Does social media use public relations or is social media a form of public relations?
It's like the question "what came first - the chicken or the egg?" Only in this case we know that public relations has been around way longer than social media. The two go hand in hand and yet can still sometimes be regarded as separate entities.
A social media campaign that works on the principle of bombarding a platform with ad hoc posts in the hope that it will attract new customers will fail. Using a planned approach with public relations principles will see brands strengthened, customers engaged and new customers attracted.
It's about building a community around your business and creating content your audience is interested in.
Here are 10 PR moves for your social media that will help you build relationships with your audience.
1. Targeting - one size doesn't fit all. Know who you are trying to attract and engage with. Understanding their interests and habits means you'll have more in common with them and so more to communicate with and about.
2. Know your audience and their preferred platform. Every platform has a type, just as you need to know your audience you need to know what platform they're likely to be using.
3. Gain a following. Connect and follow business and organisations, people and influencers you'd like your business to be associated with, that you share a common aim with.
4. Become useful. Share your knowledge, have an opinion on your industry add value.
5. Small is beautiful - start small and grow your story and brand. Don't expect an overnight sensation.
6. Follow trends and keep your finger on the pulse. Keep abreast of what is going on in your industry and get involved.
7. Engage - invite questions and engage with your customers and build a report with journalists.
8. Use eye catching visuals - tweets with images get 150% more retweets, facebook posts received 2.3 times more engagement than those without visuals.
9. Use stories to relate to your customers. Create interesting content that can be shared.
10. Use third party endorsements to spread your message in the form of guest blogs and twitter chats. Run competitions, build relationships with suppliers and staff as well as customers.
PG2M work with small and medium-sized organisations, start-ups and owner run businesses. We help create powerful connections, with communications to maximise your exposure and improve your reputation. We deliver #prwithoutthefluff. Do get in touch if you need a no nonsense approach to improving your visibility and communications.