Expert advice from the Fresh team

Most organisations' know that engaging with stakeholders through Social Media is becoming a communications imperative but few are sure how to go about it.

Nearly 70% of the internet population has used Social Media yet many organisations' are struggling to determine how best to engage with them through this medium. Listed below is a seven point plan to help start your organisation on the right path.

Find out where you stand

What's being said about your organisation online and by whom? 270,000 users mention Coke in their Facebook profiles and 617,000 have joined groups dedicated to Ugg Boots of all things. You cannot manage your organisations' reputation if you don't know what's being said about you.

Know your audience

Is your primary audience online and active? Know your audience and understand their current online habits as well as basic demography like age, geography and profession, for example, and then go to them. Although with a 72.9% penetration and over 5 million Australian's using the web every day, chances are that your audience are online and are engaging with Social Media.

Trust your people

You cannot harness Social Media if you are not using it internally. You cannot expect your own staff to champion the cause if it is new and alien to them. Practice what you preach and encourage your people to blog, share, wiki and network. Trust them to add value to your brand and to your organisation. If getting started, or convincing management to use Social Media is a problem, then consider enterprise micro blogging software, for example Yammer which encourages use but limits risk and exposure.

Get involved and stay engaged

Being actively involved in managing your message and managing your organisation's reputation using Social Media can be invaluable to any organisation. Look at the potential and then if you consider it appropriate, get involved and stay engaged. There's nothing more likely to damage your reputation than to dip in and out of this space based upon short term campaign objectives.

Keep it real

Don't try and fake it, you will get caught out. Yes, communicate your messages and manage your own agenda, but do it honestly and do it openly. Remember, if you want to run an advert buy the media space.

Get to the point

Assuming you haven't bought the space you don't own it, so make your point move on and let someone else have their turn. Also speak using language that your audience understands, don't use technical language or jargon if it doesn't add any value.

Measure what you are achieving

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it and just because Social Media is new doesn't excuse the medium from the same maxim as all of the other communications techniques your organisation employs.

This is not a strategy, not even an approach to Social Media, but more of a check list for your organisation.

Finally, as a last tip, experiment a little and have some fun.



Richard has been an Executive Director and the Chief Executive Officer of Daemon Group since 2003. Prior to founding Daemon Group, Richard was Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Interactive with TMP Worldwide and before that, Global Head of Marketing for Michael Page International.

Source: Digital Ministry