Executive Summary
Communication in organizations, whether internal or external, plays a significant part in the progress of an organization with respect to relaying of crucial messages that determines the organization’s position in terms of relevance in the industry/market in which it operates in (Coyle & Meier 2009 142).
Whether for-profit or not-for-profit, all organizations aim to transfer messages (and get feedback) internally and externally so as to help them realize their goals. In this report, we aim to investigate some of the key issues facing managers when communicating in writing (Bovee & Thill 2010 56).
This study is however mostly inclined towards the use of social media and its effectiveness in reaching the target audience. The use of social media is quite cheap and effective making it a quite common and preferable way by which organizations can reach a lot of individuals at the same time.
This report focuses on a particular organization which is: Australian Red Cross. The methods of investigation which will give us a deeper insight into their use of social media to reach their audience will range from reading of books and journals which has such information and even interviews carried out on their members; to reading of blogs which contain information (or rather, feedback) from the audience commenting on their experiences of communication via social media (Coyle & Meier 2009 56).
The investigations provided evidence that the use of social media by the Australian Red Cross was highly efficient in reaching their audience effectively. Moreover, through social media, the Australian Red Cross can reach a very wide range of audience. “A strong advocate for the role of digital technologies in achieving marketing objectives, Siane believes that social media has the power to inform, engage and inspire action. She currently works as Digital Marketing Coordinator with Australian Red Cross” (Coyle & Meier 2009 43).
Social media has proved to be very instrumental and has stepped in to help managers of organizations solve issues they face when communicating in writing (Bovee & Thill 2010 121).
Introduction
Australian Red Cross
There are numerous national Red Cross societies all over the world of which, the Australian Red Cross happens to be a part of them. It was established in 1914 by Lady Helen Munro Fergurson and has grown at a rapid rate ever since.
From the very beginning, the society was accepted by the community as the Australian Red Cross has always been perceived as that organization that shows commitment when other individuals and organizations turn away. The organization provides care when it is needed the most and offers relief in times of crisis.
The Australian Red Cross helps tens of millions of people all over the world every year and provides the much needed care for the local communities in the Asia Pacific and in Australia. The organization has over 61,000 members and volunteers in Australia and millions of volunteers all over the world; enabling them to reach very far and wide.
The organization stands by one bold mission: “To be a leading humanitarian organization in Australia, improving the lives of vulnerable people through services delivered and promotion of humanitarian laws and values.” (Bovee & Thill 2010 46)
Social Media
Argenti ( 2009 45) has described social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” The use of the social media has become a very common trend globally and even corporations and large organization have acknowledged the fact that a large portion of the world is currently in touch with social media. This fact has forced organizations like Red Cross to also make their presence felt within the social media.
There has been a lot of chatter concerning social media being the future of public information promotions. It should however be noted that, for every effective social media campaign there have been a couple of efforts to gain control of technology and use it for a particular purpose that has failed.
The use of the social media platform as an instrument of community recovery has not quite been tested yet since most organizations have been observed to use the medium for fundraising activities, advertising and marketing (Blundel 2004 96).
It should however also be noted that using the social media platform for conveying important messages is different from using it for advertising and marketing hence the two should not be put together. Young (2006 41) argues that “social media introduced substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals”
Literature Review
This report focuses on communications used in organizations. Putting into consideration the issues faced by managers when communicating in writing, it is only logical to investigate new alternatives to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of communication as a vital part of the smooth running of operations internally and externally.
This paper aims at providing evidence of the effectiveness of the social media, as used by the Australian Red Cross Society to reach audience effectively. After thorough investigations, we shall further look at how the organization can nowadays reach a very wide range of audience.
Through a statistical analysis of audience subscriptions, views, comments and satisfactions, this paper further aims to show the social acceptance of Australian Red Cross Society using the aforementioned media.
That is: what is the audience’s reaction with respect to The Australian Red Cross Society using such social media to communicate important and also social news? Further, what different types of communication are used when presenting information to their various stakeholders?
What is the most effective form of communication in reaching the target audience and why?
The different types of social media used by the Australian Red Cross society
The Australian Red Cross society uses four main social media platforms, namely: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. But in this paper we shall focus on the first three. The links to this websites are conveniently provided on the organizations website.
Red Cross has made its presence well known in Facebook simply because Facebook has over 500 million users making it a good avenue the non-governmental organization to communicate with the millions of stakeholders all over the world. Bovee & Thill (2010 134) notes “the company operates by working with people in their most vulnerable times, in the most disadvantaged places across Australia and overseas. Currently the page has a following of almost 22000 individuals who are interested in knowing the day to day operations of the organizations.
