opment of useful tools and experiences.
Remember, it is the members who must
realize value for a social network to
flourish.
DEFINING THE MEMBER
EXPERIENCE
New social networking sites constantly
are popping up, each only slightly different than the last. In the end, though,
they all provide two basic functions: connecting and discussing.
Every social networking site provides
a means for connecting, whether in a
relatively self-contained group, with
Ning, or with anybody in the world, as
with Twitter. Connection alone does not
warrant in-house development, however. Members have a variety of options
to connect on a superficial level and
associations could use a free technology to provide this service. In fact, some
associations may be shocked to find that
members are already grouping together
on open platforms. Even the broadest
groups now have the ability to create
smaller, more targeted groups to connect
people with similar interests.
As with connecting, most open sites
facilitate discussing via discussion
forums, instant messaging and, in some
cases, personal blogs. The question that
associations need to ask is: What are
members discussing, and how inclusive
is the discussion? Random thoughts,
questions and other conversational discussions may not justify an in-house
system. In fact, they may receive more
attention on an open network by attracting nonmembers to the conversation.
For example, professionals on LinkedIn
who look for solid waste-related groups
will find the Solid Waste Association of
North America and more than 500 of its
members online. Had this group been
behind the curtain of a members-only
site, valuable new contacts may have
been missed. Also, nonmembers provide
some unique insights and may represent
new or underrepresented segments of
the industry. In fact, in the initial phases
of the SWANA group, it was nonmembers who kept the conversations going.
If an association’s social media plan
is to connect members and allow them
to have informal discussions, serious
consideration needs to be given to an
open source technology. The goal isn’t to
THE GOAL ISN’T TO COMPETE WITH
FACEBOOK AND OTHER SITES, BUT
RATHER TO USE THE FEATURES
THESE SITES PROVIDE.
compete with Facebook and other sites,
but rather to use the features these sites
provide. In-house social media platforms
need to provide new, unique and valuable
experiences that members can’t receive
elsewhere. If an association is unable to
do this initially, a better use of resources
may be to develop other benefits and services that would have a more significant
impact than to open up another Facebook
look-alike — especially when the original
will do.
tent shared is available only on the
association’s hosted platform. Given the
value proposition, they’ll begin to join
or convert. If they don’t, the value proposition may not be strong enough and
some fine-tuning to the content may be
necessary.
MAINTAIN
CORE OFFERINGS
COMPETING WITH
FACEBOOK
If an association decides to build a
hosted solution, it must find a competitive advantage if it is to compete with
open social media sites. A competitive
advantage of an association-specific
social media platform could be that it
provides the ability to connect the right
people and provide the content needed
to have meaningful conversations. While
Google provides a plethora of information, much information on the Web is
unchecked and unreliable. Members-only content, however, has been reviewed
by volunteer committees, staff, conference attendees and industry leaders.
Instead of building a social media
platform solely on the powers of social
media, associations need to go back to
basics and remember what it is that
makes them a valuable resource to
members. Providing content and the
opportunity to review and build upon it
creates real value available only through
an association’s social media site. Given
the right mix of content, conversation
and audience, any association platform
can compete with the likes of Facebook.
Once the conversations start flowing, share some morsels of group-only
content with nonmembers and skeptical
members. Remind them that the con-
The goal of any association should be to
invest resources where they will provide
the most value to members. Developing
a platform based on quality information
strengthens the association’s position as
a content leader while providing the significant connections members desire.
However, it is easy for associations to
spend a significant amount of resources
trying to compete with the likes of Facebook, when in reality it’s neither necessary nor useful to members. Associations
need to recognize that while members
may be flocking to Facebook and other
outlets for basic connections, the association needs to refocus on what has
historically drawn members. Associations
need to maintain these core offerings
when moving online. Facebook and other
sites have set the example; it is up to
associations to build off of this and provide the additional value expected by
members.
Creating and investing in an in-house
social media platform before evaluating
the benefits of available technologies will
result in another empty field of dreams.
Instead, develop a field that isn’t available anywhere else, filled with experiences
and content that members find valuable.
If the association builds this, members
will come.
Bob Wolfe, Jr., is manager of marketing and communications for the Solid Waste Association of North
America. He may be reached at Rwolfe@Swana.org.
