Revolver

The advent of the digital generation has fundamentally transformed the nature of public relations and corporate business.

Industry leaders have revealed that the world’s top companies are increasingly turning to social media to convey their messages to both the public and their stakeholders, with 79 % of Fortune Global 100 companies admitting to using at least one social media platform as part of their communications strategy, according to a study by Burson-Marsteller.

On average, companies claimed to have 4.2 Twitter accounts, 2.1 Facebook fan pages, 1.6 Youtube channels, and 4.2 corporate blogs.  More specifically, Asia-Pacific companies are more likely to have blogs than engage on other social media platforms.  50% of companies surveyed have a blog, while 40% use Twitter and 40% use Facebook.

Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific’s lead digital strategist, Charlie Pownall, noted that regional companies have been slower to integrate social media into their strategies, but are changing. “International firms are leading by example in their use of social media; Asian companies have proved more conservative, remaining concerned about resourcing, costs, measurement and the potential reputational risks,” he said. “As their domestic audiences continue to move online, and as the technology infrastructure improves across the region, Asian companies will come to use social media as the core business tool that it has become in the US and Europe.”
Globally, 82 per cent of the polled companies had tweeted in the last week, and 59 per cent had posted content on their Facebook fan page.  In the prior month, 68 per cent had uploaded a video on YouTube and 36 per cent had posted an entry on a corporate blog, reveals Media Asia.

Media Asia further adhere that companies have used social media to interact with audiences as well as using the platforms to relay their own messages.  Thirty-eight per cent of companies affirmed that they respond to audience tweets, and 32 have reposted user comments.
This is interesting to note when news comes that Twitter has passed the landmark figure of 50 million tweets per day and passes Myspace, whilst also considering to allow businesses to personalise accounts used by multiple memebers of staff by adding their own ‘byline’ to tweets in what is the first of a series of additions for business users.

Punch have announced the latest offerings of support to achieve a successful PR campaign, nodding to the importance of social media tools in particular.  They recommend six specific steps to achieving this.

1. Engagement – In an age where knowledge is free and consumers are more likely to be acquainted with the products that are relevant to them, Punch say that engagement is a key element when it comes to influencing brand perception online, leading to positive conversation.

2. Conversation – As social media has the potential to be like a fan to the flames of a relevant and interesting story, they say by highlighting news and articles to relevant consumers is a great way of expanding brand reach, whilst also creating online chatter around a subject.

3. Targeting – Reaching out to specific individuals via social networks is a way of influencing industry leaders and initiating interaction with them, resulting in positive relationships emerging.  In general, responding to specific consumers directly will serve to assure users that there is a human behind the brand, not an automated robot, and in the long term can help in the development of a group of brand advocates, says Punch.

4. Addressing Issues – One of the best uses of social media is to address any issues that consumers may have with a brand, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Punch say that positive feedback should be met in a positive way, whilst also negative sentiments should be listened too and tended too.

5. Crisis – Crisis communications exercises are difficult at the best of times, but as Punch reveal, social media can play a bit role in measuring how much a crisis has affected users online, whilst also social networks are a great medium for keeping people updated, ensuring a measured process of the dissemination of information.

6. Search Engine Optimisation – Punch are aware that the promotion of content through social networks is a great way of generating backlinks to a brand website. With Google having recently implemented social networking conversation into search results, and the value of links from social networks being high, brands can benefit from significantly increased website traffic from social networks.

Needless to say, by outlining the tools and the subsequent benefits of social media this in turn highlights the value and need for digitally enabled public relations consultancy.

Channelweb has reported on SCC’s IBM accreditation, describing them as demonstrating significant expertise in the breadth of IBM’s technologies which is said to help businesses achieve breakthrough productivity levels, accelerate value creation and achieve agile business operations.

This comes at a busy time for SCC, who has said that companies face a key strategic decision at the moment that they must either get right or face missing out on the potential benefits of virtualisation projects.

The statement follows reports that many server and desktop virtualisation projects are failing to meet their objectives. Responding to claims that only four per cent of UK customers are achieving the expected ROI from virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) installations, Europe’s largest independent technology solutions provider believes that IT departments must proceed carefully to avoid making similar mistakes.

“Companies across the UK are facing one of the biggest decisions of the decade as they consider the long overdue upgrade to Windows 7. If they take the right path they’ll get the desktop of the future, but if they get it wrong they will be on the verge of making a hugely expensive mistake,” said Rhys Sharp, Chief Technology Officer at SCC.

Leading the debate through powerful digital pr, SCC demonstrates the critical need for getting virtualisation right for the future of desktop environments.

A recent survey by industry analysts suggests that online is the biggest consumer influence compared to more traditional channels.  A reported figure of 30% of consumers engage with brands via social media, demonstrating the impressive platform available to businesses.

Whilst social networking sites were designed initially for peer-to-peer interaction, and will most likely continue to be the primary objective of users on Facebook and MySpace, this does not remove the possible opportunities for brands in the form of digitally enabled public relations.

Through an astute approach, understanding consumer behaviour and acting upon it, brands have free reign to become part of the digital consumer conversation within social networks.  As I see it, a 30% share of 300 million-plus users is a healthy enough audience, wouldn’t you say?

Leading law firm Semple Fraser has selected our good friends at Bourne to handle the redevelopment of its website and online strategy.

The commercial law specialist selected the digital agency to work on its creative strategy and site design following a multi-agency selection process. Responsible for all aspects of the online platform’s development, Bourne will bring its strategic, design and commercial expertise to bear upon a complete refresh of Semple Fraser’s web activities, it says here

“I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed with Bourne’s pitch for our website redevelopment. Not only did they have the creative credentials, but the added value was the knowledge of their whole team that was brought to the table. Their ability to look at the bigger picture and provide strategic advice as well as creative input is giving us a much more rounded solution for the project, which I’m sure will give us a much better finished result,” said Julie Hecht, Marketing Manager at Semple Fraser LLP.