DAY AFTER: How to overcome fears when creating social media content for your organization

Sep 28 2011 Published by under Day After

I have a lot less fear now in writing this post! Why?
Because of the chat we had yesterday.

It was a good chat.  Fears that were expressed were….

  • the speed and magnitude in which a mistake can amplify and broadcasted to billions
  • the standard fears: legalities, privacy, etc.
  •  the fear of showing too much of your individual personality & taking away from your organization’s brand

Tools, tricks, and techniques were shared throughout the chat, but I think the most interesting part of the conversation came at the end.  This question was asked…

Q5: Would you say that the org's you like to ENGAGE wITH are fearful or fearless when pushing content out online? #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:15 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@MillennialChat
MillennialChat

And a resoundiong, FEARLESS, came from the group.  Fearless meaning you know your audience, you aren’t afraid to engage directly with followers, and you challenge your followers in creative ways.  Here are some good answers to the question above:

A5: definitely fearless. Fearful orgs are impossible to truly engage with, and I keep that in mind when doing SM for mine. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:17 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite
@eklova
Elyse Klova

 

@ A5 Maybe it's less about fear than about knowing audience. Orgs that tastefully challenge make better convo. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:18 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite

 

A5: Fearless but smart. Somewhat easy to tell the one's who are fearful. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:18 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@AshleyHurney
Ashley Hurney

 

A5: Fearless, but I like orgs that use sm responsibly. Makes me feel that reflects how they handle my $ as a donor. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:20 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
@sarahkathleen
Sarah Bradbury

To read more on how #millennials believe organizations should be fearless when creating social media content, you can read the entire chat transcript here…

http://sfy.co/IAF

Do you have more you would like to talk about on the DAY AFTER #MillennialChat?? Comment below.  You can also catch us on LinkedIn throughout the week.

 

Cheers,
Willie

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Overcoming fears when creating social media content for your organization

Sep 23 2011 Published by under Guest Post

Guest Post:
#Millennialchat.ter Ashley Hurney (@AshleyHurney). Ashley is a Communications Specialist at MTM Recognition.  Away from the office she is a sports fanatic, volleyball coach and an avid shoe shopper.
Her blog today shines some light on next week’s theme:

“How to overcome fears when creating social media content for your organization.

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Sitting down for a quick lunch and what do you do?

Pull out your phone and check out a social media site.

Why? You want to know what’s going on with your friends, family, and the world.

The average person will check their Facebook at least 3 times a day. Bottom line, you want to be connected. If we can use social media so much in our personal lives, why don’t more businesses take advantage of all those eyes?

Fear of the unknown!

We all have it, but deal with it differently. Some of the fear may be “legal” issues. Remember it’s Facebook, but it’s just Facebook. And social media is free, costing only time. Over the fear of social media, itself? Great!

photo by cdsessums

Picture it like this, an organization using social media for the first time is like getting into a pool for the first time –

you don’t HAVE to dive in.


Stick your toes in the water – create a company twitter handle/Facebook page.
Move your feet around and test the waters – check out companies similar to yours, content pertaining to your business, and industry leaders. Start posting interesting things on a weekly basis.
Next, get waist deep – content is king, so start posting targeted content and interact with followers/friends of company pages.
Now you’re ready to stick your head under water – throw out questions to your social media participants, contests, and post pictures of company events.

Not sure what to post or wonder if you are allowed to post?
Get creative, check with supervisor on anything you have a question on. Ask administration what is okay to put out there. Chances are there is a minimal amount of things they may not want on social media, and they’re probably common sense things. Business doesn’t have to be rigid all the time, but content should always have a certain degree of professionalism. Most importantly, keep it relatable!

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Tune in next Tuesday at 3:30pm EST and follow the hashtag – #MillennialChat
Hope to see you there!

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