Q: We’re a small trade association and we don’t have staff handling our marketing and communications, nor do we have the revenue to afford an outside agency. Meanwhile, we have board members who think we need to be on every social media platform — go where the members are — and that it’s easy enough for an intern to manage. What I’m having difficulty conveying is how time consuming and labor intensive it is; our images need to be professionally developed, especially the ones supporting our education, and the message needs to be engaging and actionable. Clearly, I think that for social, less is more. Who is right here?

A: Because we live in a digital world, this is a question we are often asked. The simple answer is that it is not recommended to launch multiple platforms at once. Social media is about engagement and that takes time: time to develop an audience, time to create appropriate content, time to monitor conversations, time to analyze and measure results. But more than that, prior to launching any new program, an association need to consider these issues and questions:

• Goals: How does this ladder up to your association’s strategic goals? What are you trying to achieve?
• Audience: What audience are you trying to reach? How do your members like to receive their information? Are they a group that is active online?
• Content: How much content is available to post? Who will write it? Is that person conversant in comms and anti-trust laws? Does the group have a message document? Are there potential crisis issues that will require immediate and strategic responses? What will the internal review process be?
• Budget: Organic posting is a start, but to achieve specific goals, a strategic advertising program is required.

Once these questions are answered, generally, it is recommended to start with one platform, or two if they work together to help meet the association’s goals. It is always better to start small and grow from there!

 

Bonnie Sonnenschein
Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Kellen