PR TIMES AFRICA PR TIMES AFRICA Magazine june 2015 | Page 33

Ways Social Media
is changing Public Relations
T
he widespread use of
social media has
fundamentally changed
how people communicate and
share information. According to
recent data from comScore,
Facebook now accounts for 12.3
percent of the time spent online in
the U.S. versus 7.2 percent just a
year ago. Twitter now counts
approximately 200 million
accounts and over 110 million
tweets per day.
This downright addiction to social
media has made an impact in
virtually every industry as
companies seek to create
strategies to engage on the social
web. Public relations is certainly
no exception as practitioners seek
to communicate with, and hear
from consumers, as well as using
social channels to share
information with key audiences.
made possible by listening and
replying via social media bring
the audience closer to a brand and
softens the barrier that exists
when people feel as if they're
talking to a company that views
them strictly as a potential sale.
Conversation Versus A Speech
PR pros can no lon ger get away
with blasting information out at
an audience. Two-way
communication directly with the
consumer is a tremendous
opportunity for businesses to gain
real-time feedback on messaging
coming from the company. The
live interaction allows for
ongoing refinement and
improvement to make a deeper
connection with the target
audience. Human connections Information Gathering
The speed of information sharing
is faster than ever before and PR
professionals have access to a
wealth of content that can be
shared with consumers seeking
solutions to a problem. Creating a
simple keyword based search on
Twitter can connect companies
with people at exactly the right
time to serve as a helpful
resource. By engaging
proactively, PR teams can create
new opportunities to create a
favorable brand impression that
can lead to the beginning of a
social media relationship and a
potential business relationship.
Social media has also positively
changed long-standing dynamics
of the PR/Journalist relationship.
Journalists seek information and
sources online and PR
professionals have benefited from
the added access available thanks
to social media. Some reporters
maintain blogs and others are
active on Twitter but gathering
information about potential stories
is significantly easier than the
days of heavy, out-of-date media
PR TIMES AFRICA VOL 1. JULY 2015
1ST EDITION
guides.
Personal Service
With the advance of social media,
there is an expectation from
consumers that they will not be
subjected to mass, non-targeted
information and any concerns will
be addressed quickly and
personally. This one can be
challenging for PR staff managing
social media efforts. One upset
customer on a Facebook page or a
challenging blog post can send
brands into a crisis mode.
When dealing with this
expectation of 24/7 personal
service, take time to evaluate
what is a real crisis and measure
how to respond. The field of
public relations is always an
environment of on call issues but
social media has expanded both
the base of potential complaints
and the public visibility of these
issues.
There are a number of ways that
the field of PR must continue to
adapt as the social media tools of
today will change tomorrow.
Rather than focus on the channels,
focus on the expectations of the
audiences and how to serve as a
valued resource for them.
If you're a public relations
professional, how has social
media changed your day-to-day
PR work? And, what remains the
same despite the new channels of
communication?
31