Wow, as I read my morning newspaper and the article titled “Huge Spike in Companies Blocking Social Networks” I was shocked and dismayed. Why is the first reaction so often to deny privileges rather than to seek understanding, train and educate people about change and opportunity?
One reason is the people making decisions are often not as knowledgeable about the topic, nor do they consider the implications of their decision before it is made. I completely agree with Dr. Norrie, associate dean and professor at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Managementwho criticized the trend (a fantastic school by the way with great tourism programs).
At the Edge of the Wedge Experiential Travel training, we teach the merits of social media and how companies, particularly small and medium businesses and cost-effectively market their product, using niche market strategies and targeted messaging. It is a big leap for many people first to understand the opportunity, especially those in government who often have very little opportunity to influence or make changes of this magnitude within their organization. But it is not that painful – it does however require a new mind-set. You first have to believe it the opportunity, then figure out which tools will work for your organization.
Keep in mind, not everyone has to have a Twitter account or be on Facebook. This is about conversations and so people and customers have preferences. In order to be effective you have to be committed to creating content – so pick an application that you like and one that is appropriate for your workplace. BUT don’t forget to think holistically and how you plan to measure the return on investment so you can use this information to help educate your company, co-workers, train others, etc.
If you are using social media for professional purposes there are real considerations and choices that have to be made (topic for another post) . But most importantly you have to be committed to writing content and having your supervisors and organization appreciate that this is a valuable use of your time. Talking about it doesn’t always work – in my experience it is too abstract for people, especially if you are not a marketer to grasp – so demonstrate results, so walk the talk – do it!
We started this very journey in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Royal Roads University last summer. I invited Todd Lucier, tourism Internet guru to train all our staff in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, our Visitor Services Division of Hatley Park National Historic Site, key members from our marketing department, IT department and our business planning and performance team!
The purpose was to launch a proactive, integrated, strategic approach to evolving our capacity within these two business units to optimize social media. We spent two days with everyone together (30+), discovered our ‘ideal student’ for the school and the ‘ideal guest’ for our historic site and had everyone think like a customer. The were shown lots of techniques, participated in hands-on computer work, ran around taking some fantastic photos that we used to illustrate the power of images. As we were involved in the training, Todd got a message from his brother that the FLIP camera just came out so we dashed to Walmart, and the next day incorporated it into the training to illustrate how within a day, with the right tools, you can have an impact. We had a new training tool and one we use now in our business, Walmart had a sale (in fact 4 as Todd bought one, I bought 2 – one for each business unit, and one for my personal use). Nothing wrong with that combo!
The remaining 3-days of the training was to take a select group, first with the School, then Visitor Services to do the strategic planning.
To launch a path towards organizational change and support, we needed to invite our marketing department folks along, as they lead this function. We also partnered with the AVP Business Planning and Performance for him to attend with his business managers. It was a great deal of fun having them with us and it didn’t take long for eyes to sparkle when the cost-effective potential and the reach of this marketing vechicle was discovered!
Where are we at a year later? Making great progress. Slower than a private sector company for sure, but we are making steady progress.
We have different members of the team using one or more applications of their choice. We have created a new position – our Industry Internship Coordinator within the School – Margaret Doyle (a.k.a. Mags) - our who has social media as a primary area of responsibility in working with industry, communicating with students, letting folks know what is going on with tourism at Royal Roads.
Todd, Celes and I started this blog so I could have a different outlet to share information beyond the scope of my job, but yet in a way that connects with industry and complements my role at the University. We share the content responsibility so it doesn’t become too time onerous for anyone of us.
The University is increasing their e-marketing budget. We just revamped our corporate website and this fall, each business unit will get to develop and customize a satellite site allowing for us to manage content at the business unit level and truly speak to our customers, present images that are specific to our industry, and use the communicate tools our students and visitors prefer. This may vary between business units and that is just fine – after all, it is not about us, it is about them! Our marketing department manages the corporate website and the main functions such as SEO, online adversiting, etc.
We have a new social media working group that crosses academic and support units and are developing a new integrated strategy for the institution. A proactive, planned approach to using technology. The brian trust when you add the technies with program folks, marketers etc. is exciting! I could continue with our activity list, but the point is that change doesn’t happen overnight.
This a paradigm shift folks ! People are opting to have new conversations in new ways and it is here to stay. I think of the old fashion distribution list – while still great for email, think of how people ‘who choose to follow you’ and ‘want to be a fan on facebook’ are ‘opting in’ to what you have to say. It is self managed! We can also opt out when we like! Pretty awesome as well.
And for those who don’t use these tools, we complement it with email, letters, brochures, phone calls. Remember this is an option, but one that President Obama proved to the world, can have huge and immediate impact.
Appreciably it is a scary world out there in cyber space and one that is always changing. Try one application at a time and if you don’t find value – DELETE IT and try another! I know some folks who only prefer Slideshareas they don’t have much time, others love Twitter as it is quick and there is no requirement to respond, Skype is getting better each year, others love Facebook as they are part of a community … the choices are as different as the people who choose to use them.
I suspect the telephone was a bit intense when first introduced and people were on party lines where the operator could listen in on your phone call. Remember the trepidation of the airport kiosk and e-tickets, the auto-teller … whoa! Times will change.
Don’t ban progress, understand it, educate about it, and yes for business – put parameters in place — but for heavens sake, don’t stop it! Banning online conversations (that for work should be purposeful and professional) is like telling someone they can’t talk to a colleague or customer. What if that is how the customer prefers to communicate! As Dr. Norris says, companies who take this approach will end up being left behind. I’d love to hear Rex Murphy’s comment on this one!
I guess this article pressed a button! Have a great day.
