Facebook: companies speak, but do they listen?

How would you feel if someone only listened to 5% of what you say? Would you keep speaking to them? Would you even still associate with them? 

A recent study by Socialbakers found that brands don't respond to 95% of the questions posted on their Facebook walls. As a consumer, how does that make you feel? Many companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon because it's what they're supposed to do. They create a page, generate followers, and before you know it, they're blasting marketing messages to Facebook users - the golden rule of social media of what NOT to do. 

Social media's sole purpose is for conversing and connecting with others, hence the SOCIAL aspect of it. If a company is not going to socialize and talk to their fans and audiences, then they should not have entered social media to begin with. Surprisingly enough, the study found that the industry with the lowest percentage of responses is the media industry. How ironic is that? 

Link: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/9800.aspx

Do Virtual Worlds Have a Place in PR?

One of this week's topics is the idea of virtual worlds and their role in social media for companies. Personally, no matter how much you tout virtual worlds, I don't think I'd be convinced that they have a place in true PR practices. Many companies have used virtual worlds like Second Life to promote their brand, they would even make whole islands for their virtual target audiences to visit. However, the question that they should really be asking themselves is, "is it worth the effort?" 


Consider how many people you are actually engaging and how you're engaging them when deciding to put the time, energy and resources into building a virtual world presence. How big are the audiences? As of 2011, Second Life has about 1 million active users. But how active is active? I could create a Second Life account and play for 2 days and then log on next month and still be considered active. So when you really look at that 1 million people, you have to consider that a chunk of that number will not really be present. And then, you should think about how many of those 1 million users would actually want to listen to your message on Second Life or visit your island. How many of those users actually fall into your target audiences? How do you even know? 


These are questions that I think a lot of companies need to ask themselves before committing to a presence in a virtual world because I really think that there are much better and more efficient ways to reach those same audiences. Having an appearance in Second Life may have helped the Obama campaign, but considering what you're sacrificing, will it really help your company?

What NOT to do in Social Media

So we all know that Social Media is incredibly important in a current PR professional's life, but as with all things, there are things that one should NEVER do when using social media. An article in PR Daily titled "The Worst-ever Advice about Social Media" outlines certain things that companies find themselves doing in Social Media and failing miserably. 


When I first read this article, I was struck by how accurate all of these are. They're not your typical social media common sense advice either. For example, number 2: Put in the intern in charge of social media. Social media has proved to be an integral and essential part of a company's relationships to their audiences. Why would you jeopardize that by putting a kid in charge? Yet, I can't even count how many times I've seen job postings for a "Social Media Intern."


There are other gems in this article too, such as Number 6: Avoid anything personal in your social media presence. Many companies figure that since it's their company Twitter, all tweets should be about the company. But that's not only incredibly boring, but also defeats the purpose of Twitter. People use Twitter to find the humanity in people. It's a little reassuring to find that your favorite celebrity loves Swedish Fish just as much as you do. People use Twitter to connect with you so you should too. 


While none of us are heading the PR departments of major coporations (yet), it's interesting to read what many so-called professionals are doing wrong and take note of it. 


link: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/9801.aspx

Video Killed the Radio Star...

So now that I have your attention (& that increasingly irritating song stuck in your head), let's talk about using video in social media. Let's face it, videos aren't just for movies, TV shows, and MTV anymore, they're in our everyday life. They are our new pop culture. Do you know what "Charlie Bit My Finger" is? If you don't, have you been living under a rock for the past 4 years? A silly one minute home video created by a British mother gained instant fame and currently has over 390 million hits on Youtube. 


Youtube has changed the way that people use video. They're no longer for home movies shared just within the family, they're a way for anyone in the world to express a message or pull a stupid stunt and gain instant popularity around the globe. Justin Beiber was discovered on Youtube. I think that should be enough said. 


So how can a PR practitioner use this incredibly powerful tool effectively? The first step is to take advantage of it. There are many ways that companies can use video and podcasting to improve their social media presence. Want to keep your loyal followers updated on your company's news? Create a podcast. Want to demonstrate how a new product works? Create a video and post it on your website - Apple has successfully used this strategy for years. There are even Video News Releases (VNR) for the technologically advanced PR professional. Send out your message with images and sound - a picture is worth a thousand words after all. 


Video has blown up in the past few decades, especially with the onset of the Youtube Revolution. Now, it's up to the PR industry to ditch the pen and paper and start filming. 

One of the Most ESSENTIAL Tools for a PR Professional

I get a lot of my original blog post topics from PR Daily. It's a really useful site by Ragan Communications with all things Public Relations related. These are articles about PR by successful PR professionals. The site has many really useful sections such as Media Relations, Crisis, Marketing, Writing & Editing, and there's even a Social Media section. You can even sign up for their daily newsletter where they send you the newest and most useful new articles on their sites. 


