The advent of social media has changed all aspects of business marketing and public relations. Social media not only changes the way we reach our audiences, but it also is a powerful tool to inspire social change. Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith, authors of “The Dragonfly Effect,” know how to harness social media to promote causes and inspire social change.

In their book, Aaker and Smith explain how to grab attention from your audience, how to engage them and how to get them to take action around a social cause. Aaker and Smith named their approach “the dragonfly” because it is the only insect that can fly in all four directions when its four wings are working jointly. Each of the four wings corresponds to the Focus + GET model that works with social media to involve your audience in a cause to alter human behavior:

Focus. Identify a single concrete and measurable goal.
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Grab attention. Cut through the clutter and make someone look.
Engage. Empower the audience to care enough to want to do something themselves.
Take Action. Enable and empower people to take action.

Social change as a result of social media movements was a highlighted in a 2011 survey. Respondents to a PR Boutiques International™ (PRBI) survey of worldwide boutique public relations agencies believed that how social media helped to incite the revolutions in the Middle East was the biggest milestone in 2011 that proves the power of PR, followed by the heightened public hype and awareness around the technology world (including the death of Steve Jobs) and the use of social media to help turn Occupy Wall Street into a global phenomenon tied for second.

The principles in this book show how to harness the power of social media movements to accomplish remarkable changes. The bonus of this model is that everything the authors have recommended in the book works for businesses as well.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a social media program, contact Scott Public Relations.

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