Web 2.0 Start-Up Strategy
Nonprofit technology expert and educator John Kenyon made the power of social media a more accessible concept when he presented at our consultants network of the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin County. “Making Web 2.0 Work for You” began with the “Conversation” prism, Brian Solis’ iconic visual that neatly frames “the art of social media listening, learning and sharing.”
And he made really clear that a website and email communications are the foundation of any strategy, with email still the “killer app.” For fundamentals, that means that your chances to build relationships are only as good as your email list — eg, your audience database.
John’s big themes for any social media strategy:
- Start with your needs — who is your audience and where do they “live” online?
- Find people who are passionate about your causes (through Technorati and Google Alerts).
- Grow people’s awareness and familiarity with your cause, and own the search engines! (Google Adwords, Blogging).
- Amplify word of mouth and grow your email list (YouTube and Flickr).
- Plug your supporters into fundraising widgets (ChipIn.org, SixDegrees.org, Change.org).
- Go where people are and tap into user participation (Facebook).
- Inspire people to visit your website and engage with you.
How to know if you’re headed in the right direction? Since Web 2.0 is still the “Wild West,” there are no industry-wide benchmarks and not a lot of data. So start with measuring ROI against your organization’s goals, not goals that other organizations have.
Check out this ebook, Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission, which John, Beth Kanter and other nonprofit technology gurus have just published. They’ll all be at the national Nonprofit Technology Conference, sponsored by the pace-setting Nonprofit Technology Network NTEN in San Francisco, April 26-28.
Thanks for the ping and notes. I’d agree with those points for strategy – but they won’t have legs unless you also address your organization’s culture. Some food for thought:
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/04/social-media-in-the-nonprofit-workplace-does-your-organization-need-a-policy.html
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/04/silos-culture-inside-the-walls-of-nonprofits-prevent-effective-social-media-use.html
One more thing about industry wide benchmarks and not a lot of data – that’s changing or has been changing.
For example, AdAge benchmarks marketing blogs –
http://adage.com/power150/
That same scorecard will also be used for social change bloggers in the coming weeks.
And, you can always chart your web 2.0 metrics (engagement, influence, authority, etc) and compare with other similar bloggers using tools like AideRSS. And there are evolving tools that also benchmark your use of Twitter -