Be a part of the community, don’t take advantage
posted by Anthony Bernas, July 9, 2010 | permalink
I was recently reading an article written by Tom Foremski at zdnet in which he discusses the misstep of corporations jumping into the world of social media with the intentions of social sales and nothing more.
His comparison comes from an individuals desire to use the social qualities of social media versus the corporate vantage point of commercial purposes. I particularly like the following quote,
"At parties, people will avoid that person that is selling something. Friends that invite their friends to tupperware parties, or multi-level marketing, are tolerated for a while, but not for long. Similarly, companies that use social media as sales media must understand there is a time and place for it, or they risk harming their brand."
His point is valid but is there more to take away other than “corporations use social media for social sales and that’s bad”? I believe there is.
In the realm of nonprofits there is a grey area to be found. A nonprofit exists because of a community that supports it. Therefore, it stands to reason that nonprofits should embrace social media and become a part of the community. We now stumble upon the fine line.
Be a part of the community, don’t take advantage of it. When a corporation finds a target demographic that has come together using social media the gut reaction naturally is, “like shooting fish in a barrel.” But this backfires. Why? The answer is in the question of why is a target demographic coming together? They have come together to discuss how much they love fly fishing (for example). Although this group would naturally attract companies selling camping equipment, they don’t want to talk about camping, they are there to discuss fly fishing.
The point: Although social media offers hundreds of groups, communities, and avenues for sharing information deny the temptation to interact with them all. Successful social media is having a strong community and this comes from similar interests, trust, and good content. Focus on what you are “putting out there” rather than how many times you have put it there.
Moral of the story: As a nonprofit using social media to share its story, show the world how they are making a difference, and attract new donors and volunteers, they need to make sure they are joining the conversation; not trying to sell camping equipment to fly fishers.
[...] I am not trying to contradict my recent discussion of not taking advantage of the online community, but rather would like to build upon it. The simple fact is that if you put your content in front [...]