social media public relations and advertising
TRANSCRIPT
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Social Media Public Relations and Advertising
Hanna Suviha
University of Nicosia
MCOM-520
Spring 2015
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Abstract
Emergence of social media made companies and mass media to reconstruct
the way they used to communicate with audience. In my paper I will discuss
how it is important for organizations to establish strong relations through
social media channels. I will also discuss how to develop strategy for social
media communication with customers. My work is mainly based on Christer
Holloman's book "The Social Media MBA", although I overview other
authors' works as well. I also included Case Study of Dell Company which
illustrates how the organization can successfully manage its social media
relations with customers.
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Introduction
Social media is a collective term that describes the means of communicating
and engaging with people. It represents a shift from a broadcast mechanism
to a many-to-many model, rooted in a conversational format between authors
and peers within their social channels (Solis, Breakenridge; 2009). Social
Media is anything that uses the Internet to facilitate conversations.
Holloman (2012) remarks:
When someone mentions social media it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise
to think that Social Media is all about Facebook, Twitter and the like. Yes it’s
not. Social Media isn’t about the tools and the channels – the software or the
technology. It’s all about what people do with the technology, the software,
the tools and the channels: sharing pictures and video, writing product
reviews, collecting content, connecting with old friends, sharing with new
and collaborating in the workplace. (p.4)
It is certain that with the emergence of Social Media the way of
communication with main stakeholders strongly changed. Social media is
encouraging people to become more influential and it forces public relations
professionals to recognize and include new tools in their advertising and
marketing communications strategies. Nevertheless, marketers are still unsure
exactly how to adapt to social media. There are still relatively few experts
exist, even though there are many actively trying to understand the logic of
game.
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Social Media Public Relations and Advertising
Wright and Hinson in their research paper “How Blogs and Social Media are
Changing Public Relations and The Way It Is Practiced” (2008) discuss that
social media complement traditional news media, and that blogs and social
media influence coverage in traditional news media. It is also pointed by
Scott that: “differences between the “old” and “new” rules of press releases
are important. Nobody actually saw the old press releases except a few
reporters and editors, and the only way members of the general public would
learn about the content of a press release was if the media wrote a story about
it. While today’s “new” press releases focuses on information senders now
deliver directly to receivers in various target publics via the Web” (as cited in
Wright; Hinson, 2008). Wright and Hinson also remark that a lot of
corporations encourage corporate blogging by their employees. Although
they also notices that many organizations do not because they have fear of
employees putting negative information about the company or exchanging
confidential information. And in spite of it two-thirds of correspondents are
ready to take a risk because they believe that blogs and social media enhance
what happens in public relations.
Holloman in the book “The Social Media MBA” (2012) saying that
introducing social media into an organization usually means change. It can be
the change in the way everyone understands how the organization works. It
can be change in the ways people relate to and connect with others, inside and
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outside of the organization. Or it can be change in the roles and
responsibilities where what had seemed clear to everyone perhaps isn’t any
more (Holloman, 2012). For the organization, social media can be hugely
disruptive, challenging established orders, hierarchies and cultures. So what
Holloman recommends to put into organization’s strategy is: 1) to recognize
change, 2) eliminate Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD), 3) be where your
customers are, 4) listen and 5) permit.
Recognizing change means to take into consideration disruption to traditional
business models and the way people want to communicate and connect using
social media – the new tools of the web which people use for personal interest
or at work. We should consider changes in our social structures which easier
technology puts power in the hands of individuals and communities instead of
only organizations and institutions. Social media is changing how marketing
and communication works and how people want to connect with brands.
Eliminating FUD means to get rid of fears and doubts, so it will not hold
organization back from using social media tools. There is a common fear of
perceived security risks in allowing employees access to social media tools
and channels. It can be fear of releasing secret information or bringing a virus
into company’s network. Also there is uncertainty over the effects of losing
control, because of inability to control whether employee will say something
negative or not. And there is doubt over productivity.
Such approach in the workplace sees employer and employee in a partnership
where, though the establishment of trust and mutual respect over time, each
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partner recognizes the critical stake the other has in the organization’s success
and how enabling employees to engage with others online can measurably
support organization’s business goals.
