Business Communication Today

Fifteenth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 8
Social Media

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Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
8.1 Discuss six common uses of social media for business
communication.
8.2 Explain how to develop a social media strategy and
social media content.
8.3 List the most common types of social networks used in
business and four content strategies for social
networking.

Copyright © 2021 Pearson Education Ltd.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
8.4 Discuss the role of blogging in business, and offer tips for
successful blogging.
8.5 Describe the business uses of Twitter and other
microblogging systems, and offer tips for writing effective
business tweets.
8.6 Identify four considerations when setting up a business
wiki, and explain how to become a valuable wiki
contributor.

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How Businesses Use Social Media for
Internal and External Communication
• L O 8.1 Discuss six common uses of social media for
business communication.

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Internal Social Platforms
• Enterprise Social Networks
– Social networking
– Online meetings
– Knowledge-management systems
– Blogging
– Microblogging (enterprise micro messaging)

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Company Uses of Social Media
• Integrating and expanding company workforces
• Fostering collaboration
• Building communities
• Socializing brands and companies
• Supporting customers
• Understanding target markets

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Business Uses of Social Media (1 of 4)
Operations
Fostering collaboration.
Networks can help identify the
best people to collaborate on
projects and find pockets of
knowledge and expertise
within the organization.
Recruiting employees and
business partners.
Companies use social
networks to find potential
employees, short-term
contractors, subject-matter
experts, product and service
suppliers, and business
partners. A key advantage
here is that these
introductions are often made
via trusted connections in a
professional network.
Intelligence
Understanding target
markets. Many Companies
monitor and analyze social
media traffic to pick up on
consumer trends, complaints,
rumors, and other bits of
environmental intelligence.
Monitoring company and
brand reputations. Tools for
sentiment analysis and
reputation analysis assess
the reputations of companies
and individuals, measure the
emotional quality of online
conversations, and identify
outrage “hot spots” on social
media.
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Relationships
Onboarding new
employees. Internal networks
can help new employees
navigate their way through
the organization and find
experts, mentors, and other
important contacts.
Integrating company
workforces. Internal social
networks can help companies
grow closer, including
encouraging workforces to
“gel” after reorganizations or
mergers and overcoming
structural barriers i
communication channels.
Business Uses of Social Media (2 of 4)
Operations Intelligence Relationships
Promoting products. If Identifying opinion Accelerating team
done in a way that influencers. Social development. Networks
doesn’t annoy followers, media influencers can can help members get to
social media can be an sway public opinion, so know one another,
effective way to promote companies try to identify identify individual areas
a company and its opinion leaders in their of expertise, and share
brands. markets. resources.

Supporting customers. Supplementing the Extending professional

Social customer service formal communication networking. Social
involves using social network. Internal social media can give seminar
media to give customers networks can bypass the and conference
a more convenient way formal communication participants a way to
to get help from the system to collect and meet before an event
company and to help distribute information in a and to maintain
each other. timelier fashion. relationships afterward.

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Business Uses of Social Media (3 of 4)
Operations Intelligence Relationships
Extending the Finding sales Building communities.
organization. Social prospects. Salespeople Social networks can
networking is also fueling on networks such as bring together
the growth of networked LinkedIn can use their communities of practice,
or virtual organizations, connections to identify people who engage in
where companies potential buyers and ask similar work, and
supplement the talents of for introductions through communities of interest
their employees with those shared (sometimes called brand
services from one or connections. Sales communities), people
more external partners, networking can reduce who share enthusiasm
such as a design lab, a cold calling, contacting for a product or activity.
manufacturing firm, or a potential customers
sales and distribution without a prior
company. introduction.

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Business Uses of Social Media (4 of 4)
Operations Intelligence Relationships
Communicating during Blank Employee advocacy.
a crisis. When Companies can amplify
companies need to their voices by using
communicate with broad employees’ social media
audiences in a hurry, connections to share
social media are ideal approved messages.
channels.

Sources: Based in part on Lexalytics website, accessed 12 February 2019,

www.lexalytics.com; Evolve24 website, accessed 12 February 2019, www.evolve24.com;
Matt Charney, “How to Use Social Media for Employee Onboarding,” Recruiting Daily, 27
April 2015, recruitingdaily.com; Shep Hyken, “Social Customer Care Is the New Marketing,”
Forbes, 22 April 2017, www.forbes.com.
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Strategies and Tactics for Successful Social
Media Use
• L O 8.2 Explain how to develop a social media strategy
and social media content.

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Establishing A Social Media Strategy
• Why: Setting Social Media Goals
• Who: Identifying Target Audiences and Content Developers
• What: Choosing Message Strategies and Content Types
• How: Figuring Out How to Create and Distribute Content
• Where: Choosing Social Media Channels and Connections
• When: Scheduling Posts and Ensuring Rapid Responses to Incoming
Messages

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A Good Social Media Strategy Answers Six
Key Questions

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Developing Social Media Content (1 of 3)
• Planning Social Media Content
– Take a conversational approach
– Support the ways your readers want to consume
information
– Provide information that your connections are likely to
share
– Restrict promotional efforts to the right time and place
– Promote a sense of community
– Be transparent

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Developing Social Media Content (2 of 3)
• Writing Social Media Content
– Choose the best compositional mode for each
message and social media service
– Write informally but not carelessly
– Write concise, specific, and informative headlines
– Look for opportunities to include visual content

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Developing Social Media Content (3 of 3)
• Completing Social Media Content
– Review for quality
– Look for opportunities to improve readability
– Think before you post

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Managing the Organizational Challenges of
Social Media
• Don’t overload with social media tasks
• Limit unproductive time on social media
• Prevent sharing of private or inappropriate material
• Create a cohesive social media voice
• Discourage private groups on internal networks

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Social Networking for Business Communication
• L O 8.3 List the most common types of social networks
used in business and four content strategies for social
networking.

