And yet, another recent national study – of advertising agencies’ clients – found that nearly 60% of companies using social media have no plan! Of those who did not have a plan, 88% admitted that, yes, a plan would be very valuable ….

It has been our experience, too, that across many organizations the “rush” to embrace social media often has trumped development of a cohesive and comprehensive social media strategy that is aligned both with an organization’s broader communications goals and with its enterprise-wide strategic objectives. Organizations may be well past the early days when the “social media team” consisted of an enthusiastic 20-something junior staffer “who knows that stuff,” but crafting a clear strategic purpose – and establishing the resources, structure, and processes to optimize social media’s deployment – often remains a mission-critical step not yet fully achieved.

That’s simply no way to treat a powerful channel of communications that presents an unparalleled opportunity to engage audiences, members, and key constituencies in a collaborative, interactive, two-way dialogue. As such, social media represents a remarkable opportunity to deepen and expand relationships to and among an organization’s audiences – and to directly contribute to a wide range of initiatives, from member and public education to marketing to advocacy to funding development to event awareness. That social media, properly positioned, is quickly becoming interwoven into and highly complementary to an organization’s full range of digital, print, and event communications channels makes it all the more valuable a vehicle – and all the more critical that social media is effectively deployed, integrated, and managed.

Social media is dynamic, exciting, powerful, and, yes, highly evolutionary – but nonetheless it can and should benefit from the application of time-tested strategic and tactical planning steps. As an organization develops (or more likely today, re-engineers and expands) its social media utilization, we consider the following steps (in quick summary) invaluable:

1.) Developing a clear definition and statement of the organization’s social media communications, messaging, marketing, and/or financial objectives

2.) Defining the specific organizational initiatives (e.g., member education, public service, policy and advocacy, development, et. al.) that social media will support and the manner in which each discipline will be supported by social media

3.) Identifying the specific social media tools and channels that are appropriate to be utilized in reaching, engaging, and impacting the organization’s key audiences

4.) Defining messaging and content scope and engagement guidelines for the organization’s output via social media channels

5.) Employing tactics to optimize the connectivity and audience cross-engagement between social media and the organization’s website and other media platforms

6.) Identifying and engaging key sector influencers who have social media followings

7.) Establishing brand and visual identity guidelines and compliance

8.) Establishing organizational structure, team definition, and operational policies

9.) Documenting social media launch (or refinement) tactics and operating budget

10.) Establishing tracking tools (e.g., the real-time means to track what is being said about the organization across the social media channels)

11.) Predetermining crisis messaging and crisis management processes for quick response should social media commentary turn negative or inaccurate

12.) Establishing checkpoints to assess approach and assure flexibility to make strategic or tactical adjustments as the social media landscape evolves

13.) Establishing specific metrics through which to judge the contribution of social media to the success of the organization’s communications and marketing initiatives, and to organizational mission goals and brand value

No, social media and planning are not mutually exclusive! – Gary Dolzall

I’d like to share some concepts and ideas – six to be exact – that perhaps relate most specifically to the communications dynamics of non-profits – associations, NGOs, member organizations, institutions, et. al. But if you’re working in a for-profit commercial media environment – especially so in a B2B where the richness and depth of relationships you build with your professional audiences are critical – please read on, as these ideas can be applied to your challenges as well.

1 – It’s All About Engagement

The communication and relationship expectations of audiences and constituencies have profoundly changed. Audience and member expectations for the targeted relevance, speed of delivery, and depth of information are high – and will most likely continue to rapidly evolve, driven by emerging technologies and expanding channel capabilities. Embrace and utilize the appropriate range of communications tools and channels to develop breadth, frequency of contact, depth, and interaction – and to develop two-way, like-minded community relationships with your members and key constituencies.

2 – Know Thy Audiences and Their Needs

One media solution clearly does not fit all audiences. The professional demographics and generational attributes of your audience will influence what mix and weight of media channels is appropriate; their information needs and expectations will define content served across those channels; their diversity (and your goals and mission) will define who you target with what information. Know your audience now and – of equal or greater importance – know what your audience will look like in future years.

3 – Have a Strategic Plan and Generate Actions

Flying by the seat of your pants is a bad idea. Define your strategic communications goals, identify what your measures of success will look like – and then deliver organizational/mission ROI. Build a communications strategy, stay true to the strategic purpose of your communications initiatives, and measure the results. Employ communications to inform, influence thinking, and generate specific desired actions among each of your constituencies, including members, advocates, sector influencers, legislators, regulators, funders, business partners, advertisers, and sponsors.

4 – Assure Content Alignment and Relevance.

Content is still king – but now and in the future it is and will be about content in context.
Deliver targeted content with clear tangible values that is aligned with organization objectives and has specific relevance to each segment of your constituencies. Use content to inform, build deeper relationships, and deliver and demonstrate professional and/or personal value.

5 – Explore Strategic Alliances

It is no longer a go-it-alone, insular world. Prospective content and business alliances and partnerships can enhance reach, leverage, and impact – and build and expand media-based revenues. Your old “competitor” may now become your new friend.

6 – Project and Protect the Brand

Your brand is an invaluable asset. Use of multiple communications platforms allow that brand to be projected widely and become more visible and recognized – but comes with fundamental risks that you’ll lose control of consistent brand visuals and messaging. Extra care and attention to managing your brand is critical.

A final thought or two: Whether we seek to connect and communicate with audiences on behalf of commercial or non-profit initiatives, the myriad of communications challenges – competing for audience attention in an ever-more cluttered and ragged media landscape, the fast evolving emergence of new channels and technology (be honest, who had leveraging social media in their communications action plan three years ago?), the fundamental changes to media-based revenue sources – are very real. Today’s environment requires both precision and flexibility in the way we utilize media platforms and channels and what and how we communicate. And yet, amid all these challenges we are ever-more equipped with new tools and evolving capabilities to really connect with and engage our audiences and business partners (see Idea #1). And that’s rather exciting! – Gary Dolzall