In the olden days, effective PR was largely done between your organization and traditional media: newspapers, journals, magazines, etc.  On the web, PR requires you to establish a real relationship with the millions of online users (and whenever possible, you should take those relationships offline too).  When you skip the middleman (the press) and go straight to the end audience, you’re talking to real people with names, faces and histories.  They’re not thinking about what will be interesting to the masses but what’s interesting to them.  They’re not The New York Times.  They’re Tom, Dick and Mary.  So be careful not to use your social networks for pitching news stories.  Use your social networks for meaningful interaction that results in providing value to all participants, including your organization.

1. CONVERSE
Since the beginning of the web 2.0 era, the common description for web communications was “It’s a conversation.”  Easy to say, hard to apply.  Notice the difference between these two tweets:

“State announces slashing budget by 13% - http://tinyurl.com/dummylink”

“Our constituents will be hurt by the budget cut - http://tinyurl.com/dummylink. Will host #SlashChat to find solution, join us 07/01/10 2pm EST.”

Personalize the context, impact and other relationships your organization has with a piece of news instead of only delivering the news itself.  Remember your organization brings unique value and you have a unique relationship with your supporters.  Your supporters can get the news anywhere.  But only your organization can offer a personal reaction and a personal stake in fixing the situation.  Work it.

2.  EMPOWER (your social media person)
Either empower the person who currently owns the job or fill the job with someone close enough to the top to offer meaningful responses to timely conversations without getting your organization into trouble.  This person needs to do more than update a social networking account - he/she needs to make it come to life.

3.  EXPLORE beyond your turf
The web space is becoming more and more decentralized.  Your website shouldn’t be the center of your online PR strategy.  Where’s the center, you say?  There isn’t one.  That’s the trippy thing about web communications.  Everyone is a user and a content generator.    (I read an interesting post on this a while ago that compares a website-centric mindset to ptolemy.  It makes some great points, though slightly radical, IMO.)

That means your organization is a user and it should behave like any user would on the internet.  Instead of waiting for people to develop interest in your work, start by checking out what others are doing, participate in their conversations and only then do you bring them back to your territory.  So explore the internet: read others’ blogs, leave comments, scan the tweets of your followers and respond to a few when you can, write on others’ facebook walls, etc.  You get the picture.

The rules have really changed but if you’re willing to try them on, your organization will reap huge benefits.  Do tell us what’s worked and what hasn’t by dropping us an email at info@36branding.com.

But like all rewards, the road to the benefits of branding can be long and confusing. Many organizations confuse a brand with a logo, font and color pallette and as a result miss out on real opportunities that a strong brand would’ve helped them seize.  Others underestimate the amount of preparation required before branding can begin. Make sure your organization lays the appropriate foundation for successful branding by taking these 5 steps:

1. Get Buy-In

Recruit a handful of stakeholders to form a branding team.  Keep the team lean with only staunch supporters.  Your ideal team members are aware of the resistance ahead but know that a new brand is critical to organizational growth.  They’ll fight tooth and nail to make it happen.  

2. Research Perception and Competition

How do your constituents view your organization?  Assess their perceptions by sending out surveys, conducting focus groups and/or engaging a small number of key donors in one-on-one conversations.  Identify similarities and differences between constituent perceptions and how your organization wants to perceive itself.  

Next, get a clear picture of your competition.  Which organizations are you compared to most frequently?  Are the dollars meant for your organization going to a competitor?  Out of all your competitors (direct and indirect), which organization would you like to be?  Which organization would you like to be most different from?

3. Identify Your Position

Amidst the vast and crowded sea of nonprofits, where does yours stand?  Use your findings on perceptions and competition to identify the position that best articulates your unique value propositions and most accurately defines the essence of your cause.  A handy tool to support this exercise is the marketer’s favorite two-by-two grid.  

Select two unrelated sets of descriptors.  For example, one could be size and the other could be party affiliation.  Select the two most extreme opposite adjectives for each set.  For example, for size, the opposite adjectives would be big and small.  For party affiliation, the opposite adjectives would be conservative and liberal.  Plot competitors on the grid, plot your current position and, if different, plot your desired position.  This gives you a visual of where you stand in relation to peers and competitors.

4. Make a Statement

What message does your organization want to send?  What promise do you make?  Don’t worry about wordsmithing at this point.  Focus on pinpointing what your organization represents at any given moment.  For example, does your cause represent freedom, equality, safety, etc.?  Brainstorm a list of words/phrases.  Mix and match them to try them on for size.  Your goal is to boil down your organization’s promise into a single sentence (or less!).

5. Shop for a Branding Agency

Now that you’ve done all the legwork, you’re ready to look for a firm to transform all your research data, analysis, positioning and messaging into a complete brand system.  The most important deliverable is the brand strategy which is the branding blueprint that determines the look, feel and voice of everything from logo to website design to event planning.   All components of a brand system must march to the same beat.  With discipline and consistency being key, find a firm that strikes you as qualified to write and stick to a program.

The best branding firms will listen to your goals and get your needs.  If you’ll be contributing a great deal of your own research, look for firms that have a greater creativity emphasis rather than research and analysis expertise.  Pay extra attention to those that offer solutions rather than describe challenges you’re well aware of (although it’s important they know of your challenges).  

Depending on the size of your organization, branding can take anywhere from one month to two years (sometimes even more).  But hang tight and stick to the program.  The rewards at the end of this arduous journey will be well worth it!  Good luck!

Check back often and don’t be a stranger!