Public relation (PR) is the manner by which individuals, firms, and organizations communicate with the public. With this definition, a PR specialist is a person responsible for communicating directly and indirectly to create a positive and strong image to the public. Aside from press releases, public appearances, and newsletters, the use of social media is the newest trend in connecting to the intended audience. Of course, before you go social, make sure to consult SEO consulting services for you to achieve the desired outcome. This is one of their expertise.
Strategically speaking, there will be a big difference when it comes to the outcomes of public engagement once you go social. Knowing that there are thousands of people who use social networking sites every day and considering the fact that humans are curious in nature, the possibility that the people who will get themselves involved in your PR is high.
Like doing public appearances, there are several advantages when you use social media in your PR efforts. By doing so, you may also learn a lot of things that only social media can teach you. Well, there is no harm in extending your niche and going social.
1) It scales
Digital experts would say the more popular you are, the more popular you’ll be.
Have you ever noticed that in the social world, the more people gets to see a particular post of yours, the more likes and shares that post gets. Perhaps, people have this perception that since a lot of people had already liked it, they will (or might) also like it. They change the way they act to fit in. It is a mob mentality.
As a PR specialist, you have to be observant and keen enough about how people engage with your posts socially. If you know that this is the usual behavior of the majority of the netizens, it is your responsibility to grab that chance and turn that to your own distinct PR advantage.
When you create an interesting and engaging speech or any other type of content for that matter, more and more people get curious on what you are up to next. What the company wants to do that the public might benefit from? What are the issues of the company that they want to address and clarify? What will they – the public – get when they try to engage in your PR? These are the usual questions that netizens would like to ask before engaging.
Try to grab their interest. When you do, you are actually establishing a community of your own with people who will deeply engage with your brand beyond a simple like or share.
2) Long-term storytelling
The secret is to build a permission asset.
When you use social media for your PR, expect that people would want to know more, more than what you have just presented to the public. They would want to engage and be involved personally especially after knowing what the company wants to do and how they may contribute. Perhaps, they recognized you based on the impact of every word you said to them.
Simply, that particular person who wants to get involved more is paying attention to what is yet to come. They want you to disclose more about the things that you have not tackled in the public. Remarkably, when one is interested in you and in the company or organization that you associate yourself with, they will send you a private message regarding the matter.
You have to understand that the attention that they have given you is precious and you have to seize the opportunity before they change their minds. With that, you have their permission to share more about what the company or organization wants to impart to the public.
There are also instances wherein a particular person would want to actively get involved in your company’s advocacies, you also have to grab that chance. You don’t know it, but that person can be one of your company’s future assets. Also, it is another way to create a strong and positive impression on other people.
3) Intersection with SEO
When you do PR socially, of course, you use links to connect to the site where your content is. Sharing your content is one of the important things that you must not forget to do on social media. Sharing your content is one way to make the people notice your company and what it has to say.
Actually, a lot of PR specialists uses social media sites as their platform to connect with their intended audience. But only few PR specialists have succeeded in sharing their sites and gaining thousands of people who engages with their site. How? They incorporate SEO in their PR.
SEO plays a big role in making your website known to the public. SEO helps your site to land on the top ranks of the search engines. The higher the position, the better the public engagement to your site. Nonetheless, there are standards and best practices to follow to maximize your SEO results. A great (unique and informative) content that is written with the public in mind is just one of these.
4) Leverage
Using social media for PR does not end in telling and letting the people know what you or your company or organization is up to. If you know how social media can further boost your website’s popularity, for instance, you must take advantage of this, too. It is your leverage to further build your community.
Social media is capable of disseminating information all over the world. Thereby, when you have a good reputation in the social media, you are attracting and inviting more investors, advertisers and other entities that are willing to support you and your company.
Grab those opportunities as well. These will not only enhance your popularity, but they also attract partnerships and other worthy affiliations. Definitely, you might be facing more investors who are also willing to work with you.
On the other hand, there will be people who are not in favor of doing PR in social media. They don’t like the way you deliver your message to them or that they get annoyed when you try to share your message in all social media sites. There could be other concerns that don’t impress your intended audience.
Thus, you have to be careful and responsible in every post that you publish. Well, basically, that’s what PR specialists do. Analyze, analyze, analyze and then, decide on the best possible solution to clarify unwanted issues.