Why should I be active in social media personally?

Last week, I participated in a class offered by the University of Utah Continuing Education Professional Education on Social Media. It was an introductory class taught by Brian Seethaler, and covered a lot of ground. It was interesting to get a sense of the many "on ramps" people have to the concept of social media, everywhere from "I get social media personally, but need to figure out how to make it work for my organization", to "I am incredibly uncomfortable with blurring the lines between personal and professional" to "I hate it and feel that it is being forced upon me."

I continue to be convinced that the many tools and technologies that are grouped into "social media" are an unprecedented opportunity for non-profits. As Brian said in class, as communicators we are responsible for putting a face on our organizations. Social media allows us to do that in new, leveragable, searchable, and, well, social ways! And, it provides us with tools to listen.

We are leading our organizations into the complex world of new communications tools. But to leverage the opportunities presented by digital communications and social media, we -- and the organizations we work with -- must decide if we accept a few basic premises:

1. Social media: It's here and it's real.

The numbers of users behind the "Big Five of Social Media" are phenomenal. I had spent a good year learning about my organization's website and how users were interacting with it. But when I realized Facebook reached 10 times the constituents in my community every day than those who visited my website in a month, it was time to go where the people are!

Now, I didn't know if the people on Facebook were the same people who are most likely to visit the museum, but I went in search of them. Not sure of the adoption rate of new technologies by your constituents? Then find out! There are many ways to learn and test if communicating through the primary social media tools is an effective way of showing up where your constituents -- or most likely to become your constituents -- are already spending time.

2. It's all about self-publishing.

Rather than waiting for someone else to write about your organization, project, product, service, whatever, digital communications and social media tools have put the publishing and distribution of information about your organization into your own hands.

People frequently ask, "Where do you find the time to manage social media tools?" For me, it's not about adding something to the mix, but the fact that digital communications has changed the way in which we reach out and connect with our audience. One of the fundamental changes is that we can self-publish -- and our audience can respond, tell us what they think, contribute to our program and content development directly!

And we are able to comment and participate in other people's content, so our ability to publish now extends beyond our own organizational literature.

3. It's all about distributing content and leveraging our work.

Another response to the "where do you find the time question" is the efficiencies that digital communications can bring. Content can be used in multiple places to reach different audiences in different ways. Content can be "pushed" to users who are already committed and subscribe to what you stand for. The same content is then available for those who "stumble upon" what you've created. And, the same content can be repurposed and "Tweeted" (via Twitter) in order to proactively recruit new users and supporters. The same content can be leveraged to reach different people in different ways.

In my volunteer life, I work with a small organization who for years, decades perhaps, has produced a monthly newsletter. Yet, the prevailing sense in the organization is that the newsletter is not effective in letting members know what is happening. Perhaps we should print it differently, someone asks. Perhaps we should use color in the masthead, someone else suggests. Perhaps we should get rid of it altogether, someone brazenly puts forth!

But what if we thought differently about the content? What if, instead of seeing the newsletter as a document with a start, middle, and end and a monthly deadline, we encouraged the various contributors to submit content, which was then distributed in ways that real constituents choose. Perhaps the director's letter went out at the first of each month in an email to members and then was posted on the website as a welcome to new visitors. Perhaps the event-related notices could be distributed via handouts, an easy web calendar to which members could subscribe, and as events within the prominent social networks. Perhaps the more contemplative articles could be distributed as a blog so that members (in the broadest sense of the word) could respond and comment both to the author and to one another. And, maybe, at the end of the month, the entire thing could be printed and photocopied and mailed to that group of people who appreciate reading it in hard copy format.

Same content, redistributed in ways that the appeal to the audience, vs. one-directional tools that leave the organization with a sense of "people aren't listening to what we have to say." Same work, different way of putting it out there. And maybe a little more listening along the way.

4. It's all about optimization and search!

Ask yourself: When you want to "know" something, check a fact, find out if something exists near you, etc., what do YOU do?? The phone book? The newspaper? Well, maybe, but chances are you turn to a search engine. You Google it.

At some point we must accept that as professional communicators, it is our job to position our organization in ways that "optimizes the search". I know, ugly term. Sounds like an unwanted medical procedure. But we must be realistic: if someone is looking for what I have to offer, but doesn't know about me, how can I anticipate their search so that they find me?

And, if that is our job, to come up in the "Google Golden Triangle", then social media and digital communications are the tools to helping us build our search optimization. How, you ask? Well, that's where you call technical experts. But if you believe that search is the word, then you must be proactively learning, participating and playing in the digital and social arena.

5. It's about owning your primary content.

And about building a larger body of work so that your constituents can learn your story -- and respond to and participate in it -- within a variety of ways. It's not dependent on them hearing or seeing information presented in one way, but being able to choose, find, search for, stumble upon, share, promote, and comment on your content when and where they want it. Your content available upon the command of their time and interest.

So, really it's about are you ready to be willing to give up the way you have done things in the past and experiment with ways that enable you to meet your audience where they are, in ways that they are choosing to find information.

Is it more complex? Yes, very, and takes a willingness for trial and improvement, for learning as you go.

Is it more time consuming? Well, I think it is getting more, much more, out of the time that organizations already invest in legacy communications tools.

Is it more effective? You will find out over time because in social media (a) everything is trackable and (b) your audience has the opportunity to weigh in. They can comment, click, follow or "unfollow", share, recommend, a whole host of ways for you, as the communications practitioner, to develop ways to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

Based upon these assumptions, that is why I made the commitment to lay aside judgment and become proficient -- comfortable -- in social media. I'm interested in hearing what you think!