Legends In Our Own Minds (Part 2)

INFORMATION IS YOUR TREASURE TROVE

“Brands are typically built on awareness, a created desire to be a part of a larger group, and emotional decisions. The Web works with one-to-many and many-to-many, dialogue-enabling activities and rational, considered decisions.” – Bob Stone and Ron Jacobs, authors.

WEBSITES AS THE NEW COMMUNICATION SERVICE

In the exciting new world of ‘Web 2.0,’ communications can best be described as a process not a destination. The act of communicating on the web now favours the seeding of new opinions or ideas which may not necessarily be yours alone.

What the web is teaching us all today is that it’s OK to throw stuff out there, and see what sticks. I often advice my clients that it’s good practise to set up a variety of different communications channels to suit different purposes, to test them, tweak them and retain the ones that work best.

The good news for nonprofit organisations operating in New Zealand is that the models developed by my company for these organisations contain a structure that aren’t built as a single, monolithic ‘communications’ framework. Rather, social media applications are grafted fairly quickly. Should they prove successful these grafts become more integrated with other site content over time.

Citing just a few examples, we make it possible to set up blog for individuals who head nonprofit organisations, launch dedicated online forum or allow users to publish their comments with star rating systems. So, be it blogs, podcasts, wikis, open APIs, virals, website builds, mashups or even a simple email newsletter, the principles we employ to achieve effective communications for nonprofit organisations are built into ‘Web 2.0’ as a real two-way conversation.

And, where the organisation finds conversations happening, they just join in. Why? You may get to learn some valuable insights directly –- the kind of things that for-profit businesses would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire.

The relatively lower cost of Web 2.0 initiatives means that the traditional but expensive way of promoting (i.e., TV, radio and print) doesn’t have to apply to nonprofit organisations anymore. None of the things that Web 2.0 provides breaks the bank.

INFORMATION IS YOUR TREASURE TROVE

As well as monitoring what the Web thinks of you, underlying processes and systems need also to be ‘rewired’ in order to accommodate and re-use public voices. This means rethinking your website as a content-managed database capable of re-presenting content in different ways. Once you’ve captured a piece of content, you can re-purpose it for effect to suit your needs. Therein lays the value of building up a ‘treasure trove’ of information.

The bottom line here is, to become fairly successful on Web 2.0, nonprofit organisations need not over-engineer the production of their content. Rather, they should excel at accepting content from all quarters and publish the resulting data in a creative, engaging way.

In the very near future, the Web will be a central part of every brand and promotional effort whether it involves for-profit businesses or not-for-profit entities. Alongside skill sets and disciplines that are employed to run an organisation will sit a new person – the ‘Web Relations Officer’ or WRO. This person’s role will be to integrate the Web into every aspect of the organisation’s communications strategy, not just as an isolated activity but as a fundamental part of how the organisation operates.

The WRO will be expected to be up on all the latest trends and possibilities on the Web; have a good understanding of web technologies; work closely with consultants and the organisation’s IT team; enjoy a discretionary budget; and, have a seat at the decision-making table for all brand-related discussions. The WRO will be that person focused to deal with the public directly though conversations on the Web. And as the organisation’s brand, reputation and influence expand, he or she will also report on a dotted line to the organisation’s chief executive. But before that time comes along, consider having Convergent Digital Solutions get you started on that road.

Click here to read Part 3 – There’s Good Advice From People Out There

To learn more about what the author of this blog and his company do for nonprofits, please click on this link.

Legends In Our Own Minds (Part 2)

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