At this point, we are still conducting individual research into Social Media Strategies. I think it is important at this stage to keep up the intense research on an individual basis as it will most likely allow us to cover a lot more content and grab relevant material from a vast array of sources, written or otherwise. We have planned to meet this week to collate and share our research ideas and findings. We are also planning to finalise any potential interviewees and discuss the structure of our research report.
I have found that my research has been directed towards the communication aspect of organisations who use social media rather than advertising strategies. From the articles I’ve been reading, two-way conversation is a huge part of a successful social web campaign. I guess it’s important to remember that even as a company, social networking is just as beneficial, more-so than what we could call social broadcasting (that is, one-way messages that use social media as an advertising channel).
It has been really helpful looking further into the field of social media as it is something I can most definitely see myself pursuing in the future. I have applied for a few positions falling under the title of “Social Media Coordinator” and I can see that the work I have done in Media Industries has already provided me with practical knowledge that I can apply in the workforce. For example, a question in an application for a job recently asked ‘What are some ideas you could bring to the role?’ and I had no hesitation in my response because I had already engaged in research into the area. I’d like to share with you my response to that question in my application as I think it details how our research can be used in a relevant way:
What are some ideas you could bring to the role?
(**note: I won’t identify the employer so I have referred to the organisation for which I applied as ‘the organisation’)
One of my current university projects involves collaborative and extensive research into social media strategies and how they are best applied. It would be brilliant to have the opportunity to further develop my creativity, skills and knowledge of social media within a professional environment.
I believe a successful social media strategy involves creating strong relationships with followers and supporters. The style of communication used is of utmost importance as one of the main grievances of many organisations using social media platforms is the way in which they address their followers; mostly with a barrage of incessant self-promotion. My focus would be on forging stronger relationships with followers and profiling their common interests so as to deliver content that is of most relevance to them, whilst keeping firmly in-line with the organisation’s vision.
The key to a successful social media strategy is conversation. I would be looking to keep the organisation’s conversation running by encouraging young people to comfortably voice their opinions in an online space. For example, it could be beneficial to let young people know that the organisation value the input of their followers by re-tweeting relevant tweets and tweeting back to individuals. Such a strategy would aim to keep followers engaged with the organisation and consequently feel part of the movement.
Social media platforms provide the potential for organisations to abandon the traditional one-to-many communication models of the past and to instead embrace a new many-to-many model. That is, to allow people to engage with like-minded individuals as well as specifically with the movement.
If I score the job then we’ll know for sure that this research assignment is valuable! Ha!.. time will tell. *fingers crossed*
Diana Does Research 