Is Social Media PR?

 

Often clients asked me if social media is PR.

It’s a great question as the breadth of PR activity is often misunderstood. 

 

PR is all about your reputation and building trust in you as a business person, in your brand, products and services. These days, most of us are on social media both personally and with our company or brand. There are plenty of opportunities available online to develop that reputation and trust, so for me social media has everything to do with PR.

 

But what are the benefits of using social media alongside PR?

 

  • Through the massive audience available on social media we can amplify the impact of our clients editorial or media coverage. 
  • We can use tools like LinkedIn to make sure that clients are connected with useful industry contacts. 
  • We can also connect them with key journalists and publications.
  • An established social media presence also provides excellent support for your PR coverage as it gives potential customers a place to find out more and connect with you.

 

As PR specialists we often work with our clients’ own social media experts or their in-house teams to make sure their social strategy fits in with their overall marketing strategy and with any PR work we are doing as part of that.

 

Training your employees

When thinking about your company’s social media presence you also need to consider how it is being portrayed by your employees. We recommend that everyone in your business has some training about how they should portray the company online. It’s really important that everyone understands that they are a brand ambassador for that business. That what they say and how they act is a reflection upon that business and will influence how it is perceived by its customers and potential customers. 

 

If you haven’t already done so, have a session with your staff to discuss the company values and culture — let them come up with what they think. You’ll be surprised how many ideas you will get (and you will probably get some great new ideas you can implement). It gives everyone a chance to discuss what’s important from a brand point of view and will give your staff the confidence to know what’s good to share and what is less helpful. 

 

You can follow this up with a social media guide that gives examples of good posts and further demonstrates why it’s important for everyone to recognise their role as ambassadors. They are all part of the sales team. 

 

If you have any questions about how to go about making sure your social strategy is PR-proof then get in touch and we will be glad to advise. 

 

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