Do Not Fear Social Media
Do Not Fear Social Media
Social and consumergenerated media continues to be all the rage. Look at Time magazines 2006 Person of the Year. Its you. And me. And the person in the office next to you.
Look at the interest in social media like wordofmouthmarketing blogs discussion boards virtual worlds like SecondLife video sites like YouTube microblogging like Twitter and MySpace Facebook LinkedIn and other social networks. Everybodys doing it right?
Look at the mainstream medias early reporting on blogs Forbes Attack of the Blogs Nov. 14 2005 and the Wall Street Journals piece The Blog Mob Dec. 20 2006. And look how they are all getting on board with their own blogs like the New York Times ABC News and local media outlets like my local daily The Toledo OH Blade. Though BusinessWeek has been around for several years with its Blogspotting blog. It can be pretty scary in the blogosphere and social media if youre not already there. Or even if you are already there.
While there are those who say social media will kill public relations because it gives more voice and power to consumers thats not true. Social media opens up more career opportunities for PR pros in online marketing because its about relationships. Its how you work with people to understand their wants and preferences and then supply them with the proper information and access to achieve your clients or your employers goals.
Working in social media requires a different mindset than in traditional media relations and other public relations and marketing activities. That is because you are generally dealing with everyday people not professional reporters who are at work. Think of it like you are communicating with your neighbor.
Though social media requires a different approach do not fear it: social media is right up our alley. While there are some ground rules already established like transparency much of it is still evolving. Youre never too late to join in and be involved.
The main reason for us not to fear social media is because we already practice many of the skills needed for it. By definition public relations and other communications professionals should know how to deal with and relate to… different parts of society.
We know how to develop trusted relationships with a wide range of media contacts. We know how to work with the various personalities at clients or agencies we deal with every day. We work with company CEOs VPs and directors of marketing. We work with customers prospects and vendors in organizing events and gathering information. We develop campaigns designed to communicate effectively with niche markets.
We are jacksofalltrades and chameleons who can relate to and work with a variety of personalities and peoples of all walks of life.
So why should bloggers discussion board and social network members be any different?
They are not.
Like the other environments we work in we have to learn the established grounds rules like being transparent and upfront when contacting bloggers knowing the background and preferences of our audiences and adapting. We can do it because we have done it before. Its like learning a new clients market or the demographics of our companys new product. You just have to get started and get a feel for the established rules.
Dive right in
But theres no way of learning if we dont do it. So heres what you can do:
We all dont have to blog but we should read and monitor blogs. If youve never done it before take an hour every day or every couple of days and peruse some branding PR and advertising blogs. Search for and regularly read blogs that are in your clients or companys market.
Search for your clients or companys name in the blogosphere. See whats being said about them. Use Googles Blog Search Technorati Globe of Blogs or check out one of the growing number of social mediaspecific monitoring services like Techrigy or Radian6. Heck even post a comment if you find a blog post of interest just make sure you state who you really are no anonymous comments please. For PR pros thats one of the establish ground rules.
Discussion boards and forums are the most underappreciated communities in social media. Blogs get all the publicity but you can find many valuable industry discussions and research occurring on boards. Theres practically a discussion board for every industry topic and geography. Many metro areas have an active blogging and forums community. Some require registration to read the discussion threads but many do not.
Join Twitter or a similar microblogging tool. I have found that Twitter is great for getting feedback from peers and learning about news and posts I might not typically read.
Explore del.icio.us Digg StumbleUpon or other social bookmarking tools and see what sites and pages others think are of interest.
Social media is all about interaction communicating sharing rating connecting. Your employer or clients customers are not standing outside your door. But many in some industries most of them are online talking and sharing information you need to know.
If you as a marketing and public relations professional are not involved in the emerging evolving and growing communications vehicles for clients or employer you are doing a disservice to them. And some other agency or individual may fill the social media need for them. You dont have to be heavily involved. But do be aware. And fear not. Social media is right up your alley. Youre a natural.
About the writer: Michael Driehorst is a proven public relations professional who knows how to develop the right set of strategies and matching tactics to achieve communication objectives for the right target audience. After an early career as a newspaper journalist Michael has worked in public relations and marketing communications since 1994. Hes been active in social media since 2005 and blogs at Mikespoints.com. You may also find articles by Michael at the TalentZoo.com website under Marketing Moxie.
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