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It's safe to say that, regardless of the industry in question, all organizations' stakeholders are engaged in social media--at least to some degree. In fact, it's the degree of stakeholders' engagement that defines organizations' communications strategies in the first place. As a result, determining this "degree" is of paramount importance for communications professionals, as this establishes who, where and how they will target their social media outreach efforts.
This is easier said than done, but don't despair: Social media pioneers have made significant headway in establishing a process for understanding both how engaged their audiences are, and how this engagement can be leveraged most effectively. So, without further ado, consider the following best practices, all offered in the context of Forrester Research's Social Technographics Profile (re-created on page 7):
*Determine the engagement profile of your audience. This profile will inform your outreach strategies.
"Decide on your target audience, and observe them," says Charlene Li, a partner at Altimeter Group, and co-author of Groundswell (Harvard Business School Press, 2008). She recommending that communications executives ask themselves the following questions:
* Where do these audience members interact--or not interact?
* What topics galvanize them?
* What do they share?
* What sentiments do...