In a very short time, social networks have become an essential part of the communication strategy of companies, often even improving relations between customers and companies.
According to the study conducted by the communication and public relations consultancy Burson-Marsteller, the vast majority of the world’s leading companies regularly use at least one of the most popular social platforms.
In this third study on the subject, called “Global Social Media Check-up”, 97 of the top 100 companies that make up the Fortune Global Index already use social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
According to this report, 82% of these companies have at least one Twitter account and each of them has been mentioned on average 55,970 times in this social network. The data on YouTube have improved, with an increase of 24% over last year. On Facebook, on the other hand, the average “Like” per company page has increased by no less than 275% since 2010, the year in which 152,646 “Like” have been achieved for the moment.
From the point of view of Juan Pedro Molina Cañabate, doctor of Information Sciences from the Complutense University, thanks to these platforms, the public is known directly and also their needs, the return of information is almost immediate and you can quickly know if The messages of the company have impressed on the public and how much. Mark Penn, CEO of Burson-Marsteller, has a similar opinion, says that it is clear that people want to interact with companies and these platforms are a direct bridge to achieve this.
Cañabate also adds how these platforms can be essential for something as important as detecting signs of crisis in an immediate way and also help to resolve them. The strategy recommended to achieve success in social networks is based mainly on leaving that function to professionals in Communication and entering social networks with common sense, that is, using the tools that best fit our profile, the image that we want to give and also with our publics. An example of this choice of platforms can be Twitter, as it is essentially a conversation if we are not able to talk to customers and offer a direct and concise answer may not be the platform we should use.
What companies should be very clear is that the tools are not in themselves good or bad, but simply can be well or badly used. It is also essential from the point of view of Cañabate to realize that it is not simply a matter of achieving visibility but also that it should be a positive visibility, which is achieved with the right professionals and of course, with time.