Can Social Media Surface New Member Leads?

If you build it, that doesn’t mean they’ll come.

In fact, when it comes to social strategy, a few more steps are needed to turn your plan into something that drives new membership, advises Brie Ragland, social media account manager at MultiView  (opens in a new tab).

“As an association executive, you most likely can’t go a single day without clicking on a link that leads to a story stressing the need for the association world to tackle and conquer the social media realm, if for no other reason than to cash in on the millennial membership numbers every association is after,” Ragland writes in a post for MultiView. “But like all things marketing, successful social networking requires a strategy.”

One of the keys, she says, is the idea that your own members should do much of the talking, through testimonials. Ragland suggests spending time curating quotes from people who have something specific to say about your organization that will entice outsiders and then sharing those nuggets on all the major social media platforms.

“Take the time to cultivate these responses; create a nice graphic to go with the quote; and spread these strategically throughout Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram,” she suggests. “One testimonial a week on each platform is a great place to start.”

It may take a long time before you see results from this kind of groundwork, but if done properly, the outcome will be worth the effort.

Check out Multiview’s blog for more details  (opens in a new tab).

Convention Minutiae to Watch

Philly DNC host committee denied tax-exempt status. https://t.co/Lluyehz2bQ  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/YKNGrlevdd  (opens in a new tab)

— Andrew Tobias (@AndrewJTobias) July 16, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

Lost in the many speeches and media coverage of the two national presidential nominating conventions are some interesting details about the tax status of the groups putting on the events. While the Republican National Convention’s host committee in Cleveland is having trouble covering the bill for the convention  (opens in a new tab), the Democratic National Convention’s Philadelphia host committee has a big problem of its own—it has been unable to attain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status  (opens in a new tab), unlike its GOP counterpart.

While the committee is expected to appeal, the Center for Public Integrity reported recently  (opens in a new tab) that the committee may look into organizing itself as a 501(c)(6)—a tax status traditionally associated with trade groups.

It will be interesting to see how that one shakes out.

Other Links of Note

If you want to create amazing content, a journalist’s mindset helps, author Dennis Shiao writes on CMSWire  (opens in a new tab).

“It’s understandable that media companies should look at Pokémon Go and wonder whether they can learn any lessons from it,” Chris Sutcliffe observes in a post for The Media Briefing  (opens in a new tab). That doesn’t mean that he thinks there are any lessons to take from it, however.

Interesting app to watch. Tinycards  (opens in a new tab), the first non-linguistic offering from Duolingo, could be the future of education on the go. The Next Web has the scoop  (opens in a new tab).