Friday, January 9, 2009

PR PROFESSIONAL DATES SOCIAL MEDIA

Its stickier, interactive, effective, viral, highly visible, grabs eye balls, your competitor is already using it and you don’t even need to spend on it. No wonder, social media has moved from “buzz word” status to a strategic tool. In the ever-evolving world of social media, public relations professionals (PR) have more opportunities than ever to build strong relationships.

BLEND IN THE TREND MY FRIEND

BLOGGING- More than 60 million blog posts exist on the Internet. For companies, bloggers represent an immediate source of information and feedback, but also an opportunity to engage a rapidly expanding global network of influential, credible, passionate and involved group of real people who communicate constantly, Blogs can extend the conversation beyond the press release, provide a platform for thought leadership, and in the case of a crisis, prove an invaluable channel for direct community communications. Most bloggers are typically powerful sneezers, so to pass on the virus you need to sneeze powerfully.

A well executed corporate blog will

• Increase your footprint on the Internet with a cloud of content on your subject.
Create top ten search results on many keywords relevant to your industry
• Establish you as an expert on these subjects
• Raise awareness of your company, product or service
• Create interaction with your customers
• Give your company a human voice
• Make the company more real to your customers, raising the affinity and understanding.
• Increase your brand value
• Raise your visibility with the mainstream media.
INTERACTIVE NEWSROOM-Create an interactive newsroom where traditional media and bloggers can find links to the company’s social presence. This may include high resolution product photos hosted on Flicker, a link to the company’s Twitter profile, a bundle of RSS feeds for the company’s blogs, a searchable repository of pod casts, or even social profiles for media contacts (AIM/Skype/Avatar).


PODCASTING- Podcasting is a great medium for public service announcements, especially in a shrinking media market. The next generations of adults have shown that they go to the web for everything including local, regional and national news. Letting the public know is more difficult than ever without a web presence and soon just a web presence won’t be enough - podcasting or video will have to be the method of delivery.

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES- Social networking sites such as Face book and My Space have become the party lines of this young century. They are inviting and intriguing and a powerful communication tool. Now however people of all ages and professions read blogs, tag articles, join online discussion groups, have profiles on professional social networking sites and post video files. In fact, according to a recent industry report by COM Score, more than half of the visitors to social networking websites such as MySpace, Face book, Flicker and Live Journal are now 35 and older. In terms of PR, social media is a maturing business tool, offering new and innovative ways to drive business and communicate to customers--often using less expensive techniques than traditional advertising or marketing campaigns. It's worth being aware of the various elements that make up the social media landscape, and concentrating on the ones that are particularly.
No wonder, it’s called the reality TV of the net.

Virtual Worlds – This is an interesting category unto itself. Many companies are extending their presence into virtual worlds, with Second Life ranking as the most popular of the bunch – but certainly not the only world to participate. This truly requires participation prior to any form of marketing, as these worlds have a unique culture that requires experience – the kind of experience only possible through residence and participation.
Wikis – Wikis are important to facilitate collaboration in a friendlier, socially-focused content management system. It’s not just about teams and document management. It can now provide a forum for inviting content and suggestions from customers.


VNR 2.0 - Video is the new frontier, again. I recently introduced the idea of reinventing the VNR (video news release), which is designed to help viewers humanize companies and also explain the value of their products or services in a way that speaks to them directly.

‘Un’ produced videos that tell stories are incredibly viral when placed in online communities and also on the corporate Web site. The more produced they feel, the lower the interaction and sharing ratio. The more real they are, the greater the dynamic and propensity for sharing.

These videos can be short demos, screencasts (a demonstration or walkthrough on screen), entertaining snippets or collages, mini episodes, etc.

Create a channel on Youtube, tag each video with the key words you think people are searching, and watch the views skyrocket. I recently uploaded a simple screen cast, which generated 55,000 views in one week.



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