The Revolution of Social Media

Last night, my MKTG 301 class attended a PR event at Drexel called Breaking Boundaries: The Revolution of Social Media. There were 5 panelists, who ranged from consultants to bloggers to small business owners. It was interesting to see how they had slightly different opinions about certain topics or unanimously agreed on others. Overall, each offered many things to the audience.

First, they discussed the presence of social media and how society has chosen to adapt to it. A key point every panelist emphasized was that social media is here to stay, whether people are ready to accept that or not. Regardless of whether you or your organization is responding to the online community, they are talking; and it’s better to know what they are saying than to turn a blind eye. In fact, the panelists used many examples of how social media has hurt large corporations which had poor or delayed responses – or worse: none at all. For smaller companies, it is sometimes easier to respond to negative or unpredictable publicity issues. An example for SHM is the rate of response to HM09 selling out. Once we acknowledged the surplus of incoming registrations, Todd rallied us up and conducted a department meeting immediately – opposed to large corporations who tend to have a harder time adjusting to unforeseen changes.

A portion of the time was spent discussing the different between social media and traditional media. The latter often requires heavy research and several edits before it is approved. Not to say that social media doesn’t require either, but it is consumer-driven and largely opinion-based. The most important thing about venturing into the world of social media is to know who and where your audience is. Then focus on the content directed towards them. Many people assume that the Internet is so accessible, and thus placement isn’t important. Wrong!

Another piece of advice the members of the panel offered for successful public relations pertained to blogs. The bloggers stressed the importance of online ethics. Many corporations have been caught astroturfing, which is defined as “falsely creating the impression of independent, popular support by means of an orchestrated and disguised public relations exercise” (by Wikipedia). What consumers really want is a genuine, authentic voice speaking to them. Kind of like a “for the people, by the people” deal.

Gloria Bell of Red Stapler Consulting discussed ROI, which she refers to as Return of Influence. A major portion of social media is completely immeasurable, yet the relationships that social media creates offer you insight to the influence you have created. Everyone on the panel agreed that this online phenomenon is completely based on the relationships you create and build upon with one another. Engagement is the key to success, so updating regularly was highlighted.

For those who don’t know about it, check out this blog: http://www.conversationagent.com/. The author, Valeria Maltoni, offers tons of insight on marketing and provides great resources.

I hope all of this was somewhat useful because I definitely learned a lot, especially things that I can apply right away.

P.S. Twitter was the big channel they referred to.