Ever since Twitter’s creation six years ago,
many have argued over its benefits and shortcomings. No matter what your personal feelings are on
it, Twitter, like most social media, has its place in PR and for now it appears
to be here to stay. As social media experts, we know that
social media needs to have a role in the lives of our clients. Essentially, you have to know how to make
your social media your company’s vehicle to help you deliver your brand’s
message. No, it’s not always easy, but
studies show it certainly is effective.
Let’s consider Twitter’s pros and cons:
The pros
(1) Strengthen relationships: Twitter
can certainly help form and strengthen relationships between brands and brand
consumers. Twitter puts brands in contact with their target. Outreach has
never been more direct.
(2) Attracts younger demographic: While
younger audiences were starting to get lost in the shuffle of traditional
media, social media sites like Twitter, can catapult your company right into
the reach of a younger audience.
(3) Shows who you are: Social media sites like Twitter can help make a brand or company appear more
down-to-earth. It can peal back the
layers and give a warm insight into who a company is.
(4) Great researching tool: Twitter gives a company feedback for
free. Want to know what your customers think of you and your company? Just jump on Twitter and
find out exactly what people think and feel free to comment back. It’s just that simple. Feedback is at your fingertips.
The cons
(1) Can over-address the issues:
Twitter can give rise to minor issues that shouldn’t be blown out of
proportion.
(2) Employee policing: Twitter, and
other social media sites, have made it so that business owners are forced to
police employees on what they post on their personal sites because what they
post could compromise the organization.
Leaking company secrets or talking badly about an organization has put
many jobs at risk.
(3) Is it a waste of time?: Some have argued that using Twitter is a
complete waste of a company’s time. And
truly, depending on how you use your company’s Twitter it can become a waste of
time if it’s not being done properly.
Connect with users, share good content, comment on people’s relevant
articles—make your company known! If you
can do that successfully, then it is NOT a waste of time.
The pros and cons list can go on for
pages, but the real point here is that social media can and should be utilized
by businesses both big and small. It’s about
how you make your social media work for you and your company that matters. It can have as big of an impact as you want
or no impact at all. It’s all about what
you put in to it. If you’re looking for
ways to maximize your social media efforts, talk to us and we will fill you
in.
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