How Social Media is More Powerful Than We Think

Social media has a great impact on present-day journalism, public relations, marketing and commerce. It has enhanced the 24-hour news cycle as users can contribute and broadcast their opinions on a global scale and has created powerful influencers for brands and public relations professionals to collaborate with (MatterNow, n.d.). The Me Too movement started 11 years ago, however in the last few months, #MeToo has been able to raise awareness of sexual harassment and assault, proving the power of social media for activism stronger than ever. Journalists have picked up stories from this hashtag as celebrities such as Rose McGowan, Alyssa Milano and Gabrielle Union have come forward sharing their stories (Rogers, 2017). Additionally, social media has changed public relations by providing companies direct access to consumers, and therefore no longer only having to print an ad or communicate with journalists to reach them. If there is negative feedback, the public relations department can easily rectify the situation by issuing a statement via social media. Through social media consumers can also easily interact with brands and express their opinions first-hand (MatterNow, n.d.). Social media users reacted negatively when H&M released their “monkey” sweatshirt. LeBron James and P. Diddy expressed their outrage about the article of clothing and The Weeknd even announced he was ending his partnership with the brand (Olsen, 2018). Moreover, social media has changed commerce by providing consumers with the option to go on Twitter and Facebook to convey their bad shopping experiences. Since social media has a huge reach, these complaints are visible to the media and other consumers. Therefore, brands must respond quickly and effectively to prevent these complaints from escalating (MatterNow, n.d.). JetBlue is a company fully aware of the power of social media which is why they expanded their customer services to Twitter. They have a team of professionals who answer customer service tweets on Twitter instead of over the phone, within 10 minutes (Kolowich, 2014). The response from this feature has been overwhelmingly favorable and every company should take note of JetBlue’s strategy.

Social media is also another method brands can develop a personal relationship with their followers. The significance of Facebook on marketing is that professionals can fill many of the gaps caused by the decreasing attention of other media channels such as television and newspapers, with online content. Even Kate Farrish, the communications Vice President of ESPN updates his own social media for public relations since reporters were not picking up all the important news at the station. Through Facebook, firms can produce their own content and post on their Facebook for followers to like and share with others in their network (Huebsch, n.d.). Twitter has impacted the public relations and marketing industry because it allows organizations to quickly announce news such as winning an award or launching a new product. It has even changed the journalism industry as the CEO of Muckrack stated that: “Twitter's fundamentally altered how journalism works in an irreversible way. Journalists demand a platform to send and receive information in real time, and the public relations industry needs to be there for the party." Public relations and marketing professionals rely on Twitter for the latest updates in current events and the industry they are working in and to inform their followers of any changes within the firm. Twitter is a great platform for professionals to keep tabs on their competitors and see what the new buzz is.

Furthermore, marketing professionals can utilize Instagram by instantly posting images to their followers. It could also be used to show followers new products, raise awareness about social causes, generate awareness about an event, celebrate awards, and the company’s culture (Feldman, 2015). Estée Lauder’s public relations team has effectively utilized Instagram as they frequently post high quality photos of the application of their products and their charity efforts towards breast cancer during the month of October. Additionally, Estée Lauder posted images of hard working employees for International’s Women’s day and often posts images or clips of executives using the various cosmetics products themselves (Estée Lauder, 2018).

Estee Lauder. 2018. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/esteelauder/

Feldman, E. 2015. 6 Ways to use instagram for pr. Cision. https://www.cision.com/us/2015/01/6-ways-to-use-instagram-for-pr/

Huebsch, R. n.d. The advantages of using facebook for public relations. Small Business Chron. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-using-facebook-public-relations-26399.html

Kolowich, L. 2014. Delighting people in 140 characters: An inside look at jetblue's customer service success. HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/jetblue-customer-service-twitter MatterNow. N.d. 3 ways social media has changed public relations. https://www.matternow.com/blog/3-ways-social-media-has-changed-public-relations/ Olsen, J. 2018. After 'monkey hoodie' scandal, h&m hires diversity leader. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/retail/2018/01/17/after-monkey-hoodie-scandal-h-m-hires-diversity-leader/1039748001/ Rogers, J. 2017. #Metoo: How an 11-year-old movement became a social media phenomenon. Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/12/01/metoo-how-11-year-old-movement-became-social-media-phenomenon.html

Wynne, R. 2017. Would public relations survive without twitter? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwynne/2017/02/13/would-public-relations-survive-without-twitter/#f177b0f71ae8