Medium is a relatively new (2012) web publishing platform, that many charities are engaging with. But if you’re a charity with stretched resources, why should you start using yet another publishing platform or social network?
This post sets out four reasons why it may be worth the extra effort.
This is how the folks at Buffer put it:
Imagine starting a blog with zero overhead. Imagine having a place online to write your thoughts, tips, and learnings and share with a built-in audience and an immediate potential for viral traffic. Imagine a really great writing app.
1. It's Sociable
Medium lets anyone with a Twitter account create a post, even if they don’t have thousands of followers or existing influence or an already successful blog. (A tick for the democratic internet!) This integration with Twitter means you can bring your existing audience to your content, and also reach out to new audiences inside the platform itself.
Unlike other publishing platforms, Medium is founded on principles of interaction, and this emphasis on community and sociability is only set to increase. Commenting (called notes), highlighting, recommending and sharing are all integrated, and tags allow users to browse through topic-style feeds.
2. You will be in good company
Global leaders like Melinda Gates and Michelle Obama and charities like Kiva, Charity:Water and Pencils of Promise are using Medium to share their perspectives and stories.
You can use a standard author profile with posts listed underneath, like the World Energy Foundation, or group content together under a branded publication, as Pencils of Promise have done. UNICEF have several branded publications including photography and social change, and Ebola Stories.
Last year Medium ran a grant programme especially to get more nonprofits on board, through pairing them with photographers, writers and illustrators.
3. It gives you access to some awesome statistics
If you write your own blog, you know that it can sometimes be tricky to delve into Google Analytics to find out how each post performed. Medium gives you all the statistics you need without you needing to do the work. It tells you:
- Views – How many people saw your post
- Reads – How many people saw your post and read it
- Read ratio – How many people read your post out of all those who saw it
- Recommendations – The number of people who recommend your post
- Referrers - Where people are finding your content
Now you have no excuse not to measure performance ;-)
4. It facilitates a unique type of content
Medium is a wonderful place for self-reflective pieces that share lessons learned and perspectives gained, like this post from the former Head of Digital at Charity:Water.
Or tips for others that relate to your work, as Kiva have done here.
It’s a platform from which to become a thought leader in your field through sharing your honest opinions and learnings.
It’s also a place to share the incredible stories of your work. It’s not a place for content that reads like press releases, or promotes your brand. Your content needs to be valuable to a wide audience, not just those who are already interested in your brand.
Medium rewards quality of content, and makes design and layout easy by narrowing down options. This is of huge value for individuals and small organisations with few resources who just can’t invest the time in maintaining a beautifully designed blog.
If stories about your work, perspectives and learnings from your team and organisation can add value to other people’s lives, then you should give Medium a try.
Here are some more links to get you started:
Have you published on Medium? Would you recommend it to other charities? Let us know how you’ve found it in the comments below.
