Membership

Social Media Roundup: Time to Get Focused

Are you using your data correctly? Also: Why pop culture is a cheap social media trick.

Good data is an association’s best friend. Use it poorly and your campaign becomes broad, unfocused, and wasteful. Use it correctly and you might bring an unexpected member into the fold. More thoughts on the matter:

Think Smart About Data

Our neighbors to the north, the British Columbia chapter of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, point out a great piece from XYZ University about the value of using data to get away from mass-marketed info and closer to building well-focused outreach. “My point is that associations aren’t using data to make changes in the way they operate,” Breanna Vanstrom explains. “Too often, associations talk to or plan events around one type of member, sometimes at the expense of other members. And again, these ‘others’ are exactly the new people they want to reach.”

Focusing on the Wrong Thing

In the same vein as our mention of the new book Social Media Is, SocialFish’s Maddie Grant points out Justin Kownacki’s piece on social media engagement and how using pop-culture posts as a crutch is just that — a crutch. “So now we’re creating a social marketing ecosystem built not upon valuable customer engagement but on triggering Pavlovian reflexes in our audience (‘I love John Ritter!’),” Kownacki writes, “which tells us nothing useful about them or in any way elevates their interest in our brand or increases actual sales.”

What cool stuff have you seen out there today? Let us know in the comments!

(Flickr photo/Toolstop)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

Got an article tip for us? Contact us and let us know!


Comments