ReadySetAuction Adds Social Networking Features
Last week, we launched a new release of ReadySetAuction that adds social networking features to help our users promote their online auctions. Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter have made it easy for people to quickly share information with their friends and family — things like photos, favorite websites, or updates on what they’re doing throughout the day. ReadySetAuction’s social networking features offer two ways for your organization and your bidders to spread the word about your fundraiser auction using these services. Read on to learn how.
Social Networking “Share” Buttons
Visitors to your auction website now have a one-click way to tell their friends about your auction. Currently, ReadySetAuction supports Facebook’s “like” button and Twitter’s “tweet” button. You can enable each button individually, for example, by turning on only the “like” button. Both buttons are off by default; you control how and when to make these share buttons available to your auction visitors.
When enabled, the buttons appear on your online auction’s home page and on each individual auction item page. When a visitor clicks one of these buttons, an update is automatically sent to their online friends with a link back to that page. Using these buttons, avid Facebook and Twitter users are able to spread news of your auction to hundreds or even thousands of people at once!
Promote Your Organization’s Social Networking Presence
In addition to giving supporters a way to promote your fundraiser to their friends, you can also use your auction site to build awareness of your organization’s own social networking presence. To do this, add your organization’s Twitter account name and the web address of your organization’s Facebook page to ReadySetAuction (on the Admin > Organization Details page).
Links to those online profiles will appear on your auction site’s “Contact” page, and those who use the tweet button to share pages on your auction site will be prompted to follow your organization on Twitter for more updates. Those who “like” your organization’s Facebook page will receive notification via Facebook when you update that page.
Stay in touch with your supporters by tweeting and posting to Facebook about new auction items and items that are getting a lot of attention (or too little). Send updates when online bidding is about to open or close. Those updates will go out to any online visitors who decided to follow your organization on Twitter or who liked your Facebook page.
Share Your Own Nonprofit Social Networking Tips and Stories
If you have tips or pointers for how to get the most out of nonprofit social networking, please share your experiences in the comments.