55 What are social media?

Social media are online communications platforms that allow people to share content. The phrase typically brings to mind sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn; however, there are many other forms of social media where people share photos, text, videos, podcasts, music, discussions, and ideas. Social media also include a range of professional communication forums, online review sites (for example, Yelp and Rotten Tomatoes), and microblogging (for example, Twitter). For more information on the different types of social media, click on this article by author and marketer Tim Grahl.

Social media have increasingly become everyday communication tools. Many brands use social media to leverage their marketing and public relations efforts. Specifically, organizations can use social media to enhance brand awareness, roll out promotions, and build website traffic. Social media also provide opportunities to develop relationships with audiences through engagement and key messaging. Valentini and Kruckeberg (2012) note that “social media provide a relatively inexpensive means to communicate with, and, more importantly, to enter into a dialogue with strategic publics” (p. 11).

56 Social media characteristics

Several characteristics make social media a unique communication tool. First, social media users are content creators. People can create their own blogs, write a Facebook or Twitter post expressing their thoughts on an issue, or post a video blog (“vlog”) about their latest travel adventures on YouTube. This enables users to be active participants in the communication process. Audiences are more engaged with brand messages because they can provide feedback to companies, creating a two-way conversation.

Another characteristic of social media is instant communication. Audiences do not have to wait until scheduled news broadcasts to receive information because reporters and media outlets can bring the news directly to social media platforms. Furthermore, people can easily share and post news content on their networks. Social media also foster a sense of interconnectedness and community by bringing people across the globe together online. Those living in the United States can easily interact with those living in Australia. Valentini and Kruckeberg (2012) write that social media could not exist without their users, given that the interactivity characteristics create a community feeling. As noted by Green (2012): “Social media [provide] the means by which clusters of like-minded individuals can easily swap ideas and scrutinise data on public matters” (para. 4).

57 The impact of social media in strategic communication industries

The rise of social media has had significant effects on the strategic communication industry. Marketers use social media to enhance traditional efforts such as direct mail fliers and television advertisements. Social media also enable marketers to create interactive content for audiences. In the public relations field, social media give professionals easier access to journalists and news media outlets. For example, it is becoming common for public relations professionals to reach out to reporters via Twitter.

In many ways, social media have made it easier for consumers to hold organizations, public figures, and large institutions accountable (Green, 2012). Users can easily find and reveal information about a previous event involving an organization, whether it was advantageous or damaging to the brand. Users can also provide instant public feedback by voicing their opinions via social media networks. Furthermore, social media have made it challenging for many organizations to control their brand and present a consistent message across platforms. Audiences can generate information that can be damaging to a brand’s reputation. Take a look at this video from Sherry Lloyd, social media and marketing manager for Vineyard Columbus, who discusses brand management and the challenges of controlling a company’s identity in the social media age.

Many campaigns effectively use social media to produce beneficial effects. In 2011, KFC created a public relations campaign aimed at strengthening its relationship with young consumers and enhancing its brand reputation. The campaign launched a contest that awarded a $20,000 scholarship to an individual with the best tweet using the hashtag #KFCScholar. The contest generated more than 1,000 media placements, 2,800 applications, and a 20 percent increase in KFC’s following on Twitter (Black, 2011). This example demonstrates the utility of using social media to create reputation and relationship management campaigns.

58 Factors to consider before posting

Identify the message goal

It is counterproductive to create social media messages that do not have a specific goal. Furthermore, social media message goals should reflect the organization’s overall mission. Message goals can include increasing brand awareness, creating a favorable perception of an organization, and convincing the audience to buy a product. The goal should be clearly articulated in the content. Also, select the social media platform that would be the most effective in accomplishing the message goal. Each social media tool has specific characteristics and audiences, which will affect whether the message goals are achieved.

Identify the target audience

Similar to public relations writing, social media messages need to be targeted. After identifying the key audience, examine what they’re talking about: their interests, attitudes, and beliefs. Social media content should reflect audience analysis research findings. As you tailor the content of the message to this audience, do not exaggerate attempts to be interesting or relevant. Because social media messages are audience centered, they’re not necessarily grounded in what you personally think is appealing.

The lack of attention to audience analysis can have serious consequences. One example is IHOP’s Twitter controversy in 2015. In an attempt to reach a young audience and produce attention-grabbing content, IHOP tweeted about its pancakes, making a provocative comment that compared them to a woman with small breasts: “Flat but has a GREAT personality.” Audiences quickly reacted with outrage, causing the company to issue an apology.

