Takeaways from 'Social Media Engagement'

The amount of information out there always amazes me. With that said, in a recent search for information about how organizations should be using social media, I found a website that compiles Keynote and PowerPoint presentations. Presentations range from web design to social media topics. A particularly good PowerPoint on the site is called Social Media Engagement. Some interesting takeaways:

“On the right day, with the right story anyone can command a bigger,
more attentive audience than any TV network.”
• Social media will eventually be called just plain “media.”
Basically, the world will acknowledge that the power to publish
information to large audiences is no longer in the hands of the
organization, but the audience.

“The upside is infinite”
• For organizations that utilize it correctly, it is obvious that
social media is great news. As the presentation states “The power of a
good story will be multiplied many times over by the voices of the
brand’s fans and advocates, the cost of media will plummet for most
brands because distribution costs on social media are close to zero.”

“Up until a year ago, saying ‘no’ to social media was a safe course…”
• Organizational silence tells the web community you do not care about
them, or that you are hiding something. “You cannot hold the moral
high ground if everyone knows that you never fire.”

The most important thing I learned from this PowerPoint is that before
starting any type of social media effort, the organization must make
sure they know their brand, and their brand’s story. Essentially, a
brand must know who they are before trying to tell its audience a
story about itself. Starting with the brand, one must determine the
brand’s core narrative. Next, the audience must be determined.
Organizations must figure out the media habits of its audience, their
passions, expectations, etc. Finally, an organization must figure out
what their competition is doing with social media so they can
determine what they can offer that their audience cannot find
elsewhere.

Check out noteandpoint.com for more interesting slides and continue
your search for new innovative idea of how to utilize social media!


This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Kurie Fitzgerald.