Social Media for Strategic Communication Ch 4-6

Here we are again talking about the same book as last week. Only this time it is chapters 4-6 instead of 1-3. 

One thing that really stuck out to me was how at the beginning of each chapter there are questions that they had some people answer. It goes through and asks how they got her start in social media, their favorite part and even the most challenging part. I really enjoyed these parts because it gives you an inside look as to what other people are thinking when it comes to social media. 

 

Another part that stuck out to me was the SWOT analysis. I have learned about this before, but it has never really stuck with me. This section went into details and even included a diagram. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. “A SWOT analysis can be used to explore and identify solutions to problems, take advantage of new opportunities and ventures, decide which steps to take to help rejuvenate a community or brand online, or brainstorm new ways of engaging online through social media” (Ferberg 237).  I know it seems relatively simple but for some reason I can never remember what it all means. 

Strengths is when you write out everything good happening with your social media practices. It can be one big group or even divided into categories. Each strength that you come up with has to be supported with data from your social media communication audit. 

Weaknesses is any challenges you are facing preventing you from accomplishing your goals. Usually opposites of strengths. You can use your communication audit to help this but also use your focus groups and observations to help determine what would be best for you to do. 

Opportunities are sets of ideas that can lead to new behaviors. You can do this by making a list of new ideas to maybe implement in your company. These ideas can come from strategic insights and research as long as they are all supported by data from the communication audit. 

Threats are external factors. Negative events that affect your employees and/or company. These threats can include; political, regulatory, environmental, and technology-driven. You have to explore all areas to try and prevent them the best you can. 

Overall, the SWOT analysis is good to help keep your organization or company moving forward. It shows the good and bad, so you know what needs improvement. Be firm and honest that way you are getting the most out of it that you can. 

 

 

 

 Information from: “Social Media for Strategic Communication” by Karen Freberg