To truly engage members, the key is to create meaningful
programs and then heap on reward and recognition---the only proven
combination to actually permanently change behavior (which, make no
bones about it, is exactly what we are trying to do). One of the main
facets of my job is to work on methods that specifically address your
issue--namely, how do we get people to adopt social networking and then
further engage with the organization. I do want to point out that we
often miss the fact that launching a social networking focuses on user
adoption while growing a social network focuses on engagement---there
are different strategies for both. However, I wanted to provide you
with a few ideas/ programs that I've repeatedly used throughout the
years that are tried and true that are compelling enough to get people
to start using the social networking platform:
1) Appeal to different segments of your memberships based on the unique
(collective) value that they bring and what they may offer others, and
then craft a program and launch on your social network. 30 year olds
and 60 year olds are vastly different in terms of career lifecycle, but
may share other commonalities. Use the dynamics of relationships to
create compelling programs. For example, 30 year olds are entering
into the hard work phase of their career where they may be in
preparation for the next management level or are clock-punching to some
extent until they can move up the ladder. They may be in the throes or
beginning family life with all the stresses it brings while working.
This group might greatly benefit from the advice of 60 year olds who
have lived through this period and provide perspective and sage advice
on coping mechanisms, etc. 60 year olds might be facing retirement or
looking at the beginnings of legacy creation and might have the desire
to continue to give back or expand their ability in giving back and
making an impact. Why not bring together these two groups to provide a
mutually beneficial Mentoring Program? This is a new program that you
can then run on your social network to ensure low administrative cost
and low-touch with the staff of your organization, but deliver
high-value to your constituents (the win-win we are looking for!).
2) Find a universal commonality/interest and set up a community around
this idea. For example, almost all professionals want to know what
other professionals are reading or where they get their information.
Perhaps you can address this basic human voyeuristic quality by putting
together a Global Information Exchange Club and allowing members to
share where their go-to places are to get the information that helps
them to best perform in their jobs. Instead of a discussion or in
addition to, why not survey them or set up a quick poll to see where
people are going for information and then share this back with the
group. One of the biggest changes for organizations to realize as they
undertake social networking is that their role is changing. Instead of
being information providers, the organization is becoming an
information aggregator and facilitator. Once users are empowered to
create their own content, the organization can take on the role of
facilitating conversations, compiling data to identify trends and
patterns at the aggregate level and then pulling out examples and
showcasing them to the global group.
3) Start a conversation prior to meeting in -person. Why not ask all
attendees prior to the conference to go to their individual blog or
discussion list in your social network and write in the top 3
challenges the industry faces today or another such question. Then
feed this information back to the keynote speaker or ED/CEO of your
trade association and let them address their sentiments in a conference
session. Why not create an ad hoc session around their feedback? or,
look at the responses and then, at the conference, have tables set up
that pool people together around certain of the aggregated topics and
create ad hoc task forces to discuss the issue and then leave the
conference to continue the dialogue online?
4) Why not just start a discussion with a super compelling title such
as "People Who Want to Drive Innovation in our Industry" and let people
opt-in and give an award for the most innovative ideas or reward
individuals for the amount/quality of their contributions in providing
innovative ideas.
5) Why not just ask members for content? Many organizations are
hesitant to ask for content and it is true that in social networking,
if you build it there is no guarantee that they will come. However, it
often is the case that if you ask for content, they will provide.
First, it depends on how you ask and second, it depends on what you do
with the content. If you ask organizations to contribute content that
helps them and provides them with greater visibility or credibility,
they are far more likely to provide the content. If there is the
possibility of getting praise on top of it for providing content, then
your chance for success greatly increases. Never underestimate the
power of giving visibility to an organization or individual within a
social network--the "name in lights" phenomena and public praise is one
of the fastest ways to get people to adopt. Unfortunately, it often
seems to rub up against organizations' attitudes towards members which
is to treat them all the same due to fear of presenting the
organization in any way that shows favoritism. Unfortunately, this
long-held attitude that "all members must receive the same benefits"
also often makes your organization seem outdated and rigid in an era
where everything is personalized and the younger generations are all
told that each person is uniquely different. So go ahead and ask for
content and then praise individuals for their contributions and show
gratitude for their willingness to give so that you can reinforce this
behavior (after all, we want them giving more in the future) and others
can see that the behavior of giving is richly rewarded in your
organization. Remember the basic rule that people love to talk about
themselves, so ask them to provide their opinions/insights/stories as
much as possible. As a trade organization, you may ask members to
provide models or samples used or lessons learned in their advocacy
efforts, best programs used for soliciting support for initiatives at
the local level, policies used in member companies to support tenets of
your organization, etc. Even ask for company histories and collect
these---ask member companies to outline what their company did during
other economic downturns, etc. You might be surprised what you receive
if you ask members to provide content for a specific purpose and with a
specific identified reward for their contribution.
The bottom line is this: you might have a strategy that tells you where
you want to go with your social network and outlines the
goals/objectives, you might have the best software tools in the world
to allow your members to use your social network, but if you don't know
how to create programs of value to appeal to users and fulfill unmet
needs, the social network will usually stay at the level of an online
filing cabinet with a few discussion threads around it. The key to
this new world order is knowing how to effectively market--- you must
be an expert at demand creation and communication and know how to
continuously reinvent yourself to sustain that demand and keep people
interested.