A recent interview with Joe Pulizzi of Junta42 provides some great insight into the role of content today in the marketplace and why companies are looking to outsource the creation of this content to experts in custom media and content marketing. Today companies can’t rely on their customers to tell their story. They need their own custom content to tell their story, and then as Joe points out, “great content should spawn useful user-generated content.”
Here are Joe’s keys to success in content marketing:

I recently attended my first Lunch & Learn hosted by Association Media & Publishing. What a great program for association professionals! This one was covering use of social media — an important topic around here at Hammock.
One of the things that I always find most valuable at such gatherings is the questions people ask. They give you a little window into understanding the association audience they serve.
I found myself asking “How would we answer that at Hammock?” since we are using all types of social media tools as part of our content marketing strategies every day. Instead of blurting out answers there, I circulated the questions to our Internet marketing team and here’s what they said.

We agree with the magazine experts at Foliomag.com who are predicting that content’s role for publishers this year will expand and grow. The creation and execution of targeted content will be a huge asset for publishers and will help them connect with their readers who are looking to access content not only in a variety of places, but also with different platforms and tools.

“It will be imperative to respond to the readers needs—where, when and in the format they prefer—or see yourself being pushed out of the market. Print will still play a flagship role for most magazine enterprises, but there will be a continued drive to expand existing channels including print magazines and newsletters, digital magazines and e-newsletters, mobile, Web sites, blogs, podcasts, virtual events, video and many others.”

Struggling through what speaker after speaker acknowledged is one of the most challenging times ever faced by the association community, there was still a strong note of determination and resolve among the attendees, panelists, speakers and exhibitors at the ASAE Conference and Expo.

One such call to be open to the opportunities found in times of crisis and challenge came from best-selling author and consultant Gary Hamel, who first sounded a warning to those married to the status quo.

“Problems happen when the leaders of an association are behind the thinking of their members,” he said. “That’s when denial occurs. That’s when digging in and protecting the status quo occurs.” It’s also when most great changes take place, he declared.

Being open to experimentation — and the failure it often brings — was another theme heard throughout the event. Again, as Hamel said, using acorns from an oak tree as a metaphor: “It takes a thousand nutty ideas to come up with one or two that take root and grow into giants.”

Perhaps the most universal theme heard was the challenge to association executives to drop their belief in certain “myths” that are preventing them from moving forward. Here are just a few of the myth-challenging assertions we heard association executives and presenters discuss:

It’s not just the economy: We’d strongly advise anyone who is an executive at an association to review the most recent ASAE research report on the impact of the economy on associations. (You can download the PDF here.) After reading it, you may want to believe that yes, it is the economy as membership and participation in associations — especially professional associations where dues and expenses are covered by an employer — have been greatly impacted by the downturn. However, the research also shows there are factors beyond the economy that are fundamentally changing the association landscape. Some of them have to do with the ways individuals are organizing and sharing knowledge online, others have to do with generational shifts and others relate to the perception and expectation of the value one receives from membership in the association. Bottom line: Don’t fool yourself into believing that the economy recovering is going to translate into the recovery of an association who does not address other fundamental issues.

The solution is not technology: Of course, a stroll through the ASAE Expo hall would astound anyone not familiar with the array of technology now available to organize, administer, track, communicate with and train staff and members of an association. But presenter after presenter warned that placing too much belief or faith in a “platform” instead of into “relationships” or “innovation” can lead to failure. Charlene Li, author and new media analyst, said in a keynote address that captured the message of many of the conference panels: “Don’t trust a specific technology to be the answer. Next year, there will be a new set of technologies, so it’s not about technology — it’s about strategy, approach, being wherever your members are.”

Let go of control: The economy may have been the backdrop of the conference, but “social media” was the topic most discussed in general sessions, learning lab panels and in the hallways. Frankly, trying to decide what exactly the term means was a challenge for some association executives. By the end of the meeting, however, the message was clear: Social media is not something an association can “own” or “control.” Associations can participate in conversations and help members connect with one another — within the association context and outside it — but the idea that “social media” fits within the paradigm of association staff talking “to” the members was clearly dispelled. Time after time, in panel sessions or in the hallway, we heard examples of how associations were struggling with groups of members who were “setting up their own websites” or “planning their own ‘un-conferences.'” The best advice we heard was when someone in a hallway conversation responded to another attendee who complained about such a situation where a member had organized an unauthorized meeting that corresponded with the group’s national gathering: “That’s who I would be recruiting as a board member.”