Some of the stakeholders that this site targets include donors, the media, the community and also aggrieved parties who are searching for help and that is why the sites’ main message is the message of humanity depicted in all its messages, pictures and links thus the organization regularly designs messages with the main intention of the organization being to engage the society in its humanitarian efforts. (The Australian Red Cross 2010)
The corporate aim of Red-Cross corporate is to reach out those individuals who are in need particularly, within Australia and in some instances, other parts of the world. The interest of individuals who visit this site is often to know how they can get help or help those in need and this is why the layout and content of their Facebook page is particularly designed to reach out positive messages that attract donor attention and also aim to cater to the needs of those who need aid.
The site is also regularly updated and linked to other sister sites belonging to Red Cross this way; visitors who are not regular users of the other sites can still have access to vital information (Argenti 2009 19). With the use of social media becoming more common the site content is designed in a simple way and the messages which are updated regularly are accompanied with pictures which make it easier for readers to get an in-depth meaning of the messages and visualize what is actually going on when discussing specific matters.
Twitter is also another social site that has become popular and Red Cross has made itself available on twitter in order to increase the number of people which it can get its message through. Currently the number of twits stand at 6000 in total, taking into account all of the Red Cross’s ‘arms’. Communicating through twitter is quite advantageous because twitted messages are open to the public domain as compared to Facebook where individuals must join certain group pages or send friend requests.
Twitter has the great advantage of speedy delivery of information which is instrumental in dealing with predicaments that require quick response, additionally twitter has the ability to gather and amalgamate information concerning a certain subject, organization which makes it easier for individuals with special interest access messages belonging to Australian Red Cross on twitter.
Administrators in charge of this twitter account work together with Australia Red Cross officials and send messages that aim to speak to their audience which includes well wishers, the media and those affected by calamities and the general public. The key aim of those updating this site is to send out simple messages that are friendly and carry the theme of humanity hence prompting administrators to post twits and messages that speak to all audience without offending them.
Particularly the company has created a beautiful profile supported by pictures and links that speak out to their audience at first site. The site has assisted the Australian Red Cross gather funds and also helped affected publics get the necessary help that they need over time by making special contacts available to the public. (The Australian Red Cross 2010)
YouTube
Australian red cross has its presence also on you tube the company regularly updates its’ you-tube account. The number of visits on the Australian website account is much lower as compared to the number of visits which are present on twitter and Facebook. Whenever needs arises or when company officials need to communicate with the interested public, the organization makes the necessary videos, edits them and places them on you tube for the public to view.
The number of individuals who view videos posted by the Australian Red Cross on you tube are not as high as those in Facebook and twitter but it still serves as a good avenue to the public who prefer to access visual means of communication. The site is mostly used to post videos of specific events such as communication from director or videos of Red Cross officials doing field work.
The Australian you tube site enables Red Cross post videos in order to enable their audience get a more visualized message of actual occurrences. Videos posted by the Australian Red-Cross are at some instances used by the organization to appeal to donors and also inform the public of the various efforts that the organization is putting in the humanitarian efforts of the organization by assisting various members within the society.
The most effective form of social media communication used by the society
Judging by the number of individuals visiting the various social media sites owned by the Australian Red Cross its Facebook page is the most effective social media communication because it has the highest number of members who can access information belonging to the Australian Red Cross.
Additionally Facebook has a lot of plug-ins which enable the tweets emanating from the Australian Red Cross website to be linked to the Facebook account. These features enables the communicating authority within the Australian Red Cross send a standardized message using twitter and simultaneously post it on Facebook (Thill & Bovee 2007149).
Moreover Face book has plug-in that allows the organization to successfully link all its you tube videos to its Facebook account and hence the users of this Facebook accounts do not need to undergo the hustle and bustle of logging in and out from one social site to the other in order to access vital information.
An effective social media site should be compatible with the features of other social sites and a good and effective communication strategy that ensures that messages, (text, pictorial, video and sound) is accessible to the highest number of individuals who are part of the audience.
Face book has many features that allow the audience targeted by the Australian Red Cross to access information in the form of texts, video messages, audio and pictures, this enables the target audience to absorb more information concerning the issue at hand, enabling the intended message get through to the intended recipients more quickly and efficiently.
