From my perspective, when it comes to communicating with an ever-evolving audience, today’s organization has more than enough tools to get the job done — blogs, podcasts, social networks (which was our focus in this discussion), search, advertising, and much more. Yet the combination of rapid technological innovation and continuous social shifts have left many organizations, and newspapers in particular, struggling to stay focused and execute their ideas.
What's wrong? First and foremost, organizations too often look to technology as the solution to their problems. It’s not about the technology -- no widget or tool or database or network on its own will make your customers do anything. There is no single online community or set of functionality they offer, that will meet all your needs. Technology can help host a vibrant conversation, facilitate a purchase or make delivery of products or services more efficient. And social networks make the interaction that you have with your audience that much deeper and potentially more meaningful. But the key to success is understanding how people use technology to create, consume, and share information and what their expectations are when it comes to interacting with folks like you.
So what do you need to know to succeed? In my book, Media Rules!, I address three big themes:
Everything is fragmented and blurred: It is necessary and expected that our society will evolve and the impact of those changes will be felt by all organizations. But never has our society changed so quickly or and never have organizations been so dramatically impacted. We are all challenged to adapt in ways, and at levels, not previously imagined. And with little sense that the chaos will settle down any time soon, it is important, new frameworks for operating – and succeeding – must be developed and manage along the way.
Small Can Be Big: Our culture and economy are increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As a result, what you sell is different. How you sell is different. The services you offer have changed. The expectations of those who shop, and share, and create are shifting as well. New markets have been created, for products and ideas alike, and organizations must determine whether to participate, and if so, how.
We Are All Connected: Technology has fundamentally changed our culture. The online world is about connection, community and conversation. And as the online world goes, so goes much of what the rest of the world thinks and acts on. What we know about each other is changing, or in some cases just being learned. How we think and the decisions we make are increasingly driven by many voices not few. Total control has been replaced by complete understanding and participation.
What does that mean in terms of how you act, especially in the context of a social networking environment?
You have to understand what the rise of Web 2.0 and other technologies in our society means. For example: The Internet has become an essential part of everyday life and changed the way we relate to media, information, and each other. Audiences of all ages and types are more connected, diverse, and sophisticated than ever before. We do not rely on single source for information, experience, or stuff, we don’t get our news from one place, buy our clothes from only one store, watch the same television show or participate in the same activity every day, day after day.
Technology allows each member of the audience the opportunity to find their own personal connection to something. The days of mass audience communications are over. Newspaper reading, television watching, and radio listening habits are changing constantly as new technology becomes available. The promotional and communications activities that we have grown accustomed to no longer work as they once did, and new options must be explored. That's why social networks and online communities are so important. But it also is why you can't 'control' what people are saying or doing. You have to do more than just create niche, creative ways to re-package all the same offerings you did in the past, come up with a buzz-worthy campaign that people want to talk about (though that has an important role). You have to guide and support people, understand their needs and help deliver on those expectations. You have to create and promote better products, bigger ideas, provide greater value and service, and the like.
The good news is, all organizations regardless of their makeup, format, focus, or function, have many of the same opportunities and face many of the same challenges now. You aren't alone. It’s a new ballgame for everyone.
- Content is important. Online communities, or organizations that are using social networking platforms to help organize, must commit to promoting content to help spur discussion within the community. But, don't try to force issues that aren't relevant to your audience, or use the tools to simply broadcast your own perspective. Successful organizations monitor the conversations and activities of their audience and align the content they have (or in some cases create evergreen) to help enhance the discussion. This can be highly structured, even programmed, or you can throw it open to your audience tap into the user generated content opportunity. No matter what direction you choose to go, the key point is this: If you create or provide timely, relevant, and compelling information to your audience they will respond by spending more of their time and energy participating in the community.
- Being focused is critical. Because the internet doesn't have borders, there is the belief that a community can thrive anywhere, anytime. That may be true, but you are more likely find successful online communities that are very localized, or very specifically focused around some issue. Niche is good. Think about it, a conversation in New Orleans, for example, would be very different than a conversation about the same subject in New York or Los Angeles, because the audience has a different perspective and different personal interest. Thus, a group organizing around that issue inside a social networking platform will have to help a unique conversation happen in each segment of the audience. The same is true of large audiences -- a project that asked too broad a geographic region to participate, or tries to tackle too many issues (or issues at a 30,000 foot level only) risks not feeling intimate. One of the great opportunities is to empower your volunteers, staff, supporters or whoever you can in each local area, or around each specific issue, to program and support their community as they see fit -- and by getting out of the way you allow the networks to grow and morph into whatever the local audience wants. Key point: Don't try to be all things to all people - find a niche and focus on delivering a solid experience that the local (or very focused) audience finds engaging. If needed, manage lots of different niches well.
- The audience is in control. Make no mistake about it, your audience is what makes the community strong. They start conversations, they submit photos and videos, they provide the comments and feedback to their fellow community members, and more. It is important for you to play a role in guiding and supporting a community - and of course you want to play an active role -- but if you take too heavy a hand in orchestrating how things go, you risk alienating your users and undermining the community spirit. Key point: The very nature of the internet gives the audience control over its own experience -- and they know and expect to have that control. Your role is to understand that and work with the audience to create a great experience. If you try to dictate too much of the experience, you will turn off the community.