Developing a new media agenda is like planning a family dinner. A variety of generations will be represented, so the host will have to pick up the phone to invite the older ones. For the middle and younger generations, they’ll likely respond better to an e-mail or Facebook message.

Then comes the menu. Does the host present the food buffet-style or as a sit-down affair? The goal of the family gathering is different for everyone. The grandparents and parents like to visit and hang out while the younger generations usually want to make a quick appearance and even faster exit. That is, unless there is something entertaining enough that’s worth sticking around for. And therein lies the party-planner’s biggest hurdle: What will keep their attention?

A company’s struggle in today’s world is much the same: to collectively target a variety of audiences, and do so effectively.

THE USER EXPERIENCE
Many organizations are turning to the Internet to introduce themselves and their concepts to the world. The world is so diverse and so vast, however, that it’s important to know exactly what demographic they are looking to “feed” so to speak and what will best appeal to the targeted user. The user experience is more important now than ever before.

“It’s really this idea of companies moving away from saying what they want to sell, to a place of designing digital solutions that display what a user needs to do or needs to hear in order to engage or buy,” says Anne Zizzo, president and CEO of the Zizzo Group Marketing + PR + New Media in Milwaukee. “Organizations truly have to move to the other side to make that instant, proper first impression with a user.”

Thomas Chung, senior vice president of Interactive at the Zizzo Group, agrees. “Consumers, today more than ever, are very critical about the organizations or the brands that they’ll buy into,” he says. “They want to ensure they are either putting their investment or their relationship energy into an organization that they feel they can relate to.”
That’s just what the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) is trying to attain. Joel Hochmuth, director of communications, worked with the Zizzo Group to revamp the church’s Web site while incorporating many types of media such as video, podcasts, online radio, even streaming of live events via the Web.

“I explain our Web site as a first date,” says Hochmuth. “You put your best foot forward on that date. There are always things about your own church body that people need to know about, but is it the first thing they need to know about? No.”

“What we’re trying to do is start a conversation with people,” he explains. “They start to get a feel for what we’re about.”

Andrea Bloom, a marketing and communications specialist with Vita Plus Corporation based in Madison, also is initiating conversations through the company’s Web site, but on Facebook and Twitter too. “When we’re working with our customers, we’re looking to build long-term relationships with them and looking to be a part of their team, finding the best solutions to fit their farms,” she explains of the company’s philosophy.

At the company’s annual Vita Plus Dairy Summit, the staff composes two daily e-newsletters highlighting the event. This year, a video component was incorporated as well. “We take our research and nutritional and technical expertise and it is pushed and pulled through many channels to help us reach a wider audience of our target customers,” says Bloom.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Hochmuth says WELS’ Web site is used as an outreach tool first and foremost. The previous site was barraged with internal resources for pastors and other church leadership. Now, there is a separate site for those issues. On the main site, he wants users to have an experience that will leave them wanting more, and build a relationship with the church.

WELS also understands that many older-aged parishioners may not be viewing their Web site or Facebook page, but “we’re not designing this for them,” Hochmuth explains. “This is for an outside, younger audience, and if we’re thinking about the future, it has to be for them.”

Vita Plus had its own audiences in mind while working with Madison-based Sortis Marketing. “We focused on determining how and what we wanted to communicate to customers, prospects, prospective hires and other industry influences,” says Marjorie Stieve, Vita Plus’ marketing services manager.

She defines the three main goals for the revamped site to be: communicate the Vita Plus brand, accelerate the field sales process and educate prospective hires on the company’s culture and values. As an employee-owned business, she explains that “our growth in large part is determined by finding the right individuals to grow our team.”  As WELS had found success with, Vita Plus also made the decision to separate the public Web site from the internal resources.

The Web site Zizzo Group helped develop for Ace Precision Machining Corp. of Oconomowoc, was designed with a very specific user in mind. It wanted to attract clients, but also potential employees, who must have very technical skills.

“We wanted to put just enough information on the site that the customers would want to pick up the phone and call us with questions,” says Kathy Erdmann, director at Ace Precision. “At the same time, we want to provide our current customers with the ability to download certifications and authorizations. We also wanted our new Web site to be a recruiting tool, and wanted to portray what it’s like to work at Ace Precision.”

Nearly all of the photographs on the site were taken in-house, showing actual employees, which really gave them pride in the organization too. The challenge Zizzo helped Ace Precision work through was making the site work for a variety of users, effectively.

TO TWEET OR NOT TO TWEET
Erdmann’s company, Ace Precision, currently is not active on the social media circuit. She’s okay with that though, and after much careful deliberation, actually chooses not to have a presence there. Once again, it all comes back to knowing your audience.

