PR TIMES AFRICA PR TIMES AFRICA Magazine june 2015 | Page 34

7
ways to harness
the Power of
Social Media
I
f your company hasn't learned
to harness the power of the
social media world yet, then
you are sitting on a long thing-
here's one reason you should:
According to Google GOOG -
0.59%, nearly 60 percent of people
talk more online than they do in
real life.
So where do you begin? There are
plenty of avenues to take. Here are
some ideas for putting your
business into the spotlight, gleaned
from a recent Ragan Conference in
Orlando, Florida.
Air feature. Here's how it works:
You log into your Google+
account, click Start Hangout and
conduct an online video chat that
streams the conversation live.
Every Hangout on Air is
automatically saved to your
YouTube account. The most
important thing to remember:
Practice beforehand, so you can
nail things like lighting and sound.
1. Host a Google+ Hangout On
Air.
What do Maroon 5, the Dalai Lama
and President Obama all have in
common? They've all hosted
Google+ Hangout On Air sessions.
It's a new spin on having
conversations with your audience
by allowing them to engage with
your product and meet the people
behind the brand. Disney, for
example, premiered its “Lincoln”
film trailer through the Hangout On 2. Start an ambassador
program.
Your employees can be your best
advocates or your worst enemies.
Chances are, you'd like to go with
the former. Many of them already
use social media, so why not
harness the energy of engaged
employees into something useful?
Start by creating a social media
customer engagement policy and
conduct training. Sprint does this in
an entertaining and wildly
successful way through its Social
Media Ninjas program. They even
have “black-belt” ninjas who tout
the latest devices. Consider taking
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that a step further and recruit fans
outside of your company as
additional ambassadors.
3. Hold a contest on Pinterest.
Pinterest offers a creative and
meaningful way to connect with a
huge audience especially female
customers ages 25 to 34 many of
whom spend loads of time on the
site. In fact, as of February 2012,
Pinterest had more monthly usage
per user than Google, Twitter and
LinkedIn combined, according to
alltwitter.com. By holding a
contest, you can connect with a
niche audience that was likely not
paying attention to your company
before, and it can give you insight
as to the audience's needs and
wants. TIP: Use curalate.com to
measure your Pinterest presence. It
finds images about your brand to
help you measure your reach.
4. Tweet with gusto.
For starters, let your personality
shine through when tweeting. Start
the conversation by asking your
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