4. Reality Check Member needs assessments? Living strategic plan? Web site analytics? Sharing tools? RSS? Email communications – segmentation, frequency
28. Time Management Daily attention required Have a plan and schedule Team content creation/collection; listening and engaging assignments Tweetdeck or Hootsuite
Social (new) media – different communication style requiring new approaches/mindsetTraditionalmedia is a 1 to many message, broadcastingSocial media is a 1 to 1 conversation, aboutconnecting, community.By 2010 Generation Y will outnumber Baby Boomers, and 74% of GenY have joined a social network. Future membership, digital natives, need to be part of their world. Our competition will not be another association, but what’s available online.If I can find professional and business development resources online, as well as news and information, and if I can connect with folks to plan f2f meetups, what’s the point of joining an association?
Before diving into social media, look at your current situation- 1. Regularly assess members current needs? Giving them what they need?2. Have updated strategic plan, scan environment, project different futures? Anticipated future needs? How needs of their customers will change, affecting how members do business?3. Site analytics? Popular pages? Where visitors come from? Search terms?4. Easy for members to share? ShareThis buttons? 5. RSS feed? 6. Email/mail to everyone? Segmented by target? Email too frequently? Coordinate with other departments? Track clicks?
Wrong reason - because everyone else is doing it, feeling pressure.Right reason - tool for achieving strategic plan goals.But lots of assns (and biz) didn’t start with goals, instead created a Fb page or Twitter account. Don’t do it backwards. Begin with goals and objectives, tie your strategies and actions to that.
LI – business reception, Twitter – after work happy hour, Facebook – backyard barbecue
LinkedIn for professional use (see handout for best practices) - online resume – job listingsConnecting with othersProfessional dev– group discussions/news itemsBranding – groups, questions/answersAssn use - Groups – requiremoderation- host discussions, share news, post jobs, subgroups for board/committees/SIGsNetworking platform Recruiting help – lost members, prospects, volunteersMarket research – focus group - members’ problems, needs, perspectivesAnd….
LI – providing professional development resources thru discussions, news items (links) – content provider and curator - demonstrate status as thought leader and provider of valuable resources.Example – ASAE LI groupTwitter is another great source for professional development. My #1 source now. Links to blog posts, information, webinars, etc.
People don’t get Twitter – experience depends on whom you follow (be selective) and how often you engage with them. See handout.Professional - sharing links, conversation, relationship building (mix of personal/professional) Association – news and info sharing, marketing, conference hashtag (announcements, session soundbites, promos), lists (helps members find each other)#assnchat– Tuesday at 2pm – online Twitter chat for association professionals.Reserve your Twitter username so no one else takes it.
Twitter – because of conversational nature (mix of personal/professional tweets), great platform for peer-to-peer networking and relationship building – my experience with ASAE and RaleighASAE – LI group, blog and comments, led to Twitter relationships F2F at annual mtngRaleigh twitter/social media communityMake it easy for members to find you online and find their fellow members. Create a social media page for yourwebsite showing your online outposts. Market it. Build community. Put icons on home page too. Be their social media coach, encourage participation/train how to use tools.LI group and FB pages ……
Personal – check privacy settings – defaults may have changed due to Facebook changes.Everyone has different connecting/friending philosophies and may have different ones for different platforms. Ok not to connect/friend with others. Follow your own comfort level.Assn – Fb as member platform for connectingProfessional development – share news, links, videos, blog feedLobbyists FB friending capital staff relationship strengthenerFB “Share” feature allows viral marketing – esp events
Social media = word of mouth on steroids – VIRAL (twitter, FB posts)Conference hashtags, pre and post event marketing on FB, LIPublic face – prove value to all
Marketing/prof dev – conference videos (previews and post), special events, interviews to supplement magazinesGet members involved with Flip videos for YouTube –stories re volunteering, political action
Future is mobile – younger generation, everyone’s attached to their phoneMore and more applicationsLatest tool – geolocation – Foursquare, TriOut– Facebook getting into biz soonApplication for assns – Conferences? Volunteering? Still figuring that out.