“We looked at what we needed our site to provide for us,” she says. “Social media was not going to get us there. Our products are built to the customer’s blueprints, with very tight specifications.”
 
On the other hand, Vita Plus runs two Twitter accounts, each serving its unique purpose. One, @VitaPlusCorp, focuses on the technical expertise the company offers, while the other, 
@NDefenseofFarms, promotes the company’s agricultural outreach and education efforts.

“I think the key with any communications effort is that it’s not supposed to take over how you interact with your customers,” says Bloom. “It’s to support and accelerate those conversations we’re having in the field and to really strengthen those relationships.”

The company also has a strong Facebook and blog presence. The “Thank A Farmer Blog” was started in response to society’s focus on consumerism and awareness of where food comes from. Bloom says the campaign was launched to get the public in touch with the farmers, and engage in the dialogue about modern food production.

“We decided it’s really important for us to step up to the plate and support our customers, help them share their stories about producing food,” Bloom explains. “We want to put real faces to the people growing your food.”

Along with the advocacy campaign, Vita Plus created a series of YouTube videos profiling six farm families. The families discussed how their farms began, and what’s really important to them on their operations. These videos link to the company’s blog, as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“What social media does is it provides the human side of an organization and opens the gate to communications,” says Chung.

WELS Facebook page, designed to highlight the organization’s Web site updates, has taken off as well. “Just because you have a new Web site doesn’t mean people are going to come to it,” Hochmuth says. “There’s just too much out there. This Facebook phenomenon is huge for us in terms of bringing traffic to the Web site.” WELS does this by posting new content every day, whether a video, article or provocative question.

INTEGRATION AND INVESTMENT
New media cannot replace traditional media, however. They must be a collaborative effort. “The best place to start is to look at your company’s brand and key message,” says Zizzo. “Everything has to be integrated. It all needs to be strategically weaved for an overall marketing plan.”

A benefit to new and traditional media integration is the multi-purposing it allows to organizations tight on staff and time. The WELS communications department is responsible for many publication types apart from the Web site, including newsletters, press releases, a magazine, videos, etc. All these can be used in conjunction with Web site content, as well as linked on Facebook.

“To staff and maintain a Web site like this when we don’t have the people is very difficult,” says Hochmuth. “This exposes content to whole new audiences.”

Zizzo understands the financial decisions companies and organizations are tossing around at strategic planning meetings, whether or not to invest in new media initiatives.

“Many companies are making really hard decisions on where to allocate resources,” she explains. “However, if you don’t have your ‘digital house’ in order, those sales people are going to make a cold call, knock on someone’s door, or send out material and when the user goes online and your Web site isn’t user friendly, takes a long time to load or doesn’t work on a mobile device, you’re stuck.”

Whatever the organization, the message is consistent: new media is here to stay and it’s time to jump in head first. Define the audience, know the message and integrate with current outreach initiatives. The last thing anyone wants is empty chairs at the family dinner table! 


The “other” side
The other side of new media use is its use among an organization’s employees. Attorney Tom Godar, with Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek’s Madison-based office, says his is less a tale of how to get the most out of Facebook, but a cautionary tale to employers.
“What I think is oftentimes catching our clients by surprise is not in terms of their own presence on the Web, but what their employees are doing there,” Godar states.
An example he gives is of a harassment case in which one employee was claiming another had harassed them on Facebook, even though they had been invited to be a “friend.” The employer now has an obligation, Godar explains, to have an environment free of this behavior, which doesn’t necessarily stop at the office parking lot.
Another case recently filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) touches on what happens when an employee makes disparaging comments online about their employer. An employee posted a comment on Facebook, then other employees rallied and made additional remarks. The employer fired the employee who started the incident, since the company had a policy in place about making such blasphemous remarks. The NLRB, however, Godar says, “found that the act of terminating the employee was improper and the policy, illegal.”
Many businesses have yet to develop social media policies. When they do, knowing where the NLRB stands is very important in order to avoid ramifications later on.
Godar advises employers to:
•Recognize people are using social media.
•Decide what is allowable within the work 
environment.
•Develop policies regarding how employees 
are going to interact with clients, referrals, etc. on social media.
•Develop policies on acceptable social media relationships between employees.
•Stay abreast of the ever-changing trends 
and laws.

“Not one size fits all,” explains Godar. “Policies must be consistent with the organization’s own culture. Twenty years ago, employers may have had a policy about phone usage. But the fact was that people still used the phone. Now, people have access to a desktop. For many people, they are so active on some of these social networks that the lines between their personal and work lives become blurred.”

By Jen Bradley

Jen Bradley is a freelance writer living in East Troy.

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