At the recent Chartered Institute of Public Relations Corporate and Financial Group 2013 social media breakfast, the importance of having a social media strategy was highlighted.
While social media is very much an evolving area for corporates, below are some of the strategies being adopted by brands which were shared on the day:
HP
When HP made the announcement that it was taking over Palm it wanted to use social media to drive traffic to its web site. The company thus used the tactic of creating maximum shareability for content about the proposal, utilising Twitter, Stocktwits, Slideshare and blogs.
One of HP’s tweets about the Palm acquisition. Image created by Weber Shandwick
Pearson
Having a portfolio of brands, Pearson’s Head of Corporate Commmunications, Charles Goldsmith, said that he has a threefold strategy for social media:
(i) Inform Investors – Pearson uses social media to increase the volume of its message, not to create a competitive advantage for any investor, posting only after an announcement has been made on the company’s website or through regulatory news services
(ii) Thought Leadership – the company has effectively used blogs and other social tools to put across its views on education issues
(iii) Reach consumers – social media has provided new channels to communicate with the company’s consumers, from the Financial Times hosting chats on Facebook, to Penguin engaging with readers through blogs
CME Group
Allan Schoenberg, Executive Director of Corporate Communications for CME Group, said that he also adopts a three part strategy for social media:
(i) Share news – CME Group has built up a strong following by journalists, bloggers and investors wanting to learn about its latest product offerings and corporate developments
(ii) Education – once referred to by the Economist as “the biggest financial exchange you have never heard of,” CME Group uses social media to help educate people about what it does
(iii) Campaigns – CME Group has built a few private LinkedIn Groups around specific industry topics in order to build relationships with traders
Bloomberg LP
Bloomberg’s strategy to incorporate Twitter onto its platform should interest corporate communications professionals more than how it uses social media for its own corporate PR.
Claudia Quinonez, a News Market Specialist for Bloomberg LP, told the breakfast that Bloomberg acted to incorporate tweets after clients noted that traders were increasingly looking at Twitter on their phones even though it was banned on desktops. Bloomberg shared the view of its clients that anything which distracts them from the terminal costs valuable seconds when they could be trading.
Bloomberg therefore provides both a light and heavy flow of tweets which customers can read and analyse. The light flow is based around a pool of influential tweeters which will reportedly grow over time. The names of some of those individuals can be found online and the existence of that list suggests that, much like in traditional media relations, the quality of connections on social media might be more important than the quantity.
