Surfing on hot topics at the ISO IEC Marketing Communications Meeting

Social media - making your messages heard

How can you make your messages heard? Why engage in social media?

More than 100 marketing and communications specialists from some 60 standardization organizations around the world participated in the 2nd ISO and IEC Marketing and Communication Forum on 3-4 December 2009 in Geneva. The first day was moderated by Euan Semple, independent advisor on social computing and former senior knowledge manager with the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).

Attendees found themselves quickly pulled into the world of the Internet and social media. With glimpses of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other such Web 2.0 platforms, they discussed modern means of making their messages heard.

Social media has changed how people exchange information

On 22 January, the press revealed that five French speaking journalists from Europe and North America were going to be shut into an isolated house for five days and nights and allowed outside contact only through Facebook and Twitter. The aim of the exercise? To see how much information they were able to gather about what was going on in the world using only their own personal contacts on social media.

The exercise was obvious as one to underline the importance of how people and journalists access information. "Opinions are globally distributed on the Internet and they have an immediate impact on person-to-person conversations,” said Semple. “Because of their near availability, they help establish relationships and personal links."

From broadcasting to narrow casting

In the past, brands used to "shout" and hope people would hear them. Now, they need to listen, find the small crowds and start up a conversation with them.

Social media have changed how people exchange and access information. Sometimes the citizen will be aware of a happening before any traditional media will have made the information public.

Statistics from an interactive marketing agency, Tribal DDB of Vancouver, Canada, at the 2010 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (United States of America), showed that 51 % of consumers go to their peers for trusted information on company and product information. By comparison, marketers of companies only obtain a 13 % trust level for the information they provide. It means that branding has to be even stronger than it was before. You need to get your consumers' trust by demonstrating intent and societal intentions, say Tribal DDB.

The power of tweeting to spread a credible story

"You don't suddenly stop doing what you were doing before. You have to blend the new ways with the old," emphasized Semple. "Organizations don't tweet, people do."

Social media don’t stop at text either. Relationships aren’t virtual. They can provide real tangible benefits. Semple used the problems he had with his Crumpler bag as an example. He reached out to the community to understand how he could get his bag restrung. Immediately, the makers of the bag responded on Twitter.

With a 140-character limitation, working instructions were not easy to understand. Instead, the company reverted to Flickr, providing him with a series of six photos to show him how to deal with his problem. Semple underlined how, in a trivial circumstance, the company had been listening and was prepared to engage with him to find a different way to deal with the problem. "Individuals make a company feel more real," he commented.

Access to a common network creates shift in power

Social media help speed up processes. When the BBC set out to make up a policy, it used a wiki to edit and improve the text. The result was that all the participants came to an agreement about its content because they all had access to and had taken part in the same process, adding their own personal adjustments. "Having access to a common network creates a shift in power because conversations can only take place between equals," said Semple.

Twitter – multiplying your message

The first speaker of the day was Paul Conneally, Head of Media and Public Communications, ICRC (International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies). He placed the accent on online communities, which, even without making use of technology, used the power of words to pass on a message.

As someone involved heavily in international challenges, Conneally stated, "The social media landscape is enormous, but the most powerful places to be are Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube." It's important, he said, to engage in social media. "It allows content to be rejuvenated and kept up to date with a much more visual communication and gives our message the strength of a million voices. That's why social media is vital,” he said.

Social media – no longer a niche phenomenon

There are some 1.4 billion people using the Internet. That's a quarter of the world's population over the age of 16. Out of those, 630 million people are using social media. If you look at the Facebook population, there are 350 million users, which would make it, after China and India, the 3rd largest country in the world. That's larger than the population of the USA. It's larger still than the countries that follow: Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Russia.

Facebook statistics show that the platform isn’t restricted simply to young people. "Forty per cent of these people are older than 35. The fastest growth is among women of over 45 years of age. There's massive growth in countries like Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico. It's one of the ways that countries like Indonesia have found to talk to their own people in far away places", said Dave Taylor speaking at the CES Social Media Jungle session in Las Vegas.

Social networks are where people expect to receive messages

Conneally reckoned that if a message is not carried on someone's network it might not even get through. "It's increasingly difficult to talk to people,” he said. “Certain messages appear in social networks before people get to see them in the conventional news. People don't go looking for news anymore, so if the message isn't on Facebook or Twitter they might not receive it. People expect the message to be there. Conneally advised people to listen to their customers: "Listening is key, because if a message is not being listened to it's useless. That means you need to listen to your public to understand how they expect your messages to get through."

Susan Etlinger is Senior Vice President of the Horn Group. The agency specialises in digital communications and interactive services. They talk of social media strategies as a standard in the industry . Ettlinger's motto is to "Always give more than you are going to get back. That's how you get back a lot".

Its all about real time listening. You need to deliver value - don't push out messages.

In his capacity as a communicator for a humanitarian organization in charge of protection and assistance for victims of war and other violent situations, Conneally has to ensure he adds value to the conversation by being responsive. "You can't simply be institutional. You have to admit to what has gone on,” he said. Using social media means you become more personal. "You're used as a trusted resource, an expert, a friend as well as a helpful neighbour,” he said.,

At the same time, social media allow you to rely on your staff and volunteers and empower them in order to carry messages. "In a cultural and local way you can get information out in the timely way that is necessary to cover your community," he said.

Management is at first scared of losing control

"Social media has introduced new paradigms that extend the reach of your organization and your brand,” explained Conneally.

“Management is afraid of losing control, but the conversation goes on with or without you. There are Red Cross-Red Crescent Society conversations already taking place in online communities, so ignoring them is not a solution" he emphasised. "You need to do what you claim to be doing, and that means giving volunteers and beneficiaries a voice and making them key partners of communication. The ICRC has a social media toolkit which has allowed competence to be built up first on a national, then a regional level.

"It's a relationship of trust based on neutrality, humanity and so on. You have to explain the code of conduct. You need to understand what it means to add value about issues, not, for example, by issuing counter-productive tweets".

Social media humanizes the organization

"In disaster zones", said Conneally in his closing statement, "the global reach of social media gives volunteers and beneficiaries the means of speaking. It allows them to communicate with the Red Cross and also the media. When dealing with disasters, social media gives an added business value. Twittering and blogging from all lOK docations allows engaged individuals to deal with people and not simply brands."

Little did he suspect that his talk would soon have far-reaching effects in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

Today, you can find Conneally talking directly from Haiti on Twitter at the following address: www.twitter.com/conneally or follow conversations with him under the group sign #RedCross or individual sign @Conneally.