Timing IS everything.
Sometimes the timing of a project affects what you do more than you’ll realize. I’ve learned that lesson recently with one of my social media projects at work.
My timing was by no means perfect.
Last year at conference we launched The PAnel. It’s a blog that is almost completely written by Physician Assistants (I post if needed & in the off-season). We saw success last year with about 1200 people visiting the blog over the course of conference. For a conference of only 7,000 attendees that 1,200 number was very pleasant to read.
November was our Call for Bloggers for the 2010 PAnel & I honestly expected to get a bigger response than I received…
It’s a little disappointing, though I am really excited about the caliber of bloggers we have (3 returning, 6 new and all fabulous!). Everyone wants their projects to go well and when they don’t have the exact results you expect, it’s time to take a look at what you’ve done.
I think my biggest fault is the timing, honestly. Conference is a little less than 6 months away and a lot can happen in 6 months. November is also when we launch our pre-registration brochure, it’s when we start ramping up for conference. My original thought was that would be a perfect time for the blog to start up again with PA writers. We started covering the 2010 Conference back in September (posts written by me) and I thought that it would be best to have PAs take over, because the blog really belongs to them.
This wasn’t the best choice though. About a week before the deadline I realized something kind of important that I should have thought of ahead of time… most people don’t know whether or not they are going to conference yet. Duh!
So for me, I learned a valuable little lesson this time around. It’s not about my timing, it’s about the timing of the people I’m trying to engage. I guess I got a little wrapped up in my deadlines and trying to get the balling rolling, but it’s a lot easier to roll downhill than to roll uphill. I know I should have thought of this before and I kind of kick myself about it. The only consolation is that I have some really awesome bloggers lined up this year, feel free to meet them.
Next year, I’m going to be smarter about it though. I will take a look at our registration numbers, figure out when individuals are making the decision to register (though next year is in Vegas, so it may be a bit easier sell) and base the deadlines on that, not what is more convenient for the organization.
Question to my readers – Have you ever had a project where you expected a greater response and then realized your timing was off? How did you fix the problem moving forward? What did you learn from it?
Image courtesy of Flickr user Tonivc
Filed under: Associations, Blogging | Leave a Comment
Tags: Timing
Maybe it’s the fact that two of my favorite things are compared, but this is probably my favorite “pro social media video” I’ve seen so far. I first saw it a couple of months ago & then randomly stumbled upon it again. Enjoy!
Filed under: Social Media, Video | 4 Comments
Tags: Punk Rock, Social Media, Video Post
Copyright a tweet? What?
Disclosure: I’m not a lawyer, I have no background in law. I respect those that do, but my statements below are based purely on my own use of common sense & trust in individuals. If you take issue with my statements, I invite you to comment & add to the discussion.
Call me naive, but why in the hell would you want to copyright a tweet?
I can say more on this, but I think my question is the most important think I could say.
~Lynn
Background: This came up at the Social Media Workshop put on by ASAE on November 5th & 6th, I’m figuring lets just have a conversation about this one via comments.
Filed under: Twitter | 3 Comments
Tags: Copyright, Twitter
Oh ASAE, not again…
So I know I’ve been very critical of ASAE in the past, whether it be Tech ‘09 brand jacking scandal (exaggeration!) or the Power of A campaign. But I guess someone has to be.
This time I’m taking slight issue with their Social Media Workshop that was held on November 5 & 6. Please note: I did not attend this event, though checked in on the Twitter stream quite a bit over the two days. My experience with this is a good example of how your event is seen by the non-attendees over Twitter.
Most of the issues I have are little things, so as opposed to writing long paragraphs, I’m just going to get them out there:
- The order of programming was a little weird. Why in the hell would you do an intro & then jump into a 75 minute session on Twitter? Listening is the first step with social media, b/c without it, you don’t know where to start.
- Then you jump into mobile technologies? Though mobile technologies are probably the next big frontier in the association world, exposing a bunch of people at a 101 day to this half way through the first day could very easily overload them.
- Speaking of overload… There were a TON of tweets about how people felt that this was just so much information. There truly is a lot of information out there about social media, but it needs to be presented in a building block format, otherwise they will feel overloaded. The sessions need to be integrated with each other so that skills that are learned in the previous session can be applied to the next.
- POST was not in use. The POST Method is a fairly popular way of thinking about & planning your social media strategies. P – People, O – Objectives, S – Strategies, T – Technologies. SMW didn’t follow this, they did an intro & jumped right into the tools. Yes knowing the tools is important in the end, but you have to think about your members first.
- There seemed to be more consultants speaking than I would have expected. There is a small but growing group of community managers that do social media for associations, I would have liked to see them paired with other association individuals who do social media as a part of their job. These two perspectives are extremely important when talking about associations actually DOING social media. I think consultants are an invaluable resource to give objective opinions about strategies and tactics, but they aren’t usually the ones tweeting out or Facebooking on behalf of an association. (Maybe I’m wrong in this in some cases, I’ll acknowledge that)
- Where were the community managers? Out of 15 speakers, only one was a full blown community manager for an association. You do have the SocialFish that run YAP, I believe KiKi ran a community as a part of her position at OSA, but it’s a voice I wish was a bit more present.
