ten lessons from TEN

Last week, on the 9th March 2010, HomeMade Digital was proud to host Ten at the Tate Modern in partnership with Artez Interactive, and Rapidata Services. This was a conference with a difference aiming to challenge and inspire the third sector with byte-sized insight guaranteed to drive effective, real and measurable results from their digital presence in 2010.

We experimented with a new fast paced format with ten speakers, including representatives from Children in Need, Stonewall, Comic Relief, THINK and The British Heart Foundation, taking the floor for ten minutes to share with the audience the highs and lows of their digital campaigns. This quick fire, no-nonsense approach proved popular with everyone and it made sure we were all kept on our toes for the whole afternoon.

You can check out people’s thoughts on the event thanks to some magic flip-cam action on the day here:

Now, a week on, we’ve had time to reflect on the event and I got my brain noodleling on the ten key lessons from Ten to share with you. So here they are:

1. We don’t need to all become technology experts – none of us truly are! We do need to be aware of new technology and the opportunities it offers so we can best articulate our needs to our digital teams and developers. Stay one step ahead of the game by keeping up to date with all the latest news and blogs.

2. In the face of an ever growing digital data deluge we shouldn’t run away scared. There are loads of fantastic and free tools out there to track your supporter’s interactions and get the most of your digital experience. The key is thinking about which ones you really need to use and what data is most relevant to your work. If you’re not already using them check out Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer!

3. Have a great Idea! Stay focused and keep it simple with clear concise messages. It’s important not to confuse your supporters with too many confusing calls to action.

4. Tell real and authentic stories. Capture your supporter’s imaginations and show them how they can make a difference. There’s a wealth of places on the web to tell these stories: through video on YouTube, photos on Flickr, your blogs and emails.

5. Cross organisational co-operation is key to success. Maintaining consistent messaging across your digital, DM and other offline communications helps give your supporters a coherent message.

6. Put yourself in the position of the user.Take a step back and think about all the user touch points in their interaction with you. Do they make sense to the user? Get rid of unnecessary tick boxes and forms and you’ll be surprised how it can affect your conversion rates.

7. Social Media is all about holding a conversation. Don’t be afraid of negative criticism! Hold your ‘virtual’ head high; take a deep breath and respond sensibly and responsibly – the public will respect you for it. Check out Samepoint as a great free tool to monitor online conversations about your brand.

8. Plan outcomes for significant scenarios such as your website being overwhelmed by too much traffic - it’s all about forward planning people!

9. Long tail fundraising and incremental revenue increases online fundraising income. Growth doesn’t come from the top online fundraisers raising more, but from many smaller fundraisers raising £10 more. We need to give the right support and messages to encourage these fundraisers and help them achieve more.

10. The public are already using these technologies more and more every day and are hungry for new and exciting ways to interact with you – don’t get left behind!

I tried to keep these as short and sweet as possible! Hopefully they will give you some fundamentals to think about when you’re planning your next big campaign and will help you transform it into an even bigger success in the coming year!

If you missed the event this time around check out our live blog from the day to get all the information you missed and take a look at our Flickr gallery below. To read the live blog just click on the play button in the Cover it Live box below - Simples!