The evolution of social media is never ending and the expansion of relevant social media audiences is happening in a blink of the eye. The idea that so many different groups of people are affected by one single channel should seem preposterous but because of modern technology, it is not. From a consumer’s purchasing decisions to the government’s role in social media policy, social media has run the gambit with the different markets, industries and stakeholders that are affected in some way by the realm of social media.
In this week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest public relations and business news and commentary — we explore various industries impacted in some way by the viral nature in which social media continues to evolve. We look at tips and tools that will help professionals keep up with the varying ways to share the company’s story and reveal why social media policy has made it on the to-do list of a federal agency.
Social media influences consumer’s purchasing decisions: study (Ragan’s PR Daily)
Kevin Allen of Ragan’s PR Daily cites a report by JD Power and Associates that found that customers who are satisfied with a company’s social media efforts are more likely to purchase items from that company. A decisive 87 percent of consumers said a positive social interaction with a company impacts their likelihood to purchase from that company.
On the flip side, Allen said those “who are dissatisfied with your social interaction find that this interaction ‘negatively impacted their likelihood to purchase from the company.’”
5 Dead Simple Ways to Track Social Media ROI (Mashable)
Todd Wasserman outlines five easy ways to track your return on investment for social media activities. Most of his suggestions are cheap (if not free) and simple. While his suggestions show metrics and click throughs, he also implies that relationship-building is just as important. Here are his recommendations:
1. Coupons and Offers
2. Call Tracking Phone Numbers
3. Conversion Measurement
4. Google Analytics
5. Look at Overall Results and Then Work Backwards
The Government Is Watching Social Media Policies (PRWeek)
PRWeek guest columnist Bob Feldman of Pulse Point Group talks about how government will continue to increase their input when it comes to an organization’s development of social media policy. Corporate reputation has become such a sensitive topic for a number of companies and corporate social media policies have been put in place to guide employees’ personal social media behavior to avoid any reputational hazard. The government’s role in all of this is to protect an employee’s freedom of speech by monitoring the restrictions set by social media policy.
Three Tools to Better Manage Your Social Media Presence (SocialMediaExaminer)
SocialMediaExaminer contributor Ian Cleary has set out to help communications professionals make more efficient use of their time on social media with three tools that will help manage social media efforts. Here is a peak at a couple of those tools:
- Glyder is a social media marketing tool that you can download to your iPhone. The app allows users to share well-thought-out marketing messages as a social media update. The great thing about Glyder is that it offers a wide range of graphic templates to further develop users’ marketing efforts.
- Markerly is online sharing tool that allows users to tailor what they share when they are perusing the Internet. Instead of sharing an entire page, Markerly allows to share just an image or an excerpt from an online article.
Should You Unfriend Everyone on Facebook? (Digits/Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal tech editor Julia Angwin joins Digits to explain why she’s deleting all 666 of her Facebook friends. Angwin explains that privacy is hard to have on Facebook, particularly for journalists, because people that they communicate with on Facebook could be perceived as sources or could actually be sources. As a journalist, Angwin is deleting her Facebook friends as a preventive measure to protect her friends list from public scrutiny. Watch the video to hear more on why Angwin is taking this defensive approach when it comes to her Facebook friends.
Nicole Castro is the public relations associate at the Public Relations Society of America.
