Using Social Media for Member Communications

Only Connect: Using Social Media for Member Communications

Elizabeth HarrinMay 8, 2011

Using Social Media for Member Communicati ons

Examples

Is it suitable for you?Relevance

Getting started

Credibility


What is social media?


“PMI” is a registered trade and service mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. ©2010Permission is granted to PMI for PMI® Marketplace use only

Why is social media relevant?

The way we communicate has changed

Some social media numbers

• Over 75% of project professionals feel that social media tools provide the opportunity to improve the way they manage projects

• Over 90% use social media to keep in touch with colleagues

• Podcasts and video podcasts are among the least used tools - an opportunity for Chapters and CoP?


Source: Social Media in a Project Environment Survey 2011. Available

at: http://www.pm4girls.elizabeth-harrin.com/social-media-in-a-project-

environment-2011-survey-results/

Is it suitable for you?

• Enthusiasm

• Technical Literacy

• Time

• Chapter/CoP structure

• Location of members

• Ownership


Some examples

• Chartered Management Institute

• Central

• PMI Colombia


Social media links

Call to action: get your own blog

here!

Recent blog posts

Page is viewed 1000 times per day

Link to CMI blog

Link to CMI forums

Sharing new things

Link to CMI video on YouTube

Link to someone else’s blog

“Whilst Twitter offers good opportunities to promote various

things, I think it’s main value comes in being able to react to issues members have and reach

out to stakeholders of CMI.”Adi Gaskell, Content & Communities Manager

• Facebook: “Our analytics show that membership of the group averages around 30 years of age, a significantly younger demographic than CMI as a whole. With our desire to reach younger managers, I think this will be a key mechanism.”

• LinkedIn: “The engagement in discussions is quite substantial.”

• Slideshare: “Slideshare has delivered tremendous increases in reach for our reports and branch activity. For instance research reports have gone from double figure readership to well in excess of 1,000 reads per report on average. ”

• Blog: “The platform was only built 18 months ago and is now one of the leading management blogs in the UK. There are still lots that can be done but so far it has been a big success, especially as delivered with £0 budget.”

Example #1: CMI


• “Competition is just a click away, so the only

way to attract, and keep, members is to provide

engaging content.”

• “My top tip for volunteer groups is to

persevere. Engaging with people (on whatever

medium) is not going to be a quick win, so you’ll

need perseverance to keep at it.”

Tips from CMI


And another response

And another response

Response to someone else (part of a conversation)

News/Sharing information

Blog displays recent tweets

Blog articles

Photos embedded from Flickr

• Don’t be stuffy; be ‘mass-clusive’ not exclusive

• Be human: share when things go wrong

• Be humorous and self-critical

• Ask questions

• People quickly lose focus online: be short

• Build the brand of others: tag/link to suppliers

• “Interaction is the core of community.”

Tips from Central


• “LinkedIn is an open group for recruiting purposes”

• Chapter has seen membership growth of 21% in the

last 12 months

• Internal communications using Google Apps

• Twitter is a communication tool: events publicised by

the Chapter have been promoted by other Chapters,

like Peru Chapter

• The future: more discussions and participation on

LinkedIn?

Use by PMI Colombia


• Plan

• Communicate

• Follow through

Treat it like a project!


• Relevance to project management

• Suitability of social media for Chapters and CoP

• Examples and tips

• It’s a project

• Build your web presence slowly and credibly

In conclusion


Questions?

Contact Information

[email protected]

www.otobosgroup.com

Twitter: @pm4girls

Blog: www.GirlsGuideToPM.com


Technology

Using Social Media for Member Communications