or more hours every week. Broken down further, nearly 30 percent said they spend six to 10 hours per week on social media, while 6 percent said they spend 11 to 20 hours per week and 2 percent reported spending 21 or more hours per week.
- More nonprofits are active on Facebook and Twitter, compared to small businesses. In addition to non-profits, VerticalResponse surveyed 339 small businesses that were asked an identical set of questions. Ninety-six percent of nonprofits reported being on Facebook, versus 90 percent of the small businesses. They also are more active on Facebook: 80 percent of those on Facebook post multiple times per week, compared to 66 percent of the small businesses. Additionally, 72 percent of nonprofits are Twitter users, compared to 70 percent of the small businesses.
- Finding content to share is the most time-consuming for non-profits, suggesting there’s a need for time-saving social media tools and tips. Similar to small businesses, non-profits said finding and posting content required the biggest time investment. Learning and education took the least amount of time.
- Social media budgets are likely to increase in 2013. More than 10 percent reported an increase in their social media budget compared to a year ago, while only 2.5 percent reported a decrease. So, there are nearly four times the number of nonprofits that have increased their social media budget, versus those that have decreased. In fact, 22 percent of those surveyed currently pay for social media publishing/analytics tools, and of those, 37 percent spent $26 or more per month on tools.
Nonprofits often have very limited budgets that require them to be crafty with allocation. Thanks to Wavespot, these organizations can rest a bit easier and grow their social media presence with less cost. Wavespot’s commitment to providing nonprofits with the Wavespot Social Media Marketing Router and premium service absolutely FREE ($1259 yearly value) will ensure that these organizations can meet their marketing goals while allowing them to spend their funds to reach their overall objectives.
