Just puck it.

As the National Hockey League lockout closes out its first full week, many professional players are in talks to sign with European leagues for the 2012-13 season. Perhaps they’re thinking of hockey legend Wayne Gretsky’s observation: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player skates to where the puck is going to be.” Though they’ll get monthly escrow checks equal to about 8% of their salary throughout the negotiations, players who don’t earn the multi-million dollar salaries see the puck—in this case, the paycheck—to be skimming elsewhere. They’re simply trying to get in front of it.

It’s a good communications strategy as well, especially when it comes to social media. We’re chasing a very elusive target audience across the very slippery surface of multiple media. Good players are skating very near the puck, but always just a bit behind. The really great players are moving to where the puck is going to be, anticipating their target’s next pivot and being in place when that audience arrives.

Of course, this is about as easy as blocking a 100-mile-an-hour slapshot. Consumers of information now have thousands of choices, each one requiring different content, maintenance, and follow up. Even if you figure out the best platform for today’s audience and message, you have to figure out who your audience WILL BE next year or next decade. It takes “skating to the puck” to a whole new level.

For example, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, commonly known as the VA, is starting to focus its communications efforts on an entirely different audience. The image that many of us have of veterans is an older population: World War II veterans are now in their 90s and Korea and Vietnam veterans are collecting Social Security. But nearly 20% of veterans are under age 45 and this audience of nearly 5 million users expects digital access and social interaction.  

In response, the VA is a dynamic participant in social media on Facebook and Twitter, with “nearly 640,000 friends and followers,” according to VA online comms director Brandon Friedman. The agency also actively advocates on behalf of veterans-only online communities like the Community of Veterans, which boosts more than 23,000 members. Though the VA communciations team admits they’ve only just begun to explore interactive options, they're working to get ahead of where their target audience is going, not just chasing after them.

The approach to doing this well is the same as an athlete might take. Practice. Watch those who do it well. Practice some more. Look for tips and techniques and advice. Practice again. And while we may not ever be a Gretsky-level of elite player, we might get better at hitting our goals.