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Most associations no longer need to be convinced about the benefits of social networking. Now you want tips on how to select, implement and maintain a social network. Here’s a step-by-step guide.
Associations have gone from why do we need a social network to how do we build it?
7 steps to creating a successful association social network
- Choose your social networking platform
- Launch your social network
- Promote your social network
- Moderate your social network
- Refresh your social network
- Listen to your social network
- Commit to your social network
What are the challenges in creating a social network?
You’re possibly thinking that you’ll just dip your association’s toe in the social networking pond by creating a group on Facebook and LinkedIn. You could - but there are some things you need to think about. Here are 3 biggies for starters:
- Security: How do you restrict who can join?
- Identity: Are people, real, fakes or frauds?
- Privacy: How do you control who sees, what when?
What are the specific challenges of an association social network?
Then you need to move onto more specific concerns, like:
- Ownership: Who benefits from the activity and content? Whose conversation is it?
- Administration: How do you manage large memberships and particular member structures/ groups?
- Income: Who owns the advertising and sponsorship?
- Body snatching: Are the mass social networks an alternative (ie mortal threat) to associations?
So it’s no simple matter. Hopefully this guide will help.
Step 1 – How to choose the right social networking platform
First you need to decide which social networking platform you’re going to use. Here are the options for associations:
a) Facebook
You could set up your association as a group on one of the more “social” social networks like Facebook. Maybe some of your members already have.
Facebook can be a good way to drive members to your website but it does have limitations in terms of privacy, security, branding and positioning.
b) Linkedin
The focus here is more professional than Facebook. But, again, it's limited in terms of control, privacy and ownership. The Institute of Actuaries, for example, had to pull down their Linkedin group because it was overtaken by recruiters.
Pros and Cons of Facebook and Linkedin for associations
The pros of the large social networks are:
- Quick to set up
- Ongoing developments, applications
- Reduced specialist resources required
- Economies of scale
But the cons can be:
- Appropriateness of positioning
- Not designed or built for professional associations
- Limited income sharing
- Loss of ownership
- Problems integrating association data
c) White label social networks (e.g. Ning)
Another option for associations is to set up on a white label social network like Ning. By white label, I mean a generic social network that your association can populate. This can be a good option for an amateur association but lacks the power and customisation demanded by most professional and industry associations.
d) Build your own social network
Of course, you could build your own.
Pros of building your own social network:
You get to:
- Own formats/taxonomy
- Own any data, content and income
Cons of building your own social network
- Cost of development and/or customisation
- No economies of scale
- Commitment to ongoing development and implementation, eg new applications
- Huge increase in internal IT resources
- Limited search functions with other associations
Frankly, you’d have to be mad - or rolling in it – to build your own social network.
e) Join a social network designed specifically for associations
Finally, you could join a purpose-built site such as issociate, which I’m partial to (as an owner/director), or other US-based sites like MemberFuse, The Port or The Social Collective.
- These sites are typically designed specifically for professional associations and their members.
- They are usually gated and secure.
- You the Association may own content, members, activity ( say may, as this does vary).
- You may also have revenue opportunities through sponsorship, advertising.
- And some offer association-focused client support and user groups.
How to evaluate Social Network platforms
These are the criteria I think you should consider in choosing the right social network for your association.
a. Evaluating social networks - Functionality
You need to make sure that your social network satisfies the needs of these key groups:
- Members
- Association
- Association administrator
b. Evaluating social networks - Universality
Another important consideration is whether you can get your members to embrace the particular platform. The more members who actively use your social network, the more powerful it’s going to be.
I recently was asked to connect with a ex-colleague on a social networking site called Naymz. Now I had no problem with this guy, but I wasn’t sure whether I needed another user name and password. The request is still sitting in my inbox.
Platforms like Facebook or Linkedin have the advantage that they are already used by many of your members but equally, it can be hard to separate your professional and personal life.
A friend of mine tried to have two facebook profiles - one personal for family and friends, and one professional. But it all got too confusing. Which brings me to …
c) Evaluating social networks - Privacy
When we surveyed professionals about social networks, privacy was the thing that turned most of them off the major social networks.
They felt they were left too exposed to approaches from people they really didn’t want to interact with. And they felt it was difficult to reject these approaches. In real life, when you introduce yourself, you hand over your business card. But when you make a connection on most social networks, you’re expected to hand over your Rolodex and your PDA. That’s a deal breaker for many professionals.
d) Evaluating social networks - Security
Your personal and professional details are, individually and collectively, worth a lot of money. How confident are you that this information will be used appropriately?
e) Evaluating social networks - Control
Of greater concern than privacy and security, is the issue of control over the direction of debate and the tone of discussion. A social network is a living, breathing organ and it would reflect very badly on your association and frustrate your own agenda if you were unable to influence how it behaved.
Again this is a problem with the better known social networks. You have no control. And some of you might already be aware of the problems that that lack of control can produce.
Now you may be thinking that for ultimate control, you need to build your own social network. Which brings me to …
f) Evaluating social networks - Cost
Building a custom social network is expensive. Don’t we know it. And a distraction. And once you’ve built it, you’re obliged to maintain it. Which involves further expense.
