by Erin Espy
June 28, 2023
Social media can be a powerful tool to advance your organization’s mission. As a board member, you can provide valuable insights to conversations taking place online around your association, your industry, your profession, or your community. Keep in mind that social media is generally a public platform and how you engage can impact your association’s reputation. Follow these rules of the road to engage your personal social media accounts to extend your association’s mission and goals.
Do Add Your Volunteer Experience to Your LinkedIn
Your professional experience is important, but it doesn’t tell the full story about who you are and what drives you. Add your role as a board member and other volunteer positions to your LinkedIn profile to align yourself with the association. Just as you would in a professional role, list accomplishments and recognition to demonstrate your credibility and dedication to the association.
Do Share and Interact with Your Association’s Content
If you hesitate to promote your association on social media because you’re not sure what to post, a great place to start is by simply hitting the share button on posts from your association’s official pages. To both personalize the post and help extend its reach, add a short caption when you share. For example, if the association page posts that registration for the annual conference is open, share with a note about why you’re looking forward to attending. You can also support your association’s social media engagement goals by “liking” and commenting on posts. Tag a colleague in a post about an upcoming webinar you think they should attend or write a comment about your own experience on a post about the open call for volunteers.
Don’t Forget to Tag the Association
If you post about your association, tag them! Just like sharing posts, this helps the association grow their reach on social media without paying for advertising. Your followers will be inclined to click over to see what’s happening on that page.
Do Keep Confidential Information Off of Social Media
As a board member, you are privy to sensitive and confidential information about the association’s finances, future direction, and other major decisions. While transparency and authenticity are valuable on social media, be sure that the information is meant to be shared with members, partners, and the general public before you click “post.”
Don’t Ignore the Comments Section
One of the best ways to engage your audience in a social media post is by interacting with them. Post open-ended questions or conversation starters and then make connections by responding to comments. Seeing that you’re active on social media will encourage others to contribute.
Do Be Authentic
Your association likely has a well-established social media brand and voice that is authentic to the mission and values of the organization, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that must be your individual voice, too. Add your own commentary, perspective, and experience when promoting the association and your involvement to be authentically yourself.
By utilizing these helpful tips for navigating social media in the association world, you can better promote your organization’s mission to a wider audience online.
Erin Espy is in Marketing & Communication Services at Smithbucklin.