The importance of social media for public relations
Today, public relations professionals use social media to complement or complement their existing strategies, reflecting the evolving role of public relations in recent years. Public relations professionals were among the first to realize the power of social media, which makes them leaders in the social space. In addition to taking care of the content of websites, more and more public relations professionals are responsible for their business and the presence of customers on social networks. The gradual shift to what industry experts call “social media publishing” shows how the traditional long press release is changing. According to David McCulloch, Director of Public Relations at Cisco Systems, “The press release of the future will deliver its content in the form of text, video, SMS, microblogging and podcasts to any device when the reader chooses and is desirable. previously confirmed and openly reviewed by several reliable sources. “
eMarketer expects that in 2011 PR and advertising agencies will increase their revenues in social networks. The results of a joint study of the network of advertising agencies Transworld and Worldcom Public Relations Group show:
In 2010, 28% of public relations firms reported that between 15% and 33% of their income came from social media.
In 2011, this number increased by 44%.
The research shows that the PR industry makes more effective use of social networks than advertising agencies.
The way to go …
Industrial research company IBIS World predicted factors that could stimulate the growth of PR companies in the coming years, as well as the expected growth rate.
Public relations companies are expected to grow by an average of 5.7% per year to $12.8 billion between 2010 and 2015.
This surge will be associated with increased demand from businesses for PR firms for day-to-day interactions with consumers and the press on their social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
The recent shift from traditional media to more direct media (social networks) will result in PR companies specializing or opening special units for blogs, social networks, mobile media and podcasts.
More than four-fifths of PR companies expect to work more in digital and social networks in the future.
Whether it’s advising clients from an agency’s point of view or working with an internal team, PR agencies need to be ready to work on social media. Position2 has a few tips to help your office survive and stand out in the digital space:
- Make a presentation
Social media has given the concept of filing a whole new meaning. While the idea of sending a press release to reporters, editors, and bloggers via email is not out of date, it’s easy for readers to press the delete button and forget about it. Integrating social media into your public relations strategy ensures that your presentation is above noise. To make good use of social media in your PR presentation plan, we recommend a few things you can add to your to-do list:
o Avoid beautiful things:
Too much information is associated with catchy phrases like ‘complex and important applications to improve business processes, etc. can scare readers. It’s easier.
Successful tweets:
If you plan to use Twitter to feed content, keep in mind that you have 140 characters to understand it correctly. According to Nicole Vanskoten, a public relations specialist at Pyxl, a good execution of your tweets leads to a higher level of response than emails.
o Don’t spam them:
Whether it’s journalists or bloggers, no one likes to receive random tweets or Facebook posts. Before contacting them, it is recommended to learn about a reporter or blogger. Read their Twitter profile or personal blog to see if they are target contacts and then create your presentation.
o Build a relationship:
Once you’ve created your contact list, the next step will be simple. Building a relationship with a journalist or editor suggests that you will be noticed.
- Provide value to customers
Over the past 2-3 years, PR agencies have taken on a completely new role in organizations. Most of the job of a public relations professional is to educate clients about the benefits of social media. Doing business or customer account today includes everything from brand loyalty to promoting and monitoring content on various social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). We believe that in order to be successful, a PR agency must benefit its customers. Here are some simple suggestions:
o Create content:
Public relations firms are expected to write to experts. That’s why customers expect your agency to figure out how to turn boring ads into interesting content. It could be a campaign or a corporate blog. Creating good content will not only attract media attention, but will also help attract potential customers.
Identification of influential persons:
Identifying and developing relationships with “influential persons” in the field of public relations is an added benefit. Instead of just looking for bloggers and journalists who should create a stir and increase sales, it makes sense:
o Identify who are the real influencers in a noisy market. You can do this by contacting journalists, bloggers, and reporters who cover more market-related topics of interest to your client.
o Keep in mind that audience size does not always affect the popularity of an influential person.
o Create conversations and keep an eye on them:
Monitoring and participation in social networks is necessary for any PR agency seeking to benefit its customers. Brands understand that they need not only a social presence, but they also like to work with PR agencies to find out what they are talking about in the market. Using social media monitoring tools such as Brand Monitor, you can:
o Measure your impact rating: Social media monitoring tools make it easy to identify journalists and bloggers with high levels of influence.
o Working in crisis situations: By keeping an eye on blog conversations, tweets, and Facebook posts, your agency can help you identify signs of problems.
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