Statistical analysis of audience’s subscriptions, views and satisfactions
In order to understand which of the various Social media channels made the audience who use it quite happy due to its effectiveness in passing messages, the researcher(s) had to interview 100 individuals who had all used Facebook, twitter and you tube with an aim of accessing information belonging to the Australian Red Cross.
The researcher(s) had to send friend requests to 200 individuals on Facebook and further filter the 200 to get 1100 individuals who were familiar with the Australian Red Cross activities on twitter and you tube.
The one hundred individuals who formed the final sample were asked questions using Facebook chart and they had to give their views as to why their preferred one social media over another especially when it comes to accessing information belonging to the Australian Red Cross.
The findings were that 56 % of them preferred accessing information disbursed by the Australian Red Cross through Facebook because the information was simplified with links to you tube additionally, the profile and wall of Facebook together with the photographs option had a good display that provided extra information complimenting whatever massage that was on the wall at the time.
30% of the respondents who seemed to be much younger by age preferred using twitter to access the information belonging to the Australian Red Cross. Despite the fact that these individuals also used Facebook, responded by stating that they preferred using twitter because it was straight to the point. The individuals claim that twitter allows individuals or organizations to post what is only necessary and this has made the tweets of the Australian Red Cross quite specific and quite informative.
The rest of the respondents who were 16% stated that they did prefer hearing information right from the source and you tube gave them the opportunity to witness Australian Red Cross officials deliver their messages in person. Most of these individuals also said for them the act of visualizing the communicated messages made the message more credible and effective for them.
56% of interviewed individuals stated that they visited the social sites belonging to Red Cross at least once a week, 30 percent of individuals stated that they visit one of these social sites at least once a month the remaining 14% stated that they were frequent/regular visitors who followed closely on the updates of the Australian Red Cross.
Conclusion
After thorough investigations into the digital realms of communication, it is quite evident that technology is the future of communication. “Old fashioned” methods of communicating are becoming obsolete; both externally and within the organization are slowly being replaced by the new, up and coming social media. The fact social media is effective, convenient, fast and highly dependable has made it a very popular means by which organization can be able to communicate and inform the interested parties from whatever place in the world they are in.
Moreover, the outreach capability is overwhelmingly vast enabling organizations address millions of people at one instance. For example, if Red Cross Blood – an arm of the Australian Red Cross – was to send a tweet about an urgently needed blood donation on the Social Media platform twitter, the response will would be almost instantaneous.
While old methods of communication made it quite hard to gather responses the use of Facebook, twitter and You-tube have made it even more simple for the organization to be able to get direct and instantaneous response from the concerned public.
Social media platforms have revolutionized communication amongst corporations and non commercial organizations such as the Australian Red Cross which has proved to be very effective and efficient in sending and receiving messages. “The Australian Red Cross with a following of almost 20,000 on Facebook, over 6000 on twitter (@RedCrossAU, @redcrossbloodau and @powerofhumanity combined) and over 18000 channel views and close to 200 subscribers on their YouTube channel has enjoyed effective and efficient communication to its audience thanks to these social media.” (The Australian Red Cross 2010)
Recommendations
From the investigations done and the inferences made, it would be wise for organizations to invest more interest in social media as a tool of effective and efficient means of them reaching their target audience. The Australian Red Cross should increase its investments in advertising the links to their social media platforms because as we have seen, a lot of advantages emanate from its utilization. They should aim at increasing their following seeing as how most of their operations are carried out by volunteers and well-wishers.
Enough emphasis cannot be put on the importance of social media more so in the delivery of information in a speedy fashion. This is especially important in emergency situations, for example, when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in April, 2011, the social media played a big role in mobilizing aid whereby the Australian Red Cross and its other affiliates were heavily involved in helping out. It is therefore very important to integrate social media into the communications used in organizations.
References
Argenti, P A., 2009. Corporate Communication. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Blundel, R., 2004. Effective Organizational Communication, 2nd edition. London: Pearson Education Limited.
Bovee, C. L. &Thill, J. V., 2010. Business Communication. Today,2nd edition 10/E. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Coyle, D. & Meier, P., 2009. New Technologies in Emergencies and Conflicts: The Role of Information and Social Networks. London, UK: Vodafone Foundation Partnership.
The Australian Red Cross. 2010. Australia Red cross. Retrieved from https://www.redcross.org.au/
Thill, J.V., & Bovee, C.L., 2007. Excellence in Business Communication. 7thed. New Jersey, NY: Prentice Hall.
Young, D J., 2006. Foundations of Business Communications : AnIntegrative Approach. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.