This document discusses the benefits and return on investment of social media for minority, women, and emerging small business certified firms. It outlines what social media is, common barriers to using social media, data on social media usage, the digital divide, and examples of government agencies successfully using social media. The key points are that social media can provide transparency, accountability, visibility, improved customer service, and flexibility for businesses if used strategically while considering policy. Government examples show social media's potential when used creatively.
3. What comes up when you
think of social media?
“Moral panic is a common
reaction to new forms of
communication.”1
1. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01474.x/full
4. What prevents you from
using social media?
Lack of time
Knowledge and
skills
Finding content
Knowing where to
start
Which platforms to
use
Privacy issues
Policy
5. Data
Social media is widespread.
In the U.S., social networks and
blogs reach nearly 80% of
Internet users and represents
the majority of Americans’ time
online. 1
Half of all American adults are
using social networking sites. 2
“If you plan on still being in
business in the next 1-5 years
you should embrace social
media.” –Kathie England
1. http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/social/
2. http://www.pewinternet.org/Media-Mentions/2011/Half-of-American-adults-use-
Facebook- other-social-networks
6. Treuhaft, S., Glover Blackwell, A., & M. Pastor (2011) America’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior
Growth Model. Policy Link.
7. Digital Divide
Age, lack of a high
school
education, and low
household income
are the strongest
negative predictors
of internet usage.1
No major
differences in social
media usage
based on
gender, race, or
household
income.2
1. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-differences
2. Ibid
8. Digital Divide cont.
More than ¼ of online African-Americans
(28%) use Twitter, 13% do so on a typical
day.1
Non-white adult Internet users have
higher rates of using video-sharing sites.2
Rural Internet users are now just as likely
as users in urban and suburban areas to
have used online video-sharing websites
like YouTube.3
1. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Twitter-Use-2012/Findings.aspx
2. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Video-sharing-sites/Report
3. Ibid
How many of you currently use social media to further your business goals? If you said yes, what platforms do you use?If you don’t have social media, how many of you have an online presence?Social media is any online platform or channel for publishing and disseminating user-generated content. It’s this ability for anyone to create and disseminate content that makes social media so powerful and so social. Social media is a powerful tool from on organizational perspective because it allows us to have transparency and accountability in a way we’ve never had before, in particular with large organizations and government agencies that previously have been inaccessible. Every individual can now publicly state their opinion, whether positive or negative, and because of the public nature of the space, that opinion is often listened to and taken seriously. Social media allows us as individuals to take our environment and engage with it and shape it in a way that I find empowering and exciting. At the organizational level we can take this accountability and transparency and empower people to engage with us and make the services and products we provide that much more useful and impactful. The other aspect of social media that I love is that access to information that we now have at our fingertips. People can now find out a lot of information and our organization, and the services or products we provide before meeting us. That’s why it’s important to have a strong online presence that highlights what your company has to offer.
Now I want to quickly go over some data about social media and how widespread it is. Regardless of your personal feelings about social media, it’s reaching a significant portion of the population and is here to stay, so it’s worth learning about.My goal is to share my passion about social media and provide you with some strategy tools that will help you to feel empowered to begin using social media for your company so that you can better serve your customers and clients.The most important thing to take away from this training is to be strategic in your use of social media. The best way to ensure you give your social media presence the time it deserves is to take social media seriously, and to learn about it. As you see, Americans spend a lot of their time online and, in particular, on social networking sites. So it behooves your company to meet your audience where they’re at.
More than one quarter of online African-Americans (28%) use Twitter, with 13% doing so on a typical day. In contrast, only 12% of white online adults use Twitter.YouTube is a powerful platform because it allows us to tell stories. Also, YouTube is an important way to reach the rural population and minority populations.