The PR Radar

Despite Cleveland's ranking, many organizations in Northeast Ohio use social media, such as Twitter, in a strategic manner.

According to Cleveland Magazine, Cleveland is 51st out of 100 metro areas in terms of social networking. That statistic comes from a Men’s Health report that measured LinkedIn and Facebook users per capita. It also took into account Twitter usage, among many other services.

If the Men’s Health numbers are indeed a valid reflection of how socially wired these cities are, then clearly not enough people and businesses in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio are leveraging social media communication in a strategic way.

Fortunately, if you work for one of these companies that is not yet taking advantage of social media opportunities, it’s not all doom and gloom. Remember: Social media is viral. Information can spread fast. It is possible to develop social media followings that will bring tangible benefits to your business or organization in a relatively short amount of time.

Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re going to have an engaged following of hundreds or thousands of people overnight. That’s simply not realistic for most organizations. Building a following is a long-term process but one that can produce results in the short term.

Take Hattie Lalrham, for instance. Hattie Larlham is a Northeast Ohio nonprofit organization that provides services to 1,500 children and adults with developmental disabilities. In 2009, Hattie Larlham retained my firm to launch and manage a social presence on Facebook and Twitter for the organization. In the two years since, Hattie Larlham has built an engaged following using both of these social media services.

Through its use of social media, Hattie Larlham has:

• Obtained donations of items it needs on multiple occasions
• Received testimonials about its work
• Exposed the positive media coverage it receives to its core constituents
• Promoted its events to increase attendance
• Won awards that require public voting by mobilizing its online following
• Created buzz by conducting contests to promote its social enterprise ventures
• Educated people about issues related to developmental disabilities

More important than the fact that Hattie Larlham continues to grow its following, is that it has built an engaged following. People continually respond to the organization’s calls to action. The reasons for this are many, but here are a few keys:

•  Hattie Larlham responds quickly to comments and questions people make. Don’t overlook the need to do this. Social media is two-way by its very nature and responding to questions and comments in a timely fashion lets your following know that you care about what they have to say. They will therefore be more likely to engage with your organization again in the future.
• Hattie Larlham serves as a resource to its following, often sharing updates and news about the care for people with developmental disabilities. The organization provides information that adds value to the social media experience of its following.
• Hattie Larlham provides actionable information. The organization uses social media to explicitly tell people how they can help and what they can do to get involved. People’s attention spans online are short. Be brief and direct in making your call to action.

 These are just of a few of the many ways Hattie Larlham effectively uses its social media channels. What this brief case study illustrates is that for all of the organizations in Ohio that have yet to adopt social media, there are others such as Hattie Larlham that are setting the standard for the effective use of social media. Be smart and strategic in the way your organization approaches social media, and you can create a similar success story.