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Who’s telling your story?PR + Social Media = New Business
A Panel Discussion with…
Laura Baverman- Business and Technology Reporter, Cincinnati Enquirer
Dacia Snider- Publisher, Soapboxmedia.com
Dan O’Keeffe- President, O’Keeffe Communications
What is public relations? The practice of managing the flow of information
between an organization and its publics.
Gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of “public interest” and news items that do not require direct payment.
Offers a third-party legitimacy that advertising does not have.
Common activities include speaking at conferences, working with the press, and employee communication.
What is social media? Internet- and mobile-based tools for
sharing and discussing information.
Important points
You DO NOT need to be an active blogger But it helps!
Leadership should embrace social media, not fear it
Establish social media policy and best practices
You DO need to communicate your message
You CAN measure impact of social media
If you don’t establish a representative voice for your organization, someone else will!
Dissenting voices can easily become “de facto” voices for your businesses
Purpose is not to “control” message, but to “guide” message and engage your publics in message
It all starts with your website!
Laura’s tips and tricks!
Tweet links to your stories, photos and blog entries on Twitter
Link to your stories or photos on Facebook How: From your Facebook profile page, click
in the empty box where it says “what’s on your mind”? It gives you the option to add a link. Paste in the URL to your story. Now, your Facebook connections can find your stories.
Place RSS feed to your blog on Facebook How: On your profile page, click on Settings
just under the “What’s on your mind?” box. From here, you can add links to blogs and other social networking sites (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Laura’s tips and tricks!
Add your stories about national topics to Publish2.com It’s a site just for journalists and news
organizations to share news between sites. Submit your story there and it could show up as an “additional link” on lots of other websites like this: http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/jobcuts/
If you’re on Twitter – make sure people know it. Put your Twitter link into your outgoing email
signature and with your online updates. You can also submit your Twitter account for
inclusion onto “expertise” sites like http://muckrack.com and http://wefollow.com.
The tools!
Website. It all starts here! The basis for all PR, branding, social
media Dynamic, functional, user friendly The face…and often first
impression…of your business Content rich—to drive search
engine results
Social Media Policy Establishes best practices and
procedures Ensures that entire staff is on
message Empowers staff to be proactive Positions social media as “means to
engage” rather than “distraction” Encourages customer participation
The tools!
E-newsletter Ensures regular contact Promotes/strengthens brand Delivers timely, relevant content Easy to monitor Measurable Call to action Entertains Can be self administered Inexpensive—no printing, nominal monthly fees
to manage (e.g., ConstantContact.com) Example: City of Sharonville (Ohio)
Implemented Fall 2008 to bridge gab b/t business and residential communities
Partnered with Chamber to get subscribers Doubled subscriber list in 6 months Receives e-mails thanking them for newsletter
The tools!
Blog Enable direct communication with and
feedback from citizenry Can be monitored and managed by community
staff
More personal and dynamic than typical website
Can be separate from or part of community website
Typically ties into overall marketing/PR strategy
Can allow comments from visitors; can monitor comments
Easy to create using free, downloadable blog software
Best used for sharing information of interest to or that specifically benefits targeted users
Serves as home page for many organizations—growing trend
May work best for elected officials, rather than appointed/hired staff
The tools!
Social Media Release
Online news dissemination device
Immediate delivery to numerous social and business networks
Large and growing mainstream/trade media subscriber list
Often preferred means of receiving story ideas/pitches
Rapidly growing user base
Easy to use
Typically free or low cost
The tools!
Event Forum
Set up custom events online
Choose whom to invite
Allow others to join
Specific to topic, location, etc. Engages with niche
audiences (e.g., dog lovers re: plans for new dog park; bicyclists re: proposed bike lanes)
Can host actual events at popular community locations
The tools!
Microblog—Twitter
Limited to 140 characters per entry
Allows people to follow each other in real time from any location with Web/mobile access
Simple to use
Increasing usage among businesses, individuals, politicians and media/PR pros as news dissemination device
Bridging gap between traditional and social media
Growing number of reporters take story pitches from Twitter ONLY
The tools!
Podcast
Free video or audio series downloaded to and playable on iPods, computers, TVs, mobile phones, or similar mobile media devices
Enable users to view or listen to preferred content almost anywhere at anytime
Tool for sharing issues discussed at council meetings, community forums, etc.
The tools!
Social Networking Communities What are you doing?
Who do you know?
Fan pages
Groups of common interest
Photo/Video Sharing Sites Personalized albums
Share via invitation, e-mail
Showcase events, demonstrations
How social media delivers
Promotion Last minute promotion of
Montgomery Inn ribs to celebrate 20th anniversary of Montgomery Inn Boathouse
All You Can Eat for $19.89 Feb. 22-26
Actions Social media release Twitter “tweets” Facebook updates Blogs Traditional news release
Results:
Feb 22-26, Montgomery Inn sold 19,450 lbs (nearly 10 tons) of ribs
What’s next?
Google Wave Collaborative tool
Equal parts “conversation” and “document”
People communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more
Evolved from Google Maps Create a wave; add people Users pull text, graphics,
widgets, feeds from other Web sources
Concurrent rich-text editing Users can see instantly
when others are typing inside their wave
What makes social media valuable to you?
It’s the way people of all ages and demographics are communicating
Studies show consumers research products online before buying
Why wouldn’t you build your online relationship with them…NOW?
Its usage is growing rapidly
Vital part of marketing mix, more search hits
Natural evolution of marketing and PR
Builds via “word of mouth”
Engages “targeted” consumers like no other medium
Allows you to tell your story in your words
Why social media is relevant Facebook.com- Social Network Site
200+ Million Active UsersFastest growing Demo 30+
Flickr.com-Photo Sharing Apphosts more than two billion tagged images
Twitter.com- micro-blogging site32.1 million people answering the question “What are you doing now?” in 140 characters!
Wikipedia.com- Information Sharing Source684 Million visitors/ 9 million named accounts
Youtube.com- Video Sharing5 billion online US videos44% share of all online videos
Digg.com-Social News site#3 referring source of traffic to NY
Times.30K visitors/ month
Nielsen BuzzMetrics – created in 2006 by A.C. Nielsen to begin measuring social
media
Questions?
O’Keeffe Communications
513.221.1526
www.okeeffecom.com
Who’s telling your story?PR + Social Media = New Business
Social media for B2C
Cincinnati Sports Leagues (CSL) (gocsl.com) Objectives
Promote CSL activities Attract interest from advertisers
Social Media Components Facebook page—426 friends, Brian
updates and monitors, posts events Twitter profile—attract followers Soapbox.com—blogged daily 1 week to
promote CSL to older/business audience Results
Increased brand awareness Frequent customer interaction Personalization—strong friend base
Social media for B2B
General Data Company (general-data.com) Objectives
Promote products to targeted healthcare prospects Build awareness as experts on healthcare data
capture/workflow Social Media Components
Healthcare blog Promote via FeedBurner, RSS feed, etc. “Live blogging”—Client interviews industry
authorities at conferences; streams/posts interviews via GD’s blog
Social media releases—all GD news YouTube Station—post video demos, etc. Soapbox.com—blogged daily 1 week to generate
Greater Cincinnati awareness Results
Increased awareness Recognized as industry authority by prospects Increased search engine rankings Network TV Coverage—Personal ID Patient
Wristbands featured on CBS’ The Doctors
