Any Scottsdale public relations professional will gladly point out how useful social media has become, but when you ask them to explain their social media PR techniques and strategies, they’ll tell you ‘it’s a trade secret.’ Unfortunately, for business owners and medical professionals trying to break into the world of marketing and PR, that’s the last thing that you want to hear. So, today we’ve broken it down to 5 easy steps that you should be following in order to create a buzz, as they say, with PR in social media.
1. Think ReTweets, Likes and Shares – As far as Twitter goes, ReTweets are like money in the bank. The same goes for Likes and Shares on Facebook. As we’ve mentioned in a few of our social media articles, if you can create a press release headline that is “tweetable” and “likable,” your audience will truly do promotion work for you.
2. Connect With the Top Dogs – Social media is all about influence. Whether you’re a Scottsdale public relations firm or a New York PR guru, if you don’t have influence on Twitter and Facebook, you don’t have much of a say how your press release is going to be syndicated by the masses. Connect with those social media individuals who have a grasp of your industry, or a large hold over media in general. Share information with them, create conversations, and hopefully become friends. Sometimes all it takes is one Tweet or Like from a user with a strong social media presence to boost your press release into the stratosphere.
3. Use the Blog – Just because you’re writing a press release, which in the past was meant for media only, doesn’t mean you can’t tweak that release into a very useful blog. While press releases are wonderful for getting professional attention, sometimes it’s the casual tone of a blog that will get you the most attention in social media.
For example, take this quote from the New York Public Library on the effectiveness of their News Blog. “Many of our followers are reporters, and we’ll often find stories we posted on Tumblr in news outlets. For example, Gothamist often uses photos we blog, and it has picked up stories we’ve run. A short, fun piece we ran on Keith Richards ‘killing’ an employee’s orchid while he was at the Library got picked up by The NY Daily News, and then eventually around the world.”
4. Build Your Network of Influencers – As you gain more confidence in your PR social media abilities, consider building your own network of influencers who can help you get the word out. Consider creating an industry-specific network of individuals, perhaps a Facebook Group, who can become your own personal team of PR pro’s. All you truly need is a few bloggers who happen to have a social media presence within your industry, offer them an incentive to become a part of your group (like sharing information, promoting each other’s products and press releases), and let the fun begin.
5. Connect in Real Time – Social media was made for real-time connections to events and individuals. Foursquare and Facebook Check-Ins now make it possible for any Scottsdale public relations firm to promote a press release by real-time-location. Don’t be afraid of this amazing advancement in technology. Use location-based programs to instantly let your audience know exactly where the PR event is taking place. When you publish your press release and start marketing it, consider heading over to the location that the event will take place and Check-In as you release the social media buzz.
The strategies and techniques that public relations firms use will be very different from each other. However, you cannot discount nor ignore the fact that social media is one of the best PR strategies available.