Mobile apps – texting for political actionAlso volunteer calls, polling,crowdsourcing decision-making (articles, session topics), promo codes
Good 1st step for using social media for professional development - where I began – reading/subscribing to blogs, later commenting (social mojo, link exposure)Can subscribe to a blog’s RSS (real simple syndication) feed – orange icon
See Commoncraft videos on RSS and Google reader (handout)AnRSS feed brings posts to you as they’re published. Read them whenyou have time, won’t miss anything.Assn blogs – need time/talent for content creation. Acronym supplements staff posts with member posts.WordPress blogs – free user-friendly blog platform
Use tools personally first so you can get a feel for them, what they’re capable of, how they can help your assn achieve its goals.Use it for your own professional development - association managementRead blogs, subscribe, commentFind thought leaders to follow on TwitterJoin association groups/pages on LI or FBGet a sense of the culture – etiquette, do’s and don’tsComplete your profiles
First step for assn – listen. Critical yet many biz and orgs don’t do this. Be positioned to respond, engage and correct. Know who’s talking about you. Know where industry conversation is taking place.Set up Google Alerts,Twitter advanced search,Backtype (blog comments). Decide on keywords. Good exercise for your team – brainstorm.Assn name/variations/misspellings/acronym, affiliate names, event/product/service names, CSE/leaders name, URL for web site/other sites, competitors’ names, industry terms/phrases.Check Google Analytics for search termsStart small, grow as you get more competent. Review/refine.Businesses use social media to respond to customer questions/complaints. Works for associations too. Very useful at conferences.
Next step – Find where your members are hanging out so you can fish where your fish are.Upload contacts to the tools (members, prospects, capital staff, journalists – whoever your target community is). The search is based on email addresses so will also need to supplement this search with….A member survey –What socmed tools do you use regularly – personally and/or professionallyWhat blogs do you read professionallyProfessionalLinkedIn groups do you belong toProfesional Facebook groups/pages
Let’s review, you’reFamiliar with tools.Reviewed strategic plan, know how tools can help achieve goals.Listening tools are set upKnow where members areChoose one tool. Let your members know (market).Be their social media coach (train them how to use tools for self and biz).Or improve your web site (user-friendly, not dept friendly; seo), or add ShareThis button to your web site or relook at your email/newsletter strategy.or RSS feeds from site or blog
Gather your team – staff, maybe members too if staff is small. Need team for content collection/curation/creation, listening, responding, marketing.Cross departmental team – no silos allowed, social media can’t be isolated to one department.Training – guidance - what they can’t do but more importantly how they should behave.Trust – big issue – why training is so key
Social media results in aculture shift for many assns. Issues emerge (like trusting staff) that require a new approach and mindset. This is good since many of the changes that associations will face due to expectations of younger generations will require the same mindset and approach. This change is inevitable. Social media as catalyst.No silos, more true collaborationLoss of control, more trust requiredTransparencyPower of personalityLearning culture
Review some proven best practices (6 slides) for successFocus on providing valuable content, not too much self-promotion – be the content expert, content curatorLimit promotional messages – low tolerance for (and looser definition of) spam (self-promotion = spam). Use content for promotional reasons.
Viral media – sharing is easy – provide content that is worthy of sharing.Share content of others, sharing spotlight – give credit to them.Culture of collaboration and support – link love and recommended reading lists in blogs, RTs, FB sharing postsExpectation of giving, not taking. Good social media karma
Issue – privacy. Your views on your privacy may evolve as you get deeper into using social media. Everyone has a different comfort level, and that’s okay.Google search – personal and private both come up and live forever online.Staff as 24/7 ambassadorsNegative – personal life is unbecoming, sense of privacy/comfort levelPositive – better relationships, whole person – differentiation; people prefer to connect with a person (rather than institution or logo) - social mediaSuccess = bring personality, more interesting and accessibleCulture - expectation of transparency for both organizations and people. A demand that we be up front/genuine/trustworthy.Caveat - habit of withholding information from membership at large or the public, or putting a spin on things that isn’t quite honest. Outcome – viral negativity
We want to get members engaged to retain them. Works the opposite way – we must get engaged with members. Listen and participatein conversations through blog commenting, Twitter replies, Facebook discussions – requires daily attention .Our goal - Be a community that provides valuable knowledge, servicesand connections to its members. If we succeed, no online community will be a threat.
You can lose a lot of time in the SM space if you don’t have a plan and a schedule. Personal tips:Set a timer for your social media time online.Close social media applications when your time is up.Use your cell phone while waiting in line to catch up on social networking. Set alerts so you can respond to a Twitter reply or DM.
We’re dealing with a lot of change now and we will continue to do so in the near future – budgets, industry, online communities, younger generation’s expectations.Time to be innovative, takes some risks, try some new things/approaches.Anticipate mistakes, learn from them and move on. Everyone’s learning in this new space.
