Meeting Management: Social Media By David Nour
Take Away
Listen Louder
Still trying to figure out where your social-media efforts are getting you? It’s time to take a more strategic approach.
You’ve created a LinkedIn group, a Twitter account, aYouTube channel, and a Facebook fan page for your organizationand meetings. Are you planning your meetings and conventions more effectively or efficiently as a result? Attracting more attendees?Creating amore engagedcommu- nity? And howdo youmeasure that? If last year was about experimenting with this
shiny new toy called social networking, 2011 will be about actually getting ROI from your efforts. That begins with some clarification about what “being social” means: Social networks such as LinkedIn, Face-
book, Twitter, and YouTube are about having a presence to createawareness and marketing grav- ity for your organization and/or meeting. Social media is the platform or the vehicle;
it encompasses more than social networks. It involves being more searchable, paying for unique placement positions online, and employing conver- sion strategies to take information-buyers (your potential attendees) from being merely interested to becoming engaged. Social-market leadership is about purpose, understanding who you’re trying to “date,” and what will influence their thinking to make them decide to register for your meeting.
There is a lot of noise in the meetings industry,
with greater competition for mindshare, more ways to access content and join like-mindedcom- munities, and a plethora of ideal attendee environ- ments — destinations, hotels, and convention centers. If youwant to employ social media successful-
ly toengage your various constituents, you needto embrace a core shift in buyer behavior. Social media has empowered buyers — of products, services, and information—in awaythat previous- ly was not possible. In the past, meeting organiz-
ers educated these buyers with the medium—and at the time—of the organizers’ choosing, piquing buyers’ interest with a “save-the-date” e-mail or direct-mail piece. The search engine, however, has enabled buy-
ers to call the shots. They extensively research your event, your speakers, and their topics before ever engaging you. Buyers can check your credibility, build their own lineup of content to explore, and make a more informed decision.Whenthey show up on your online sites, you don’tknowif they are interested or available, let alone engaged. So, how do you cater to a potential attendee
who you don’t even know is interested in your agenda? Meeting professionalswhocannot man- age this transition will face a considerable head- wind when building or retaining internal and external relationships, and thus market share. Here are five tactics to help you develop social-
market leadership before, during, and after an event:
1.Developaprofile of your target information
buyers. Research them on LinkedIn, and create a personal brand they find of interest and value.
2.Think of your events as a campaign with a
focused social-media effort to create awareness for the benefit of participants.
3.Inadvanceofeachevent,proactively engage
themost influential internal and externalcommu- nication channels—e.g., newsletters, SharePoint sites, intranets, and private social networks.
4.Submit focused and relevant content (arti-
cles, videos, blog posts) one, two, or threemonths before each event, driving awareness and atten- dance to your event. 5.Leverage social networks, blogs, and your
broader influence footprint to create dialogue. Ask questions, postcomments, and stir the pot to provide a contrarian perspective. Always include links to learn more.
ON_THE_WEB: Read David Nour’s blog at
www.relationshipeconomics.net/blog. 26 pcma convene January 2011 ILLUSTRATION BY GREG MABLY
David Nour is the author of Relationship Economics, Connect- Ability, and The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Raising Capital. He presents about 50 keynote sessions a year for clients such as KPMG, Siemens, Chubb, Assurant, Delta Dental, and HP, as well as leading industry associations and academic forums. He has pioneered the concept that relationships are the greatest off-the-balance- sheet asset any organi- zation — large and small, public and private — can possess.
MakeItWorth Their Time Online users spend an estimated 23 per- cent of their time on social-networking sites—twice as much as any other online activity. Consider where you and many others hear news: less fromdirect sources such as the newspaper or televi- sion broadcasts, and much more through social networks. If your potential atten- dees are already online, they will easily migrate to your social- networking sites— providing you make the experience worth their time.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108