…Participating in social media is a great thing for some organizations. However, if your website is out-of-date, stagnant and doesn’t engage the community you want to connect with—social media might not be of much support to your efforts. There are many organizations that jump on the social media bandwagon before they make sure that the foundation of their online outreach—their website—works.
I had a discussion with a client yesterday about the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She is based in L.A. and the only coverage they get of the games is from NBC. NBC, for some reason, has chosen not to provide live coverage of the games. My client is in the same time zone as the games, she has a television in her office, she would have the competitions on if she could—but they aren’t live.
Right now, Vancouver is in the world spotlight. We, at AHA, have an office in Vancouver and have been watching with interest on how the games are being covered by both traditional and social media.
t AHA, we take pitching seriously and go through the AHA Pitch Process to develop a pitch. That means that the pitch has to be short, catch the attention of the journalist quickly and keep it, and provide relevant facts, stats and other information that showcases the news value. We pitch it to each other on paper, in person and on the telephone before any pitch leaves the office. We role-play as PR media relations and reporter, asking the tough questions that a reporter would ask.
Integrating social media into your communication efforts doesn’t stop when you write a strategic plan. It is an ongoing and evolving effort. We have recently had some interesting conversations with a client that we work with on a project basis. This client is someone that we have a huge amount of respect for and we want to see him succeed. His company is young and growing and he has a strong philanthropic focus. He came to us to help him build a strategic plan that included social media.