A more recent example can be found in the case of social media influencer, Logan Paul, who was the center of a public outcry in response to a video he posted while on a trip to Japan. Paul specifically filmed his visit to Aokigahara, a forest and location known for its high suicide rates. The video appeared to show the body of a deceased individual. He posted the video on his YouTube channel and clips of it later surfaced on Twitter, gaining more than 100,000 retweets and a swift negative response from the public. Although Paul apologized for the insensitive nature of the video and temporarily suspended his vlog, the negative impact of this crisis on his reputation largely remained. Some companies even pulled their advertisements from his YouTube Channel.

These mishaps demonstrate the need for careful message and audience analysis. They also reinforce the point that although you may react favorably to a message, your target audience may not.

Identify the organization’s social media approach

Communication choices should reflect organizational strategies. Wilson et al. (2011) identified four general ways in which companies use social media. They are determined by the “company’s tolerance for uncertain outcomes and the level of results sought” (para. 2).

The “predictive practitioner” approach uses caution when sending out social media messages. Instead of launching a social media strategy that involves all departments in a company, only a specific department (example: marketing or human resources) uses its social media platforms. This allows more control of social media messaging and guarantees some level of certainty in accomplishing the stated objectives.

The “creative experimenter” approach accepts uncertainty and deploys small social media “experiments” to learn and improve overall business functions. Sometimes, businesses will take to Facebook or Twitter to receive feedback on products or business practices from internal (example: employees) or external (example: customers) audiences. The overall goal is to listen and learn from interactions; therefore, unpredictable results are accepted.

The “social media champion” approach takes strategies to a more advanced level. A designated team is in charge of the organization’s overall social media presence. The team also creates an official social media policy and guidelines for the organization. Larger social media projects typically use this strategy. Unlike the predictive practitioner strategy, this approach does not confine social media use to a particular department and considers social media messages across various functions.

The “social media transformer” strategy targets both internal and external audiences by launching large-scale projects that involve multiple departments. As with the social media champion approach, a team is devoted to planning, creating, and launching the organization’s social media projects. However, these projects are usually larger and more advanced than those using the social media champion approach. This strategy specifically considers how social media can influence business strategy, brand, and culture.

Organizations can use multiple approaches when designing a social media message. What is important is that they carefully consider their approach before posting any content to social media platforms.

59 Creating social media messages

The goal of creating social media messages is not only to reach your audience, but also to achieve an intended effect. Proper grammar and punctuation are important in social media writing, as is accuracy. A careless error could undermine the credibility of your brand. Here are a few other factors to consider when creating social media messages.

Engagement, engagement, engagement

More than many forms of communication, social media messages need to motivate the audience to engage with the content. Several strategies can encourage engagement, such as responding quickly to feedback from audience members, creating contests, and inviting the audience to respond to a question. Including photos and videos in social media posts substantially increases engagement, as does integrating trending topics (Redsicker, 2014). This requires careful consideration and research that will pay off if the trending hashtags are chosen wisely. Hai Poke, a startup restaurant in Columbus, did this by tapping into the Pokemon Go craze in the summer of 2016. The restaurant launched a social media contest and created a fun, timely, interactive message.

Consistency

The core message needs to be articulated across all social media platforms in a consistent way that conveys a unified voice. The message also needs to reflect the brand image; in other words, it should reinforce the brand “feel” or personality. Referring back to the IHOP Twitter controversy, one reason audiences disliked the message was because its suggestive tone was inconsistent with the company’s family-friendly brand personality.

Concise writing

Similar to news writing, social media writing is straightforward. Because you’re competing against countless other messages in the social media sphere, you do not have much time and space to capture the audience’s attention. This is especially the case with Twitter, with its current 140-character limit. You have to think carefully not only about what the message will say but how to say it in a concise manner that has the intended effect.

For more information on effective social media writing, take a look at this video with Nicholas Love, social media director at The Ohio State University.

60 References

Black, L. (2011). 5 smart social PR campaigns to learn from. Mashable. Retrieved from: http://mashable.com/2011/03/08/social-pr-campaigns/#zE8n38EXNOqB

Green, D. (2012). How to think about social media. New Statesman. Retrieved from:  http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2012/01 social-media-regulation

Redsicker, P. (2014). Social photos generate more engagement: New research. Social Media Examiner. Retrieved from: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/photos-generate-engagement-research/

Valentini, C. & Kruckeberg, D. (2012). New media versus social media: A conceptualization of their meanings, uses, and implication for public relations. In S. Duhe (ed.), New media and public relations (pp. 3-12). New York: Peter Lang.