(Original text published on the AENC blog)
A word on Associations – Nurses, Accountants, Bankers, Florists…Whoever. You may think your Association needs a stronger online presence, but are confused as to what that exactly means. And you see its potential.
The number of ways you can communicate with your audience can be overwhelming. And there are a few fundamentals to understand before moving forward.
“Liking” you is not enough
“If you build it, they will come” only worked in the movie. Just setting up a Twitter account or Facebook group page as standalone presences is a regressive strategy. If your association isn’t communicating its key messages, you won’t generate a following. Worse, owning these profiles with no activity or followers just looks bad and delivers the wrong message as well.
Actively communicate your messages
The first mistake in messaging is trying to tell everything, to everyone, all the time. As an association, you know who your members are, and you know how your work benefits people on a broad scale. But like any marketing strategy, it’s critical to identify specific audiences, but also deliver specific messages on how your work is directly relevant to their needs.
Identify your target goals and encourage participation
Establish a timeline around key dates and planned announcements. This may also include locally planned events. By using your online platforms to deliver your messages, you can encourage participation through “retweets” and other forms of sharing. By inviting members to be part of the process, your are both now the stewards of your organization’s brand and mission.
Any successful online strategy is about building a presence that doesn’t just give you your “15 minutes.” Crafted carefully, it will help you earn a deep, living leadership role in today’s marketplace.
Taking on a corporate blog: Be careful.
As most in business and marketing are aware, the Web site is the first place someone visits to learn more about you and your company. Then, they want to know how you think and your approach to business. What’s on your mind? How do you see yourself fitting into today’s business landscape? How are you adapting?
How do you successfully earn credibility and take that extra step toward engaging a customer? Today, being a portal for information and education is critical in terms of positioning yourself as a “thought leader.” You might think, however, “What if we’re selling a unique product but need the broad support of industry? Won’t taking a stand on one side or the other hurt our image or push one market segment away?”
(courtesy: Businessweek)
Early on, businesses were uncertain about the value of the blog. Today, an increasing number are carefully employing them in their business strategies.
Take a stand in support of education. You don’t need to sell your product on your blog. That’s your Web site’s job. For example, a blog can be used to identify and explain the latest developments in an emerging technology and what it is designed to do, not to rate the innovation. The same can be said for reporting the latest governmental rules and regulations, new developments in the industry space, new technology being used abroad, and so on.
Report the news. Don’t make editorial statements. Illustrate that your company knows the industry and all its parts. Overtime, visitors will see that your company knows what it’s doing and is knowledgeable – knowledgeable enough to know that its solution fills a gap. But your visitors will decide that for themselves as you encourage them to visit your web site. You have empowered them with information to make personal and business decisions that, overtime, just may lead them to your door.
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Posted in Media and PR
Tagged branding, comments, content development, corporate blogs, Evan Howell, online marketing