A key component of the climate of trust is helping everyone understand what
the rules of engagement are – in essence, what’s permitted and what’s not
when employees reach out to other via social channels – as well as an
ongoing education framework where employees have access to formal and
informal learning opportunities to help them gain knowledge of and
confidence in the tools and the channels available to them.
Being where your customers are means that you should engage with
customers on their terms, not yours. Nowadays, the goal is to offer your
visitors content they will value – even if that content is at places other than
yours. Consumers want honesty, transparency and authenticity. For
companies, this means having open personality, one that reflects today’s new
consumer values. Therefore, the people in the company must be visible and
engaged with people outside the company, talking with customers in their
own genuine and individual voices. A clear consumer trend is wide rejection
of the concept of the corporate voice, where organization spoke and it was
never clear who was speaking. The companies who genuinely promote brand
plus individual will enjoy the most influence: wherever the customer prefers
to be.
Listening means monitoring necessary information about your customers.
First you should understand on what you want to focus: if you want to focus
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on reputation management or customer service; whether you want to get
feedback on your brand or you are looking to find conversations you can join
so your organization can get exposure in front of new audiences; would you
like to keep an eye on your competitors or you are planning prudently in the
eventuality of a crisis. Above all, you must know who in your organization
needs what information, and be able to get that information to those people,
on demand, when they need it. Such a role isn’t necessarily one for someone
with a communication background. It should be one with strong analytical
skills, since he should know how to handle the amount of data via technology
and tools.
Permitting means allowing your employees to use social media, although you
should make sure that you provided necessary educational training on how to
use it effectively. It is highly important to let your employees know what is in
company’s policies and which information they are allowed to give to the
wider audiences.
There is one more thing which requires higher attention – choice of social
media spokespeople. Not every traditional spokesperson has the right stuff to
leap into social channels and join the conversation. Social media communities
want to hear from a human being – not a press release. Someone who tells it
like it is. They want advice and information delivered honestly. It should be
people who are as comfortable with a blog comment as they are with a quick
tweet or creating a new thread in a forum. The best social media
spokesperson will have already built up a valid role in these communities. Or
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if they’re heading into new territory, have the time and aptitude to do this
properly. But not only comfort plays role. New social spokesperson need to
build relationship and also help connect the community to our brand. This is
where planning, calendar creation, connection with a business’ marketing and
communications function and on-going coaching become critical. Social
media spokesperson needs the authority to make decisions and comments in
real time. November 2010 Facebook Brand Interaction study (Beyond, 2010)
by company’s sister brand Beyond, says that there are the top two reasons for
following a brand on Facebook were to find offers and discounts and to
demonstrate love for products (as cited in Holloman, 2012). But love alone
isn’t enough to keep people from clicking. Twitter and Facebook need
programming, new content and interaction – fundamentally a unique reason
to keep someone coming back (Holloman, 2012). You should ensure your
best people will make their contribution into this process. For example, if the
conversation concern customer support, then it makes sense for customer
support people to prioritize online in parallel to their regular roles. If the
conversation can be classed as pre-sales, then look at those who manage this
function.
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Branded content
“Nobody has 30 seconds for a brand,
But everyone has 30 minutes for a good story” – Joe Pulizzi.
Future success in the field of social media will be dictated by one single
consideration – giving your fans something to talk about (Holloman, 2012).
In order to establish or extend brand identity and affinity you should think of
using branded content. The examples of branded content can be video related
(viral, episodic, reportorial), functional (mobile and web applications),
auditory (mixtapes, downloads), interactive, game-related, editorial and
anything else that might be used to engage and inspire a consumer base.
However it is important not to confuse branded content with product
placement. Branded content is a narrative creation – telling and spreading
stories, while product placement is an association, linkage and principles of
sponsorship.
Holloman (2012) recommends keeping in mind following practices when
designing content strategies:
“Be authentic – today’s digital consumers are both savvy and fickle. While
willing to engage with a brand, brand content has to pass the smell test.”
“Be up to date – a week is a lifetime, and can mean the difference between
1000 and 1000000 views. “
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“Create culture – if incapable of creating culture yourself, get behind an effort
to enable someone your fans appreciate.”
“Optimize your audience – the point of content is to encourage distribution.
The key here is achieving the “shareability” factor.”
