The SWOT of Social Media

The SWOT of #SocialMediaAmy Grace Wells, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

amy.wells@tamu.eduDecember 2011

Social Media in 2011

• 50% of the world’s population is under 30. These people are growing up with technology and integrating it into their lives daily.

• Smartphone owners are twice more active on social media as non-smartphone owners.

• 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements. Sources:

Social Media Revolution: http://youtu.be/x0EnhXn5boM

The World of Social Media:http://youtu.be/H61WvxOm1AM

Facebook

• Facebook has surpassed Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.

• If Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest.

• 50% of users log onto Facebook daily.

• The average user has 130 friends.

Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr

The average Twitter user has 115 followers.

A new member joins LinkedIn every second.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.

More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the 3 major U.S. networks created in 60 years.

3500 photos are uploaded each second on Flickr.

What does this mean for your organization?

Image source:wikipedia.org/wiki/Swot_analysis

StrengthsProvides venue to communicate directly with

stakeholders

Allows for easy distribution of information and news

Provides for brand building

WeaknessesConfidentiality issues (FERPA, HIPPA, legal,

proprietary)

Staff turnover and ongoing training

Facebook pages admins linked to personal accounts

Maintenance and technology upgrades

Constantly emerging new media outlets

OpportunitiesProvides a listening venue

Positioning as experts (#agchat)

Crisis Communications

Expand your network/sharing expertise with other counties and states

Reach people where they are (farmers and ranchers in the field)

ThreatsSpammers

Rant-ers

Abuse by employees (rare)

RecommendationsDon’t be afraid of Social Media because of the

cons or seemingly lack of control. The positives of its use outweigh any negatives.

Utilize web resources for training and maintenance.

Create an editorial calendar.

Trust employees. Set expectations and then let them self monitor.

Questions?Amy Wells, Texas A&M AgriLife Communicationsamy.wells@tamu.edu