Social Media and the PR Beast – Part 1
Back in the day, Public Relations was its own hungry beast – schmoozing, pitching and, yes, faxing press releases. Now, with the rocket-fast changes in communications, we’ve crammed a generation’s worth of progress into just a few years.
All told, the rise of “Social Media” can be condensed into three very important – and related - changes:
1) Dialogue
2) Integration
3) Expectations
In this column, we’ll explore the first change, and how Social Media is making PR more conversant with target audiences.
Dialogue –
When I was a newspaper reporter, I was bombarded by people who were trying to get their fair share of ink. Whether it was a politician or a business owner, the worth of their efforts could literally be measured in column inches.
Likewise, when I entered Public Relations – both in politics and as a Naval Officer – we collected clips to show how a PR plan had succeeded. It was simple math - the more clips, the better. But now, with the advent of applications such as Facebook and Twitter, Public Relations is more conversational.
Social Media sites allows a seller – including politicians and business owners – to hold a dialogue directly with a potential consumer. Why worry about pitching a story to a business editor when you can open a Twitter account and exchange messages directly with your target audience? This is only part of the equation, but remember that while newspapers are being shuttered, Twitter, for example, saw traffic increase 1,382% from February 08-09, driven largely by 45 to 54-year-olds. And Facebook? With an estimated 300 million users, Facebook has a population roughly equal to the United States.
And sure, there are some people who wonder about the future of Twitter, but businesses are making money by using the site, some voters are able to Tweet directly with their member of Congress, and then, of course, there’s Iran.
For sales, many businesses these days are using platforms like Twitter to offer promotional specials and discounts. Dell, for example, famously claims to have made $3 million so far this year directly from sales via Twitter. Locally, the Mexican restaurant Costa Vida in South Portland often uses Twitter to broadcast menu specials.
And even when some companies aren’t directly selling on Twitter, they can use it to enhance a relationship with customers. A great example is Logan Airport, which not only uses Twitter to broadcast specials and news, but to answer questions from consumers.
The Social Media sites also are great tools for defensive PR – meaning, simple searches can discover what people are saying about a particular product. After all, nearly everyone agrees that word-of-mouth can be the most effective tool out there, for both positive and negative communications.
As a business owner or marketer, wouldn’t you want to know what people are saying about your product in the ether? If you have any doubts about this – and you have a Twitter account – do a quick search for “iPhone” and see what everyone is saying about the new versions.
For PR practitioners, this is more challenging, because we’re no longer just Oz behind the curtain. To re-quote Jimmy’s line from the song “Public Relations,” there’s no longer a need for a table at Sardi’s to help form public opinion – unless of course they have Wi-Fi.
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Next up – Integration