Advice & inspiration

Why we, as institutions and companies, should friend and tweet

In this week’s edition of II’s summer guest blogger series, Chilean journalist and academic María Angélica Kaltwasser discusses the importance of integrating social media tools into business models, both within academic institutions and journalism organizations. This post comes on the heels of the New York Times’ announcement of their new social media editor, proving that social media is a vital component to the future of any business, marketing and/or advertising profession.

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Wonders are being said about what social media tools can do for a brand, but some wonder: Does all the friending and tweeting really pay off? Does it have a positive effect on audiences? Is it worth the time? Once online, what should be done?

This is the case study of Universidad de los Andes, one of the top 10 universities in Chile and the place where I work as the journalist in charge of the social media strategy. It is meant to serve as a starting point for those searching for answers to the questions above.

A little over a year ago, on February 8, 2008, Chile barely had 100 thousand Facebook users. Just so that you get an idea of how quickly we had to adjust, by March 2009 it had over 4.3 million users. Roughly, it grew over 3.600%. How is that for social media penetration?

Although it is true that social media is much more that Facebook and Twitter, the integration of social media tools into the communication strategy of UANDES focuses mainly on these two. Our first step into social media was the use of Facebook. A year later, you could find @uandes on Twitter. Since Universidad de los Andes “went social,” we have gained a better understanding of what our audiences think of us. We have opened another channel of communications with them, and we have given them the chance to converse with us.

We actively started using Facebook when we realized that most of our target audience was spending its free time on this social network. Before signing up we decided what we wanted to accomplish through social media tools and made a list. We were looking for a fluent way to communicate with our audience, and we wanted to know what the general feel was about our university and the educational system of Chile as a whole.

We wanted to reach all of our audiences: students, alumni, professors and staff, and we wanted a connection with them that didn’t feel forced. We wanted a lot, and we found some of it through social media. So step one, know what you want before signing up. Tweeting your life away just because you can won’t do your institution any good.

Once logged in, we found a way to measure the general feel for our brand. Even if you have chosen not to immerse your company in social media -yet-, it is important to know what is being said about you online.

Just as a quick example, when UANDES started on Facebook we searched all the groups related to us and it caught our eye that many of them were formed around the idea that our university needed to expand its sports area. Who knew, right? Well now we do.

This is why, whenever you decide to “go social,” first take the time to listen to what is being said about you. You might learn some things you didn’t know about your institution or company or you might strengthen ideas that you already had. Because Chilean newsrooms have understood the need of being social better than Chilean companies, (@tele13online, @latercera, @emol), there is a lot happening on the Web, so all the more reason to listen, to watch and to learn. Also, take the time to pinpoint which of the things you see are good practices to mimic when the time comes.

Though I am a strong social media advocate, I am not saying these tools are the only way to connect with audiences (especially since Internet penetration in Chile is a little less than 50%), but I am saying that when your audience is connected, then social media tools are an effective way of reaching them – of talking with them and not just at them.

This takes me to another interesting fact to share: when speaking to your Facebook friends or your Twitter followers you should also listen, comment and answer. It is not only about what you as a brand want to tell the audience, but also about what they want to tell you.

Earlier I said we use Facebook actively. By this I mean that it should be used throughout the day, every day. You should have someone monitoring social media constantly. Someone to acknowledge the comments you receive and answer the messages and questions you receive. Social media is about being social. Don’t forget that. If you want to promote the communication with your audience, you need to talk back. Make it obvious that there is someone ready to talk and help behind your institutions’ Facebook/Twitter/Flickr/etc. Humanize your brand.

Of course, no one can be logged in 24/7, so the trick is to seem like you are. Have all your accounts configured so that you get emails whenever anything happens online (use services like Google alerts and Twilert). That way if you get a message, if someone tags a picture or comments a video of you, you will know. Update your Facebook profile at least two times a day, and your Twitter account at least four or five times a day. That way, when people see you online, they will get the feeling that there are things going on around you and that your brand is interesting.

Four or five times a day? Do I have that many things to say about my company? Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have other interesting things to comment on. For example, we are an educational institution so we use Facebook and Twitter to recommend to our audiences good educational content on the web. We screen TED and Academic Earth for good speakers and link to them. We also share and retweet interesting editorials and news stories.

Many things can be done with social media tools once you have gained the interest and trust of your audience. Therefore, don’t dismiss them from your communication strategy, as they can be the stepping stone towards making your brand an essential part of your audiences’ life.

In our case, after a year of this strategy we, as a brand, have daily interaction with students and staff. We receive comments about our activities and the links we recommend, which means they are listening and responding. And, they keep asking us questions about UANDES, which implies they are interested in our brand. Weren’t these some of the reasons why we started using social media tools? Yes, they were.

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María Angélica Kaltwasser works at the communications department at the Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile. She is in charge of the web page content and development of the social media aspect of their brand. She manages their Facebook, Twitter and Flickr accounts and the communication strategies behind each one. Follow her at @pelukaltwasser.

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