Public Relations

Your reputation is earned when people believe you fulfill your brand promise – the expectations for consistent experiences and met needs. Public relations can help you make that connection with your customers and translate your brand into awareness and demand. The “product” of public relations and social media is content; words, pictures, video, and audio. Some experts estimate that upwards of 60 percent of all the news published or broadcast daily originates from public relations efforts. What’s more, your public relations and social media must communicate with audiences – the media, your customers, the public and more. The key to success is converging your content through traditional tactics such as news releases, media pitches and special events with online opportunities like blogs, newsfeeds, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. And then you must extend your content across the rest of your marketing channels as well, including advertising, branding and web marketing.

Content That Communicates

Remember, it’s critical that public relations and social media content be relevant to all audiences. These days, your messages must target daily tweets and blogs as well as the daily newspaper (if one still exists). With this in mind, here are some tips to remember as you consider your content development:

• Remain true to your brand promise in all your content, including your online newsroom, by providing relevant content, timely updates, accessibility, and unwavering customer service.
• Transparency is important not only to social media but to your online newsroom as well. Don’t “plant” nice comments to your media releases or “swag” every blogger who writes about your industry. Keep it genuine.
• Authenticity is the key to successful social media integration. Be careful of “ghost-writing” your media blog, Facebook fan page, or corporate Tweets. The media pick up on this tactic quickly.
• Think of your online newsroom as a way to communicate with the media, not at the media. And don’t forget…customers, clients, and potential investors are overhearing your conversation.
• Consider attaching a news blog to your online newsroom to provide industry insight by expert employees, monitor opinions and address rumors that relate to your company and its products.
• Be passionate about what you do and who you work for and let it show in your online newsroom. Let the media see you as a person, not a mouthpiece.
• Don’t be afraid to say you were wrong when it comes to posting content to your online newsroom. Make the necessary changes and move on. The media will respect and appreciate your authenticity and transparency.