Increasing BINDT’s visibility through social media
12/06/2015
Over the last ten years, websites such as ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’ and ‘LinkedIn’ have grown in popularity at quite an astonishing rate. While initially captivating a socially-oriented audience, over time each site has successfully gained the participation of businesses and professional organisations as the realisation of their potential use as effective marketing tools has increased.So why would BINDT, as a professional institute, join the trend of social media; what could it gain from having a presence on these socially-focused platforms? The answer is simple: it offers a valuable opportunity to engage with a wide range of users from around the world at no extra cost to communicate a variety of messages and help to achieve its aim to promote NDT and CM as widely as possible.
BINDT is now an active user of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to promote events, publish news and generally interact with people working in the industry worldwide. By monitoring the statistics provided by each site, BINDT can acquire an accurate overview of the users who are actively engaging with its online profile, including country of residence, gender, age range, industry and so on, and tailor its marketing content to appeal to this audience.
Facebook is mostly used to build a community presence for a broad network of users and is currently the most used social media site. Facebook users can ‘like’ a page – such as BINDT’s – to show their appreciation or support and to stay informed of the organisation’s activities. A user who ‘likes’ BINDT on Facebook will then be able to see content posted on the BINDT Facebook page in their own news feed. If that user interacts with this content by ‘liking’ it or commenting on it, their friends will then also see it. As a result, content posted by BINDT is viewed by Facebook users an average of over 5400 times per month. The BINDT Facebook page is primarily used to promote NDT/CM events and publications and currently has over 3600 ‘likes’. At present, the majority of users who engage with BINDT on Facebook are based in India, Malaysia and the UK.
LinkedIn is a hotbed for industry professionals and is mainly used to source valuable industry-specific information. It is an ideal place to share knowledge, seek advice and network with like-minded industry professionals. BINDT currently has two LinkedIn profiles: one is a company page detailing essential company information and contact details and is used as a platform for BINDT staff members to post announcements and events relating to the Institute’s activities. The company page currently has 810 followers, the majority of which work in the oil & gas industry. Each follower will see BINDT posts in their news feed, allowing them to easily keep up to date with important Institute information.
The BINDT LinkedIn Group page has over 5914 members to date and is host to an average of 14 discussions each month. The majority of members are entry or senior level, naturally creating an invaluable discussion group for NDT/CM professionals, covering a broad range of topics. The content here is largely user-led and gives those working in the NDT/CM industry a platform to discuss common problems and perhaps identify a solution.
Twitter is a platform driven by real-time news, allowing all users to connect with leaders in the industry. Although Facebook is ranked as the most popular social media site, Twitter leads the way in terms of numbers of users. Twitter is the ‘go to’ site for keeping up-to-date on the latest industry news, opinion, events and technologies. BINDT currently has over 1100 followers and its ‘tweets’ (posts of news, events and information on the Twitter platform) receive an average of over 6000 views per month. This exposure for BINDT is unbeatable by standard media; promoting the BINDT brand to thousands of users on Twitter (like the above-mentioned social media sites) is totally free.
The number of social media websites has steadily increased since 2005, creating even more opportunities for businesses and organisations to reach out to professionals that would have previously been inaccessible and BINDT is continually evaluating the suitability of these new opportunities. This increase brings with it a growing need to monitor and measure the efficiency and performance of its social media activities in terms of user engagement. On a daily basis, BINDT monitors the activity of its current social media profiles and collates both monthly and quarterly statistics to assess the suitability and productivity of its communications with the current audience. This ensures that the content posted by BINDT and its users is as appropriate, industry specific and as relevant to users as it can be.
So, when asked why BINDT would want a profile on social media platforms, the answer is simply that the figures speak for themselves!
If you would like to join the thousands of other NDT/CM professionals currently associating with BINDT through social media, you can do so by clicking the icons on the BINDT homepage at www.bindt.org
