Larry Blumenthal Illustrates Lessons Learned Implementing Social Media at Foundations
With nine years of overseeing the web and social media strategy at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Larry Blumenthal has some kernels of wisdom on how foundations can take those first steps of implementation.
In his March 12th blog post, Larry elaborates on the following lessons:
- Start with a Strategy in Mind
- Baby Steps are OK
- Embrace Failure
- It’s All About the Conversation
- This is Much Harder Than It Looks
- Don’t Let a Lack of Clear Metrics Prevent You From Getting Started
- Social Media Isn’t Just About Communications
Your social media efforts should flow out of your overall mission and strategy. Sort those out first.
Push out of your comfort zone a little at a time (especially if you don’t have support from senior people, yet).
If you look at things as an experiment, everything becomes an opportunity to learn.
Social media is not about dominating the conversation. It is about generating discussion that we can all learn from.
Be realistic upfront about committing the resources to do this well. The world doesn’t need another blog that nobody reads.
Think about your strategy, then get out there and get your feet wet. The analytics will come.
Think of ways to use social media tools and principles throughout your organization to be more effective at what you do.
Read Larry’s entire blog post online.
Tags: grantmaker, philanthropy, social media