You are probably aware of the popular online social networking website, Twitter. Founded in 2006, it now has over 310 million active users every month. You are quite possibly one of those active users yourself but are you using Twitter enough to promote your charity?

The word ‘twitter’ itself can be defined as ‘a series of short, high-pitched sounds’. That is exactly what Twitter should be used for. Spreading awareness through a series of short, high-impact messages that can be heard by your audience - Not just a quiet blur in the background that occurs once per week or month.

What is great about Twitter, is the ability to connect with an audience through a shared interest, an audience who want to speak about the same things and care about the same causes, an audience who are only 140 characters away...

Charities have found a new way to get their message heard by the right people. It doesn’t require an expensive TV campaign or 50,000 printed leaflets being handed out, only to be tossed in the nearest recycle bin. It requires a strong message and a hashtag.

As a marketer, I naturally check the trending column of Twitter each day (this shows what everybody online is tweeting about). Today 5 of the 10 viral hashtags belonged to charities. There were 3,511 Tweets about the #BigConversation for Dying Matters Awareness Week and 1,218 Tweeting under the hashtag #CoeliacAwarenessWeek. The others were #MCRHomelessnessCharter, which aims to tackle homelessness in Manchester, #ConcussionAware and #SunAwarenessWeek.

Whilst giving an insight into the level of competition in the charity sector, the amount of engagement the hashtags have received also show a trend in themselves... People online are willing to talk about a cause, they want to hear your message and in response they want to share their experiences and feelings. This not only strengthens brand awareness for yourself, it creates that short, high impact message that reaches the right people. Those who spread awareness and those who donate.

Whilst giving an insight into the level of competition in the charity sector, the amount of engagement the hashtags have received also show a trend in themselves... People online are willing to talk about a cause, they want to hear your message and in response they want to share their experiences and feelings. This not only strengthens brand awareness for yourself, it creates that short, high impact message that reaches the right people. Those who spread awareness and those who donate.

View some of our charity projects here.

If you need help making some noise on Twitter. Email hello@22group.co.uk or call 0161 672 7822 and we will help you put together a social strategy to really get you recognised.