Essential Social Media for Communications and PR

National Black Public Relations Society

WEB CAFÉ

ESSENTIAL SOCIAL MEDIAFOR COMMUNICATORS:How to Use Blogs, Facebook & Twitter for PR

Amanda Miller Littlejohn

Miller Littlejohn Media GroupMopwater PR + Media Notes

April 8, 2010

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Welcome to the Web Café!

Wynona Redmond, President

Deborah Hyman, Executive Vice President

Moderator: Dawn Roberts

http://www.nbprs.orghttp://www.nbprs.org2

Amanda Miller Littlejohn Amanda Miller Littlejohn is an idea oven and brand problem solver working at the intersection of public relations, marketing and social media.

Specializing in new media and online communications, Amanda helps individuals, businesses and organizations leverage social media and new media tools to create exciting, creative PR and marketing programs. She has developed messaging for large national non-profits, local associations, consulting firms and small business.

A former journalist and a writer first by training and passion, she was one of 10 journalists selected to attend the Academy for Alternative Journalism’s 2006 Summer Academy at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

She now enjoys using her journalistic training to report on the latest industry news and trends for her site Mopwater PR + Media Notes, and recently released the Mopwater PR + Media Notes Manual for a Stellar PR Career: How to Land the PR Job You Need & Get the Clients You Want to Create a Career You will Love.

For more information, visit: http://millerlittlejohnmedia.com.

About Our Speaker

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Today’s Learning Objectives

• LEARN the basic social media tools you HAVE to be using for communications, and HOW to use them

• HEAR valuable case studies of organizations who are using social media effectively for PR

• LEARN ways to reach out to journalists using social media, and 

• GET simple tools for measuring the reach of your social media program

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SHOULD I BE USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PR?

Does social media fit your organization? Your clients? Your brand? It’s the buzz term for our industry, but is it just a trend?By this year (2010) 82% of all companies will be using social media and their biggest barrier to success in this new medium is lack of knowledge

Why Social Media for PR?

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SOCIAL MEDIA WILL ENHANCE YOUR MAIN PR

EFFORTS.The online communication environment is here. Embrace it! Social media is not a panaceaSocial media communications is one way to enhance your current program

Social Media is a New Set of Tools

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FIND THE TOOLS THAT WORK FOR YOU

There are countless social media tools Today we are focusing on Blogs, Twitter and FacebookSocial Media RelationsBrief Discussion of MeasurementResources for other information

What Tools Should I Use?

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The Blog

The Blog

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THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF YOUR SOCIAL

MEDIA MIXBlogs are often overlooked or an afterthoughtYour hub on the social web-a single reference pointsCreates a place for you to tag, drive traffic, house twitter feeds, lists of linksOn blogs, content has a long shelf life

First and Foremost:The Blog

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WHY ARE WE BLOGGING?To establish yourself or your CEO as an expert To position your company To gain visibility for members in the organization through regular featuresTo establish your company, candidate or organization as THE LEADER on a specific issue, product, or cause

Uses of The Blog

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A FEW EXAMPLES

ASPCA ZapposEnvironmental Defense Fund

Southwest Airlines Lululemon Athletica

Examples of Well-Developed Blogs

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Facebook

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Is Your Brand on Facebook?

WHAT IS FACEBOOK’S PR APPEAL?

More than 400 million active usersMore than 3.5 million events created each monthMore than 5 billion pieces of content (links, news stories, blog posts) shared each weekMore than 20 million people become fans of pages each dayGrowing use across demographics

Explosive Use of Facebook

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HOW DO I GET STARTED?

Create a Page, Not a Profile!Update your content-no one wants a stale pageDon’t upload press releases-there’s a place for those. Facebook is not the place.Pick a Great, Short Name for your Fan Page. It’s ForeverUse city acronyms when appropriate.

Facebook Page Tips

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HOW DO I ENGAGE ON FACEBOOK?

Ask questions on the wall-fans love to share their inputPost photos as it makes for a prettier pageUpload videos, but keep them short. 30 sec-2min. Tag your fans and other prominent organizations/companies in your updates for added exposureDon’t have a blog? A fan page can be a great replacement.

