How to Use Social Media for Public Relations

Forget "Old School" Press Release Thinking - Go Digital

Along with all its other multi-purpose benefits, Social Media is changing the public relations industry completely - with new technologies and new concepts on how to communicate one's corporate messages to the public, the media, investors and other stakeholders.

The most fundamental shift is the move away from "push" marketing - where mainstream media and advertising tell the public what to think, feel and buy - towards "pull" marketing where consumers pick and choose the content they want, rate it, share it, comment on it.

Consumers Rule

Social media users...

• control their own online experience
• influence the experiences of others
• expect brands/companies to be accessible,authentic

So a smart PR professional today uses the social-media paradigm in developing news releases, event marketing, launches and all other types of promotional materials, using the winning equation:

Value-rich content + SEO (keywords to help the content get found) + technology (social media) = today's Public Relations!

Then:

• Static, standard-form news releases
• Phone calls to editors
• Text only

Now:

• The Social Media Press Release
• Web Influencer Outreach > build relationships with key bloggers, Twitterers, podcasters, forum moderators, etc.
• Videos, photos, podcasts, links, widgets, mash-ups

At our company, PROsocialmedia, we like to say that the "PRO" in our name stands for more than just Professional (though professionals we be, with many years' expertise under our belts).

The PRO in PROsocialmedia also stands for:
Public
Relations
Optimization