More people get their news from the Internet than from newspapers (Source: Pew Research Center for People & the Press).
Think about that for a minute. It not only describes a huge shift in how we get our information. It also indicates a shift in what kind of information we’re getting.
- We are no longer satisfied with a 1-size-fits-all menu of stories.
- We want information that fits into our schedules.
- We want to prioritize information ourselves.
- We want to read more in-depth information on stories that interest us.
Now ask yourself — what is your organization doing to address this shift? As traditional, 1-size-fits-all news delivery shatters into many pieces, you have an unprecedented opportunity to become a leading provider of information on topics related to your organization’s work. If you are a Bar Association, nobody knows the law like you. If you are a child advocacy organization, nobody knows child-abuse issues like you.
No matter what your organization does, the shift in news consumption means people are looking for information about it. And the Internet is enabling them to find that information quickly and easily. You have to decide whether you will provide it to them, or let a competitor do it.
I’m a big believer that physical paper newsletters are usually a waste of resources. If you’re sick of producing a physical newsletter, and thinking about switching to a digital one, Kivi Leroux Miller has some tips. What parts of the physical newsletter should you keep? What parts should you drop?
My favorite part of the article is Kivi’s description of that old standby, “The Letter from the Director:”
Honestly, these are often ghastly in print because they are typically full of jargon and behind-the-scenes minutiae, all of which is exactly opposite of what works in email. If the director really loves writing that letter, then it’s time to give him or her a blog. Your email newsletter, on the other hand, should be focused primarily on the readers and what they care about and how they can connect to you and your cause. Very brief letters can work, but they must laser-focused on the reader — the letter is simply a format for content you want to share, not an open invitation for the director to ramble.
Sure, some people will miss the slick newsletter you’ve been sending them every quarter for the past 20 years. But you’re better off producing more timely, more relevant, more frequent content online — and sending an occasional “digest” form of that electronic newsletter to your readers who don’t have computers.
Don’t assume that just because your customers or constituents are older, you shouldn’t be reaching out to them online. Chuck Zimmerman over at AgWired points to a report from eMarketer that shows older people are going online to get information, too.
You've put a lot of effort into hiring good people for your
organization. Trust them and turn them loose, and they're the ones who
will be building important relationships for your organization online.
That lesson is driven home by an article in the New York Times. The Times says big brands are having trouble justifying their investment in social-network advertising.
Independent experts on Web advertising have been watching, however, and
what they see is a myriad of difficulties in making brand advertising
work on social networking sites. Members of social networks want to
spend time with friends, not brands.
When major brands place banner advertisements on the side of a member’s
home page, they pay inexpensive prices, but the ads receive little
attention. Seth Goldstein, co-founder of SocialMedia Networks, an
online advertising company, wrote on his Facebook blog that a banner ad
“is universally disregarded as irrelevant if it’s not ignored
entirely.”
The trouble is not the medium; it's the message. I've written before that people expect your organization to participate on social networks. But that participation should not be merely about your organization. It should be about the people in your organization.
When you're putting together a social networking "strategy," always be thinking in terms of people. Don't post to Twitter in the name of your organization. Pick someone who's a good communicator, and have that person post for herself, on behalf of the organization. If you have a blog, don't post anonymous, institutional essays. Put a personal face on what you're writing.
The important point is that people, not brands, build relationships. That's true online as much as in person.
