Handout 5 Organisations’ use of social media Exploring social media Handout 5 Organisations’ use of social media

Assessment criteria The learner will: 2.1 Describe how various social media sites may be used by groups, individuals, businesses and organisations 2.3 Describe how businesses and organisations may use social media to promote products and services

Types of organisations using social media Social media is used for different purposes by different types of organisations: Educational institutions Clubs and associations Public sector organisations, such as local authorities Businesses

Educational institutions, clubs and associations Uses of social media: Showing classroom activities Talk to parents and encourage feedback News and forthcoming events Highlighting achievements Use of Pinterest etc to help find resources for lessons Putting alumni in touch Examples of successful profiles: Cambridge University Twitter Dublin Swimming Club

Public sector organisations Local authorities use social media to: Inform residents on what they are doing in the borough Provide a means of contact and answers to queries Create a sense of community Advertise forthcoming events they are sponsoring Example of a good profile: London Borough of Walthamstow

How businesses use social media Most businesses use at least one of the following profiles: Facebook Google+ Twitter Pinterest

Business use of social media The principal reason businesses use social media is to promote their products and services. Having a social media profile assists this by: Increasing traffic to their website Providing another outlet for direct sales Encouraging engagement Increase traffic to business’ websites – all profiles provide a click through to the main website. Encouraging engagement – interaction with customers makes them active participants rather than inactive viewers of advertisements, in turn encouraging referrals and new business – via shares and retweets. Social media can act as an online ‘word of mouth’, quickly spreading information to lots of potential customers.

Secondary benefits to business of using social media Increasing their credibility/raising their profile Feedback and reviews from customers Offering an alternative means of contact for customers To increase their credibility/raise their profile – by establishing their identity and demonstrating openness, businesses can give both potential employees and customers a peek at how great they are. A well-run and informative social media profile that attracts lots of followers may increase standing in the market/brand value: a positive online presence may provoke publicity in other forms of media. Feedback and reviews from customers – monitoring comments and postings on social media (social media monitoring) provides an excellent insight as to what customers expect, what makes them angry and provides an opportunity to demonstrate publicly the will to put things right when they go wrong. YouTube can also be used to upload video testimonials from satisfied customers. Offering an alternative means of contact for customers – who may find it more convenient than phoning or emailing. Some businesses successfully use Twitter as an instant customer service response tool.

Social media marketing To be a successful promotion tool, business social media profiles must: Be informative Link to other useful information and sites Be constantly monitored and updated Example of a good profile: York Test Informative – the best profiles offer not only information about the organisation’s product/service, but also general information related to the sector, in order to attract followers and encourage ‘shares’. Sites such as Pinterest are an ideal tool to attract followers to related areas of interest. Constantly monitored and updated – to maintain followers’ interest and encourage ‘shares’.

Social media mining Social media mining is the analysing of data collected from social media interactions It provides information about individuals’ likes and interests in order to target promotion Social media mining is the analysing of data collected from social media interactions – specialist organisations collect and analyse how individuals use social media, selling on this information to other companies for promotional use. The benefit to individuals is that organisations will offer you products you are most likely to be interested in, based on your activity on the internet and social media sites. However, many people are unaware that this information is being collected about them.

Any questions? Social media mining is the analysing of data collected from social media interactions – specialist organisations collect and analyse how individuals use social media, selling on this information to other companies for promotional use. The benefit to individuals is that organisations will offer you products you are most likely to be interested in, based on your activity on the internet and social media sites. However, many people are unaware that this information is being collected about them.