PR as well as social media go hand in hand. Public relations and social media networking are able to humanise your brand. It is called the communications industry, after all. However, how can you – as a PR pro – make use of social platforms to humanise your client’s brand and authentically connect with its consumers?
From Gen Z to Boomers, most individuals have at least one social media profile, if not more. For this reason, more brands have been migrating to these online platforms to try and build brand awareness and connect with their consumers.
So if you are a PR pro, what are you waiting for? Why not utilise social media as a tool in order to help your brand present itself more authentically?
PR Pros Are Highly Skilled At Spotting Stories
A valuable skill which public relations practitioners bring to clients is the capability to spot a good story.
PR pros come in with a different view. Some clients could be shy about sharing their stories or could not even recognise a powerful story as they’re too close to what they do. That’s their job – to draw stories out of their clients.
Why are PR pros highly skilled at telling stories?
Many of them did journalism at university, where they trained as reporters, learning to ask the questions which bring out the details of a compelling story as well as get to the heart of it. PR pros have learned how to listen for and express points that are most relevant to their audiences. And a lot of PR profs are newshounds. They need to know what’s happening and they bring that same curiosity to their PR work.
Monitoring The Reach Of Your Message
In PR, clients are always asking – what’s the ROI? And we’ll be the first to say it can often be difficult to quantifiably prove our worth as part of the overall marketing mix. Now we’re not saying a strategic PR programme holds no value, however but rather the opposite. Proving this value – now that’s a whole new ball game.
The growth of social media has opened so many doors for monitoring your target audiences, determining their interests as well as pairing that with your content. Tracking shares on a piece of coverage, along with readers’ feedback regarding its context is all made easier with the help of social media. Not only can you provide your client with detailed analytics on the reach of their message, but you can continue to monitor these interactions in real-time and react accordingly.
Manage Crises In Real-Time Online
News travels fast on social media, and this is precisely why it is crucial for PR pros to make sure that they keep their finger on the pulse of brand conversations online. Think about it: When you take interest in a new brand, you’ll likely check out its reviews and how the brand engages with its followers. This is something we all do when contemplating giving a new brand a try. For this reason, it’s key that your brand is on the ball with its responses to any complaints, compliments or queries.
It starts with knowing what your audience has to say about your brand, which will help you to stop any potential crises. By keeping an eye out for potential risk, before the fire starts, you can identify and defuse any hubbub quickly and efficiently.
Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing
If you want to learn more about public relations then you need to do our Digital Public Relations Course. Follow this link to find out more.
