Social Media: Why?

Social networking sites are a great tool for making new contacts and keeping in touch with old ones. But nowadays social media is being used for much more than that by individuals and businesses worldwide. Its benefits are being recognised by social enterprises which are starting to use this medium more and more for the purpose of spreading messages across a large network of people worldwide.

A great example of this is NHS Choice’s interactive Youtube video designed to encourage teenage boys to use condoms. It resisted telling young men what they should and shouldn’t do in their everyday lives, and instead encouraged them to make their own choices. The video was placed into various social networking sites, putting the NHS Choice’s message on the radars of a young audience that traditional media may have missed.

A good way to start using social media for your own social enterprise purposes is to find a few target keywords relevant to your organisation. For example, if you were Divine, the Fairtrade chocolate company, you could try searching “Fairtrade chocolate” to get an idea of what consumers and other brands are doing and saying in your space. You could then search for “Fairtrade products” to get an idea of competitor products.

Twitter Search is also great for getting real-time information. Just type your keywords into the search box and it will show a list of everyone who has mentioned it in the past few days. This is also a great way to find people who are interested in your product area.

Once you’ve done the research you can start writing about your organisation in a way that interests your target audience. Some recent news from your industry is always a good start. You should also include your opinion and ask your readers for their opinion. In this way the whole process becomes interactive and immediately attracts more people.

A good way to start finding people to follow on Twitter is to use one of the many Twitter directory sites, which allow you to search for people based on industry or interest.

If you’re thinking of setting up a Facebook page, you can get some ideas from Ecotricity – a clean energy company. Not only has the company created a personalised landing page for new visitors, but it also added a tab that allows users to sign up for their newsletter.

A useful tip to remember is don’t use only your own content, share content from other sources that your target consumers will find useful/interesting, creating value for your audience. The more value you create, the more people will start to buy into your brand as well as your cause.