The role that Social Media will play and the effects it may have on Corporate Communications over the next 3 years
I was given the opportunity to write about Social Media and Corporate Communications. What an interesting subject to talk about !
Nowadays, hundreds of million of people are connected to the Internet and it has never been so easy to post and share a message to the entire world. While it is clear that new opportunities and challenges are coming with global connectivity, it is equally clear that social media are changing the way corporate organisations do business and are perceived.
Companies are going to be forced to find a way to incorporate social media
In today’s corporate world, organisations can no longer control their brand image like they used to. Social media platforms such as social network, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites are playing a powerful role in inspiring, informing and connecting all kind of Internet users. Short time ago, search engines have incorporated social content into their search results; likes, follows, shares, and +1 are known to impact overall SEO results for a website or an online message. Thereby internal and external stakeholders are becoming a new source of creativity, innovation and promotion for organisations, but they also expect more transparency, authenticity and fairness.
In the next years, the world of information will be evolving into something based on principles of collaboration, sharing and participation. Communicating corporate messages through online medium is becoming very important and useful in order to improve and promote conversations between companies and stakeholders. Recent studies concluded that when stakeholders have “a voice” online, they are highly engaged and truly want to be heard; which allows companies to achieve higher levels in the conversations. With social media, power and authority are distributed across all verticals, and public perception will contribute more and more to the success or failure of any company.
Dangerous or not, social media will impact on public perceptions and business
Starting now to build an online community is crucial for many reasons. In the next years, it will help improve products and services with users ideas and increase customer recommendation. When a crisis will arise, it could even thrive and protect online reputation. Having employees, brand evangelists and other social collaborators to advocate in favour of a company will be a very powerful advantage. In the other hand, it will be very risky for companies totally ignoring social media. They could lose the opportunity to defend themselves, become a target for hackers, give competitors an advantage, miss the opportunity to get new suitable employee, falling ranking in search engines etc.
More than using social media for disseminating information, the power of social media also relies in the possibility to measure the effectiveness of the communication process. From shares and likes to customer feeling, using a range of analytical software and generating social media reports will help directors and managers to take better business decisions.
We are still experiencing the start of this social media revolution. However, the market and new technologies are rapidly evolving and social media will progressively put the stories of the everyday person and organisation in the hands of the world by simply accessing it through a PC or mobile device.
7 Steps To Manage Your E-Reputation by Frederic Gonzalo February 4th 2013
The Role of Social Media in Corporate Communications by Manopriya Prakash March 2nd 2011
Social media as a strategic tool for corporate communication by Gomez L. and Soto I. 2011
Ten examples of extracting value from social media using big data by Dion Hinchcliffe, November 12th 2013
8 Risks When You Ignore Social Media by Hollis Thomases, April 30th 2013
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