Perfecting your PR campaign by jumping on the Social Media bandwagon

Tyrone van Heerden

We all know the impact that social media has had on the general public, not only from the way people communicate and network but also from the way they perceive a particular brand.

Although many communications professionals have acknowledged the importance of social media (some even claiming to be experts) they tend to focus on one specific medium- Twitter being a particular favourite at the moment.

Twitter is a great medium for certain brands as a support function but focusing all your attention solely on the one platform can be a waste of a PR’s efforts as it should be merely supporting other social media activities such as your blog, Facebook page, company profile on Linkedin, etc. Social media is of course all about interaction- captivating a community of interest and not playing with, but understanding and supporting their views- why not tap into these emotions and put a name behind your brand over multiple platforms?

For me, Adam Singer from Top Rank's Marketing blog put’s social media into perspective for PR pro’s by providing readers with three steps for effectively using social media for PR.

Although Singer acknowledges Twitter as being the social medium of choice for PR and Marketing pro’s he also shares the view that Twitter shouldn’t be one’s sole medium- “instead of putting all your mediums into just one basket or network, focus on owning your niche across web platforms,” he says.

My concern in the South African market is that a lot of PR’s don’t realise how easy it is to send a message across multiple platforms targeting different communities by the click of one button.  Singer say’s, “There is very little value in being a brand or a person who is popular in network X or Y.”

PR people need to stay committed to their social media plans explains Singer. “Push through the dip. In other words, outlast others who aren’t as serious or committed as you are.”

By staying consistent on your social media platforms, you going to stand out amongst the clutter on the web, creating a community who respects your insight and see’s a value in your views.

Singer appeals to PR people not to forget the role of SEO in your social media activities and to find the link between PR, social media and SEO. He makes a great point by explaining that if you participate in the social web with the goal of PR, you’re going to inspire attention for your brand. In turn, attention on the web equals to links, which can boost referral traffic and improving the general SEO of the particular brand.

I feel that South African PR’s are slowly coming to terms with the role that social media plays in building a brand. One can just look at social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, and can see the increase of visibility of South African brands and products daily. To me, it’s up to the PR’s to make sure that these brands are placed on the correct mediums, that they have continuous interaction with the network of people on the mediums, and that they build a reputation for the brand that will beat the clutter of it’s competitors on the web and attract a reputation of them being the better brand than that of their competitors.

• 2009/11/30
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