Social Media Tools and PR

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:56:05 +0000

Social media tools are crucial for PR firms to provide a fast, cost effective form of promotion. How to get started building online strategies? We've previously talked about listening, but worth repeating, to start there:

Listening - Twitter, Filtrbox, LinkedIn, Google Reader (for blogs) help monitor the conversations circling their industry and the agency itself. Setting up search terms and reviewing them frequently can keep you informed and manage communications crisis quickly. Set up accounts and start listening.
Contributing - to blogs, and responding to LinkedIn Q&A's and news articles promote thought leadership.
Publication - Tell your story. Create great content; publish releases, case studies and stories to the web via the wire and RSS feeds. One of our releases had 2900 hits on the feeds (as reported by Post Zinger). Online presence increases by tagging articles on Digg, Delicous and other sites.

Social media tools used to promote consistent, quality messaging are supplements to traditional PR methods. Excellent branding, positioning, writing and most important actual relationships with key influencers are still critical to brands growth.

Social media PR begins with listening

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:16:38 +0000

Increasingly, we are asked about how to embrace the new Social Media. There's blogs, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, RSS and the list goes on. So, what's the best way to get started? Funny, it's the same simple rule that any form of communications follows: Listening. Traditionally, PR agencies have monitored publications and websites for client mentions. The growth of social media, provides an instant opportunity to hear what others are saying about your company, clients, competitors and industries. Before you embark on any social media campaign, it's important to listen and hear what is being said. That way, you can properly position your remarks and choices in the most appropriate and effective way.

The first step? If you haven't done so already, set up your Google Reader and start listening to hear what topics are creating a buzz in your industry. If your company is okay with it, start commenting on some blogs you follow, remembering to be transparent about your identity.

To get started on Google Reader:
http://www.google.com/help/reader/tour.html

Catapult Public Relations

Social Media Tools and PR

Social media PR begins with listening