Local entities, especially small businesses, may not be using social media to their full advantage, one media consultant and author has suggested.

Elaine Williams-Morgan, author of Avalanche of Leads: Why You Should Use Social Media to Build Your Brand, told Observer Online that even traditional media houses “have not grasped the value of social media.”

She is also suggesting that young people be trained in how to harness “the power that they have in their hands.”

“One of the most important findings of my research is that social media is primarily used in the first world countries for business. In third world countries, it is used primarily for personal use,” Williams-Morgan, said.

In her book, Williams-Morgan explores the evolution of social media, detailing its development from its early beginnings to the present day. The book highlights its disruptive character and its impact on life, business, and the traditional media.

Importantly, she emphasises the need for both organisations and individuals to create a comprehensive social media policy and strategy. For her: “There is a big space for education and directing our youth to use the tools appropriately.”

“Education is necessary to pivot from thinking of social media as something that we use when you go to an event and put out a picture. Nothing is wrong with that but that is not the only purpose of it,” she said.

Wilson-Morgan, who has worked for decades in local and Caribbean media houses, contends that: “We do not understand the tool that we have in our hands.”

“Small businesses, any business, needs to create a policy and strategy that will guide how all the people in their organization will apply the tool. You need to develop a strategy which speaks to how you are going to apply it to your business everyday, how you will promote the business, which platforms you will use and how often you will post,” she said of the need to effectively leverage the benefits of the new media.

The book was released in the US last year and launched at the University of Technology (UTech), in February.

Wilson-Morgan began her career as an acquisitions officer at CVM television.

“I was a foundation member of the CVM team at the point when we were making programmes out of boxes, building a library and building the station. I had the responsivity of interacting with the studios, Warner Brothers, CBS and global studios that supplied us,” she said.

Her role and training also took her to the Caribbean Media Corporation in Barbados where she worked as a consultant on developing Carib Vision. She was also instrumental in the development of the RJR Group’s 1Spot Media platform.

Interestingly, fodder for Avalanche of Leads: Why You Should Use Social Media to Build Your Brand, Wilson-Morgan’s first book, was drawn from academic research on the adaptation of social media in businesses.

But, “It was just too much material to be kept in an academic paper. I wanted to share the information in a way that would be accessible to everyone,” she said.

“My message, really, is that here is new technology, understand it and what it can do for you. Develop strategy and policy around it and use it to your [maximum] benefit,” she said.