There is always something new in the world of social media. Google+ is a new opportunity (or challenge, depending on your perspective) in this arena. At AHA, we are in the middle of checking out Google+ and what it will mean for our clients and for us, as a PR agency.
I was thrilled to come across this piece by Shel Holtz on the implications of Google+ for public relations and marketing. It’s definitely worth a read.
We recently did a communications audit for a client. The results were surprising to them. When we undertake a communications audit, depending on the objective, we usually review everything being done that focuses on communication – e-newsletters, staff memos, meetings, town halls, intranet, external website, news releases, media pitches and, of course, social media interaction.
This particular client wanted to know what they were doing well and what they could do better. Social media was something that had just kind of happened at their company – with great intentions. Staff had taken it upon themselves and started a Facebook page and Twitter account and the CEO had taken to Foursquare. To their credit, they updated quite regularly. The challenge was that the communication coming from this company was all push out – and this wasn’t just through social media channels. The tone and style of communication was outdated throughout the organization because it was a top-down, “we want you to know this” style. Facebook and Twitter were used to send out information about what the CEO was doing – board meetings, business events, etc. and on Foursquare, we could learn at any given time where the CEO was having coffee, drinks or dinner. And there was no interactivity. It was all about what they wanted you to know.
There were solid intentions from the people of this organization; it’s just that the execution fell short because their approach wasn’t based on any kind of strategy. (Do most people care where company’s CEO gets his/her coffee or have dinner?)
If you want to improve your organization’s outreach on social media or through any communications vehicle, it’s important to identify how people want to get the information (e-newsletter, blog, website update, Facebook, etc.) and this means doing your research. Don’t make assumptions. It is crucial to define what your audience or stakeholders are interested in hearing; don’t assume you know what they need to hear. And, last but not least, don’t make it all about you. It’s about them and the value you can bring to them. Create opportunities to interact. Ask questions. Ask for feedback and comments.
While you are developing a communications strategy, take a moment and think about that time you were at a party and the most boring person in the room cornered you and talked about themselves for half an hour. Do you want people to feel that way about your organization? (The fact is, if you are boring them, they don’t have to be polite and stick around for half an hour. They have a delete button.)
Have you taken a realistic look lately at how you reach out – what did you find?
AHA Fast Take Friday from AHA Creative on Vimeo.
In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth talks about the Vancouver riots and the reputation crisis it created.
As many readers of this blog may be Vancouver Canucks fans (or at least hockey fans), today – the AHA blog is going to provide some Canucks entertainment – Johnny Canuck entertainment, that is.
The video was by a fellow from Kamloops, BC for a very small budget. (There’s a communications lesson in that – a great video that resonates doesn’t need to take a huge budget!)
We hope you enjoy the video: MY NAME IS JOHNNY CANUCK!
The AHA office will close a little early today to get ready to cheer our Vancouver Canucks on to Stanley Cup victory!!!!
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media networking sites can be of value to your organization depending on your organization and your communication objectives. But your website is of value no matter how big or small your organization is or what your objectives are. And I can’t tell you how often a website is overlooked in an organization with focus often going to the hotter tools like Twitter or Facebook.
We, at AHA, provide communication audits for clients on a regular basis. The review of the organization’s website is a part of this process. We often have to go back to a client with a failing grade on their website. And it’s basic stuff – the information is out of date, there are spelling or grammatical errors, there is no specific contact information (this is especially important in the media section), there is no media section, there is not a consistent voice throughout the site, the site itself is just an online version of the organization’s (outdated) brochure, there is no interactivity, there is no link or connection to the messaging happening on Twitter, Facebook or other social media networking sites. It is surprising how many organizations have not given their website the attention it deserves.
Having a communications professional review your organization’s communications strategy, tools and tactics – including the results – is a valuable exercise. Having an unbiased, professional review of what your organization is doing well, what isn’t working and what could be done differently is important. For example, we recently provided a communications audit for a client that identified that their e-newsletter wasn’t resonating with the stakeholders it was intended to reach. Rather than take this information at face value, we went a little deeper to find out why those who received the e-newsletter weren’t reading it or clicking on the links to the website provided in the e-newsletter.
There were several key points of feedback that were incredibly valuable. People felt that the information in the newsletter was being provided in an information “push out” manner and it was information being presented in a way that readers felt was what the organization wanted them to know, not what they wanted to hear about. They also felt that providing links to the website was – in their words – “useless” because the website itself was “boring,” “out of date” and “not relevant” to what they wanted and needed to know about this organization. Harsh words, but crucial for the organization to know in order to improve their communication efforts.
Our client took the feedback about the website, the e-newsletter and several other communications vehicles seriously. Working with them, we formed a communications committee that will provide input and advice on what tools and technology will be of more value to their stakeholder group. AHA will develop a communications plan that reflects the information from the audit and the input of the communications committee. Over the next six months, a series of new outreach tools and campaigns will be launched that will connect with stakeholders in a more relevant and effective manner – that provide information in a way that stakeholders want to hear from the organization. It’s an exciting time for our client. Not only do stakeholders feel that they had input into how they want to be communicated with, the organization has the opportunity to be heard through authentic, relevant and interactive communication rather than by pushing out corporate messages (that were being ignored).
How is your website? Is it relevant? Is it informative? Is it up-to-date and interesting to your stakeholders?
Ragan.com has a great piece about what the media might think about your organization’s website – it’s worth a read.