APS expands social networking to public

Tweet, Digg, share.

For people into social media, those are not strange terms.

But for others, it's all Greek — and officials with Arizona utility company Arizona Public Service hope to change that and use various platforms of social media to connect with customers.

One of the first ways is using the social networking site Twitter. The site allows users to “tweet” messages that are 140 characters long. APS uses the account @APSOutageCenter to keep customers up to date on current outage situations.

On Thursday, they tweeted when 6,700 Yuma customers lost power — and used it to inform the public that power was restored.

Alan Pruitt, business analyst with the Arizona Western College Small Business Development Center, said social media is a growing trend among businesses and that adults 55 years old and over are the fastest-growing social media demographic.

“People want news as it happens now, not after the fact,” Pruitt said. “And this includes information about products and services they use every day.”

At APS, Jim McDonald, spokesman and co-chair of the social media committee for the company, said they're trying to communicate as effectively as possible with customers, policy-makers — and anyone else who's interested.

“The better we can communicate with all of those audiences, the better off it is for our company as well as those individuals and groups that we seek to communicate with. The fact is, we've always had that philosophy; that's not new.”

So, as APS moves into the social media arena, the committee and others throughout the company look at trends and best practices from other companies.

“We're looking for strategies that make sense for APS,” said Kelley Ryan, who co-chairs the committee with McDonald.

In addition, they've created a full-time position within the company — and APS isn't alone.

As more and more companies develop social media practices, it's a new job market for the professional who understands it.

Pruitt said from a business standpoint “it's about engagement and exceeding customer expectations with support.”

It's also about consumption, he said.

“Media is being created for consumption.” And with the explosion of mobile devices, smart phones and more, “they want to be able to touch play on a YouTube video and see and hear for themselves,” he said. “And they can share that content with just a few finger taps.”

APS has that, too.

With an APS YouTube channel, the company can create videos and easily share them with anyone with an Internet connection.

The videos provide everything from tips on changing to a greener light bulb to a funny skit showing “Solar Man” fighting “Watt Waster” by finding ways to conserve energy.

The channel can be found at www.youtube.com/user/arizonapublicservice.

In addition to Twitter, YouTube and other mediums, many companies, including the Yuma Sun, have Facebook pages.

McDonald said at some point, APS will have a Facebook page and a blog, but no just yet.

“(Social media) certainly keeps things interesting (and new). It's challenging sometimes.

“We don't do things before we're ready to do them, but we don't want to be on the sideline either.”

For more information about APS, visit www.aps.com or follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/APSOutageCenter.

Visit Yuma Sun on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yumasun and on Twitter at @yumasun for your local news.

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.