Five of the best social media tips
The Melcrum team are currently looking forward to a new Social Media Workshop, being held at Melcrum HQ in Hammersmith on 24 June 2009. The outline for this event got me thinking: What are some of the best tips I've ever come across for social media? Here are my top five. I'd love to hear some of your favorites in the comments section below.
1. Know what social media is
Social media has come a long way in recent years, but with each new take there are new facets to learn. It's a communication professional's job to keep up to date with the latest tools available, and understand how they can be used to push the envelope of internal communication in an organization.
But you have to understand your blogs from your Twitter, and to do that takes time invested to learn. If you're not familiar with the way social media works, how can you expect to sell the benefits to your CEO?
Use the tools available, experiment if necessary, but make the effort to get involved.
2. Participate. Genuinely.
For every successful blog there are many more unsuccessful ones that die within a few months of their conception.
For every Barack Obama on Twitter, there are a dozen light-weight politicians whose updates are earth-shatteringly dull and devoid of any personality whatsoever.
That's the key with social media. Personality. Be yourself and engage and participate, genuinely, with the people you're trying to reach. Your personality, your likes and dislikes, will inevitably appear. If you're not prepared to do this, then don't get involved in the first place.
3. Understand that social media isn't right for every organization
If, as point two suggests, your organization isn't ready to embrace social media, don't worry. While it's without question that employees are already out there, using social networks, perhaps blogging and Twittering (yes, even during the working day), rushing into a poorly conceived "official" effort is not advisable.
4. Encourage communication
As discussed in recent newsletters, just making a new site live isn't enough. In a business environment, you have to be willing to encourage and nurture discussion, and guide people in terms of their own participation. As with developing an overall communications strategy, success with social media won't happen overnight and will take work to make it a success
5. Don't position Web 2.0 as something completely new
My all-time favorite piece of social media advice was published in Melcrum's 2007 social media report, How to use Social Media to Engage Employees. Richard Dennison from BT said, "Don't position Web 2.0 as something completely new".
"People are instinctively fearful of radical change. We've altered our approach and positioned Web 2.0 is an evolutionary step: 'We've been doing this for years with emails, forums and so on'. This just makes it easier and faster to communicate and collaborate."
Alex
Alex Manchester
Senior Consultant
Step Two Designs
Website: www.steptwo.com.au
Blog: alexmanchester.com
Have your say
These are just three benefits of using social media internally, what are some of the benefits you've seen?
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