4 ways to use Social Media in Public Relations

By Maggie Patterson, September 2014


Are you sending out press releases and waiting for the media to write about you?

Are you wondering how you can integrate social media with public relations?

Instead of waiting for the media to write their story, organizations are choosing to share those stories via social media.


#1: Include social sharing with press releases

If you need to write a press release, find a way to support and extend the message via social sharing.

Keep in mind that journalists rely heavily on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms to source and research stories. When you share your story socially, you are meeting them where they are instead of interrupting them in their inbox.

For example, a story about a charitable contribution would translate very well to video (building up your YouTube channel). Or you can share data via an infographic that fans can pin, tweet and share from your blog or Facebook.


#2: Create social campaigns around customer case studies

Most PR teams create customer case studies to highlight successes and build credibility. While some customer stories make a good write-up, most people aren’t willing to invest the time to read long-form articles. Instead of sharing the full case study on social media, pick out the key facts from the client’s success story and highlight those across the board.

Many stories are actually more powerful when told through the right social channel. For example, Microsoft used video to share a story about how their technology is making a difference in people’s lives.

Thanks to Microsoft technology, Sarah Churman was able to hear for the first time. The company knew showing instead of telling would elicit a stronger emotional response. They gave the story life by sharing a video of Sarah hearing her first sounds.

The next time you’re gathering customer testimonials and writing case studies, interview your customers on-camera. You can share the video on YouTube and choose the best quotes to share on Twitter or Facebook.

Infographics have become a popular way to share data, people are drawn more to images than text. Take some key metrics from your customer interview and rework them as an infographic others can share on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

To spread the word further, write an article summarizing the case study and addressing any pain points the customer had. These shorter articles are excellent opportunities to reach a wider industry audience, especially when you share them on LinkedIn.


#3: Ask executives to publish on LinkedIn

When CEOs or other executives actively engage with professional colleagues and customers, they’re playing an important role in building trust with key stakeholders. Yet only a handful of CEOs are active on social platforms. It’s time to change that.

LinkedIn is a good place to start because it’s the leading social platform for professional networking. Since it now offers a publishing platform, you or your executives can share content quickly and know you’re reaching the right audience.

Instead of writing an op-ed for a newspaper or an article for an industry publication, use that content on LinkedIn. Sharing your company updates on LinkedIn is a much faster way to reach your audience than waiting for traditional media to publish your contribution.

You can either create content specifically for LinkedIn or republish from an existing blog or other source.


#4: Offer expert opinions in real time

As industry-related stories break, social media offers the prime way for you to offer expert commentary and make an immediate impact on your audience. If you wait for a press release to make the rounds, you’ll likely miss your opportunity.

For example, when a government database is hacked or a major story about stolen credit card numbers breaks, security companies react swiftly on all social fronts. By helping others understand the situation and offering advice, they’re positioning themselves as experts, as well as drawing attention to their product or service.

Before you connect yourself with specific events in your industry, assess each opportunity as it arises and have a plan in place for when and how you will respond to certain situations.

In the case of breaking news, proceed with caution to ensure that you are adding value to the conversation and not being completely self-serving or trying to capitalize on a tragedy.


CONCLUSION

If you’ve been relying on traditional public relations tactics, it’s time to breathe new life into your efforts. By focusing on a social approach, you’ll be able to communicate your messages directly with your stakeholders.

Plus, you’ll be better able to connect with the media and bloggers where they’re proactively looking for news and resources instead of spamming them with information (like press releases) they simply don’t want or can’t share immediately.


http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-in-public-relations/

Once upon a time, companies had control over their image...

June 15, 2014, Torben Rick

Once upon a time, companies had complete control over their image and branding. By pouring money into advertising, they could effectively steer and control the perceptions of consumers.

Unfortunately for companies – and fortunately for consumers - the information revolution transferred this power squarely into the hands of consumers.

Armed with this newfound power, customers found themselves with an edge over salespeople. The principle of the marketplace hence transitioned from caveat emptor to caveat venditor – that is, from “Let the buyer beware” to “Let the seller beware”.

Historically, buyers have always been on the losing end due to a lack of information or expertise on products or services. With reviews, ratings and online portals readily available on the Internet today, sellers are now the ones who have to be careful.

But this is not the only change that is sweeping the market place. The high degree of customer loyalty which was normal in the “good old days” is now just a pleasant memory of times gone by.


Top 9 customer focus areas for the journey towards “The Trusted Company”:

- Share your knowledge
- Make the experience great
- Know the customer
- Make it easy and convenient
- Make them feel valued
- Engage with the customers
- Do it right first time
- Surprise
- Ask them for advice

Organizations should explicitly ask themselves: what is our place in our customers’ lives? What is our relevance to their lives? The answers to these questions provide the basis for devising a new method of approaching customers.

The time has come to work with trust as an integrated part of business strategy.

Good luck with the journey!

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140615052330-955997-once-upon-a-time-companies-had-complete-control-over-their-image-and-branding?trk=object-title

Email + Redes Sociais: o melhor de 2 mundos

Email + Mídias Sociais. O Melhor De 2 Mundos

setembro 5, 2014 Alexandre Miguel


Estudos recentes comprovam que o email marketing e as mídias sociais são os principais canais de marketing de maior sucesso no mundo, sendo que o email é o mais eficaz dos dois. Talvez por isso seja também aquele que lidera as preferências das empresas quando questionadas sobre onde pretendem gastar o seu dinheiro em marketing (Estudo StrongView).

