Making Social Media a Strategy for Business

Can social media really cost a company more money than it brings in? Absolutely. Here’s how:

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is a communications function just like ads and press releases. However, many organizations don’t treat social media like it is a communications function. They simply jump on the social media bandwagon without putting any strategic thought into it. They start a Twitter account because everyone else has one, and just start spouting out information. This is wrong. Some companies can get away with doing this and make a profit, but many cannot. And those that are gaining revenue because of social media probably aren’t getting as much cash as they could from it.

So, what can an organization do to change this? How can a company use social media properly to find customers, engage in discussion and make money? Easy: strategy.

There are four parts to creating a successful social media strategy:

     1. Know your publics. Most companies have a good idea (or should have a good idea) of who they are trying to reach. Often we define our ‘publics’ as our customers, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be true. Our publics can be customers, shareholders, employees, government officials, media reporters, and so on.

     2. Know what you want to tell them. A social media site is a communications medium. Companies shouldn’t idle away their time sharing things via social media that aren’t going to benefit the bottom line. Messages shared via social media should be carefully crafted the same as a press release or CEO speech. Time is money in the business world, so any time spent doing something pointless is just wasting money. However, if messages distributed through social media channels are carefully considered and prepared to match the messages intended for those publics, the results can be substantial.

     3. Know what media your publics use. If a company’s current or potential publics aren’t using social media, then why would the company waste the effort? Make sure to choose media based on your publics, not publics based on the media you want to use. If your public is women between the ages of 25 and 50, then Facebook would be a great choice.

     4. Create a plan. Once a company knows its publics, knows what it wants to say to them, and knows the media they use, then it is ready to create a social media plan. All that’s required here is to combine each of the previous three points effectively to get the most response for the smallest effort.

I understand that the idea of doing these things may seem like a lot of work, but when done properly, can bring about great results. Besides, since many companies are already putting time and effort into social media, they might as well make that time and effort count.

Please feel free to leave comments about this or any other blog posts. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Parrot Tongue

Why my blog is named 'Parrot Tongue'

Why would I name my blog 'Parrot Tongue?'
To be honest, the name 'Parrot Tongue' just came to me. I have been thinking about doing a blog for some time, but didn't know what to write about. I finally decided to write my commentary on the world around me, specifically those things I am most interested in: public relations, pop culture, social media, news, religion.
As I considered the fact that I wanted to do commentary, the first thing that came to mind was a parrot. I find it fascinating that a bird has the ability to mimic the sound of human words. I realized that by sharing my opinions and talking about things being discussed and observed around me, I am doing exactly what a parrot does.
So why parrot tongue? Well, many blogs have interesting and catchy names. I wanted mine to be the same. I liked the idea of a parrot, but parrot by itself wasn't compelling enough. And I didn't like 'Parrot Voice Box.' So I decided on 'Parrot Tongue.'
Before I assigned this name to my blog, I decided to look up that phrase to see if there was anything else with the name 'parrot tongue.' I didn't find any blogs or websites, but I did find an article that describes a study done at a university in the Netherlands where researchers discovered that parrots, like humans, use both their voice box and their tongue to speak. (Here's the link in case you are interested: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/1604.html). After this discovery, I spent the day mulling over the name, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I liked it so much, in fact, that I skipped doing some homework to sit down and start my blog.
This may not ever become a world-famous blog, but I hope it does provide entertainment and discourse to all those who venture through it. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Parrot Tongue

Welcome to Parrot Tongue

Ok, so here's the deal: There is so much going on in the world around us, and we all develop opinions about what we see, hear and experience. I understand that blogs are really popular now and everyone has one. And we all want our own blog to be seen. So I am not expecting any miracles in regards to my followers. But I hope that those of you who are interested in reading what I have to say may benefit from this blog (even if it is to laugh and joke about my opinions or writing abilities).
I would love to be judged and hear what you think of me and my posts, so please leave comments. Don't be shy. The only request I make is that you keep posts PG-13 (though I am almost certain that by saying that, someone out there will undoubtedly post an extremely vulgar comment - please don't). Thanks.
Sincerely,
Parrot Tongue