Meggan's Musings

My apologies, to my audience and to Tom Cochrane, for being unable to resist turning a hit song into somewhat of a cliché.  As it turns out, it does make for a catchy headline, even if it is a bit cliché.  It also serves as a great analogy for a discussion on social media.  As I embark down the path of utilizing social media to promote fighting cancer with the American Cancer Society, I am searching for the best way to go about garnering lasting community recognition, support and donation dollars for this worthwhile cause.  I want a two-way traffic stream on the Relay For Life’s social media highway.  I want an exchange of information and ideas.  I want to engage my audience and I want to inspire action.  I don’t want to utilize social media as a way pushing out information.  I don’t want to constantly be entering and exiting the highway.  Instead, I want to ride the social media highway…..all night long.

I believe social media will continue to evolve and become even more of a way of life, a way of  conducting business and a way of communicating and connecting.  Will you get on the highway?  Will your organization get on the highway? More importantly, if you or your organization is traveling on the social media highway, are you simply entering and exiting or do you have a strategy that interacts with the flow of traffic on the road? In other words, are you having one-way conversations or are you truly engaging your audience in meaningful ways?

Likely if you are reading this blog post, you fit into the category of someone who has gotten on board with social media.  Hopefully you understand the full benefits of using social media, not only as a way to stay connected with friends and family members, but also as a way to enhance your digital footprint.  We’ll get to your personal social media and self-branding strategies in another post, but for now, let’s talk about how organizations can engage their audiences via social media and social networking.   Here are some thoughts on what you should and shouldn’t do to engage  your audience.  Some of these are from personal experience and others are from a recent presentation I attended on social media marketing.  The presentation was given by social media expert Mark Logan from Barkley, a Kansas City based marketing and advertising agency.

Social media: what it is and what it isn’t

• Social media is all about having conversations that build relationships between organizations.  Think of it as if  you were going on a date.  Would you want to sit through the whole date and just listen to the other person talk about themselves?  I think most everyone would rather engage in a meaningful conversation – share thoughts, experiences and ideas.  Social media is much the same way – if your organization’s way of participating in social media is solely focused on disseminating information and messages, you likely will not get asked out on a second date.  No one feels engaged just by listening to someone talk about themselves.  You have to listen and engage in the conversation to truly be a part of it.
• It isn’t just a way of advertising.  If you are just pushing out ads on social media forums, you are not truly engaging in social media.  You are still stuck in the 1.0 version of advertising and you’ll likely be left in the dust.
• Social media isn’t about your organization – it’s about your audience.  It’s about creating buzz for your organization, cause and mission.  It’s about getting your audience to talk about your brand and your organization; not a way for you to talk about what your organization is doing.
• It is also about learning where your target audience members are going online.  How are they using social media?  What conversations are they having?  How can you reach them, engage them and then build off of the relationship and rapport you’ve developed to motivate them to take action as a supporter or a donor?
• Social media is about listening to your audience, learning from them, engaging them and then utilizing their feedback to build up your social media strategy.
• Lastly, it’s all about interaction, interaction, and more interaction!  It is a way to engage (hopefully emotionally engage) your audience and motivate them to act.  You should aim for interaction, not just traffic on your site, Facebook page or blog.  In the words of social media expert Mark Logan, you need to think hearts and minds, not just eyeballs.  After all, eyeballs viewing your social media efforts won’t lead to true interaction nor will it motivate your audience to take action.

In an effort to engage my audience, I would love to hear your thoughts regarding social media.  How is your organization effectively utilizing social networking?  What has worked? What hasn’t? What is your strategy?