Is Social Media Worth My Professional Time?
This week I’ve had four people ask me this question. Two are lawyers in large, successful practices. One is an executive looking for work. One is a nonprofit professional. All are mid-40’s to early 50’s. My answer is a resounding “yes!” to all of them, with varying reasons why. If you are already well-versed in social media, feel free to duck out of this post. But if you or your boss is trying to decide whether it’s worth it, read on.
Some Facts to Consider…
Nielsen recently released these intriguing study results:
1. In February social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time. Ever.
2. There are 87 percent more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883 percent more time devoted to those sites.
3. In April, Nielson also reported that the number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339 percent since 2003. Time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000 percent over the same period.
4. Unique visitors to Twitter increased 1,382 percent year-over-year, from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009, making it the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for the month.
5. And here’s one that might surprise you. The largest age group on Twitter right now is 35-49 year olds. Yep. 41% of Twitter-ers are in this group, representing almost 3 million users.
So …?
This data shows that many of the people you need to connect with aren’t just using social media, they are migrating to it in droves. And just like you, they only have a limited amount of time, so that means they are using other networking tools less/differently. For example, we have all heard the reports that many conferences have cancelled this year due to the economy. But perhaps there’s also less interest in networking in this way when you can have an ongoing conversations with colleagues, fellow activists or customers through Facebook and Twitter? We’re also doing less in print. According to the US Department of Labor wage and salary outlook in the printing and related support activities industry is projected to “decline 22 percent over the 2006-16 period, compared with 11 percent growth projected for the economy as a whole.” This decrease reflects our increased use of computerized documents and sharing information via the internet and social media sources.
I’m Still Unconvinced. My Time is Too Valuable.
In fairness, you’re right. Social media can be a big Time Sucker. So you need a plan to manage that, both personally and organizationally, in much the same way you adjusted your work patterns when email and FedEx came along. And just as those inventions saved time in new ways, you will need to maximize the time you save in these new mediums. Here are a few tips on incorporating social media into your professional communications strategy.
Five Tools for Getting What You Need From Social Media
1. First, decide what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you reconnecting with classmates? Trying to reach new customers? Engaging other social activists in your cause? Increasing your visibility as an expert in your field? Promoting your new book or agency report? Trying to find a new job? Each goal requires a slightly different strategy and time commitment. Having only the goal of finding out what everyone else is talking about is an acceptable starting point, but if you want to prove to yourself/your boss that you’ve gotten ROI, you need a more structured goal.
2. Decide who you want to converse with. I use the term “converse” because social media is a conversation, not you blasting information to an “audience.” But you need to know who you’re looking for and where they are. For example, women over 55 are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook. So if that’s who you need to reach, consider spending time there. Facebook is also a good way to cross-promote a book, podcast or blog, so consider it a part of your strategy, not your entire game plan.
3. Decide what value you can bring to the conversation. Some of the best Twitterers are healthcare organizations, because they have a lot of already well-researched content and their goals are to make us all healthier. See @childrenshealth and @redcross for good examples. My least favorite Twitterers are those who are too prolific, so that even their good content gets lost in their own clutter. Luckily the trend is moving away from people twittering about every move they make. With the exception of politicians and broadcast anchors.
4. Figure out how much time you can commit each day/week/month. Start by looking at the time you already spend achieving the same goal through more traditional means. Perhaps you attend several professional networking events a month and four major conferences each year. Take part of the time you would a lot to those and target the same goal through social media.
5. Identify useful as well as negative content –that is, for content you value, but also content that might be de-valueing or diluting your brand. Use blog search tools like Technorati to conduct real-time searches for user-generated media (including blogs) by topics of interest to you or use Stumbleupon to both see and offer your own ratings of content you find useful. Remember that some good content tends to pop up in unexpected places, such as federal government blogs. Here’s a useful one from the Dept. of Energy with tips for energy efficiency .
6. Consider a Group Blog. If your firm or organization wants to put a toe in the water on blogging, consider identifying 5-20 people who could be regular contributors and rotate the job. Posts can be brief—even as little as a paragraph. Be sure to post on the same day or days of the week, so that blog search and aggregating tools can find you.
