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Facebook Promotion Tips for Animal Rescue Groups and Shelters
Love Thy Enemy OK...
maybe "Enemy" is too strong of word... but we liked the phrase.
For those of you familiar with
the Bible... particularly the New Testament... you may recall that Jesus was
given a hard time for the company he kept.
He had a habit of being around
thieves, prostitutes, really sick people, and even... (gasp)... tax
collectors. (They were really corrupt dudes back in those days.)
He preached and shared messages
of hope, salvation, forgiveness, and love.
So... it made sense to be
around people who were most in need of these things.
If you want to help people in
financial trouble... hanging around the showroom of your local Lexus dealer
will probably not put you in front of the right audience.
We have a lot of casinos in
Oregon, and on the highways leading to and from them, are billboards
advertising help for those with gambling problems.
That makes sense... put the
message in front of those that most need to hear it.
Over and Over in this course,
we ask you to step back and look at things from the public's perspective...
after all, these are your potential new fans/supporters.
If a person is interested in
getting a Beagle... they may search Google and/or Facebook to find out more
information. They will be exposed to many "Beagle" related sites...
some are breeders, some are general breed information sites, some are
rescues... but which sites/pages they end up on, is anyone's guess.
People get into Animal Rescue
for many reasons, but the two popular ones are "compassion" for
animals... and "hatred" towards breeders/puppy mills.
Well... here we go again,
"hatred" is a strong word too...
But the more we look, the more
we find Rescue groups tend to hang out with their own kind... frequently just
preaching to the choir.
We don't expect you to be
posting on Breeder's Facebook pages...
that would be rude, and you might just get blocked.
But how many of you
"frequently" hang out on non-rescue related pet pages?
Remember, potential adopters...
especially those looking for specific breeds...
may not realize that breed specific rescues exist.
If you rescue Beagles... and
you are not a common sight on the big Beagle Facebook pages... you are
missing out on the chance that those "Beagle seekers" will find
you... and/or learn about the benefits of adopting a Beagle.
Now let's revisit the Bible
again for another important point.
The only time I recall Jesus
getting really "upset" was in the temple... you know the story, it
had been turned into a combination of a "farmer's market" and
"Las Vegas".
Remember... he was upset at the
Priests for what they made the temple...
i.e. he was mad at his own representatives... (his own team).
He never had this approach with
the thieves, prostitutes, tax collectors, etc...
instead, he showed
compassion, friendship, love, etc...
In other words... just be a
resource and a positive representative of your rescue... and offer people an
alternative to "purchasing" a pet.
If you make it a crusade to
"bash the breeders and puppy mills" on these public, non-rescue
related sites... you will be doing more harm than good.
Yes... by all means take part
in any conversation that may misrepresent the quality or adoptability of
"rescued" pets... but do so in a positive manner.
We try to flood our RESCUED!
FB Page with story after positive story, of very cool rescued pets. We
feel that people reading these, and seeing the photos will think "Hey, I
want a cool rescued pet like that too!"
Bashing breeders and puppy
mills... putting up countless pathetic pictures of pets in cages... laying on
guilt trips for not immediately rescuing a pet from a kill shelter... these
things can be a turn-off to many people.
You may choose to take these
approaches on "your page"... but when posting on other public pages
on Facebook... especially those that are not "rescue themed"... be
positive, and represent your rescue (and your rescued pets) in a positive
light.
In conclusion... (and we don't
mean to put you on the spot)... but if we were to visit your Facebook page
right now, and clicked on your "Liked" pages... would we find many
non-rescue related pet sites? Do you frequent those sites often? Are you
promoting your group in a positive manner, so the "general public"
can learn about animal adoption options and the joy of bringing home a
rescued pet?
Believe it or not... The
creator of this website, and the RESCUED
FB Page... had no idea (prior to May of 2010) that there were "breed
specific" rescues...
and had never seen a petfinder site before. (He thought that Craigslist,
newspaper classifieds, and shelters were the only sources for "adoptable
pets")
Don't assume people know this
stuff... and never underestimate how much good a "new convert" can
do for your rescue... as well as for "animal rescue" in general.
Get out there... be seen... and
"preach" a positive message.
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