Yes, there was a lot of fear and dispair at the meeting. But we heard a lot of optimism and hope, as well. Innovation, creativity and new business models are all going to be a part of the future of successful associations.

And the future has already started.

I'm attending the ASAE & The Center Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada!

Hammock Inc. prepares for ASAE Annual Meeting and Expo

Several members of the Hammock Inc. team will be in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in mid-August to attend the 2009 Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership.

Several members of the Hammock crew spent June 3-4 in Washington, D.C., for the Association Media & Publishing Conference, an annual meeting for association publishing professionals hosted and organized by SNAP. Hammock Inc. served as social media sponsor for the event, and part of our responsibility in that role was creating and maintaining the “real-time” event website live.SNAP09.com. We believe it’s a great example of how to pull together some of the streams of the “live” web (Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, SlideShare, blogging) to capture the activities of an event. It also allowed a increased level of participation for those who attended by including their tweets and photos.

“The launch of a conference live site enabled SNAP to convey content in real-time to both to attendees and those who couldn’t make it,” said Amy Lestition, CAE, SNAP executive director.

In addition to developing and updating the live site, Hammock also developed and helped the folks at SNAP host a six-week pre-conference community at SNAP09.com that helped to start the conversation leading up to the conference. While good content and networking are the keys to a great meeting, it’s interesting to note in this environment of magazine-oriented conferences being canceled and having their attendance fall dramatically, this conference hit its attendance goals and sold out its exhibitor space.

“The online component increased the interaction between the attendees and created a valuable, worthwhile experience,” Amy said. “For SNAP, the live site enabled the association to foster connections not only in person, but virtually as well.”

We’re not suggesting that making social media a central part of the conference promotion is the only reason this conference attendance has held up; however, we do believe it displayed how a focus on online “community” reinforces the intuitive understanding people have of the value of investing time and money in making the effort to spend time offline connecting with people with whom they share a professional passion.

We often hear, and it was recently affirmed in the Angerosa Research Foundation’s Web 2.0: How Associations Are Tapping Social Media report, that the reason many associations fail to execute social media initiatives is because they lack an internal champion or advocate. The benefits social media can bring to an association are significant and include engaging younger members, creating member interaction, connecting event attendees and driving membership growth. That’s why it’s so important that someone in your organization becomes your association’s social media champion. Here are some tips for how you can become that very important advocate in your organization:

  • Don’t be intimidated
    We often work with clients who are interested in social media, and some have been for some time, but have been paralyzed by their fear of the tools and technologies to get them started. It’s understandable that social media can be scary, but don’t let it prevent you from meeting your association goals. If you can’t do it on your own, look outside your organization to a company for help to get you started.
  • Do your homework
    Get familiar with the social media tools that are out there. You need to understand not only what they are, but also how they can be used to work to meet the needs of your association and its members. Social media is an active media. Simply setting up social media accounts will not position you in a way for success. Social media will be effective only if you learn how to harness its power to work for you.
  • Network with colleagues
    Just like you would talk with fellow association executives on other new initiatives, projects or issues to get their input, there is no reason not to do the same with social media. Seek colleagues who have embraced social media and learn how they are using it with their association. Your association’s needs won’t be exactly the same as others, but it will give you a frame of reference and some good case studies to use to help build your case for social media.
  • Establish goals
    Once you’ve grasped the fundamentals of social media and connected with others already using it in the association community, think about what you want social media to accomplish for your association. Are you struggling to recruit younger members? Are you trying to address member attrition? Or are you trying to increase your website’s traffic so that you can generate more online revenues? What’s important is that on the front-end you think about what you want your social media indicatives to accomplish so you will have a case for why you need to pursue these efforts and how they will bring value to your organization.
  • Set a strategy
    Now that you know what your goals are, you need to determine which social media tools, alone or in combination, will be part of your social media strategy. This is when the preliminary research and networking you did will pay off because it will allow you to customize your strategy to that which is optimal for your association.
  • Make your case
    You’ve created a social media strategy for your association and now it’s time for you to make the case to the key decision makers. Be prepared: Develop a list of obstacles you predict will be raised by your senior leadership. Share how other associations are successfully using social media. Paint a picture as to how you would implement your strategy in phases, and how it will be measured.
  • Execute your plan
    Congratulations! Your social media project has been approved and you are ready to implement it. Once it’s in place, don’t forget how important it is to keep up with the content and the tools. Social media requires constant attention and fresh content so make sure you have the resources in place to maintain the quality you planned for. And if you need help, contact us.