Facebook Ideas

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A FEW EXAMPLES

Corporate: Target Celebrity: Alicia Keys Fitness: TRX Suspension Training Personality: Nicholas D. Kristof Small Biz: Georgetown Cupcake Non-Profit: National Urban League

Great Facebook Pages

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Are You Harnessing thePower of Twitter?

Twitter

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WHY TWITTER?

Twitter users are diverse: 16% of users are African American, 11% of users are White140 characters=to the pointLow barrier to entry Great tool to tie to websites, Facebook and blogGrowing use across a diverse group of demographics

Undeniable Power of Twitter

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WHAT IS TWITTER’S PR APPEAL?

Twitter gives your message visibility to potentially millions of usersTwitter pollinates your message, taking it from the hive (your website or blog) to the field (a captive audience)Twitter is searchable-use it to monitor chatter about your brand

Twitter: The Message Pollinator

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THE HASHTAG IS THE BRILLIANCE OF TWITTER

To find like-minded users to follow, tag key words or phrases and see your followers increase immediatelyFor conferences, events, or big announcements, develop and register your hashtag and begin using it as soon as possibleMonitor the tag to see what people are saying

Hashtags Control Conversations

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR?

Tag your tweets to tie yourself or your organization to specific topics, products, causes, issues, etc.Keep tags short, so they can be retweeted by othersReuse hashtags as often as possible to increase awarenessStart a weekly chat with a hashtag

Brand Through Tagging

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WHO’S HAD SUCCESS USING TWITTER?

Best Buy Pepsi Dell Tasti D-lite

Undeniable Power of Twitter

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Reaching Out to the Media

Social Media Relations

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WHO DO YOU WANT TO REACH?

Almost all journalists have social media profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and increasingly TwitterMany journalists have blogsSocial media can be a great way to do the soft introductionCommenting on blogs and re-tweeting shows genuine interest

Reaching Out to the Media

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USE ACCESS WISELY

Don’t spam with Twitter DMsExpress interest through social media and use it to build relationshipsGive as much as you request through re-tweets and positive mentions of your media contactRespect reporters’ privacy and willingness to share or not share on social media

Social Media Grants Access

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SOCIAL PROFILES OUTLIVE REPORTERS’ BEATS &

OUTLETS Reporters move around a lotUse social media to keep your media lists up to dateUse LinkedIn to keep a current phone number and email address, as well as job titleTwitter gives us great insight into reporters as people. Use this insight to foster real, transferrable connections

Social Media Keeps Us in Touch

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Measuring Your Efforts

Social Media Measuring

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WHAT AM I MEASURING?

Exposure: Number of post views, retweets, link clicksGrowth of audience: Number of new subscribers/fans per weekGrowth of engagement: Increase in comments or interaction Share of conversation v. your competitors

Measuring

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WHAT ELSE CAN I MEASURE?

Positive and negative sentiment“Stickiness”: Topics that elicit responseTopics that are touchyFor campaigns, social media can be used as a testing ground for messaging

Social Media Keeps Us in Touch

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FREE SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING AND MEASURING

TOOLS

Addict-o-MaticGoogle Alerts

BlogPulseTwitalyzer, Tweetreach, Twitter

SearchFacebook Admin Reports

Ogilvy Daily Influence Dashboard

Measuring the Reach of Social Media

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PAID SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING AND

MEASURMENT PLATFORMS

Radian6Filtrbox

BuzzMetricsTrackurVisible

Collective Intellect

Measuring the Reach of Social Media

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Flickr (photos) YouTube or Vimeo (video) Slideshare (slides) Foursquare Tumblr Posterous Digg Ning LinkedIn

Other Social MediaTools You Should Try

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Social Media ExaminerPR DailySmartBrief on Social MediaMopwater PR + Media Notes

Resources for PR and Social Media

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Deirdre Breakenridge PR 2.0 New ToolsDavid Meerman Scott World Wide RaveMy Book: The MPRMN Manual for a Stellar PR Career

Questions?

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For More Information:Email:

amanda@millerlittlejohnmedia.com

Facebook:Mopwater PR + Media Notes on Facebook

Amanda on Facebook

Twitter:@amandamogul

LinkedIn:Amanda Miller Littlejohn

For more information on national and chapter programs or to join, visit

www.nbprs.org.

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Thank You for Your Support

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