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Categories of Social Networking Platforms
• Public, general-purpose social networks
• Public, specialized social networks
• Private social networks
• User-generated content websites
• Content-curation websites
• Community Q&A websites

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Four Content Strategies for Business
Social Networking
• Developing and sharing original content
• Responding to existing content and questions
• Curating and sharing existing content
• Facilitating user-generated content

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Successful Business Blogging
• L O 8.4 Discuss the role of blogging in business, and offer
tips for successful blogging.

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Business Applications of Blogging (1 of 4)
Operations
Recruiting. Using a blog is
a great way to let potential
employees know more
about a company, the
people who work there, and
the nature of the company
culture.
Project management and
team communication.
Teams can use blogs to
keep everyone up to date,
particularly when team
members are
geographically dispersed.
Intelligence
Soliciting feedback on
product designs and other
decisions. Designers can
describe new features or
new product ideas and ask
readers to offer comments
and critiques.
Gathering data on
customer sentiment,
product usage, and other
variables. Customer
comments on company
blogs posts can be a
treasure trove of intelligence
on how customers feel
about a company and its
products.
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Relationships
Building communities.
Like social networking,
blogs can bring together
communities of practice and
communities of interest,
both internally and
externally.
Supporting customers.
Blogs are a good channel to
use when a company has
in-depth technical support
advice or other information
to share with customers.
Business Applications of Blogging (2 of 4)
Operations
Word-of-mouth marketing.
Bloggers often make a
point of providing links to
other blogs and websites
that interest them, giving
marketers a great
opportunity to have their
messages spread by
enthusiasts.
Influencing public policy.
Executives can share their
opinions and provide
business oriented insights
regarding regulations and
other issues that affect
business.
Intelligence
Background checks.
Employers often search for
and evaluate the blogs of
prospective employees,
making blogging a good
way to build a name for
yourself within your industry
or profession.
Monitoring blog
conversations. Companies
often monitor their
competitors’ blogs to track
competitive threats, for
example.
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Relationships
Sharing customer
success stories. Case
studies and other forms of
product-usage stories help
potential customers learn
the value of a
company’sproducts and
services.
Sharing industry news.
Customers often look to the
companies that provide
them with products and
services to keep them up to
date on developments.
Business Applications of Blogging (3 of 4)
Operations Intelligence Relationships
Blank Blank Humanizing a company. Companies can use
blogs to share stories about events and efforts
not directly related to sales and products, such
as charity work and community projects.

Educating customers and other

stakeholders. Blogs are a good format for
explaining a variety of topics, such as giving
tips on using a company’s products more
effectively. Doing so can improve sales and
support productivity as well, by reducing the
need for one-on-one communication.

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Business Applications of Blogging (4 of 4)
Operations Intelligence Relationships
Blank Blank Connecting with the public and the news
media. Many company employees and
executives now share company news with the
general public and journalists.

Engaging employees. Blogs can enhance

communication across all levels of a company,
giving lower-level employees a voice that they
might not otherwise have and giving senior
executives better access to timely information.

Responding to questions. Companies can

use blogs to answer stakeholder questions.

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Tips for Successful Blogging
• Planning a Blog and Individual Blog Posts
– Audience
– Purpose
– Scope
• Writing Blog Posts
• Completing Blog Posts

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Twitter and Other Microblogging Systems
• L O 8.5 Describe the business uses of Twitter and other
microblogging systems, and offer tips for writing effective
business tweets.

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Business Applications of Microblogging
• Customer Service
• Social Networking and Crowdsourcing
• Integration with Other Social Media
• Encourage Spontaneous Communication
• Integral Part of Overall Communication Strategy

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Tips for Effective Business Tweets (1 of 2)
• Define your purpose and maintain the theme
• Keep up with regular tweets
• Don’t be careless in writing style
• Use hashtags
• Link Twitter with other digital channels

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Tips for Effective Business Tweets (2 of 2)
• Curate content from other Twitter accounts
• Explore followers’ timelines
• Tag others
• Move conversations to direct messages if appropriate

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Collaborative Writing on Wikis
• L O 8.6 Identify four considerations when setting up a
business wiki, and explain how to become a valuable wiki
contributor.

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Management and Design Considerations for Wikis
• Public or private access
• Moderation and validation
• Ongoing contribution
• Design and ease of use

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Tips for Successful Wiki Writing
• Let go of ownership and desire for recognition
• Look for opportunities to improve and update
• Determine how new material fits in with old material
• Use the discussion board to share thoughts and intentions
• Don’t let pages get too long over time

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