Online Communications

Lifeguarding your reputation

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on January 06th, 2012

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday from Barbados, Ruth talks about monitoring what is being said about your organization online.

How to create great content

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on November 21st, 2011

Technology makes it easy to share content. Your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites provide the ability to publish your content. Where you publish depends on where your stakeholder group spends time and it is important to identify how they want to interact with your organization. But how do you create engaging, relevant, timely content?

Create an Editorial Schedule
Do you have a schedule of the content you will upload? A little forethought goes a long way when you are busy and need content or an idea in a hurry.

Here are some things to think about…

The power of good content

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on November 08th, 2011

Developing good content is crucial to your organization. Your stakeholders are interested in your organization (if they aren’t, there is a problem) and it is important to build on that interest. Your website, blog and social media networking sites are opportunities to provide information and news, to authentically tell your story and, done well, to have people who think it is interesting share it with their friends and colleagues.

Good content helps with search engine optimization (SEO), it helps to build community and it allows you to reach out and share stories with your stakeholder group.

One of the first…

When production matters

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on November 04th, 2011

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday video, Ruth talks about when to use a Flip style camera and when to upgrade to using professionals for your video needs.

Social media – how far is too far?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 27th, 2011

I saw something on Facebook this morning that really made me sit back and think. I have quite a few “friendly acquaintances” on Facebook. For the purpose of this blog, I will call them “pals.” These are people I have met and like, but that I don’t connect with very much in the real world. Some I met through work, others from my personal life. Many of them I met while travelling.

I don’t hold the same political views as some of them. I have to admit, I have found some of the discussions and ideas put forward by a…

It’s not ALL about the numbers

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 25th, 2011

We recently spent time working with a client about social media and how it fits into their overall communications strategy. This organization had “dabbled” in social media (their words) but had never fully committed to it and they wanted to know a) if they should commit and b) if they should, then how.

The CEO is a smart person. He is connected within his industry, he is well-liked and well respected, and there are interesting things going on at this organization. The CEO has his own Twitter account, which has been silent for several months now. There are a few…

Engage or they will engage without you

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 20th, 2011

There have been good articles written recently (The Globe and Mail and BC Business) that talk about Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) labour negotiations and how Facebook played a strong role. Both articles are worth a read, whether you work in a union environment or not. They are proof that social media is a key tool in your organization’s communication. It’s here to stay. Even if you are engaging and facilitating open and relevant discussion, groups will still form (and are forming at this very moment) without your input. At the very least, you need…

Social media – first steps

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on September 26th, 2011

We have had several new business meetings over the past week or so and the discussion always turns to what the organization can be doing in regard to social media.

Not everyone is ready to leap into social media full throttle, but it is important to start the process of listening. See what people in your industry/area of expertise are doing online. Pay attention to the conversations that are happening. It’s a good first step into connecting with your specific community.

Have a critical look at your website. We often get clients calling and asking for a social media strategy…

The well-balanced article

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 31st, 2011

One of the most powerful tools that we have used to help educate and engage stakeholders is an article. We often write articles for our clients – about their organization, about successes and challenges (and how they overcome the challenges to achieve success), and even about new products and services. We distribute the piece to traditional and online media for use – free of charge. We use it on the organization’s website, in industry association or other relevant newsletters, and we often share links to the article with a range of stakeholders. We’ve had great success in this area.

One…

How to sell social media to the C-suite

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 29th, 2011

It might seem archaic to those of us living in a social media world, but not everyone sees the benefit or value. We often hear from communications professionals that they want to incorporate social media into their overall communications strategy, but they can’t get buy in from their senior executive team. It’s not as unusual an occurrence as you might think. And if it’s happening to you – you aren’t alone.

When we work with clients that have this challenge, we focus on what the senior team needs to hear. While every team has its own idiosyncrasies, there are some…