Massaging your Social Message

To make an impression on consumers online, it’s now simply not enough to have a static website. Blogs – many of them devoted to rating specific products, including food and services – and social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter (Nielsen recently reported that use of Twitter jumped 1,383 per cent over the past year to seven million users) have devoted followings across demographic, economic and social groups. Consumers expect to see tools such as webcasts, surveys and consumer feedback on company sites, and they expect it all to be updated regularly.

While it’s hard to get an accurate snapshot of usage (most are out of date as soon as they’re published), just consider these statistics. According to www.mashable.com, a site devoted to social networking news, a recent report from The Society for New Communications Research titled New Media, New Influencers & Implications for Public Relations reveals that “Social media is rapidly becoming a core channel for disseminating information. Fifty-seven per cent of…early social media adopters reported that social media tools are becoming more valuable to their activities, while 27 per cent reported that social media is a core element of their communications strategy.” In addition, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research found that of Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing private U.S. companies, “Just over one quarter [of them] reported social media was very important to their business/marketing strategy in 2007. That number has increased to 44 per cent just one year later.”

Establishing your online presence is just the start of effectively using the web, just as a website without any changing content or vehicle for user interaction is simply the beginning of telling your story or connecting with your consumers. Learning how to massage the social message you want to get out is the next step.