A short guide to why & how to engage with social media, created for WMN, a mentoring and support network for women who work in the media in Asia Pacific.
3. Social Media = Value Any network of people contains value. A good social media strategy unlocks that value by providing a channel for members to share information and experience with each other.
4. What kind of value? A network contains infinite value but social media taps in 2 main ways: Providing information as it’s needed: a member asking a question, another responds. Aggregate information: information from everybody, collected.
5. Unlock value: Engage Members Call for content and news from members, post it on site Provide podcasts of speaker series – engage those who did not attend the event Post reflection questions on speaker series, create discussion, publish highlights of the conversation in the newsletter – engage those who did attend event
6. Unlock Value: Drive Membership Create time frame ‘2011 membership now open’ – tweet it, post it Ask followers to re-tweet it Write article/post on benefits of WMN membership, tweet it, post it
7. Unlock Value: Make Money Setting up a branded social media network is a new portal for sponsorship, could be any sponsor targeting professional women Measuring activity & engagement to create sponsor pitches Create affiliate programs, members purchase through WMN, proceeds go to organization Host targeted key word ad campaigns
8. Summary Social media is totally aligned with the mission of WMN A social media strategy will unlock existing value of the WMN network for its members and stakeholders The resulting thriving community will generate financial gains for the organization as a whole
9. What Now? There are infinite options, we need to choose a strategy and platforms and commit Option A – using existing resources begin to gain traction on free sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and FaceBook Option B – start with option A but with the goal of going deep, creating our own branded online community. Would require more resources.
Notas del editor
The mission of WMN is aligned with the opportunities of social media: support, develop, connect
. This is a group of people aligned a common interest: working in the media but there’s a lot more: openness to networking, ambition etc. So what do we with that? Is that valuable? To whom? (Blue people represent activators/influencers – the rest are those who will take what they need when they need it and otherwise not engage, usually the majority, best way to engage them is to give them an opportunity to contribute)
Yes. It’s valuable to the people in the network and the network owners. We see this is currently with sponsor support, caliber of speakers, ticket sales – these show that our network has value. But there’s so much more, just sitting there, waiting to be tapped.
Current channels for connection are events, maybe email if you meet someone and exchange contact info. Social Media gives us a way to leverage the network on an as needed basis. Example 1 – I have an interview with jack at such and such, any advice? Yes, I interviewed with him last year, he likes to ask about xxxAnd social media can also leverage the network by aggregating and organizing information from its members, information that on it’s own isn’t useful but aggregated creates huge value.Example 2 – salary survey, Heather Lefavre
So how to unlock this value for WMN? First, engage members. How? (see above) In last 2 examples SM has unlocked the value of the network but also leveraged existing value, the event is happening anyway, now it has a continuing lifespan, value is shared across time and place.
Start by engaging, so when we recruit new members they enter a robust community. An engaged community broadens our base, create relationships with people who can leverage their networks for us. Example: drive ticket sales, @sarasidnerCNNretweets to her 2000+ followers, right now we only have 1 Sara Sidner in our stream, but we could have a dozen – engaging properly in the social media space means they would all be happy to promote our membership drive or event, it’s a win for them too
Social value leads to financial value, directly - through members buying through our site- or indirectly, through increased sponsorship dollars.
A - Work can be divided up, ie: Katrina covers all news Tweets, Sharon tweets all member updates, bobbi tweets all speaker/event announcements – but does need someone with an eye on the big pictureB – require someone to manage it, software fees