With the emergence of social media options such as Twitter, Facebook, and now Google Buzz to join the web site and email marketing, nonprofit organizations now have a cornucopia of communications options to stay in touch with constituents.  But which channels are best to use, and what messaging should go in each?   To address this dilemma, Tech Soup recently featured Aspiration’s Allen Gunn in Integrating Social Media Into Your Website.   A few highlights:

• Consider where your constituents are most likely to be, and start publishing on those channels first
• Even if you’re not ready to use them, set up accounts with consistent names on multiple social media sites – don’t forget about media sharing portals YouTube and Flickr
• Provide information about other channels on email newsletters, blog posts etc.
• Add channel links to organization email signatures
• When deciding which channel(s) to use, consider whether you’ll be primarily sending, e.g.event announcements,late-breaking news or alerts, donation asks, scheduled communications or infrequent updates

To help prepare an overall communications plan, Aspiration provides a useful publishing matrix.  Gunner also recommended utilizing a social media dashboard using tools such as iGoogle and NetVibes (see Aspiration’s public dashboard) so you can keep track of how others are talking about your organization online.

So what content to use for what service?  We’re still learning, but my recommendations are:

1. Web content and email marketing still come first.  If using other channels, make sure the messaging and images are consistent.
2. Update blog content at least weekly;  include links to information you’ve already published on Twitter or Facebook
3. Post in Twitter or Facebook several times daily, including retweets of others’ posts that will be of value to your followers.  Facebook generally has a more ‘personal’ touch, but always remember to stay focused on your organization / brand.
4. Google Buzz? Too early to tell.  This seems like more of an effort to keep users in Gmail and as a response to other services than as a new value added product.
5. Make it easy for constituents to find your other channels by referencing them on your web site.  For example, see the ‘Connect / Join / Follow Us’  links at Environmental Defense Fund , Witness, and Aspiration.
6. Listen before you speak. You may have heard this advice when speaking with colleagues or with your spouse;  the same applies online
7. Make sure you have something of value to say. If you’ve followed #6 by reviewing colleagues’ blogs / public content, you’ll have plenty of ideas to choose from.  But don’t just repeat – add your own spin.