Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Why Social Media?

As the Digital and Social Media Coordinator at SAMI, I am constantly on the lookout for the newest and greatest social media research and channels that could aid our clients. Day after day, the planet’s online scene expands and transforms with new trends and platforms, making keeping up a very difficult task. Over time, I’ve heard a question plenty of times phrased in a multitude of ways: why social media?

Social media is loosely defined as applications and websites that allow users to create and/or share content with others as a means of social networking. As an organization, this means that you can actively engage with your audience, respond to concerns, answer questions, and so forth in a way that was previously impossible. Compared to devoting a huge chunk of one’s budget to advertising and looking for a way to talk at audiences, social media is a free way to have a conversation with audiences. And they aren’t small audiences either. According to Facebook’s Earnings Release, there were 1.32 billion monthly active users as of June 30, 2014 (an increase of 14% year-over-year). According to Twitter’s Earnings Report, Twitter had 271 million monthly active users as of June 30, 2014 (a 24% increase year-over-year). So why is it smart to utilize social media? Simply put: free content sharing and conversations with possibly millions or billions of people.

As being on social media can be a great asset to clients, it can also be a great hindrance. When users engage with an organization and attempt to communicate with no response, users may become frustrated and use their platform to spread negativity. Also, if an organization doesn’t commit enough time to keep a social media platform up to date, users won’t see a point in connecting or, depending on how far out of date, might even question if the organization still exists.

This is where your digital and social media coordinators of the world come in. I am here to help clients establish, maintain, and thrive in their online presence whether that be by promoting the upcoming conference, performing crisis communication, or anything in between. Effectively utilizing social media is a huge benefit to any organization and we’re here to help.



See the original post here.

Conversationally,
Christine

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