I do have to give ASAE props for recognizing the need for something like this. I would love to see in the future them do something similar to their membership & marketing bootcamps that they have. Think it’s a good way to maximize the learning while recognizing the restraints of association professional development budgets right now. Looking forward to seeing what ASAE does next.
~Lynn
Filed under: Associations | 5 Comments
Tags: Education, Social Media Workshop
I just finished up presenting at the SIGMA Annual Conference. Got a lot of great feedback from the audience and am very pleased that they were able to join me. Just to cover all my bases & make sure that attendees can find the information I compiled I’ve included 2 important links & my contact info in this post.
I apologize that this isn’t my normal association related post, but I want to make sure the people I spoke to find what they need. Back to association-related posts later this week (pending inspiration).
The Bibliography: http://delicious.com/misslynn13/sigma09
(HT to the SocialFish for the inspiration on creating a bibliography for my preso)
The Slidedeck: http://www.slideshare.net/MissLynn13/marketing-to-the-millennials
My contact info…
Lynn Morton
lmorton13 [at] gmail [dot] com
@MissLynn (that means I’m on Twitter)
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnmorton
http://www.facebook.com/lynn.morton
My contact info is also available in the slidedeck.
Hope that helps all the SIGMA attendees! Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
~Lynn
Filed under: Resources | 2 Comments
Tags: #sigma09, Presentations
Think about what it means.
At AAPA we don’t do .org accounts on Twitter. There is no @AAPA.org or whatever, individual employees have accounts & that is it. Some may think I’m crazy, but take a look at the pictures to the left…
Now compare the followers…
@GuyKawasaki – 188,517 followers
@alltop – 8,851
I’m sure there are many reasons for this, but one thing is clear, the individual account has many more followers. I know that Guy has started to operate his personal account as a brand account in some ways (always linking, ghost tweeters, tracking campaigns, etc.), but followers still connect with the fact that it is Guy Kawasaki and not Alltop. (Side Note: I do find it funny that the @Alltop account tweets our primarily the postings of Guy’s blog though)
I understand the ease of having an .org account for associations. It’s a great channel to push out the information that you’re wanting to reach your members, there is brand recognition with in the profession or trade, if there is any staff turnover there isn’t the risk of losing those connections (more on this topic later). But there is one major downside to me that negates the benefits… People do not connect with brands, they connect with the people behind the brands. Whether that be your CEO, your President of the Board, etc. your members want to connect with someone they can recognize and go to.
Twitter to me is NOT a broadcast channel, it is an opportunity to converse with & engage your members.
But that’s just my 2 cents.
~Lynn
Filed under: Twitter | 3 Comments
Tags: Alltop, Branded Twitter Accounts, Guy Kawasaki, Organizational Accounts
No offense is meant.
Usually when something starts that way, it usually means that it will offend & this might, but I have something I have to get off my chest.
The more visibility I receive via speaking gigs, articles, etc. the more consultants and vendors I have calling me up, just asking for a “minute of my time” to discuss social media. Nine times out of ten they are trying to pump me for my “secret social media sauce” because they don’t know about the tools. They talk about all this potential of social media and how they’re incorporating it into their businesses, but for the most part I can tell they’re just trying to get information from me.
This makes me angry b/c there is only one real secret to social media… Participation.
My advice to those vendors & consultants that are trying to ride the new wave in associations is to participate. Through participation in social media, you’ll actually learn what your customers want.
Us association folk have to do the same thing to reach our members, it’s only fair that they do the same.
~Lynn
P.S. I am making broad generalizations about the consultants & vendors I have randomly calling me up. There are MANY consultants & vendors that understand these tools & participate in the community of association people. But, for those association folk that are new to social media, please remember that just because a consultant says they do social media, doesn’t mean they actually participate. You’re best bet for a genuine referral (should you want to bring in a consultant) is to read the different association blogs, see who is mentioned, see who is linked to, ask the association people that do participate.
Filed under: Associations | 2 Comments
Tags: Social Media Consultants
Keeping it separate.
I just received my Smart Brief on Social Media in my inbox. I always enjoy the Wednesday’s poll, but this week is a little disturbing to me.
They asked “Should users of social networks maintain separate personas, one for business and another for their personal life?”
My answer: No.
Why? Because if you’re trying to keep your work & personal personas separate online, you’re doing nothing but trying to kid yourself. Privacy really doesn’t exist anymore and if that scares you, I’m sorry, but we are in an era of transparency where your actions will be seen. If you have something to hide, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it? Just a thought.
What disturbed me is that as of 1:30pm 50% (YES 50%!) said “Yes, absolutely. Keep business and personal separate.”
I hate to break it to this 50%, but you will be found. I could definitely be called a hypocrite considering I have both a personal & profession Facebook profile as well as a separate Twitter account for work. Call me a hypocrite, it’s okay, because I wrestle with this too.
