Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard the term social media. So what is social media and why is it important to the Flight Safety Network?
Social media is a tool to tell your story.
Social media takes a variety of names and forms, some of which probably sound familiar: Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumble Upon, Delicious, Google, Mixx and Reddit to name a few.
Don’t sweat it if you’re not familiar with all or even some of the names. Each has their own unique culture and website, but the basics of all social media are the same.
Rule one of social media:
Content, content, and yes, you guessed it, content.
Great content is what makes social media effective. Content is your story. Content is your message. It needs to be something people find interesting and want to share with others. Something so interesting they want to get involved personally and tell their friends about it.
Here is the cool part:
The Flight Safety Network generates awesome content.
People like to hear about the successes of emergency medical services and the job we do. The public wants more information about good people helping other people. It wants to hear about what your program, station, dispatch center or hospital is doing.
The key is getting the right words to the right people at the right time.
Social media is simply a way of marketing your program to the public.
Marketing (internet or non-internet) is nothing more than sharing your story with people. It’s about explaining what your organization does. The concept is simple and the results can be astonishing.
One caution; air medical programs almost never use the “marketing” word. Air medical programs use the word “outreach” instead.
The reason is simple. Marketing is sometimes associated with the Grand Poobah of words air medical programs (and most other public service entities) never use.
Marketing is associated with selling.
Here is the good news:
1. Social media is not about selling. Social media is about strengthening relationships.
2. Marketing is not selling, much less hard selling.
The problem is some not-so-nice marketers muddy the waters and use social media for the sole purpose of direct selling. But no worries, it is way easy to spot and eliminate.
For those of you familiar with social media, is there anything more pitiful than the guy who gets on Twitter and won’t shut up about how he can put you in your dream car with no money down and less than perfect credit? Even other spammers block this dude.
Why? Because the guy is trying to direct sell a product instead of deliver great content or tell a great story. The social media audience doesn’t care for (read: cannot stand) direct sales people. They do not want to hear it and they simply do not put up with it. One click and they are somewhere else. Two clicks and the salesmen are blocked from their browsers forever.
So why bother with social media? Well, businesses and public services that try to ignore social media get rude awakenings. Like it or not, the medium is here.
The conversation about your program or station happens whether you want it to or not. Understanding social media to manage your reputation seems a smarter plan than just hoping nothing bad ever happens.
The Flight Safety Network loves the perspective of Penn State’s Joe Paterno on Twitter: “You guys have to talk about something. The fans have got to put something on those, what do you guys call those things, Twittle-do? Twittle-dee? I haven’t got the slightest idea what you’re looking at.”
We believe understanding social media is important for long term viability.
The conversation happens whether your program or station is actively involved or not.
You do not (and should not) respond to every ass-clown with a cell phone and a four-square account, but you should have a clue how it works.
So what does all this have to do with flight safety?
Well, everything.
As you already know, flight safety is about building relationships and trust. Social media is a tool to get you there. Strengthening public relationships within your local Flight Safety Network helps the industry and improves safety.
Some more good reasons to use social media:
1. The hardest part is already done – Your program, station, center or service already is great content. You just have to package the content and send it to the right people.
2. The more positive exposure your program receives the more successful it becomes. Social media is interactive (with your audience) and builds upon its own successes.
3. Used effectively, social media is wicked powerful. It can create and maintain positive public image, increase your bottom line and improve safety all at the same time.
How cool is that? Do you see why social media should be part of your overall plan?
Social media is a lot easier and cheaper than you might think. But it does require a plan and a little bit of hard work.
Stay tuned for future articles about social media. Sign up to receive our new content via email or RSS to make sure you catch it all.
Clear skies and tailwinds,
Fly-write
