Since the explosion of social media on the internet has become reality, every organization is looking for ways to leverage the power of online networking. But for nonprofit and association leadership and marketing teams, there may be potholes in the path to success.

5) Social Media Isn’t Media

Those new to social media and social networking sometimes lose sight of its true nature. Social media is, in fact, a new (yet very human) form of interaction in a relatively new medium, the worldwide web. Social networking is the new form of connecting with others and sharing communications in a public format.

In terms of marketing and advertising linked to a social networking community, you can conduct marketing campaigns and advertising buys just as you can with other media. In other words, social media is more an evolution in format than it is a revolution in advertising. Regardless, as indicated in myth number 4, an investment in a private label social community definitely demands a significant marketing investment.

4) If You Build It, They Will Come

For those of us close to social media--those of us who passionately believe in it--social networking certainly has magical qualities. But online networking is not the Field of Dreams. If you build a community, especially if you integrate it with your existing brand, then you need to actively support it before and after its launch.

Aside from a branded, proprietary community, the same Field of Dreams caution applies to launching a Facebook group or page. Just because you set it up doesn’t mean your active area of a megalithic online community will drive awareness for your brand or causes. Add to that barrier the fact that Facebook can never fully represent your brand, and you have a recipe for disappointment in the engagement of social media. A better tack might be the strategy of a white label community vigorously supported by predetermined marketing resources.

3) IT Security Risks Are Not Common in Administrating a Social Community

That depends. With an out-of-the-box, less integrated online presence, security breeches, beginning with spam and spiraling to viral attacks, can require frequent “hot fixes” or even culminate in a community shut-down when you least expect it. On the other hand, if you choose to deploy a platform powered by a SaaS provider on a subscription basis, the community can be hosted on your vendor’s servers and monitored by their IT professionals. This warrants an investigation into the security of your vendor’s IT infrastructure.

The decision to leave IT administration up to your SaaS partner eliminates security risks to your organization’s systems. A well-qualified SaaS provider will consistently make your community’s performance a high priority, reducing headaches, man-hours and around-the-clock oversight otherwise attached to your IT staff.

2) As Always, Quality Social Relationships Are Built More Offline than Online

Every day, more and more, online networking is proving that social community interaction can be positively rewarding, enlightening, even inspiring. When you engage with a like-minded individual in a community atmosphere of comparable interest and respect, you have the chance of creating a dedicated, lasting relationship that can bridge virtual and real worlds.

A socially-infused community wrapped around your organization’s identity gives you the opportunity of connecting and communicating face-to-face with freely registered individuals who are truly your target audience. Brand stature and growth among these active members can provide your organization with long-term, high-quality benefits.

1) Social Media Won’t Last

From the dawn of early social networking prototypes on the internet, skeptics have denounced social interaction on the worldwide web as an overhyped fad. In the beginning, critics claimed that individuals who participated in and enjoyed social networking communities were simply wasting their shared time together.

Certainly at its current development in 2009, the phenomenal traction of online social media is far more than a fad or indulgence. The amazing growth of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and so many other internet destinations is no accident. The adoption of private label social communities by so many leading nonprofits and trade associations is not a coincidence either.

While social media will undoubtedly evolve in the future, its power and value, just like that of the worldwide web itself, is firmly established in the daily routines of people in every corner of our planet. Put simply, the internet is inherently a social platform. The ability of people all around the world to connect and communicate without geographical boundaries is what makes social networking so appealing, and ultimately enduring.

As always, we encourage your comments if you have thoughts about social media, social networking and the remarkable growth of social interaction on the internet.

Whether your IT department is large or small, social networking sites demand special skill sets and specific engineering expertise. Communicate these points to your IT resources and start an objective conversation before moving forward about the possibility of using a SaaS vendor.

Know clearly what you want to accomplish

For an implementation to succeed, you need to have a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish. Unless you do, a vendor will be the one to help you define your needs, and your platform will end up based on their ideas. Be certain your IT personnel know they will be involved in any dialogue with a potential vendor, start to finish.

If your goal is rapid ROI, make sure IT knows this

Whether it’s common knowledge or stated formally, every department is aware of its limitations. Hosted solutions definitely lend themselves to a more rapid deployment which will translate into more rapid ROI. Compare the implementation projections submitted by potential providers to your IT department’s projections. Stick to your goals.

Lay out the upfront costs to IT decision-makers

After consultations with prospective partners, the real-world numbers of your implementation should be clearly spelled out. After all, industry experts estimate a huge savings reward in outsourcing IT development. In fact, the reductions in capital outlay and operating costs will help drive the SaaS market to over $10 billion in revenue by 2011. A trend that powerful is difficult to argue with.

Start a dialogue about the breadth of your ITdepartment

Smaller companies, especially, should be cautious about implementing a large in-house social media project. If your IT staff has an obvious bandwidth limit, they will understand the pitfalls of onsite development and engineering. Discuss with your IT director whether his or her staff is prepared to take charge of security, management and connectivity for the long haul. An agreeable consensus should come to light sooner rather than later. If your breadth of IT resources is limited, the services of a SaaS provider really begins to make sense.

Find a balance between aggressive and realistic objectives

Ask for your IT leaders’ input on goal-setting. Empower them to do an independent analysis of a planned social media project’s demands on human resources and physical capacity, then together, compare the costs and scheduling estimates to the submissions of your top vendor prospect. Again, agreement over the comparisons should evolve.

Let your IT people know you trust them

Take a look at point number six in this article at TechRepublic.

If your IT manager(s) and staff know you have faith in their abilities, they won’t feel slighted when a large-scale implementation is outsourced for the right reasons. Communicate your belief that IT is who you rely on when problems need to be solved and deadlines have to be met. Convey the realization that their core competencies will continue to grow and contribute to your organization’s success—even without the crush of a major social media deployment.

Please comment if you have thoughts about your IT department’s involvement in