7. What Can You Bring to You-Tube? If you already have video content (and assuming you can acquire the right permissions), this is a no-brainer. But you may also be giving a workshop that you can have videotaped. Or consider asking your own stakeholders for user-generated content of their own. This works particularly well for nonprofit causes, where real people and real stories are so compelling.
8. Use social networks to find people who can help you do your job better. Consider incorporating LinkedIn to your organization’s job posting strategy, as well as using it for your own professional networking. Linked In was founded before Facebook, but has taken off more recently due to improvements in its interface, the increased use of its professional forums, and the widgets that can bring additional content to your page (i.e. pull your blog into it, as it does on my page—shameless self-promotion moment here—at http://www.linkedin.com/in/amydelouise . If you are a job-seeker, as so many are in our economy, this is a great tool. Prospective employers can check out your page (which is essentially a resume), download your resume, and see recommendations you’ve received from bosses/clients. As someone who employes others, I’ve found LinkedIn extremely useful when trying to find a good vendor or consultant for a project. I posted a query to my contacts and within seconds had 6 recommendations with national experience, all of whom I could then look up and contact via LinkedIn.
Okay, Okay, But How Do I Get Started?
Here’s your summer assignment:
Month 1. In the next 30 days, set up a Facebook page and a LinkedIn page. Do at least a basic Google search for your company’s/organization’s/issue’s/expertise’s name. Index some blogs or websites that seem useful, or are saying hateful or incorrect things about your organization/issue. Use Technorati or Stumbleupon accounts to send you blogs on topics of professional interest to you so you don’t have to go search for them.
Month 2. Sign up for Twitter and follow 10 people you admire. Could you say it better? Can you add value to this conversation? Could this be valuable to you/your organization/your customers, donors, or volunteers? You make the call.
Month 3. Get at least 5 recommendations for yourself on LinkedIn, and more if you are a job-seeker. Join one Linked In discussion group. Join some Facebook causes that mean something to you. Comment on one or two blogs related to your area of expertise.
Month 4. Summer’s over! Spend no more than 30 minutes a day checking your most useful blog and Twitter feeds. Spend 30 minutes per weekend for the next four weekends cranking out a list of potential blog topics you could generate with help from colleagues (so you can decide if this is a go or no-go for a January launch).
If you have some more ideas to contribute, please do!
Thank you Amy, I’m just getting starting on a project to develop effective uses of social media within the Occupational Therapy community, both to facilitate collaboration and to connect with people who could benefit from occupational therapy’s unique potential to help people engage or re-engage in meaningful activity when faced with life-changing challenges. And your article is most helpful!
Glad to be of help. I can see many opportunities for collaboration in the OT world. Also keep your eyes out for the new Wave release from Google (currently in beta testing). That could be great for people working on projects together.
Amy,
I can guarantee social media will take plenty of time but also that it will end up paying dividends in the end. Though I’m sure my position as a social media professional certainly enters into this view, I’m equally sure that social media can save you tons in the long run. This is because the amount you will spend on social media, in time and money, will not begin to compare with the expenses of traditional big media advertising, And increasingly this kind of advertising doesn’t work like it use to so phasing into a social media approach either DIY by hiring a professional is definitely a good plan no matter what the business.
Hi Shawn, Thanks for posting a comment! For organizations I completely agree, social media offers unique and cost-effective outreach potential, and a critical way to enter the brand promise conversation with customers. A significant amount of my work is producing content that will be shared through social media venues. I’d argue, though, that SM does not replace traditional media, but rather is just one more brand extension tool. Charities still garner significant results from direct mail, for example. And yes, sometimes even television (now that so many of the biggies went belly up, air time is actually pretty cheap and cost-per-view is still unbeatable when you can reach millions in 15 seconds.)
The trickier question I was contemplating is social media use by individual professionals. And of course they are connected to institutions. But if you bill by the hour/day (e.g. attorneys, video producers) or work for a cash/staff-strapped charity, it’s very hard to convince yourself or your organization that it’s worth the time/effort if there is not an immediate payback in clients/donors/revenues. I frankly think the jury is still out, as I’ve yet to see hard ROI data on what can be–as you say–a significant time investment. I think the best returns are likely to come when old and new media are used in concert. With a real strategy.