Hello all,
One of the task I have enjoyed the most at Immedia was being the
agency’s Facebook Analyst. Facebook is an important communication tool which
the agency uses to promote its activities and reach its audience not only
locally but also at international level.
After each and every press
conferences, we used Immedia’s Facebook page as a mean to publish media
releases or to make announcements. The only difference between social media and traditional media releases is that the message is instantly
delivered to the audience who in turn responds by liking or commenting on our
posts. The disadvantage with press conferences is that at times not all invited
press outlets assist the event and, on some occasions, some newspaper outlets
do not publish our information.
Social media, in our case Facebook, has allowed
a two- way communication where our audience interact with the agency. Also
our message can successfully get across to the targeted public. Social media
has allowed the agency build a special bond with its public. As Kim Harrison (2011,
595) mentioned in his text when he talks about social media; it removes the
tendency to market at people and instead naturally shapes a more honest,
meaningful, and informative approach, to which I totally agree.
Moreover, as a Facebook analyst I used Immedia’s social
media page as a tool to measure the effectiveness of our communication
strategies. For example, after the publishing of Immedia’s articles in the
newspapers or broadcasting of the press
conferences on television, the number of likes for Immedia's Facebook page would
gradually increase which indicates that the message reached the public.
Facebook also allowed us see how many people saw our
post, hence the number of people we have been able to reach via our social
media page. The share and like options help reach a wider
audience as the friends of the person who liked our post or commented on our pictures
or videos get to see them as well.
Personally, I think Facebook is a ‘blessing’ (of course if
used wisely and know how to respond to negative comments in times of crisis)
and an effective communication tool which all PR practitioners should use.
Till then, keep well everyone.
Divya G.
3 comments:
Hi Divya,
I enjoyed reading your post on how Facebook is used as a communication tool at your organisation, especially as a tool to publish media releases. I do agree that it is an important communication tool as the use of social media by many organisations and businesses is becoming increasingly widespread. Social media is not merely used as a networking tool amongst people but it is also used by organisations as a platform to provide information, communicate with stakeholders and engage the interest of audiences online. However, there are still many organisations that have not used social media and as a result, not reaped the numerous potential benefits from using it. The organisation that I interned at, previously, did not use any form of social media and I was happy to set up a Facebook page for the organisation so that they were able to start using it as a platform for communication with their stakeholders, while putting up updates and relevant information. As a continuously growing platform, organisations should use social media to maximise their potential in the area of communications.
Hi Divya,
As you mentioned, Facebook is an important communication tool and that in the company in which you have done your internship, they make the use of Facebook to promote its activities and reach its audience; compared to me, Toyota Mauritius is not yet present on Facebook. Moreover, I have suggested them to create a Facebook page, as it is a good means of communication and above all, more and more Mauritian is using this communication tools. So, this can be a way for them to make advertisement and to communication with their clients as well as with their employees. Thus, it is something that they have taken into consideration and planned to do in the coming months.
Thank you for sharing this with us. It shows me how much Facebook is important in the working sector.
Cheers,
Sharon
Hello Deva,
Your post was quite interesting and your task was also insightful because in as much as most people are on Facebook, they do not use it for official purposes. Therefore, your experience was interesting.
Yes, I agree with you that Facebook gives information to an organization in a timely manner and interaction is more one-on-one with the page administrator.
Social media has changed to be a growing need for organizations to connect with their publics.
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