Direct marketing is a vital and affective way for companies to convene messages to their consumers without the intervention of media. Integrating tried and true best practices from direct marketing into social Web marketing – and vice versa – is becoming the calling card among the savviest marketing professionals.

During the next week, The Buzz Bin will highlight nonprofits, associations, foundations and small businesses and nonprofits that use social media to leverage their direct marketing efforts to further good causes. The series will feature interviews and guest posts from several leading minds. We are excited to share a sneak peak at their upcoming marketing strategies and the valuable lessons that have paved the way.

First up: Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer of SocialFish, a company launched this year that helps associations use social media effectively. Both Maddie and Lindy have marketing backgrounds. Maddie used to teach marketing to Fine Art students in London and Lindy has over 10 years of experience in using both traditional marketing and new media. They agreed to share their perspectives from working with unique nonprofits and associations.

BB: What social media trends are you seeing in the non-profit and association industry?

Maddie: Well, clearly, associations are just beginning to dip their toes in the water. There hasn’t been the competitive market-defined push that we’ve seen with for-profit business – but that’s good, in a way, because we can learn from mistakes made in the consumer world BEFORE we make them in the nonprofit world. Also, what are associations but groups of people united by a common cause or profession? The fit with social networking and social media is undeniable.

Having said that, associations are still very afraid to relinquish what we call the “myth of control” over their messaging and information. For cause-related nonprofits, we’re seeing more creative experimenting with all kinds of viral messaging and fundraising. Of course, in this down economy, both membership associations and community-based nonprofits need to be even more proactive about fundraising and community building around their cause or field. Donations and dues are clearly at risk when people are worrying about their jobs; but this is an opportunity to really prove that you are providing something of value that people will want to engage with and be part of. (And if you’re not, then maybe your organization shouldn’t survive in the long term, at least not in its present configuration…)

BB: What was your biggest achievement on the social media front in 2008?

Lindy: This has been a really successful year for us. We’ve created and nurtured a community of Young Association Professionals that has proven to be a vital resource for engaging the next generation of association leaders. We’ve had great success collecting example case studies from a wide range of associations. And we’ve made huge strides with raising awareness and educating associations about social media to help them look past their fears and embrace a new way of engaging with their stakeholders.

BB: Tell us about the marketing/communications strategies you’ll be bringing to your clients for 2009.

Lindy: Strategically, we think of three interrelated components…

Engaging your online community in your own web space—for lots of associations that means building a white label social network.

Motivating and enabling word of mouth—that means making it ridiculously easy and worthwhile for stakeholders to share content across their social network.

And reaching out to add value to online communities that exist in other social spaces around the web—participating in outposts and self-formed groups that are attracting an association’s stakeholders is integral to the big picture.

Every group will balance these three components differently. Since we work with membership organizations, we can get away with focusing a lot more attention on engagement strategies and community building…you know…building fans and spreading the love.

BB: How do you see social media integrating with traditional marketing methods such as direct mail, email marketing, mobile, media relations etc?

Maddie: Social media is just another way of communicating with stakeholders, or constituents, or members, or the public at large. The big difference is that there is a pull as well as a push. There’s an expectation of a direct, personal but public response to a query, a humanizing of the organization, essentially. We definitely always suggest that organizations use the communications tools that work for their particular audiences. This seems obvious, but there does seem to be some concern that getting into social media means dropping everything that has been done before, which of course no marketing department wants to do! It’s essential to “fish where the fish are,” to not only figure out where your stakeholders are already communicating online, but also to be aware that those spaces will be different for different groups (different target audiences) – generational differences come to mind instantly, but also certain groups of people in a particular profession might not be at a computer during the day, for example, but might really benefit from getting mobile updates. The other thing is to look at it from a budget – and a green – point of view – the several thousand dollars spent on just one postcard mailing could go much further used in conjunction with a social media initiative.

BB: What is one challenge you face when executing new, social and/or digital media strategy? How are you overcoming this hurdle?

Lindy: Last year it was the myth of control. This year it’s the resource question.

