Public Relations and Social Media

As consumers, wouldn’t most of us be more likely to trust the endorsement offered by a family member, a friend, or even another consumer we’ve never even met over a company’s endorsement of their own products/services?  Undoubtedly.  By leveraging the power of public relations and social media you have the awesome capability of building buzz for your business while attaining third-party credibility.

The traditional press release is evolving and although print media still has its place, social media is taking center stage.  The major difference between a traditional press release and a press release embraced by social media outlets is the exceptional capability social media has as a viral marketing tool.   It only takes the click of a mouse and your message can spread like lightning from one person to another.  Consumers have always shared with friends, family, neighbors, and the like — the good the bad, and the ugly about a brand.  Social media has simply created a premier platform to spread the word.  Having a presence for your business on popular social media networks such as Facebook is becoming increasingly compulsory.  The relatively new phenomenon offers word-of-mouth marketing on steroids.  Think smart!  Create a win-win situation by making your customers cheerleaders for your brand.  They’re truly the best sales agents a company could ask for.

social media and pr

The Value Social Media Brings to PR?

• Easily distribute through various channels
• Embrace the power of the consumer
• Get the conversation going! (2-way communication)
• Grab the attention of journalists and/or bloggers (they may write about your company’s story)
• Sharability (use a “Share” widget and allow readers to post/share information at lightning speed)
• Multimedia capabilities (i.e., YouTube videos, surveys, links, etc.)
• Ability to build inbound links and backlinks
• Pull PR makes it easy – the media and your intended audience target themselves for you!  They find and pull themselves to your news (i.e., RSS feeds).