What’s your news fix of choice? Radio news bulletins listen to while driving between home and work, the 7 pm TV news or is it a time-out with the newspaper and ink-smudged fingers to show for it?

Modern news fixes are making newspapers work harder than ever before to attract advertisers and readers. Social media is creating a hunger for news in real time; not when the clock strikes for scheduled news broadcasts or when the ink dries on the paper, but when and where the reader asks for it.

If that sounds like something out of Star Trek, here’s a social media crash course to beam you up to speed.

Image credit: Matt Hamm

South Africa’s Internet user market has grown by 91.3% from 2000 to 2009. Facebook has near 500 million active users worldwide and is South Africa’s second most popular site to visit after Google. There are 55, 000 active South African Twitter users who have an average of 115 followers each.
That’s all well and good but what is social media? Let’s looks at three social networking platforms.

Blogs

A blog is a site populated with content, displayed in reverse chronological order, which readers are able to comment on. Some may use blogs as a form of online diary but many businesses blog in order to build their brand as a thought leader in their industry.
According to Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere (December 2009) 71% of all respondents blogging for business reported increased visibility within their industries and 56% said blogging has helped their company position itself as a thought leader within industry.

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site which allows users to build personal profiles and link their profiles to friends and family. Once your profile is linked to someone else’s you are automatically subscribed to their Facebook ‘newsfeed’ which means that when you login, you will see that they have recently uploaded photos or posted a video. Users can also post status updates which will appear on their profile and in the newsfeeds of everyone who is their friend on Facebook. This allows Facebook friends to share little glimpses into each other’s lives.
It has become a popular site because it allows families and friends stay up-to-date with each other even if separated by geography or busy schedules. Also popular with brands for Facebook fan pages. Once a user becomes a fan of a brand on Facebook, the updates from the brand show up in the user’s newsfeed along with their friends’ updates.

Twitter

Twitter is the micro-blogging site which allows users to share their opinions online in 140 character ‘tweets’, much like a text message or a Facebook status update. It’s become a valuable networking tool allowing people to connect with people of similar interest without necessarily sharing personal content like one would on Facebook.

News often breaks on Twitter via people who witness events and tweet from their mobile phones. Many professionals use Twitter to share insights, refer back to their websites and blogs in order to position themselves as thought leaders.

Social media for brand building

Now you might be thinking, ‘That’s lovely but how do you use social media for brand buliding?’

We use social media to help our clients build their brands. For example we’ve helped Quest Staffing Solutions build their image by being available in their target markets’ preferred communication mediums – social media. Through the persona Missy Quest, Quest has opened the door for two-way communication with Generation X and Y candidates. Quest has been able to recruit candidates online as well as use their feedback to direct branding initiatives. Missy Quest has become an invaluable spokesperson for Quest Staffing Solutions, helping to identify negative perceptions and turn complaints into compliments.

Helping people find jobs is easy enough to promote online but how do you make shutters and blinds something people want to be a fan of? We tapped into people’s interest in home décor for AMERICAN shutters and personally invited people who are interior decorators, designers and home DIY enthusiasts using Facebook search features.

Even though their community growth has been slow AMERICAN shutters has established itself as a leader in their industry with regards to their social media use and are currently the only South Africa shutters and blinds manufacturer utilising a blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Social media is social; it’s not advertising.

Many assume that social media is similar to advertising and while the main objective may be the same – to get people talking favourably about the brand – there are a few notable differences.

Social media campaigns are essentially community campaigns which invite an audience to participate. Unlike a media subscription or contract, people can join or leave at any time. Social media also allows people to participate easily from their computer or cell phone. Social media and advertising are two different mediums; both are valuable and can be used to complement each other.

Social media is just one channel of communication to reach out to your target audience, attract fresh interest. It takes time to build a community, listen to the needs of the members (adjusting the strategy accordingly), research and write content that will be appreciated by the community. It’s a process that requires strategic thinking, the ability to build relationships in a digital space and that’s just one segment of what we at Power of 9 do.

So whether you prefer getting your news via social media or the pages of newsprint, the printing press and social media have one thing in common; they both revolutionised the way we obtain and share information.

Read more of Monique‘s blog posts here.

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