Maddie: Even free social media is not really free. You must have a well thought-out strategy behind what you are doing, because there is always a cost in staff or volunteer time, in “nurturing” time, and eventually, once something starts working and you want to brand it, or use more storage space, or integrate it with database systems, or migrate it over to a hosted space, even free tools start to have a cost. Social media initiatives are about the long term, about building community. There can be quick wins, and there can be short term, organic projects that come and go, but the real value is in building community that ebbs and flows and grows and becomes self-energizing over the long term. It’s about relationship management, between organizations and their stakeholders, and between people who have common interests. It’s about the long term and it takes time and effort.

Lindy: Associations are notorious for small staffs where everyone wears multiple hats. The perception is that no one has time to add social media activities to their everyday responsibilities. To me, that’s like an executive 15 years ago saying he doesn’t have time for email. Soon enough, social media will be an invisible part of the fabric of our life and our work, just like email. We’re helping folks prepare for that now.

BB: What will be the final measure of success for your digital plans?

Lindy: Funny you should use the word “measure.”

Maddie: Social media is so new and changing, and associations have such different objectives for engaging online. It’s still very difficult to measure success. Until there are better benchmarks out there, which will happen over time, each organization needs to figure out what engagement metrics they can measure to figure out if their initiatives are working or not. There are some good tools and companies out there that can help, but it is still really a moveable feast. It will become easier over time, with lots of comparable groups measuring comparable things.

Lindy: Personally, we’ll measure our success by watching the transformation of the traditional association model. We’ll be satisfied when more and more associations embrace new ideas about how communities form and function…when they redefine their role as community champions rather than gatekeepers.

BB: Do you foresee any particularly enticing opportunities that can help nonprofits/causes reach their social media goals in 2009? Any advice for how to take advantage of related trends?

Lindy: I see huge opportunities with older generations. The proof is out there that older folks are eager to participate online. If we can just get them past certain hurdles, usability being one, we’ll make great strides towards making social media the tool it promises to be. Especially for associations who attract members at a later life stage—after their career path has been set.

Maddie: Just don’t be afraid to experiment, especially in this economy. That is what the listening part that we all talk about all the time is about – you can spend some time just seeing what people are saying about you and in what social spaces they are saying it. If you work in a field with a decent amount of conversation going on, then you can dip your toe in by commenting here and there, on blogs, or replying to specific issues. You can get used to how the social spaces work before you figure out your specific goals and objectives and launch one for your own organization. And if your cause or field is pretty quiet, that’s good too – it means you can be the first, you can create whatever space you want for people to engage with you. Either way, don’t be afraid to have some personality, be authentic, and be creative. There’s a whole world of opportunity out there!

Online communities connect people all over the world. Through the Web, people engage in conversations and create, discuss and share stories. No matter the story, whether people fight to be a voice for those in need or if friends make a podcast together across the region, communities can affect us all.

The Connected by Distance project, created by Jake McKee – The Community Guy, aims to collect and share positive online community stories. Fifty of the best stories submitted to the project will then be edited and presented through book form. Connected by Distance emphasizes the power of online communities and showcases them through these stories.

To get involved with the project all you need is:

• A great story to share about the online community’s affect on your life. Any topic is acceptable.
• To read the submission guidelines. Just remember, maximum word count is 600, all entries must be in English, and any stories with foul or offensive language will be rejected.
• To click on this link: “Share Your Stories.” Start writing! If you need help, refer to the writing tips.
• Tell your friends about Connected by Distance. Have them submit stories, read the ones already submitted and rate those they’ve read.

Buzz Meter Ranking: 4 out of 4 Buzz Bees

Positive: The project is a great way to hear about people’s cherished online community stories and it’s easy to participate in! The writing tools are also very helpful.

Negative: Although stories can be rejected (“story submissions that are terribly unclear, aren’t focused on the power of online community, or have grammar so bad that it gets in the way of the storytelling”), it is still necessary to keep the project’s standards of high quality submissions.

Conclusion: Connected by Distance is a brilliant project. It brings people together through stories and also makes them aware of how powerful the online community is, as well as social media tools. For instance, “How Lauren Got Her Groove Back,” shares how Twitter and blogging helped her meet her Brazilian beau. As I always say (sorry if you think this is corny), “Sharing is caring – it can be fun.”