Social Media and PR - A Practical Primer
Social Media and PR - A Practical Primer
All too often, the practice of PR has focused on 'Press Relations'. The PR tactic somehow became the PR objective - transmit a message, perspective, or information as widely as possible. The journalist became the target, the conduit and the gatekeeper. They had the reach. They had the audience. They had the final say about what stories made the cut. Aside from advertising, they were the only controlled path to the public for many years.
There are a few assumptions in there worth exploring.
- Who is 'the public'?
- Where did the real PR objective go?
- Is mass communication the only path?
- Is control possible? Desirable?
- Is dialog more interesting than oration?
The 'Public' is social.
Since the advent of the consumer Internet around 1995, the dynamic has changed pretty dramatically. People aren't just passively consuming media. They're participating, remixing and contributing in a global conversation about everything and nothing. The public now has unprecedented access to information gathering, tagging, aggregating and publishing tools. Free. And they're using them.
The first generation of media was about one-way communications and mass markets. The social media era is about completely decentralized bi-directional and many-to-many dialog; individuals, niche markets, microcasting. Not as a replacement for the traditional press - but in addition to it.
Not all news or information passes the 'mass market' test of the journalist, but it might be perfect for an important and influential group of bloggers, or it could even reach your target audience directly. Social media opens up opportunities for a return to the fundamental objectives of public relations:
- Help people who actively care to find you and locate content of interest
- Give fans and enthusiasts materials they need to help spread the word to others
- Tell the story in your own words
- Educate, inform, persuade
Talk back
Activating social media channels takes a little commitment, and some initiatives require more effort than others. We have presented a few pragmatic starting points here in order to help you get started.
Pragmatic ways to get started
By starting a blog or by making some relatively simple design, RSS and tagging tweaks to existing communications resources, companies can distribute a good deal of relevant content directly to interested, highly engaged individuals. By opening these new channels, it's possible to start new dialogs, increase brand presence and influence the search results on key topics.
Manage Your Search Presence
Search is often the first place many people turn to research or verify information, and in some cases it may be the first place users will ecounter your brand. By ranking well, you can influence what content people do and do not see when searching for your brand and related terms.
Press Releases - By optimizing press releases and boilerplates with high-value keywords and links, this content is more likely to be found. Any syndicated pickups are then likely to include these high-value words, and can help these stories to outrank those of you competitors.
Your Website and other assets - Optimize your main corporate site, company blog, video, audio, imagery, and social media profiles (YouTube videos, Facebook groups, Twitter, etc), so that they work to support your search strategy.
Twitter / Microblogging
Microblogging is increasingly growing in popularity, and it presents a variety of opportunities for brands willing to take the time to engage their communities directly. Twitter is by far the most popular microblogging platform, but also consider others such as Tumblr, homegrown tumblelogs, and to some degree Facebook.
When it comes to Twitter, we like to think of it as 'asynchronous group chat'. While it has been called a microblogging service, its true power comes from the conversations it empowers (though many also use it as somewhat one-way promotional tool, almost as a substitute for RSS feeds).
People follow people, not companies - Rather than create a corporate Twitter account, find an evangelist or spokesperson who can represent your company on Twitter instead.
Beyond communicating with users, use Twitter search (http://search.twitter.com/), TwitScoop (http://www.twitscoop.com/), or the Facebook Lexicon tool (http://www.facebook.com/lexicon/) to mine the thought-streams of people in near real-time. These tools allow you to identify trends, monitor consumer sentiment about your brand, and guide your responses to issues based on actual user feedback.
Video and Multimedia
Develop a series of short video clips to inform or entertain, and submit to industry outlets, video sharing sites, and potentially use for broadcast. Or, document your events and edit them down into short highlight reels to be used internally and externally.
When measuring success, remember to look beyond the quantitative measures such as view count. While more exposure is good, the qualitative measures of a piece of media are often more important. Does it influence consumer opinion of your brand, drive sales, impress customers, or garner your company media attention?
Blogging
Designate a small team of key executives or other qualified employees to contribute several times weekly to a company blog. But don't just pen a 'corporate blog'. It's great to share company news when appropriate, but remember to showcase other aspects of your personality.
For example, are you a good writer? Is your commentary on industry news particularly poignant? Have you built a track record of commentary on a particular topic? All of these elements can lead to contributed articles, build readership, and help entrench yourself as an influencer and thought leader.
It's easy to get started. We can help.
There are many ways to start small, and many ways to go big. On your own, or we're happy to help.
Atomic has staff that can help implement or advise on any or all of the ideas presented here. If you'd like to explore more, please feel free to get in touch. We're friendly.
Atomic Digital Ops
Atomic's Digital Ops team specializes in social media, search, web marketing, multimedia, and video. We've executed for clients such as Mint.com, Verizon Wireless, Bebo, Ingres, Coupons.com, Southern Methodist University, SixApart (MovableType), Vertical Response, and LinkedIn.
Our Digital Ops team members have strong backgrounds in all these activities, with past life experience including a Gold Addy Award for a Gap Kids video campaign, CBSNews.com, SEO for clients such as Ford and GM, paid search for large e-commerce retailer Red Envelope and Boeing, and web development, analytics, and design expertise.
Need help? That's what we're here for. Feel free to reach out to us - we're happy to assist with execution or advice.