At the PR agency where I work, we were looking to expand our digital services to encompass social media engagement - as I'm sure most companies are wanting to do at this time. There is no denying that social media is changing the way we do business - it is almost a given today that a successful PR campaign must incorporate a social media element.
One advantage of using blogs, Facebook and Twitter is instantaneous communication. An organisation can answer queries from customers and provide updates about new products or services in mere minutes. The medium also allows for more intimate relationships. You can become a fan of the Malaysian Prime Minister in Facebook, for example, and follow his every move and thought in real time - something you can't do with traditional media.
One shouldn't overlook the possible pitfalls, however. A prominent Malaysian blogger had multiple run-ins with PR people, and made no secret of it in his blog. You have to read his funny but scathing accounts here and here. He says:
PR agencies seem to automatically assume every reasonably popular blogger is a 'pro-blogger' or something and we don't need to work - we just sit around at home waiting eagerly for their shitty press releases and event invites.David Lian, popular local blogger and PR consultant, had this piece of advice:
It's not like that, and the sooner YOU poorly informed PR hacks educate yourselves the sooner you will reap real benefits from engaging bloggers and forming relationships with them.
...don't think the blogger owes you anything just because they attended your event. The onus is on you, the company and the PR person advising the company, to make sure what you've got to tell the blogger is worth the blogger re-telling, if coverage is your goal.If you want an example of how social media can be used AGAINST a corporation, look no further than Dave Carroll's United Airways YouTube video that went viral and currently has close to eight million viewers. While Dave became a YouTube sensation, United Airways inherited a PR disaster.
In a nutshell, we need to tread with caution when it comes to using social media for PR and marketing. Consumers can easily sniff out insincere, money-hungry companies trying to invade their personal social networks for profit. We must never take our stakeholders for fools.
Cheers,
John.
2 comments:
Hi John,
You make some interesting points about social media. I agree that a successful PR campaign these days pretty much needs to includes some aspect of social media.
I’m doing a placement at The Nationals WA and they are also currently expanding their use of social media. Several of the State Executives have Facebook pages, a Twitter account has been created, and a blog has recently been set-up on their website. The main issues I’ve come across is finding the time to update these. Currently, the Twitter is pretty much inactive due to no one being assigned to update it. The website blog is getting better, but does often just consist of media releases quickly turned into articles.
I think while social media can be extremely successful in promoting a company and their messages, it’s important to assign people to manage them. This can be another major pitfall of them. I guess it seems like a simple task, but in everyday working life, I find other more immediate tasks always come up that stop you from doing it. They do take a lot of time to maintain and with their importance not always recognized, it can be hard to convince people to put that time aside.
I like your points on the limits of blogs, like that PR people can’t expect bloggers to give them coverage just because they attended their event. I think it is important to treat bloggers like you would a print journalist. You should create a relationship and engage with them.
Hope you’re enjoying your placement, it seems like you are!
Kath.
Hi John,
Like Kath said you raised good points about social media. i am one of those people who truly believe that social media can take Public Relations to higher horizons and better develop relations between our clients their target audience.
You mentioned the issue of negative feedback/ anti-organisation blogs, my believe is that these blogs are giving organisations ideas on where to better their services.
Its great to get positive feedback but its even better when consumers or your public's tell you when you are NOT doing a great job because then you know where and how to better your product and service.
When organisation decide to explore the use of social media they should be ready for both negative and positive feedback. And also learn to take this negativity as constructive criticism to help build their brand.
Cheers,
Palesa
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