Internal and External Communication: Social Media

Internal and External Communication: Social Media

Jasmine Rhodes

Southern New Hampshire University

Internal and External Communications: Social Media

Social media came on to the scene in a huge way and when the population began utilizing it more and more, businesses began to notice the trend and found ways to capitalize on it!  While some companies were reluctant to join the wave, their competition was creating social media pages to reach their customers in a new, more personable way.  It is said that social media reveals the human side of a big business, welcomes transparency, and helps to forge new relationships with their customer base (Holmes, 2012).   Before social media became the force that it is today, customers could only contact businesses via their designated email accounts, or their toll-free phone numbers in order to receive customer service.  It was also not very common that customers would leave negative feedback or reviews during that time. In today’s time, customers are voicing their opinions more and using different outlets to do so.  And when they are unable to see reviews on a product or service, or if they are unable to connect with a brand or company, they tend to not give them their business.  Customers today want companies to be more open with their information in regards to quality, ingredients their using, how they affect the environment, what they stand for, and other things of that nature.  This is what makes Social Media so important to corporate communication in today’s industries.  The main stakeholders that any company would need to address would be their employees, their customers, and their investors, and with that there comes strategies for internal and external communication.  

Internal Communication

        Internal communication is known as the process of exchanging information among the people within an organization, such as the employees, the management team, and their directors.  The main forms of internal communication include emails, phone calls, mail, and sometimes face to face interaction. There is research showing that social media can be utilize as a form of internal communication, for some departments.  For example, and article by Forbes.com stated that HR departments are beginning to use this platform to connect with job seekers, and to streamline the application process (cite).  They can search potential applicants via websites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, to see if they would be a good fit for their company before hiring them.  Social media can also be used for forecasting new trends, new product ideas, and supply chain operations.   Some offices also instant message systems for employees to communicate with each other throughout the office.  If I were using social media as an internal communication method, my target audience would be my coworkers and I would use something easily accessible such as Twitter, in order to communicate events that are coming up.  Facebook would not a good option because it is too personal and displays too much personal information, which could be inappropriate at times.

External Communication

        External communication is an exchange of information between an organization and other organizations, groups, or individuals outside of their structure.  It usually involves the use of multimedia marketing that is designed to attract customers, partners, and suppliers to possibly conduct new business transactions.  Some forms of external communication include telephone, fax, the postal service, and emails.  Now that companies are changing from their usual heavily structured environments, and allowing for a more open line of communication between themselves and their customers, they are finding that social media can be a beneficial tool for this strategy.  Using social media gives them access to large amounts of information on their clients, from shopping behavior and preferences to their lifestyle and income.  Instead of company’s sending out email blasts to communicate with their customers or potential investors, they can also now post new information to their Facebook or Twitter accounts and receive more immediate feedback than they normally would.  For example, The Frye Company, which is a leather boots company, communicates with their customers via Twitter, by allowing them to post photos of their products and voice their suggestions, while providing them with product knowledge and feedback on their issues.