Social Media for You and Your Association - with notes
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This document discusses using social media for professional development and associations. It notes that social media requires a conversational approach rather than traditional broadcasting. It recommends associations listen to conversations on social media to understand member needs and engage where members are active online, such as LinkedIn groups or Facebook pages. The document provides tips on using various social media tools for professional development, networking, and achieving strategic goals.
Social Media for You and Your Association - with notes
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- 3. Social (new) media – different communication style requiring new approaches/mindset Traditional media is a 1 to many message, broadcasting Social media is a 1 to 1 conversation, about connecting, 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? 3
- 4. 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? 4
- 5. 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. 5
- 6. LI – business reception, Twitter – after work happy hour, Facebook – backyard barbecue 6
- 7. LinkedIn for professional use (see handout for best practices) - online resume – job listings •Connecting with others •Professional dev – group discussions/news items •Branding – groups, questions/answers Assn use - Groups – require moderation - host discussions, share news, post jobs, subgroups for board/committees/SIGs •Networking platform • Recruiting help – lost members, prospects, volunteers •Market research – focus group - members’ problems, needs, perspectives And…. 7
- 8. 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 group Twitter is another great source for professional development. My #1 source now. Links to blog posts, information, webinars, etc. 8
- 9. 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. 9
- 10. 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 Raleigh •ASAE – LI group, blog and comments, led to Twitter relationships F2F at annual mtng •Raleigh twitter/social media community Make it easy for members to find you online and find their fellow members. Create a social media page for your website 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 …… 10
- 11. 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 connecting Professional development – share news, links, videos, blog feed Lobbyists FB friending capital staff relationship strengthener FB “Share” feature allows viral marketing – esp events 11
- 12. Social media = word of mouth on steroids – VIRAL (twitter, FB posts) Conference hashtags, pre and post event marketing on FB, LI Public face – prove value to all 12
- 13. Marketing/prof dev – conference videos (previews and post), special events, interviews to supplement magazines Get members involved with Flip videos for YouTube –stories re volunteering, political action 13
- 14. Future is mobile – younger generation, everyone’s attached to their phone More and more applications Latest tool – geolocation – Foursquare, TriOut– Facebook getting into biz soon •Application for assns – Conferences? Volunteering? Still figuring that out. 14
- 15. Mobile apps – texting for political action Also volunteer calls, polling, crowdsourcing decision-making (articles, session topics), promo codes 15
- 16. 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 16
- 17. See Commoncraft videos on RSS and Google reader (handout) An RSS feed brings posts to you as they’re published. Read them when you 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 17
- 18. 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 management •Read blogs, subscribe, comment •Find thought leaders to follow on Twitter •Join association groups/pages on LI or FB •Get a sense of the culture – etiquette, do’s and don’ts •Complete your profiles 18
- 19. 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 terms Start 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. 19
- 20. 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 professionally •What blogs do you read professionally •Professional LinkedIn groups do you belong to •Profesional Facebook groups/pages 20
- 21. Let’s review, you’re •Familiar with tools. •Reviewed strategic plan, know how tools can help achieve goals. •Listening tools are set up •Know where members are Choose 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 21
- 22. 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 22
- 23. Social media results in a culture 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 collaboration •Loss of control, more trust required •Transparency •Power of personality •Learning culture 23
- 24. Review some proven best practices (6 slides) for success Focus on providing valuable content, not too much self-promotion – be the content expert, content curator Limit promotional messages – low tolerance for (and looser definition of) spam (self- promotion = spam). Use content for promotional reasons. 24
- 25. 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 posts Expectation of giving, not taking. Good social media karma 25
- 26. 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 ambassadors •Negative – personal life is unbecoming, sense of privacy/comfort level •Positive – better relationships, whole person – differentiation; people prefer to connect with a person (rather than institution or logo) - social media •Success = bring personality, more interesting and accessible Culture - 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 26
- 27. We want to get members engaged to retain them. Works the opposite way – we must get engaged with members. Listen and participate in conversations through blog commenting, Twitter replies, Facebook discussions – requires daily attention . Our goal - Be a community that provides valuable knowledge, services and connections to its members. If we succeed, no online community will be a threat. 27
- 28. 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. 28
- 29. 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. 29
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