This PR Daily news site definitely helped me immensely with navigating the everchanging and confusing world of PR. One of the most crucial aspects that a PR practitioner must understand is that the world and the news is constantly changing and it's our job more than almost anyone else's to keep up with it on a constant basis. Because of this site, not only do I find lots of new and interesting topics to talk about in this social media blog, but I also find incredible resources that will help me when I start my job search this December. For example, I just read articles on the skills that employers look most for in today's PR professional and 9 job-hunting tips for millennials in the PR market. These are things that us PR students that are about to enter the real world as DYING to know, yet we're not actively looking for the answers. 


So if you're reading this and you actually want to become a successful PR professional, I urge you to type as fast as you possibly can and sign up for the PR Daily Newsletter. It'll only help you in the long run. 


link: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Home.aspx

del.icio.us - a reporter's wet dream

Excuse the slightly inappropriate title, I think I'm really funny. But actually, I fully stand behind this post's heading - if I were a reporter, I would dream about a story where all of my links and resources were in one handy place. 


In previous posts, I discussed the importance of having good relationships with reporters, especially if you're a PR practitioner. Today, after reading a PR Squared blog entry titled "Using del.icio.us for Thought Leadership," I'm convinced that del.icio.us is one of those perfect tools to help anyone in a PR role to create smooth and happy relationships with desired reporters. 


I have to admit, the idea of del.icio.us was still very strange to me before this blog post. I understood the basics of it but I really didn't understand how useful it could be. Basically, del.icio.us accounts allow PR professionals to expand on typical press releases by providing reporters with valuable background information as well. For example, if I wanted to promote a new product launch for a company, I would have the link to the press release in the del.icio.us account, some more links to background information about the company and its past product launches, maybe some more links to blogs that have tested the product and liked it, etc. I could label every link and send it all to reporters in a pretty package. If that doesn't make them want to write a story on your product, then they probably wouldn't have in the first place.


This blog entry definitely convinced me that del.icio.us is one of those social media tools that all PR practitioners should learn how to use as soon as possible. 

Social Media Newsrooms - not just a cool fad

Every PR practitioner knows that one of the most important relationships to have and keep intact are the relationships with reporters. While this class focuses a lot on how social media allows companies to communicate directly with their consumers and target audiences, traditional media still reigns supreme. People are still reading newspapers and magazines....just on their Kindle or iPad. Reporters are the interpretors for the public. Whatever message you put out there, reporters interpret the tone, the word choice, the spin, and they create a point of view for the mass public to read and consume. 


In an article on PR Daily, the writer discusses the stagnation of companies' online newsrooms/press rooms. Most companies currently lack the social media aspect of their newsrooms because they perceive it as a fad, something cool that is currently getting everyone's attention. However, social media newsrooms aren't important because they give your company a "hip" image, they're important because they give reporters more information and a better feel for your company. The author highlighted 6 essential elements that should be in every company's newsroom:
1. Include your social content - let reporters see your blog posts and tweets!
2. Make it sharable - the easier your content can be shared, the more likely it is that they will be.
3. Let conversations happen - commenting should be enabled on every press release & any other information. It's the most basic concept of social media.
4. Make it navigable - make it easy for reporters to find what their looking for through tags & search engines.
5. Make it easy for people to connect with you - One of the most essential rules of PR: contact information on your PR materials.
6. Make it easy for people to stay connected - You WANT people to get your company news so deliver it to them through RSS feeds, email updates & SMS subscriptions. 


These 6 rules are crucial for every PR practitioner to recognize and remember because dealing with the media is one of the most important aspects of our industry. The more accessible we make information for reporters, the better our relationship with them will be. 


Article: http://www.prdaily.com/socialmedia/Articles/9698.aspx

Social Media - A [Not So] New Concept

In this week's readings of PR 2.0, Chapter 8 really caught my attention. The chapter discusses the concept of social networking - as the chapter's titled " Social Networking: A Revolution Has Begun." When I first started reading this chapter, I thought the content seemed pretty repetitive and self explanatory. Companies need to use social media to build relationships, social media can help your brand, etc. etc. etc.... all of the stuff that I feel like everyone in this class already know. 


But as I kept reading, something else in this chapter really caught my attention. Although the first social networking site, Classmates.com, was launched in 1995, the science of social network analysis has been around since the 1930s. A science that focused on certain factors of social networks such as influence, trust, centrality, and network density. At first, this didn't make sense to me at all. How could there be a science for measuring social networks over 60 years before the first social network existed? But then I really thought about it. Back when the Internet didn't exist, people got their information through their social circles, those were their social networks. In fact, we still do that today but just in an electronic form. Instead of hearing about news from our neighbors and family through verbal conversations, we hear about news from our neighbors, family and friends through Facebook or Twitter. Our Facebook and Twitter profiles ARE our social circles. This realization definitely impressed me and terrified me at the same time, are our lives defined by our virtual realities? When do those two aspects separate?...do they ever?