Social Media 101

 

“It is increasingly clear that the level of a brand’s engagement with the ever growing online community is beginning to have a direct correlation with that brand’s reputation,” according to the Top Brands in Social Media Report 2008 found on the immediate future blog.  

www.lunac.net

 

Social media: what is it, how does it work and why should you be doing it?

Following, are excerpts from and an expansion on Immediate Future’s Top Brands in Social Media Report 2008. Check out IF’s blog for the full Report.

 

“The term social media reflects the sharing of information, experiences and opinions through a series of widely available, easy-to-use tools. Very simple, very public, very hard to ignore.”

Social media is booming. Each day, new reports surface concluding that the phenomenon is continually growing.

What makes up Social Media?

Social media describes online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives.

 Social media includes:

·Blogs

·Microblogging (Twitter)

·Forums

·Social networks (MySpace or Facebook)

·Video sharing (You Tube)

·Picture sharing (Flickr)

·Podcasts

·Vidcasts

·Wikis  

·Virtual worlds or communities (Second life)

 

According to the Social Media Report 2008:

Social media encourages the building of communities; Groups of people with common interests who interact with one another on varying subject matters.  

More importantly, anyone can participate in these communities. Finding a group and joining in the conversation is very easy thanks to the wide variety of online tools available (which facilitate the finding and sharing of information.)

But what does that mean for brands? Quite simply, the balance of power has shifted – with control passing from the brands themselves to the consumers. Online audiences can choose the content they want to view and are free to comment on/share it with whomever they like, whenever they wish to do so. Brands must accept that they need to embrace this shift, rather than shy away from it, as this is a trend that looks set to continue.

We covered what social media is and how it works. So, why should you use it?

Blogging, and the reading of blogs, an important component of social media, is now a widespread activity, becoming increasingly impossible to ignore. The risk is: people will talk about brands with or without that company’s permission (in recent research, 34% of bloggers revealed they currently post opinions about products and brands on their blog.)  It is therefore vital to be part of those conversations, or even to initiate them (such as through a company blog, with 36% of online users stating that they think more positively about companies who actually run their own blog).

It is important for individuals and companies alike to speak the first word. Several brands not currently using social media have taken a fall for it. On the other hand, companies utilizing social media have reaped the benefits.

Share of voice is a term that describes essentially that: the amount a certain brand is talked about in comparison with other brands. A share of voice analysis was done by immediate future for the 2008 Social Media Report. Communication in the digital world was measured, then analyzed, to determine which brands were most talked about and thus had the largest voice within social media networks.

The results:

Share of Voice for Top 25 Brands

The table presents the results from the 2008 research. IF Rank ‘08 represents the 25 most discussed brands across the selected social media sites, with last year’s results shown under IF Rank ‘07. The year on year change is also included, as well as the rankings for the Interbrand 2007 research and Millward Brown’s ‘Top 100 Most Powerful Brands’ 2008.

The bottom line is, it is becoming increasingly important for brands to be aware of social media and who is saying what about them. A proper outlet needs to be created for consumers to initiate and continue conversations, and eventually become advocates for the brand. It is important for brands to avoid controlling the conversation. Rather, by consistently monitoring and participating in the social network preferred by their audience, brands can begin to develop a powerful following of advocates, who will, in turn continue to spread the word on the brand’s behalf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those That Link Together, Stay Together

Whether you are a current, past or future public relations professional, there is a lot of great stuff that exists in the blogosphere to enhance your journey through the real world of PR.

Check out these blogs to keep up with what’s happening the virtual world of public relations:

The Bad Pitch Blog: “An award-winning public relations resource from Richard Laermer and Kevin Dugan, since January 2006.”

Communication Overtones: Contributors: Kami Huyse and Lauren Vargas.

KD Paine’s PR Measurement Blog: “If you’ve ever wondered how to measure social media, public relations, public affairs, media relations, internal communications or blogs.”

Media Bullseye: “News, Advice and Commentary for Public Relations, Marketing and New Media.”

More with Les: “Les Potter blogs on strategic communication/public relations and integrated marketing communication… plus life in general.”

POP! PR Jots: by Jeremy Pepper.

PRos in Training: “Tips, tools, resources and random thoughts for students (and veterans) of public relations.” Written by University of Oregon professor of public relations, and co-owner of a local PR firm, Kelli Matthews.

Spare Change: “Making a difference with social marketing.” By Nedra Kline Weinreich.

Strategic Public Relations: “Focused on public relations strategy within integrated marketing communications. Hosted by Kevin Dugan since July 2002.”

The PR Post: A blog for writing students. Written by Tiffany Derville, assistant professor of public relations at University of Oregon.

Tough Sledding: “Bill Sledzik on public relations and how it affects our lives.”

Young PR: “Discussing issues affecting PR students and new practitioners.”

Add to your blogroll and enjoy!

“Go World” Does Public Relations Play a Role in the 2008 Summer Olympics?

It’s been awhile, Real World PR readers, and much apologies for the lack of posts in the last few months. Graduating college, PR job searching, PR job starting and moving to a new city can really take it out of you. But, enough about that — Let’s dive head first into one of the hottest public relations issues facing the world right now: The 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Image courtesy of living-chinese-symbols.com

Much controversy, questioning and skepticism has surrounded the lead-up to 08.08.08. Now that we’re a week into it, is there an answer to that ever-burning question, “can public relations save the Beijing Olympics?”

According to Phil Gomes’ Web log, Phil’s Blogservations, “No amount of PR—no matter how carefully or strategically applied—will help a faulty or underperforming product in the long term.”

Is this the mentality surrounding public relations concerning the 2008 Olympics? Is it reigning true? Depends how you look at it, I say.

Human rights issues proved to be one of the major concerns in the weeks leading up to the Opening Ceremony. Public relations, media coverage, optimism, even hope couldn’t help the wave of grief following the tragic loss of U.S. men’s volleyball coach, Todd Bachman. Bachman was stabbed and killed; apparently victim of a random attack by a Chinese man who then jumped 130-feet, taking his own life.

According to the U.S. men’s volleyball team, they do not feel any “less safe,” in the city of over 14 million and would proceed in their usual fashion following the tragedy, (olympics.thestar.com.)

This tragic event has been magnified, following the wave of concern regarding China’s human rights issues and how the Chinese government would handle such issues.

Call me a blind optimist, but random acts of violence occur in Canada, Romania, even the United States. Not to shadow the horrible devastation of this tragedy, it just may be important to notice the unexpected positives appearing throughout the Beijing games.

There may simply be something to show for seeing the United States Women’s gymnastics squad taping their wrists and chalking their hands side-by-side with China’s Women’s gymnastics team. Smiles plastered on their faces, athletic competition the only rivalry to show.

Perhaps, the Visa commercials said it best, “Go World.” Human rights issues, cultural differences, environmental concerns, and government questioning will always loom overhead. But maybe, just maybe, a sporting event so promising and historical as the Olympic Games can overshadow our differences and we can all cheer the world for accomplishments and grace.