WHAT IS MOVEMBER?
Movember is a charity event held during the month of November where men grow moustaches to raise awareness, education, and funds for men’s health. Men all over the world grow their Mo’s to support the cause for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers than affect men. Movember began in Melbourne, Australia and has grown to become a global effort with over 1.1 million participants in formal campaigns in countries including Australia, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Ireland, England, and the United States just to name a few. In 2010, participants in the United States alone raised over $7.5 million.
HOW DOES MOVEMBER WORK?
In order to take part in raising funds for Movember, men must register at www.movember.com before November 1st and they must start Movember clean-shaven. Men that sport a moustache for Movember are known as Mo Bros and the women that support them are Mo Sistas. For the rest of the month, men must grow and groom their Mo’s and seek out sponsorships for their moustache-growing efforts. Not only are these men walking spokes models for the cause, but they can also raise awareness through the use of social media to document and further advertise the need for donations.
WHY HAS MOVEMBER BEEN EFFECTIVE?
One of the main ways that Movember has grown into an international phenomenon is through the use of social media. The popularity of Movember increases each year due to the community following the moustache-growing efforts of participants through social media, providing a social experience and a tie to the cause to a large audience. Not only does social media increase the awareness of the cause, it also provides easy ways for people to raise money and donate. The popularity of Movember brought on by social media was examined in the social media blog, Methodical Madness, where they stated, “Movember adheres to the basic tenants of inbound marketing: talk about what people are interested in, not what you would like them to be interested in; Go where the people are not where you would like them to be; Make it about them, not you.”
Social Media Statistics
Here are a few statistics from 2010 that document the role of social media in the growing popularity of Movember (statistics from KiwiCommons.com):
− USA Movember Facebook page (26,442 “likes” in 2011 so far) vs. (14,571 “likes” in 2010)
− Movember had 20,000 Twitter followers
− Flickr reported a record amount of picture uploads featuring men with moustaches in November
− Movember had 479 subscribers on YouTube
− Canada raised the most money, even over Australia
STEPS TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR YOUR CAUSE
Developing a social media cause campaign can seem like a daunting task. If you are inspired by the success that Movember has achieved by using social media, follow these 5 steps to create a successful social media marketing campaign for your cause or nonprofit.
1. Identify Your Mission and Goals – A simple mission with a strong message will go far in social media marketing. By defining a clear goal for your cause, you allow people to fully understand your cause and want to get involved. A strong mission with target specific sponsors and supporters and provide them with an easy way to participate and understand the ultimate goal of your cause. An uncomplicated mission will impact people and encourage people to act. According to the Lemonade Stand Foundation, “social media cause campaigns are most effective when there’s a simple call-to-action and a creative idea.”
2. Utilize Your Strongest Social Media Assets – Before creating your social media campaign, identify the people and the tools you have access to that can help you develop your social media cause campaign image. The level of participation and up to date information with your campaign is extremely important in maintaining a relationship with your supporters.
3. Get Your Supporters Motivated – Motivate your supporters and advocates to participate! Create ways for your supporters join your other social media platforms, donate money, and share your content. When supporters are motivated by your cause, they will share your message with others.
4. Target a Defined Audience – Campaign organizers that listen to and engage with their supporters are ultimately the most popular in social media. Treat your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog as individual entities and pay attention to response you receive through each platform. Tailor content and interaction with supporters to focus on the most responsive aspects of each platform.
5. Evaluate Your Results – After your campaign has ended, thank your supporters for all of their participation in your cause, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your campaign. This step will allow you to identify and enhance what worked and fix the aspects that did not work. You can request feedback from your advocates and follow up with them to gather their opinions on the effectiveness of your cause campaign.
For more information about Movember, click here to visit their official website.