I wish I didn’t have two. The Facebook profile was a COMPLETE mistake, though it does keep me from accidentally dropping an F-Bomb in a place where my HR department could see it. My Twitter account on the other hand I see as two brands of myself. I share personal information on both, but what I would call my “personal brand account” (@MissLynn13) has way different content than my “work brand account” (@AAPALynn). I don’t hide that I’m both personas, but they are separate because they are speaking to two different audiences. Think of it like segmenting your email marketing. It’s not personal vs. professional, it’s that I know PAs aren’t really going to care about the latest in association news. I’d love to only have one, it would make my day job that much easier, but the separation is a good thing.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s okay to have two accounts, but the personal & the professional should be in both. Don’t leave one out, because if you do, you’re cutting out a large portion of yourself.
Filed under: Social Media | 1 Comment
Tags: Personas, Social Media
What social media is not.
Okay, so I think we’ve involved enough in social media within the association world to say that there are some things we shouldn’t be doing. A lot of these are from the perspective that my organization uses social media as an engagement tool and NOT a broadcast channel. Our focus is on the value of participation, which probably colors my opinion. After you read my list, I’d love for you to weigh in as well.
1. Social Media is NOT a broadcast channel – I find a lot of brands on Twitter (or representatives of brands) are broadcasting things out. Broadcasting needs to be balanced with actual engagement. There is nothing wrong with announcing something, but if you aren’t eliciting feedback, then why would anyone want to listen to you?
2. Social Media is NOT about making money – I think associations are struggling on the ROI (especially if they don’t have a white-label network with ad space), but whether or not you are able to turn a profit, turning a profit should not be your main goal. If it is, then you need to re-evaluate why you are engaging in these conversations. It’s about building relationships, not about soliciting donations. I heard that the Obama campaign didn’t solicit a donation until the 5th time they made contact with you, meaning that you had already established a relationship with them when they asked for donations, meaning you were more likely to donate b/c you hadn’t opt-ed out yet. As with any form of online marketing you need to cultivate a relationship first, then see in what ways those relationships can be leveraged to further your association goals and ROI.
3. Social Media is NOT about telling your audience what they want – The whole point is to listen, so hush up until you have a reason to respond. Find out what your customers/members are saying about you, not tell them what they should be saying.
4. Social Media is NOT about you – I find that the most valuable resources in social media come from individuals that care more about their community than their own celebrity. You can have an opinion (in fact it’s encouraged), but thinking about your community first (especially for associations) is imperative.
5. Social Media is NOT about your canned responses – No longer are we in the days of generic, unauthentic, canned responses. It’s about being real & listening to your customers/members and providing them with a real response.
Those are a few of my personal guidelines, feel free to disagree, but I think we’ve come to a point where there are things you should or should not do.
(Btw, I fully realize this could cause some backlash b/c the general feel is that there is no right or wrong way to do social media)
~Lynn
Filed under: Resources, Social Media | Leave a Comment
Tags: Social Media
Lindy Dreyer recently posted about social media teams.I was originally going to comment and then realized I had more to say than a comment would really do justice to.
She’s written an interesting post and I think it speaks to how social media should be run in an organization. It shouldn’t just be one person, because it affects everybody (much like marketing or a website), but a team that works together. You may have someone who does the primary implementation or an “expert” on staff for guidance, but it really should be a team effort.
I do have to say that it is easier said than done though. Here’s why I think so…
1. Silos – It’s not a big secret that associations have silos, we try to be open & communicative, but it’s usually the smaller staffs that are able to accomplish it just because the volume of work is smaller. Downside is that there could be less content. A lot of times the social media person needs to be getting content from the other departments to push out and it can becoming more of a trying to pull content out of other departments.
2. Employee apathy – I’ve been told by colleagues what a waste of time or an annoyance they think certain tools are, but then they still want the benefits of the channel. That lack of dedication to understanding the tools can put the social media person in a position where they have to decide do they take it on or do they let the apathetic employee move forward, which could potentially damage what has been built.
3. Lack of knowledge – It takes time to learn how to use these tools properly, it also takes dedication to maintain the connections that you build. We do internal learning classes (taught by me), but I’ve found that some take to tools more quickly than others. When teaching classes I try to come at it from a personal perspective, because if someone understands how a tool benefits them personally, they then can more easily translate that into business purposes. This also usually results in increased dedication to using the tools & their postings have a bit more heart & personality.
Using the social media team (or community manager) to empower employees to speak on behalf of the association is the ultimate goal, I’d love to have it that way, but from my experience the reality is that your social media team has to act as “gatekeepers” (at least in the beginning) because though everyone wants the benefits of social media exposure, they don’t want to add another thing to their plate or they don’t have the time to learn the tools.
My job then becomes trying to pull the content out of different departments. I try to coordinate with others to create allies, but it can be difficult. Just as community building takes time with social media tools, it takes just as much time internally.
Coordinating can also be difficult across a large team. One thing I’m always very aware of is trying not to overwhelm our channels with content. There are only so many Facebook status updates one should do in a day on a Fan Page, so you have to balance your content. Sometimes things get pushed ahead, sometimes things need to be held, etc.
Though I think Lindy is right on about how it should be, I think it can be very difficult to do such a thing.
Filed under: Associations, Social Media | 4 Comments
Tags: Employee Buy-In, Internal Communications, Social Media
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