Se repararmos, nenhum de nós vive sem email, todos temos um ou mais endereços, e precisamos deles para poder criar uma conta numa rede social. O email também é usado como instrumento de segurança e identificação de contas, tendo mesmo substituído o username (Nome de Utilizador) como campo de verificação de login.

Perfil só devemos ter um por rede social apesar de podermos criar outros, mas emails podemos ter vários, um para contactos profissionais, um familiar, um da empresa, outro de um projeto, etc. Não existem limites para criar endereços de email nos principais serviços gratuitos ficando difícil perceber quem são os bons e os maus clientes, por isso também não recomendamos o uso de um endereço de um serviço gratuito como o Gmail ou Outlook para ser remetente de campanhas de email marketing.

Se em termos de quantidade existem muito mais endereços de email do que perfis sociais, a taxa de conversão também consegue ser entre 30% a 40% superior do que nas mídias sociais. Quanto melhor for a segmentação das campanhas melhores resultados iremos ter.

Do Email Para As Mídias Sociais

Achamos que ambos os canais devem estar juntos ajudando o cliente não só com a segmentação e construção das campanhas, mas também no compartilhamento nas mídias sociais. Isso é feito através da conexão da conta com as diversas redes, mas também na colocação automática de botões nos emails com link direto para elas, e no rastreio das ações que são feitas nesses mesmos botões.

Tudo isso que criámos para os nossos clientes não implica que eles tenham que abdicar de fazer outros esforços para conseguir ter melhores resultados nos dois canais. Além disso é recomendável sempre que possível tentar fazer alguma ligação dentro do conteúdo do email para o projeto, site, blog, etc, – seja através de link de texto ou em botão.

Das Mídias Sociais Para o Email

É tão importante ter cada vez mais fãs e seguidores, como também fazer crescer a nossa lista de contactos da newsletter, e é isso que muitos clientes acabam esquecendo. Isso é possível com o compartilhamento das campanhas em grupos, páginas, perfis mas também com a criação de aplicativos internamente nas redes como é o caso do Facebook.

Para tirar partido dessa união e rentabilizar ela ao máximo, é preciso ser criativo e conseguir estratégias para trazer usuários de um lado para o outro e vice-versa. Como exemplo, é possível oferecer conteúdos digitais de acesso exclusivo por inscrição na nossa lista, e também oferecer o mesmo conteúdo numa rede social por alguém se tornar nosso fã.

Boa Sorte!



http://pt.campayn.com/blogue/email-midias-sociais-melhor-2-mundos/?utm_content=buffer4eb0f&
utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer#more-277

The Difference Between Marketing and PR?

The Difference Between Marketing and PR? It’s All in the Inflections

by Steve Goldstein | 09/04/2014

It wasn't so long ago that the PR and marketing functions were considered enemies within organizations, particularly where budgets, reporting structures and the assigning of credit/blame were concerned.

Perhaps as a result of the concurrent changes in personal technology habits (aka the bent-elbow/head-down posture of the human race as it loses itself in "social" media) and the decline of traditional news organizations, it's become harder to perceive where marketing ends and PR begins. Current job titles bear witness to the haziness.

To bring some clarity to the issue, PR News asked its community how it would define the difference between marketing and PR. Most of the responses fell along the lines of "marketing is all about the product and PR is all about the relationships." We suspect that many marketers and PR pros (and those officially straddling the two) would object to this kind of blanket statement, but the variations on the same theme is telling.

But what's most illuminating is the creativity expressed in the attempts to spell out the difference in short social media posts:

• PR tends to leverage media to build brand awareness, while marketing covers a wide range of customer-targeted messaging and calls to action.
• Marketing = trading and sales oriented. PR = public oriented.
• Marketing is about selling/needing the product, ‪PR is about creating the population around the product.
• PR is a two-way engagement with publics. ‪Marketing is a content-oriented message that attempts to sway ‪consumers.
• In the life of an organization, marketing is for the sells, PR is for everything else.
• Marketing is all about the product. PR is all about the relationships.
• Marketing is the development of a product's branding strategy, while PR is the media relationships executing the marketing strategies.
• Marketing is how you want the world to see your product. PR is how the world actually sees your product.
• Marketing is the script, PR is the film.
• Marketing is the ingredients, PR is the cake displayed in the window.
• Marketing—you pay for it. PR—you pray for it.
• Marketing focuses on getting someone to open their wallet. PR focuses on getting into their hearts and minds.
• Marketing in the monologue, PR is the conversation.
• Marketing creates the vision and the events, while PR builds relationships with others so they can tell the story from their point of view.
• Marketing is a one-way communication, PR is a two-way communication.
• Marketing and PR are communication efforts designed to boost business and promote a brand, but their chief aims are not the same. Marketing focuses on the market and building sales and PR focuses on relationship and trust, and they both have different success metrics.
• Paid and unpaid coverage is one significant difference. Both should aim at crafting a brand story.
• It's not about the difference between ‪PR & ‪marketing. Both must support/rely on each other to maximize brand awareness & lead generation.

Follow Steve Goldstein: @SGoldsteinAI