I recently read the book “SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate” by Joel Postman. The book covered every aspect of incorporating social media into the corporate world. There was a SocialCorp Readiness Quiz that assisted in identifying leadership, innovation, industry, business objectives, engagement, and culture. The goal of this quiz was to identify strong and weak points in your company to determine your social media readiness. We scored a 90%. Take the quiz yourself to see where you stand.
There were six valuable attributes discussed:
- Authenticity
- Transparency
- Immediacy
- Participation
- Connectedness
- Accountability
I strongly agree with #4, participation. When I first started out using twitter, facebook, and linkedin, there was a lack of participation. I did a lot of reading and following with no participation. As I became more familiar with the structure of each platform and the benefits of each, I began to send @replies through twitter, started to respond to questions being posted on linkedin, and updated my status regularly on facebook. As a result of participation, I have received more followers, connections, and friends that are relevant to my interests, which in turn lead to 3 new business opportunities for our company.
How I use social media.
I am following a number of associations via twitter and the tweets are very diverse. Some tweets promote an upcoming event/conference while another tweet will discuss how to donate and will post the progress of the donations. The information is instant and brief. The great thing about it is that I do not have to search for it. If I am following the right associations/people, the information will be directed to me.
Tracking what is being said about your association or yourself is important. You need to respond to positive comments but most of all, you need to respond to negative comments. Responding to your negative comments will show that you are engaged with what your members/followers are saying, it shows you value the opinions of others, and it gives you a chance to be involved in the discussion to remedy the situation.
As with any new endeavour, you will need to develop a strategy. Take your time. Make sure you have the resources to implement your new social media strategy. Choose the right tools to use for your associations social media.
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