In July, SEontario began a new initiative, our question of the month. It was created to cultivate a sense of community and shared knowledge amongst social enterprises, especially those in Ontario, Canada. Our first question, posed by @MegAtLiteracy on twitter, asked what social and digital strategies could be used to facilitate growth and expand reach for a new social enterprise?
Below you will find the responses, and shared knowledge, from the SE community, across Canada, and the world. To participate in this month’s question of the month, simply tweet at us using the hashtag #SEonFAQ, email us, or fill out our question of the month contact form. We’d love to hear from everyone. Together, with our shared knowledge, we can help SE continue to thrive, and grow.
July’s responses:
We’ve been seeing an increase in reach since implementing #inbound marketing using @HubSpot‘s automation platform — @Furniture_Bank
To read more about facilitating reach through inbound marketing, read our news post.
Listen to your audience, create content that empowers them, keep conversations real, build something w/ them. — @micdom
We actually use it to promote our customers and show who is using @KLINKCoffee and what they are all about. — @KLINKCoffee
Connect to other #orgs in your community trying to achieve social change w/ compatible values & support their work/integrate
— @hatchptbo
identifying the true purpose and use behind what u provide thru the #socent — @BesmaSoltan
targeting it your goods/service to the right niche, and marketing it for them in a manner that fits them best — @BesmaSoltan
Create partnerships with organizations with like-minded goals and collaborate on future projects #SEonFAQ — @SeEvolutionEs
A response from the Francophone community:
Well to build up awareness amongst the francophone community, we are suing social media at different level scaling up impact of post between content on website, summary on Facebook and key words on twitter. To reach out to professionals, we are also posting on linkedin. We succeeded to reach over than 125000 people … it seems than social finance and critical tools to support collective enterprise development interest people. Now we have over than 23380 on Facebook page Entreprise sociale, 4980 on a women in social solidarity page, 5000 on my own page, a few hundred through a youtube chain (selection of documentaries and films on SE) and another 4500 through 3 other small pages, 600 people are following us on twitter. We succeeded to fill up in room in Alberta promoting a workshop from a distance. We delivered also 2 speeches through Skype to 2 youth groups interested by social enterprises and social economy in haiti and finally through a web radio, we deliver a workshop on strategic planning and business plan (3 hours program x 3 times) reaching out the diaspora of CongoRDC people from the country and congolan people from all over the world… the organizer told me than over than 7000 connected to one or the other radio show. This is without to much investment but using those tools as key training tools reaching out to many. Does it bring more business? Yes the social enterprise CCCR-CCRC got more business and now we are working on a crowdfunding platform a very innovative one… you will see. I delivered workshop on social media , I also develop curriculum for a whole interactive training program online on coop development.
It is the tip of the iceberg.
It is fun and so powerful.
— Ethel Côté
Praticienne en développement d’entreprise collective
PDG de la Société mecenESS
Ronita Ghosh (@rons1212):
I feel to reach to the target audience at large for a Social Enterprise it is very important for the communication to promote the making of a “bond” between the end user and the provider of the services or products offered by the Social Enterprise. A Social Enterprise’s role in our socio economic scenario doesn’t end with the services reaching or benefiting the either parties involved in production or consumption. A Social Enterprise is a “thought process” and it is important for the Social Entrepreneur to start communicating which an aim to create and nurture that “personal bond” with its customers and various stakeholders. Make the customer feel that the Social Enterprise aims to cater to his problems and like him many others who would make the idea a success story. The success of a social enterprise means success of the customers who join hands as ONE FAMILY !!