People have been emphasizing the value of social media to the PR and Marketing industries left and right. And I don’t blame them at all, because it is a fact that social media works rather well for the purpose of spreading the word. This is, after all, the essence of PR and Marketing, right?
However, a lot of PR and Marketing people don’t completely grasp the core of social media, which is to be human. So let me reiterate the points by citing the a few pointers that you need to consider if you’re into it for the PR and Marketing aspects of social media:
1. Connecting to your target audience makes pitching so much easier. Try to start with a non-marketing related conversation and then work from there. Most people actually like it when they’re engaged in a little small talk before actually getting into business.
2. Put being a regular person first before being an advertising man. This works especially well in social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Showing that you’re a real person before you get into the marketing stuff makes it easy for people to believe what you post.
3. Don’t start off thinking that social media is a scary venture to go into. It’s just like any other endeavor you tried. It may be a bit far from your usual strategies, but it’s pretty much the same. The only difference is that social media requires a bit more personal touch.
4. Take the initiative to learn the ways of social media. You’ve got so much to gain and very little to lose, if there is any at all. Don’t be scared to ask social media veterans for tips, because unlike traditional industries, thought leaders in social media aren’t afraid to share what they know. All you need to do is ask and you shall be given an answer.
5. Don’t treat blogging as marketing materials because they’re quite different. In as much as they’re similar in the sense that you’re disseminating information, blogging is rather personal. A good source of information would be video blogging. If you think posting commercials in YouTube would be enough to count as a video blog entry, you might want to think again.
6. Don’t look bloggers as a stereotype because they’re not. In as much as all people are different from each other, the same thing applies on blogger. This idea counts most in choosing target audience. Blogger A likes different things from Blogger B. To help you better choose who to aim for, read up on past posts and see which bloggers can relate best to your kind of niche.
7. Do your research. Understanding services like Google Blogsearch can help you get a better grasp at how such tools can let you in on what other people think of your company, your services, or the things you post on your blog.
8. Don’t expect praise all the time. Some of the greatest posts on the Internet blogosphere get overlooked by millions of readers every now and then.
9. Know that all the great things you’ve shared can be easily wiped out of people’s minds with a single slip-up. No matter how many amazing posts you come up with, you can pretty much go down with one simple mistake. This is why you need to be careful.
10. In relation to #9, always be quick to act on an error you made. Say sorry. It is, after all, only human to err. People will understand people who make mistakes and have the courage to admit it. Being bull-headed will get you nowhere.
11. Don’t think that you have nothing to share. We all learn from each other. In as much as you’re learning a lot of things from social media veterans, you too have something to put in the table for them to learn from. Don’t undermine yourself just because you’re a newbie in a field.
These are just personal ideas that I hope our PR and Marketing friends would consider before they get further into using social media for their business. Hopefully this helps you better your craft and get you closer to your goals.
If you have anything to add to this list, don’t hesitate to add them up at the comments section for our PR colleagues to learn from. I’m sure they’d appreciate the input as much as I do.
