Feature Articles

Even though one-off social media interactions should not be scripted or planned, having a social media game plan is essential. Know where you plan to engage your members and create an editorial calendar for orchestrated content. Decide what association goal will be met or advanced through your social media interactions.

There are plenty of articles that have been written about social media planning and strategy. Once you've arrived at one, congratulate yourself/association and immediately schedule a future review of the plan. Whether you do so annually, semi-annually or on a quarterly basis is up to you. The time taken to review is just as important as the original drafting. Set aside time to make sure you’re still on your intended course. Revisit your strategy to ensure you're still on target with your association's goals. Make certain you’re where you intended to be at this time (according to your original plan).

Using social media for professional or business purposes is similar to boating. You can get out there, pay no attention to what’s going on around you (like say the weather), and float around with no course or destination. Or you can research your surroundings (checking in with the weatherman), double-check future predictions, and chart a course to your destination. However, selecting a destination doesn’t mean you can rely on auto-pilot and expect to arrive with little to no effort. There are unpredictable things that happen in boating and social media, things that need to be corrected for or steered through. Unless you know where you’re going, you won’t be sure how off-course you’ve gotten. And you won’t know how off-course you are (or could potentially be) unless you compare your current location to where your map (or strategy) says you should be. Even those of us using social media on a daily basis need to re-check ourselves periodically. Make sure we’ve accounted for everything we could in our social media strategies and making mid-course corrections if we’ve wandered off. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength.

An association's social media strategy shouldn’t be ironclad; nor should it be able to swept up and blown around by the winds of change. It should be buoyant but directed, charting a course towards your ultimate destination -- successful attainment of your association's goal.