Advantages of social media for PR pros
Posted on: May 3, 2011
Another mashable blog talked about how PR pros are using social media for real results and in this post I will try to summarise and give my opinion on the key points that are addressed. As I have previously discussed in another blog, PR professionals use social media and sites such as Twitter and Facebook and Youtube as an essential tool in a campaign. PR pros are using platforms such as these to connect better with clients and their audience by using social media correctly and overcoming the challenges.
In the past PR professionals may have been limited to phone calls or email if they wanted to contact each other and promote their company or client. However with the rise of social media platform, they can converse with clients easily, and also the rest of the world.
In the mashable article, PR professional Jeremy Pepper said, “Social media is a great tool for public relations people, especially if you align it to both PR goals and figure out what the ROI is for the client or the company.” ROI stands for return on investment. He talks about how he uses social media with Palisae Systems, a business-to-business data loss prevention company. He used Twitter as a powerful tool, shooting out information, retweeting interesting articles and participating in conversations. Blogging is one way the company can share stories beyond just what goes into a press release.
Social media also communicates authenticity becomes it seems more personal when you converse with someone on a site like Twitter than if you read about them on their website. Politicians have really embraced social media, for example Barack Obama’s online campaign. Claire McCasksill is also a politician who has embraced social media in a big way and she has become the second most popular person in congress on Twitter. Her authenticity is important because she makes an effort to reply to Tweets. As Claire McCaskill shows, there are huge possibilities from a PR perspective for politicians who use social media.
Brand loyalty is another reason for using social media, as Pepper works for another company, Targus, which sells computer bags and accessories. He develpoed brand loyalty and turned customers into fans, by using the companies Twitter account to promote giveaways and promotions and monitoring Twitter conversations to target bag-buying consumers. Using social media has provided Pepper with a simple way to build brand loyalty without having to invest significant time and resources.
Finally, successful PR professionals are using social media to start conversations and build relationships with people, including clients. The most successful PR pros focus on creating active relationships and truly engaging with their customers.
The original blog can be found here: http://mashable.com/2010/03/16/public-relations-social-media-results/
hannahelkes 
Leave a comment