How can organizations build trust through social media, both internally and externally?
Organizations can create and maintain trusting relationships with their audience on social media by
working on their identity and reputation through transparency and active listening (Charest et al.
2016). To gain trust or credibility from colleagues, clients, customers and other stakeholders,
organizations need to demonstrate competence, character, and care. They can build credibility on
social media by creating or producing content that adds value to stakeholders. According to Cardon
(2021), “how you communicate directly affects the perceptions others have of your competence”
(p. 6).
How can social media be used to address public relations issues?
Communicating via social media (networks, blogs, wikis, gaming, podcasts, information tagging,
etc.), presents many opportunities for organizations to communicate more efficiently with external
stakeholders. Social media allows organizations to interface more responsively with customers,
clients, suppliers, etc. Customers can interact with content and give real-time feedback. These
interactions or conversations can help to build a sense of community which could lead customers to
become advocates for the company.
How can social media be used to support the culture, strategic vision, values, and/or mission of the
organization?
Blogs are great for promoting company culture both internally and externally. This social tool allows
professionals to share their ideas, experiences, and expertise. Blogs also provide great
opportunities for company leaders to interact with employees, provide updates, make
announcements, etc. These interactive tools allow for transparency in decision-making within the
organization and work teams.
In recent years social media has grown into a very powerful tool for companies to communicate
and interact with both external and internal audiences. a Internally using social media to interact
may look like file sharing websites, zoom calls, slack, and teams’ chats, or even blog posts. a One
great feature of these forms of communication is that readers can access and comment on posts
and files within minutes expressing their thoughts or questions, thus allowing for a greater level of
interaction between leadership and co-workers. a Social media communication for external
audiences can consist of blog posts, press releases, shared video clips, influencer partnerships and
more, all with the goal of creating and maintaining the trusting relationships between the company
and the customers (Cardon, 2021).
To achieve this goal requires communications to have a sense of authenticity and transparency to
maintain the credibility and reputation of the firm. a It is important that for communications to be
most effective, the organization uses communication strategic planning. a First to identify the target
audience, next to decide the best platforms for this message, then after the message is delivered it
will be important to interact and engage with those commenting and sharing the message, more
than that, it may be important for the company to actively be involved in two-way communication
with the online community. a Aside from developing and sharing messages, it could also be helpful
to develop monitoring strategies to look at the traction posts are getting and what impact that
traction is having on other areas of the business (Charest et al., 2016).
Social media posts can also be used to support the values, culture, and mission of the company,
outside of their products and services. a This can be sharing the company's corporate social
responsibility initiatives, such as environmental sustainability, or advocating social justice issues, like
diversity and inclusion, or even promoting community involvement such as a companywide
volunteer day. a These are all just other ways the company can connect and partner with their
community. a Part of this can even help companies attract new employees, as employees may like to
work somewhere they feel they contribute to making an impact.
References
Cardon, P. W. (2021). Business communication: Developing leaders for a networked world (4th ed.).
McGraw-Hill.
Charest, F., Bouffard, J., & Zajmovic, E. (2016). Public relations and social media: Deliberate or
creative strategic planning. Public Relations Review, 42(4), 530–538.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.03.008
Cardon, P. W. (2021). Business communication: Developing leaders for a networked world (4th ed.).
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Charest, F., Bouffard, J., Zajmovic, E. (2016). Public relations and social media: Deliberate or creative
strategic planning, Public Relations Review, Volume 42, Issue 4, Pages 530-538.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.03.008.
