For a majority of my placement I have been tasked with creating and maintaining social media for the company. There is a lot to be said for social media, and many people and organisations have multiple arguments both for and against the practice in business.
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn... the list is endless. Which have merit? Which are a waste of time? Again, both have their pros and cons, as evidenced here - http://nett.com.au/marketing/social-media/which-social-media-tools-are-your-best-bet/11765.html
One thing that is for certain in my mind though, is that if we are going to be PR professionals tasked with communicating with our stakeholders... then surely we should be where our stakeholders are? Again however, this is open to debate ... a retail company definately has a home in social media, as predominantely, that is where your customers will be. However a private company, mainly undertaking professional B2B activities... well, I'm not 100% convinced as yet... I'm just not sure a law firms clients are all that keen to discuss the goings on of their cases over a Facebook Fan Page.
In undertaking the social media creations for my placement company, naturally our first look was to Facebook and Twitter - being the most understood and widely used of the social media norms in our industry and for our target market. Our company has a strong online presence as it is and a lot of our customers are technologically savvy - so social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter appeared to make the most sense.
The first challenge was the mindset. Moving away from the notion that social media was the "next newsletter" and merely a way to sell more goods and services to clients (both existing and potential), and more towards the notion of a facility for two-way communication between us and our clients/customers. Making posts that were not just a sales spiel, but also informative, fun and most importantly - things that will be of benefit and use to people. Not just selling, but getting feedback from our client base and listening to what they had to say.
The next challenge was getting people to the pages so that we could actually communicate with them. Kevin Costner wasn't 100% correct on that one - just because you build it, doesn't mean they will come. A range of communications and promotions and our first page is now over 200 fans strong. And we have just set up our second this week for another business - http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=120560581307106#!/pages/Appointments-Online/120560581307106 . Much more fun ahead.
Our social media exploits are young, but I think (and hope) we are on the right track. Scarily, a recent survey conducted by Axciom Australia and PPR announced that 75% of Australian SME's don't use social media ... 75% of SME's that aren't where their customers are. Scary.
For those looking for some more information on social media, try these links;
http://www.cmo.com/sites/default/files/CMO-SOCIAL-LANDSCAPE-R5.jpg
http://nett.com.au/marketing/social-media/facebook-for-business-on-demand-webinar/0107.html
http://nett.com.au/marketing/social-media/facebook-your-way-to-success/11458.html
Have fun at your placements all. Maybe I'll see you around Facebook.
3 comments:
Hi Sharon,
I found your post interesting as I have to deal with social media, and particularly Facebook. I am currently doing my internship with the International Students Committee (ISC) at Curtin University. Before asking directly the question to my supervisor I decided to look at their Facebook page (assuming they would have one). I searched on Facebook for quite a long time and couldn't find anything related to the ISC I was working with.
First, there were so many associations using ISC in their page name and secondly there were too many options to try : ISC, International Students Committee, ISC curtin and so on...
I finally found and joined their Facebook page once I directly asked for the proper name.
I think that it definitively an advantage even a must for this type of association to have a Facebook page as most of the students use Facebook on a daily basis and it simplifies the two-way communication so much.
However, the issue is not to create a Facebook page, for example, but as you said to make people come to you. Facebook experienced so much clutter nowadays that it is becoming difficult to reach your target market.
Anyway I hope you're enjoying your internship.
Diane :)
Hi Sharon. I feel simply happy when i see the title 'social media' because I think this is what we (the youngsters) are most closely related to nowadays. For me, if i get this task, I would think it is more interesting than the other usual ones such as media monitoring, calling the media, events management. But i guess all of them are equally challenging.
I am also glad to learn from this post that the great idea behind facilitizing a social media is to go 'towards the notion of a facility for two-way communication between us and our clients/customers' rather than just to promote what an organization has to offer as discussion and comments are allowed in the page.
In addition, name of big organizations are always expected to be found from the search engine in these sites by the audiences. It is simply a trend nowadays that a good organization should always have a social media site in order to (get closer to your target audience as you mentioned and) be perceived subconciously as an up to date/modern organization instead of an organization that is old and traditional.
However, i do also agree that it is only necessary for certain types of organization, it depends on situation after all.
With regards,
Chong Kar Woon
Is it necessary for every organisation to have a Facebook page? Or a Twitter site?
I use online social media (OSM) at my placement. The Twitter pages have been incredibly valuable in broadening my personal network of contacts, however I don't believe it has had any impact (positive or negative) on the company's reputation.
I think there are too many companies jumping on the social media bandwagon without outlining a clear strategy with objectives, key messages and research into how to best use the tool.
The power of OSM is incredible, but without a well thought out implementation strategy and ongoing management it is nothing but a waste of time.
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