Reaching for a wider audience the smart way

With the ubiquitous use of Twitter, it was interesting to see a statistic this week on the BBC News website that suggests 40% of users don’t actually write their own tweets. For anyone obsessed with Twitter this might seem a surprising statistic and yet maintaining any social media profile is a highly involved one! Gone are the days when social media was the preserve of tech-savvy teenagers looking for new was to chat and web links, music or photos. Today, the likes of Twitter, Linked-In and Facebook are must-have channels of communication for many modern businesses (with newer alternatives such as Google+ and Pinterest vying for prominence as well) – but to any unsuspecting business it soon becomes clear that talking to such a vast potential audience requires a great deal of time and consideration to ensure it is engaged properly. In fact a badly judged profile can be quite damaging to your company’s brand, in much the same way as any other publically visible content.

What the statistic above doesn’t clarify is whether this is Tweeters literally having someone else formulate and post on their behalf or whether they actually have somebody else managing it for them. The idea of unknown persons masquerading as public figures or influential people in government or business conjures up a somewhat sinister, Stalinist-type propaganda, but actually I suspect what the stat really indicates is that many of these individuals have help in getting their message across to this online audience. If you have something to talk about then why not use it to its full advantage. If you have written an interesting blog then why not link to it on Twitter? If you have some big product news or outstanding financial results it seems a shame not to share this through all the media available. At MCC International we encourage our clients to make full use of social media as they would with print magazines, online coverage or even TV and radio – if you have a good story then make sure it is disseminated as widely as possible! Having a dedicated support team to help push your message out to the public is what good PR is all about and contrary to the propaganda analogy, allows anyone to spread a genuine opinion or statement directly to your chosen audience.  

If you would like to talk about how you can do more with social media give us a call on 02380 111977 or visit www.mccint.com