Ham, Eggs and Effective Social Networking

by Jim Killion

Soc Nets + Reeve FdnSince social networking is now de rigueur among enterprises large and small, commercial and nonprofit, one reasonable question to ask is: What makes social networking a success?

For too many people success has become synonymous with presence on the Big 5 of social networks (see logos).

At the core of the matter of effectiveness there is the ham and eggs breakfast: the chicken is involved, the pig is committed. Which leads to my point: it’s one thing to be involved with social networking, it’s quite another to be committed to it.

Successful social networking starts with a strategic plan that addresses important fundamentals:

  • What do we want to accomplish?
  • Who is in our target audience(s)?
  • What do we have to offer that is of compelling interest to our audience(s)?
  • What do we want people to do?
  • How can we encourage our target audience to interact?
  • How can we motivate target audience to share us with their friends?
  • How will we know if we’re successful?
  • How do we keep our content fresh and compelling?
  • How will we engage people in an ongoing dialog?
  • How do we reward our faithful followers?

All of this takes time, attention, tools and persistence. Do you have someone handling your social strategies or is it an afterthought?

Here are some interesting nonprofit social networking initiatives:
http://apps.facebook.com/reevefoundation/home?showLightBox=1
http://apps.facebook.com/orangeforaspca/
http://www.myspace.com/helpcurenow
http://www.youtube.com/user/WorldVisionStir
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-fellowship/

Many of these, while well done, struggle at some level to attract and engage an audience. How do we get people to visit and become viral about our social networking sites? Share your thoughts below.

– Jim Killion, Senior Vice President, eMarketing, STRATMARK

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