So you want a social networking platform that offers the privacy, the security and the control of your own proprietary social network without the cost or the hassle of having to build it yourself.
Viewed from that perspective, the choice of viable platforms narrows down considerably. But here’s a sobering thought. Choosing the right social networking platform is the easy part. The real challenge is launching and managing that social network so that it flourishes and fulfils the needs of both you and your members.
You don’t want to invest time, energy and money in developing a social network only to have it turn into an online Tumbleweed. But neither do you want it being used by the likes of the original online party boy planner – Corey Delaney Worthington.
Step 2: How to launch your social network
You need to view your social network as a new product. And a very important new product. If this new product is successful, then you have added enormous value to your association, and helped safeguard its future.
If this new product is not successful, your association might no longer be the focal point of the conversation in your profession or industry – with all that that implies. So how do you go about launching this new product?
If you were Coca Cola, you would just throw an extravagant amount of money at it. But you’re not. You can’t afford an all-guns-blazing mass launch. You need to build a beach-head and then let your social network grow organically from there. The key is sowing your social networking seed in fertile ground.
We would recommend you do a soft launch of your social network with the people who are the thought leaders of your association and also those who are already kindly disposed to social networks.
These are the people who most want your association’s social network to work, and they’re the only ones who can make it work.
In the off line world, you know who the active influencers are in your association. They may not be people who hold office but they participate. Your members know who they are and want to engage with them.
Once your thought leaders are up and running and driving the debate, you can start trying to engage your broader membership which leads us to our third secret, which is …
Step 3. How to promote your social network
It’s best not to spend a whole lot of energy on announcing the existence of your network. It's far better to promote its utility. What do I mean by that? Let’s look at this example. This is typically how most people would approach promoting a new social network.
Now while everything said here is true, if you are at best ambivalent about social networks and at worst you dislike them, then it’s unlikely to convert the average ceiling tile professional.
Your fencesitters won’t much care about the fact that you have a new network. But if you dangle some hooks with the right sort of bait, you can lure them into your network. For example, if the Australian Medical Association (AMA) launched a new social network, they could send an email that included something like this.
Remember: not all of your members are gagging for a social network. But they’ll generally want to express opinions on subjects that are important to their profession or association. Leverage that interest to introduce them to your social network. Once they’ve voted in a poll or posted an opinion, it’s likely they’ll want to come back to see how things pan out and, before they know it, they’re active members of your online community
Conferences, too, are a great way to introduce people to your social network through engagement.
- You can invite members to contribute conference discussion topics or
- To ask questions of presenters ahead of the event or
- You can promote special interest groups who are meeting at the conference
So don’t promote the fact that you have a social network. Keep baiting hooks and throwing them over the side. Eventually, and this is one the great things about social networks, word of mouth will spread and your association will have truly entered a new era of online existence.
Once you’ve launched the social network across your entire membership, your focus shifts to keeping a happy ship and there a number of things you must do that can help sustain the right environment.
Step 4 – How to moderate your social network
Some of you will be put off social networks because you’ll view moderating as an additional burden that you have to bear but that’s really not the case.
You might not fancy the job of moderating the forums but there are people in your association who will happily carry out that task for you and there are some do’s and don’ts that will help you select appropriate people and guide them in the role.
Step 5 - Refreshing content on your social network
The good news is that social networks are highly organic. You give them the spark of life and they begin to grow all on their own. But that doesn’t mean you can just set and forget. Here's how you can help keep your members interested.
- Change your poll on at least a weekly basis.
- Supplying a steady stream of news items
- Profile members – giving an insight into their personal life
- Highlight any discussion or point of view that is likely to engage your membership.
Again, you won’t necessarily need have a paid member of your association do this for you. It’s very likely you can get an active member who will gladly volunteer to take on the responsibility for you. You just need to find the right person.
Step 6 – Listening to your social network
This is probably the most difficult one. Until, now the power relationship between the association and its members has been strongly skewed towards the former. No more.
The internet in general, and a social network in particular, gives your members much greater access to what’s going on in your association and around the world.
Yes, you’re the official mouthpiece of the association, but a social network gives everyone a voice and it could be argued that the internet gives more credence to unofficial voices.
And a social network makes it much easier for dissenters to identify themselves to one another and to marshal their forces.
This might sound awful but the reality is, you can’t fight it. In fact, the worst thing you can do is try to fight it. The only solution is to listen to your members, and at the very least acknowledge that you’ve heard them and participate in the discussion.
Step 7 – Commit to the success of our social network
Social Networks are not a fad. They’re not shoulder pads. Or sea monkeys. They’re here to stay. Like it or not, members of your association will form social networks online. The only question is to what extent that social network is controlled by your association.
If you don’t establish a social network over which you exercise control, you run the risk of seeing your relevance decline, and your ability to influence the direction of your industry or profession diminish.
So, the final key to creating a successful social network is an iron-clad resolve to making it happen. Social networks aren’t the tinny you take fishing every other weekend. They’re the harbour ferry. They’re going to be central to the way your association functions into the future. Commit to making your social network a success and keep at it until that goal is realised. The future of your association depends on it.
(This is an edited version of a presentation given by issociate co-founder, Louise Kanis, at the Associations Forum Seminar in Sydney on Feb 23, 2010)
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