Social media has become the world’s greatest listening platform.
Public relations is all about communication. In the past, public relations communicated a message through traditional media, holding events or stunts. As digital and mobile technologies continue to transform public relations, the lines separating public relations, marketing, branding, advertising and customer service blur. Social media is also all about communication and starting a conversation, so it makes sense to have a public relations professional mange a company’s social media platforms. Here are a few more reasons you should leave your business’ social media in the hands of a public relations pro.
1. Experienced Storytellers
Public relations professionals have always told stories using a range of communication styles and media. Many public relations professionals are former journalists. They can turn boring copy into newsworthy features. Social media requires us to create, find and share engaging and relevant stories. It’s just another way to tell and share the stories public relations professionals have already been creating.
2. Aim to be Relevant
Social media is about being timely, interesting and relevant. Public relations professionals are experienced in creating content relevant to a specific audience. Social media provides public relations professionals with excellent tools to communicate creative content to a specific audience the client wants to reach. This way the public relations professional can get to know the customer’s needs and relay that information to the client.
3. Relationship Building
One key focus every public relations professional has is building relationships. Whether it’s building relationships with journalists or clients, public relations professionals know how to maintain good relationships through communications. They are accustomed to developing these relationships via email, phone and social media networks, without ever meeting face-to-face, which has become the norm in the social media world.
4. Crisis Communications
Public relations professionals are trained in crisis communications. In case of a social media crisis, you need to get your company’s voice into the conversation as fast as possible, respond to any questions, correct misinformation and be as helpful as possible. These skills are vital in successfully managing a social media crisis. These are also skills public relations professionals already possess and are well suited to handle virally.
5. Feedback
Social media is like an instant focus group for your company. You can ask questions, gain feedback and have real-time conversations with potential customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That information helps monitor the public’s perceptions of a company, and in turn, helps shape future communication with customers. This is an area public relations professionals know very well. They are used to getting feedback and turning it into communications gold.
Finally, any public relations professional knows that successful communications begins with listening to your audience, whether they’re a journalist on Twitter, a business person on LinkedIn or a consumer adding service reviews on Yelp. Social media has become the world’s greatest listening platform. Public relations professionals have become the best people to manage a company’s social networks because they have been doing these things all along.
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Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency with teams in Silicon Valley and the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.
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Photo Credit: daniel_iversen