The Country Manager for Google Ghana, Ms Estelle Akofio-Sowah, has charged businesses to constantly make use of social media platforms to tell their stories instead of allowing others to use it to tarnish their image.
According to her, most Ghanaian businesses are not taking due advantage of social media to market their brands instead they sit unconcerned while other competitors or miscreants make good use of it to fabricate and publish negative stories about them that are indeed injurious to their survival.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the topic ‘Corporate Organizations and Social Media in Ghana’ at the just ended 2017 Social Media 360 Summit, Ms. Akofio-Sowah stressed the need for businesses to be loud not only in using the social media platforms as a tool to reaching out to their customers with messages on their brands but also use it to clear any negative publication(s) targeting to tarnish their company’s image.
“One of the key things you need to do is your story is told louder than the person that is saying something negative about you online. So you’ve got to tell your story yourself and it’s one of the things we don’t do enough of”.
The advent of the social media, a component of new media, has brought lots of prospects to both businesses and the youth alike but its disadvantages far outweighs the advantages, which is of grave concern to all.
But digressing on how to deal with the issue of fake news broadcasting through social media platforms, a phenomenon which is a major threat to businesses, Ms. Estelle Akofio-Sowah disclosed that her outfit including Facebook, Twitter and other organizations are doing enough at curbing the menace but unfortunately not being recognized by the public.
“Often we sit back and think organizations are not doing enough but there’s a huge amount of effort and resources constantly looking at how we can respond but it’s almost as if [it is] happening faster than everyone and so the fake news thing is a big problem”.
Ms. Akofio-Sowah has therefore urged all and sundry to desist from rebroadcasting any information they receive through social media without double checking online to verify its authenticity.
“When you chance upon any information via social media, don’t just be in a hurry to broadcast it but make sure you search online and see if anyone you trust is also saying the same thing, if necessary, call someone to verify,” she stressed.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Innovare C.K Bruce has called on all businesses to put in place proper strategies to deal with threats that are likely to come up with the use of social media as a way of mitigating risks.
The 2017 Social Media 360 summit was held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra on July 12-13 on the theme ‘Creating Digital Ideas, Building Your Business’.
It brought together participants from business organizations including corporate affairs executives, communications and marketing directors, marketing and business development staff, social media administrators, social entrepreneurs, Small & Medium Enterprises(SMEs) and Human Resources executives.
The summit was aimed at providing corporate organizations and social entrepreneurs with the knowledge on how to harness social media as a tool to promote their brands including how to measure and also setup effective governance structures.
Some of the key speakers who graced the summit include Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group, Kenneth Ashigbey, Executive Director of the Data Protection Commission, Teki Akuetteh Falconer, Country Manager for Google Ghana, Estelle Akofio-Sowah, CEO of Innovare C.K Bruce and Prof. Robert Ebo Hinson, UGBS, University of Ghana.
By Joseph Kobla Wemakor|Accra, Ghana