Associations can take a few lessons away from the wealth of information doled out during the panels and core conversations that filled the days during SXSW Interactive in Austin March 13-17. The five-day conference brings together the best and brightest minds in social media, technology and design.

No matter the subject of the hundreds of panels and conversations that were going on, several topics kept coming up again and again, and associations can learn valuable lessons from those discussions:

  1. “What’s your blog address?” If your association hasn’t started a blog yet, today is the day. A blog provides your association an easy way to disseminate information and receive feedback all in one place, and helps build credibility by giving visitors a glimpse into a more personal side of your company.
  2. Respond to every email. Members and potential members of your association, along with members of the media and just curious web users, are likely to contact you online. No matter how crazy or far-reaching the email is, answer every single one. This will not only reiterate good customer service and response on your end, but it will let the folks behind such inquiries know that there is a real person behind your web presence. Recruit other members on your team to take on this task because it could get overwhelming.
  3. Create great culture. What’s the atmosphere like within the walls of your association? Do you provide free soft drinks to staff members? Is everyone required to wear a suit every day? The culture within your organization will be very evident, and it will trickle down in the interactions—both online and offline—that you have with members and potential members.
  4. Start the conversation. Your members and potential members are online. They’re blogging, tweeting and having conversations across a wide variety of applications and platforms. Jump in! Start the conversation and get information about your association and the benefits of membership out to a new group of readers online. Not sure how to get to started? Blog about a new benefit. Tweet a question about the best place to schedule a business dinner. Post pictures from a recent event to an online photo-sharing site.

Results from the Angerosa Research Foundation

Many association executives we talk to are interested in social media and how other associations are taking advantage of social media tools. A report recently released by the Angerosa Research Foundation provides some data and benchmarking for this in their study “How Associations are Tapping Social Media.” The report covers a range of related information including overall trends, wikis, blogs and strategic issues.

Probably of the most interest to many executives are what benefits associations are reaping from these social media efforts. The report is definitely worth reading, but in the meantime, here are the top seven benefits from the report for those associations who are using social media tools:

  1. Relevance to younger members
  2. Opportunities for member interaction
  3. Improve member retention by increasing engagement
  4. Connect before/after meetings
  5. Increase the frequency of brand interaction
  6. Create member-generated content
  7. Source of non-dues revenue

The report indicates that there were other unexpected benefits mentioned by respondents including increases in knowledge about member issues, member interaction and responses to public policy and advocacy issues.

Click here to download a PDF of the executive summary. If you are interested in a social media strategy for your association or if you have questions about social media, contact us to learn how Hammock can work with you to help you meet your association’s goals.

The social media services company Vitrue recently released their list of the most social brands of 2008. Social brands were defined as those with the most mentions in social networking, blogging and microblogging sites. They used a “social media index” to track these mentions but did not differentiate between positive and negative conversations. The purpose of the index is to capture a brand’s share of voice on the web. The top 10 brands/branded products were the iPhone, CNN, Apple, Disney, Xbox, Starbucks, iPod, MTV, Sony and Dell. View the full list here.

There are three lessons associations can take from these big brands/products to help generate more mentions in social media venues for their groups:

  1. Join the chatter
    You must make the effort to participate and make your own mentions on behalf of your association. This will help you learn what type of content solicits the most feedback and comments from readers. Keep an eye on trackbacks to see how many other people are linking to a post.
  2. Give them something to talk about
    Once you start to understand how mentions are made and what drives the participation, concentrate on the type of content that will be of the most interest to your target audience. What will get them involved and talking? The conversation you are seeking can take place on your site and on other social media sites. The important thing is that you foster the conversation with compelling and fresh content that will connect with your target audience’s passions.
  3. Be responsive
    To keep the conversation flowing, keep an eye on comments on your site and others that mention your association. If questions are asked, respond to them promptly. If suggestions are made, for example, to improve your annual event, share your association’s response. Showing that there is a two-way dialogue for these online conversations will increase the likelihood of a jump in volume mentions.

And don’t forget to measure your success. Keep an eye on your analytics to see the effects of your efforts so you can constantly tweak your strategy. If you have questions about social media marketing or want to learn more about how Hammock can help you develop your online community, contact us .