Innovative Social Media Ideas for the Small Business

The Digital Information Age is here to stay. When FaceBook and MySpace mania began, many speculated on it’s short shelf life but it has proven itself to be here for the long run. Emerging online medias, online social networks and the influx in recent mobile Internet technologies allow information to be delivered in real time. Consumers can purchase a product or service and immediately comment on their experiences to anyone online through the use of mobile online applications. Blogs, micro-messaging systems (Twitter), chatrooms, social networking websites, and E-zines can all be significant sources of information and should be used as public relations tools for small business.

In Washington D.C., CoCo Sala, a small restaurant, monitors tweets posted that include it’s name. If the Tweet is unsatisfactory, managers contact the sender and attempt to reconcile their relationship.

Creating mobile applications for cellular phones that support those capabilities is another innovative use of social media for the small business. A mobile phone application can include important vital information to potential customers such as directions, business hours and information on product sales.

TGIFridays, a national restaurant chain, aired commercials nationally with a spokesperson named Woody. Commercials called for viewers to go online and become FaceBook friends with Woody. The first 500,000 users to friend Woody received a coupon for a free Jack Daniels Burger. Currently Woody has over 900,000 friends and counting on FaceBook. TGIF is hosting events around the country at local restaurants where Woody will make an appearance.

Social media provides small businesses the chance to be innovative and creative in the new Digital Information Age. Consumers and online users are all vying for the chance to participate and interact online with businesses and other users alike. Jumping on board the social media bandwagon is a surefire way to increase customer loyalty and increase notoriety.

What every Public Relations practitioner should know about social media

What every Public Relations practitioner should know about social media

As a college student, it has always been very important to me to keep up with all of my friends and family. We all know that this task can be challenging with busy schedules, It is also difficult to keep in touch with friends and family back home when you live over 150 miles away. Very few people are going to take the time to text or call all of their acquaintances. This is where social media come in. Thanks to sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter we can let all of our friends and family know what the latest news is with the click of just one button.

With so many social media sites popping up today, users are likely to choose the outlet that is most convenient and fun, as well as the site that all of their acquaintances are using. But what are the most popular social media sites? According to SEOmoz.org, the top five social media sites for marketing use and popularity are (in order) Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and Digg. http://tinyurl.com/2ap79v

In other big news, it was recently announced by AddToAny (the makers of a widget that allows users to share content in multiple social media sites at one time) that Facebook had jumped substantially ahead of e-mail as the all time most popular way to share content over the web. http://tinyurl.com/lv79xl

What does all of this mean for the public relations practitioner? The most important thing that should be gathered from this information is the at the social media landscape is constantly changing. If you choose to launch a campaign using social media, it can be very affective if properly targeted toward the correct audience. For example, Facebook gives the opportunity for the public relations practitioner to target a specific group of people using fan pages and groups.

An example of my own use of this tool would be my subscription to the Taste of Home magazine. Once I started to subscribe, they suggested that I should be a fan of their page on Facebook. I accepted the offer and now I can interact with the very people who make the magazine. They regularly post different recipes and news content to the magazine fan page. This then shows up on my Facebook news feed every time I log in. Taste of Home's utilization of social media has ensured that I and many subscribers like me, stay connected to the magazine.

For more information about social media, please visit:

"Social Networks: Facebook takes over top spot, Twitter climbs"

http://blog.compete.com/2009/02/09/facebook-myspace-twitter-social-network/

Facebook Statistics

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Further examples of Public Relations through social media: "Airlines follow passengers onto social media sites"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/business/global/30tweetair.html

Reaching Millions in One Act: The relevance of social media in public relations.

Social media is rapidly becoming one of the fastest, easiest and most convenient ways for businesses or any type of organization to reach its target publics, audiences and stakeholders. The variety and availability of numerous social media outlets can make maintaining and keeping various social media accounts up-to-date a menial task for public relations practitioners. Social media can be defined as any media outlet that allows interaction, response, or flexibility in the sharing of information. Social media is the beginning of a shift in how people discover, share or read news, information and content.

The effort of maintaining complex social media relationships is well worth the hard work and time in exchange for the rewarding contacts and networking it provides. Companies like Comcast and Jet Blue Airways have actually created new positions within their company, social media specialists, to accommodate consumer’s demands for contact through social media outlets (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/fashion/21whiz.html).

Social media provides a way for consumers to have a dialog with one another and allows organizations to have one with consumers as well.

Social media include social networking websites such as FaceBook, MySpace and Linkedin. Twitter, a micro-messaging system, and blogging forums are also well known social media outlets. Companies such as BF Goodrich have created applications for mobile devices as a part of social media campaigns (http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/social-media-a-go-go/). Regardless of platform, social media has the same serious implications as any other form. Libel and slander are two real serious situations facing any media outlet, regardless of its initial purpose (http://www.socialbrite.org/2009/08/08/preventing-against-online-libel-and-defamation/).

Personal use of social media is as diverse as the availability of social media outlets. Personal use could be based towards work-related contexts, romantic relationship contexts, connecting over shared interests or worldviews, or school relation contexts. I personally do not use any social media outlets unless required by my academic classes. I don’t have the time to keep up to date with existing social networks much less the time to keep up with virtual or online social networks (http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/20/markets/thebuzz/index.htm). I do, however, understand the importance of social media and the implications of it in the public relations field. All forms of social media provides an unique and engaging way of communicating with consumers and stakeholders, yet, there are a few things social media cannot do. Check out this list of 10 things Social Media Can’t Do, (http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=140128), to remind yourself that no matter what, nothing beats a good old fashioned strong marketing strategy.

Hyperlinks

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/fashion/21whiz.html

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/social-media-a-go-go/

http://www.socialbrite.org/2009/08/08/preventing-against-online-libel-and-defamation/

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/20/markets/thebuzz/index.htm

http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=140128