Social Media
Using Social Networking to Engage Your Association Members
Many of our Association clients have approached us with questions about social networking, social media and the role online communities play in retaining members, growing membership and building value within their organization.. Here's typically how we begin the discussion with our clients about social networking.
Should your Association Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs?
The short answer is, "It depends". What is your organization trying to achieve using social networking? Every organization has different needs. If your organization is focused primarily on testing and certification, your social networking needs may be very different from an organization whose primary mission is to facilitate networking among professionals. When considering social networking, ask the following questions of your organization and its goals:
- What association problem am I trying to address by using social networking tools? Am I trying to generate awareness for my association? Facilitate connections between members? Educate members on issues facing their industry?
- Is my association already successful packaging and promoting its benefits, products and services to its members?
- Do I understand how my members want to interact with each other and with my association?
- What level of interaction do your members expect from you and their fellow members?
- Are my members already interacting with each other by one or any of these tools (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs)?
The answers to these questions will determine if your association could benefit from social networking and which tools are right for your association.
Social Networking: It's a Strategy & Content Problem, not a Technology Problem
Some people use the term 'social networking' when they really mean 'online community'. As many investors, companies and organizations learned the hard way in the '90s, creating a destination for people to congregate online does not guarantee that they will come. Even with an installed member base, your organization's online community must provide value to your members in order for it to be successful. We recommend and use Forrester's POST approach to online community development with all of our clients.
- People - Assess your members' social activities
- Objectives - Decide what you want to accomplish
- Strategy - Plan for how relationships with members will change
- Technology - Decide which social technologies to use
We believe there's an 80-20 priority distribution between these four. When planning and executing activities to support your online community, 80% of your effort should be dedicated to getting the People, Objectives and Strategy correct, while 20% should be dedicated to Technology.
Build vs. Buy vs. Partner
Once an Association has worked through the strategy and content issues outlined above, then and only then, should they consider the tools with which to implement their social networking activities. There are a lot of social networking tools, platforms and options to choose from these days. Consider the following questions when your organization has gotten to the point where it is ready to build or remake its online community using social networking tools:
- Does my organization have the bandwidth and resources to build and maintain a healthy online presence?
- Is online community development and maintenance core to the mission of my association or is it one of many tools to encourage participation and engage members?
- What mix of features is my association willing to prioritize given the budget for my social networking initiative?
- In the better-faster-cheaper triangle, which two of these priorities are most important to my association in using social networking tools?
- Are there ways to utilize features of services like Facebook & LinkedIn to jump-start my social networking initiative while minimizing the budget for social networking software and services?
Success Stories
Technology Association Social Networking Product Launch
Our work with a national technology association allowed them to add social networking features to their website.
» View this Success Story
Technology Association Social Networking Vendor Selection
We managed the process for selecting an agency with experience in social networking for an association launching a new online community.
» View this Success Story
Why Value Builder Solutions for Social Networking?
Our Value Builder Solutions for Social Networking is a proven roadmap to success for associations. Using our proven approach will:
- Improve the likelihood of success for social networking initiatives;
- Introduce critical new processes and skills to the organization;
- Provide methods and materials that can be reused for future projects;
- Provide access to critical expertise and build internal teamwork;
- Help your organization retain current members and attract new ones through effective products and services that create significant value.
Let Trillium Solutions Group be your partner in successfully using social networking tools that drive growth for your association.
Contact us today at 847-272-2202 to see how we can deliver results for you.