Handout 5 Organisations’ use of social media

1. Handout 5 Organisations’ use of social media Exploring social media

2. Assessment criteria The learner will: • 2.1 Describe how various social media sites may be used by groups, individuals, businesses and organisations • 2.3 Describe how businesses and organisations may use social media to promote products and services

3. Types of organisations using social media Social media is used for different purposes by different types of organisations: • Educational institutions • Clubs and associations • Public sector organisations, such as local authorities • Businesses

4. Educational institutions, clubs and associations Uses of social media: • Showing classroom activities • Talk to parents and encourage feedback • News and forthcoming events • Highlighting achievements • Use of Pinterest etc to help find resources for lessons • Putting alumni in touch Examples of successful profiles: • Cambridge University Twitter • Dublin Swimming Club

5. Public sector organisations • Local authorities use social media to: • Inform residents on what they are doing in the borough • Provide a means of contact and answers to queries • Create a sense of community • Advertise forthcoming events they are sponsoring Example of a good profile: • London Borough of Walthamstow

6. How businesses use social media Most businesses use at least one of the following profiles: • Facebook • Google+ • Twitter • Pinterest

7. Business use of social media • The principal reason businesses use social media is to promote their products and services. • Having a social media profile assists this by: • Increasing traffic to their website • Providing another outlet for direct sales • Encouraging engagement

8. Secondary benefits to business of using social media • Increasing their credibility/raising their profile • Feedback and reviews from customers • Offering an alternative means of contact for customers

9. Social media marketing • To be a successful promotion tool, business social media profiles must: • Be informative • Link to other useful information and sites • Be constantly monitored and updated Example of a good profile: • York Test

10. Social media mining • Social media mining is the analysing of data collected from social media interactions • It provides information about individuals’ likes and interests in order to target promotion

11. Any questions?