To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Despite all the mentions on TV by hosts and anchors trying to sound hip, only 8% of online Americans use Twitter, according to The Pew Research Center. Only 53% of that group check Twitter once a week or more for updates. How do your members compare? Have you asked them lately where they go online to find news, information and conversation?

What do your members prefer?

Before you dismiss Twitter, or any other tool, remember the goal is to touch all your members somewhere; you’ll never reach them all in one place. Some members like a printed publication. Others read digital magazines, blogs or RSS subscriptions online. Some prefer receiving information in their email inbox. And others are more comfortable with an interactive platform, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or an online community. You won’t know until you ask.

But even if you ask, not all members will answer, so you need a Plan B. Another way to find out if your members are using Twitter is to export member email addresses to a Gmail account. Then upload that Gmail address book to Twitter to find out how many of those email addresses are tied to Twitter profiles.

How can Twitter help?

If you find that only a small segment of your members use Twitter regularly, you might ask yourself whether it’s worth the effort to spend time on Twitter. Are these Twitter members already engaging with the association and, more importantly, with other members? If they’re not or you’re not sure, don’t rule out Twitter yet.

By listening and engaging on Twitter, your association can:

• Help members connect, talk and develop relationships with each other.
• Use your member community on Twitter as an unofficial focus or advisory group by asking them questions and soliciting their feedback.
• Provide customer and member service in a private or public manner.
• Share news and resources with members and others.
• Host a weekly or biweekly Twitter chat on topics of interest.
• Post ad-hoc volunteer opportunities using a hashtag (#label).
• Engage members, attendees and prospects before, during and after events and conferences.

A conversational and personable Twitter communication style can help demonstrate the accessible, friendly and helpful side of your association and staff. Members want to connect with people, not institutions. Twitter can help you do this with your members and others. You can:

• Be a reliable and trusted source for news and stories and develop relationships with traditional and online media.
• Follow and interact with policy-makers and their staff.
• Inform and engage with consumers and other stakeholders.

Another strategic tool for associations

Association professionals adopted new tools in the past once it became obvious how they could help the association achieve its objectives. Emails and websites had to prove their worth, then association management systems, and now online communities and other social platforms like Twitter.

Twitter can be worth your time (and money) if you use it strategically. Be clear about your objectives and develop a plan for content sharing and community building.

Think of Twitter as a relationship building and content sharing hub. Too many associations use Twitter only to broadcast marketing messages about upcoming events. Don’t make that mistake. Twitter is not a broadcasting platform, it’s a social platform. Yes, Twitter can be a powerful word-of-mouth marketing tool, but its real advantage is in creating community and conversation, two very worthy objectives.

In a future post, I’ll delve into how to use Twitter to build community and conversation.

Why does your association use Twitter? How is it working for you?

                                                                                        Image by Geek&Poke