3 Things To Remember When You Promote Operation Smile
We here at Operation Smile encourage you and your club to use social media and post about your efforts with our organization — so naturally, we get a bunch of questions on how students like you can take their social media advocacy to the next level. Here are some brief tips for things to always keep in mind as you advocate for Operation Smile.
By Bethany Bogacki, Student Programs content manager
- Know your audience. This is always always always the number one consideration for any kind of communication work, whether it’s social media, making a flier, or anything having to do with rallying people for your cause. The reason why is because your audience will determine what you want to say and, perhaps most importantly, how you want to say it. Think about it this way: Would you talk with your friends the same way you’d talk with your parents’ friends? Probably not, right? AND you know what that means when you take it to the next level? It means that you probably wouldn’t use the same social media platforms to connect with your parents’ friends that you would with your own friends. Knowing your audience is the critical first step to posting effectively.
- Know the Operation Smile brand. In order to be the best ambassador, you have to know the ins and outs of the organization you’re representing, right? I cannot encourage you enough to make use of the Operation Smile Brand Room. In fact, open a new tab right now and enter in the address: brand.operationsmile.org. There, you’ll find a treasure trove of information that’s useful for social media, from our social media guide, to a timeline of our history, to downloadable logos, to our exact color palette and typefaces. Studying the Brand Room and using all its important information is critical to being a top-rate ambassador, so make sure you take the time to get in the know!
- And finally, and most importantly, remember our patients always come first. It’s so important to be mindful of the language you use and the photos you post when it comes to the people we help. This is yet another way the Brand Room comes in handy: There’s a great writing style guide that outlines the best ways we should talk about how we help our patients. And remember, while we’re doing awesome things to support the organization, our patients are always the hero in every post, every story. Also remember , if you had the opportunity to attend a medical mission and you want to use photos from that program, be careful about which ones you share. Make sure you had permission from anyone in your photos to share them on social. Make sure you can share their names (and spell them correctly) and tell your followers a little bit about who’s in your photo. Make sure you don’t share any photos from post-op, when patients may be a little groggy or swollen from surgery. Most importantly, just remember: If you wouldn’t share it of yourself or your friends, don’t share it of the people you meet as part of Operation Smile!
So while these were three fast tips, we’re always here to help with whatever great ideas you have for social media advocacy. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Bethany is the Content Manager for Operation Smile Student Programs. She’s eager to help you with whatever you need for your club, so don’t hesitate to reach out to her! Her email address is bethany.bogacki@operationsmile.org.