“Measure, measure, measure – consistent measurement and tactical iteration
are vital to success.”
“Have fun with it – this process will undoubtedly be the most creative,
flexible and dynamic of all your marketing efforts. If you are not enjoying the
process, it’s doubtful any of your fans will either.”
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Dell Case Study
When speaking about social media marketing in most cases Dell computers
will be mentioned. Dell Inc. is an American multinational computer
technology company based in United States. It develops, sells, repairs and
supports computers and related product and services. Dell has annual
revenues of over $60 billion and approximately 100,000 employees across
180 countries. There is an average of 25, 000 conversations online everyday
about dell.
It would be fair to say that Dell Company was one of the earliest social media
adopters. They immersed themselves early and became an example of how a
large company could be a social business. It is important to know that over
24, 000 Dell employees have undergone social media training and some
3,000 of them have completed three training courses and become internally
certified to use social media on behalf of the company. In the spring 2010,
Dell launched its global Social Media Ground Control team to monitor,
measure and report on Dell Social Media activities. The Social Media
Listening Command Center tracks more than 25, 000 daily topic posts related
to Dell and mentions on Twitter (they do it in 11 languages). If there is a
negative conversation they have to involve and change index for a positive
one. They noticed the improvement in repeat purchase rates and that there are
higher purchase rate from customers who engage via social media
communities.
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In the beginning of 2015 Dell Inc. announced collaboration with Intel
Corporation on the latest social film titled "What Lives Inside". It is the
fourth installment of Intel’s “Inside Films” series that began in 2011 with
“Inside”, directed by D.J. Caruso. “Beauty Inside” came out in 2012, and
“The Power Inside” was released in 2013. Each film has a social component
like “What Lives Inside”.
The latest film is directed by Robert Stromberg (two-time Oscar-winner) and
has such Hollywood stars as Colin Hanks, J.K. Simmons and Catherine
O'hara. Simmons plays the absentee father of Taylor (C. Hanks) who dies. He
was a famous children’s puppeteer with his own kid’s TV-show and all the
world regrets of his death. On funerals Taylor discovers that magic world his
father created is real and he has chance to entrance this world. While the
journey Taylor realizes that whatever he makes on Dell tablet becomes real.
The 4 episodes series make viewer to empathize the main character. It
touches all emotions a good film should capture: sorrow, wonder, relief,
hope, happiness. And the movie really immerse person into created world.
Another good marketing move was that audience could participate in the
creation process of film by participating in the competition, where you could
send draft of monster creature which will be shown in the film. More than
6000 fans submitted their sketches.
The series “What lives Inside” is a good example of how branded content
should be created.
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Conclusion
This work aimed to show how emergence of social media is important for
organizations as it allows using new way of communication with audience. I
discussed the importance for organizations to establish strong relations
through social media channels and how to develop strategy for social media
communication. There are still relatively few studies on using social media
effectively. And the topic for future research can be maximizing effectiveness
of social media tools and trying to predict and prepare for future
transformations of social media. But one thing remains clear: social media is
not a passing trend - it is method allowing us to interact and share
information.
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References
Holloman, C. (2012). The Social Media MBA (p. 265). Chichester: A John
Wiley & Sons.
Solis, B., & Breakenridge, D. (2009). Putting the public back in public
relations: How social media is reinventing the aging business of PR. Upper
Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press.
Falls, J. (2011, September 13). WHY DELL IS STILL A GREAT CASE
STUDY. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from
http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/why-dell-is-a-
great-case-study/
Dent, S. (2015, January 15). Dell and Intel want you to create monsters for
their next film. Retrieved March 20, 2015,
fromhttp://www.engadget.com/2015/01/15/dell-intel-what-lives-inside/
Inside films (12 Jan 2015) "What Lives Inside" A First Look (Video file).
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WAZWm2k2w4
Livingston, G. (8 Dec 2011). "Dell Social Media Listening & Command
Center Tour - 11/8/2011". Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=qj59qQXN_KY
Anderle, M. (2015, March 15). 'What Lives Inside' film showcases Dell fans'
creativity - Power More. Retrieved May 10, 2015, from
https://powermore.dell.com/tech-culture/what-lives-inside-film-showcases-
dell-fans-creativity/