The easiest way to get noticed nowadays is to trend on social media. When your brand name, logo, or hashtags join the list of the hottest trends of the day (thanks to digital marketing), you’ll surely witness your brand visibility skyrocket.
That’s just one of the wonders of social media in action! It can largely expand your brand awareness, therefore helping you reach wider audience, generate more leads, and increase sales.
The power of social media to create impactful public relations can never be understated, especially in today’s highly digital world. Although social media and PR have some differences, they are most powerful when working together. Let’s learn how social media has contributed to PR.
How is social media and PR linked?
According to Paul Bates from Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication, social media have largely impacted marketing and PR in recent years. This led to a need for brands to always consider social media in their PR strategies, especially concerning consumer trust.
Here are 3 ways social media have impacted PR and changed the way brands communicate to their audience.
- More community engagement – Social media’s main goal is to connect people to each other. Aside from connecting individuals, social media has also managed to help brands extend their audience engagement through multiple channels. Businesses can now talk to their customers one-on-one via comments or chats. This helps in addressing concerns fastidiously which often please customers.
But this great opportunity to engage more with communities also bears bigger responsibilities. Brands now have to be more careful with the way they respond to their consumers. Additionally, businesses are encouraged to extend their social monitoring hours. As much as possible, customers want brands to respond 25/8. By allowing more community engagement, social media has raised customer service expectations.
- Allowed consumers to speak out – Social media is full of conversations. When someone posts something publicly, other people can react or comment on it. That’s why brands should anticipate customers’ reactions whenever they put out something on social media. The audience can receive it warmly or critique it, depending on how the content impacts them.
This has also affected the way PR teams plan out the content the brand will put out. Social media posts should be relatable so that consumers will pay attention to it and share it to others. Digital PR specialists must always consider the consumers’ experience alongside brand personality to guarantee interactions.
- Increased collaboration – You don’t have to present certificates, diplomas, or valid IDs to use social media. Anyone can use social media sites and post whatever they want as long as it follows community guidelines. People are also allowed to follow whoever they want and collaborate with them for a project or an event.
Social media has allowed the rise of online influencers that PR professionals and brands seek to collaborate with. Aside from promoting the brand and its products or services, this helps in developing relationships that paves the way for impactful campaigns. This helps in reaching wider audiences and generating more leads!
Social media’s influence on PR is widespread and definitely here to stay for a long time!
What are the benefits of social media in PR?
Social media PR is the modern day word-of-mouth marketing. Basically, whatever brand, product, or service is trending, people will get curious and check it out. More than that, influencer marketing where they promote products by trying it out and giving reviews are great PR for brands. Below are 4 benefits that will prove how social media is truly a gem for brand promotion and publicity!
- Increase brand reputation– Social media is undoubtedly the fastest way brands can reach their target market and communities beyond that. By using strategic hashtags, sponsoring advertisements, and consistent content posting, brands can surely reach their target audience. Of course, this goes without saying that the content the brand puts out is relevant and relatable to their customers and potential consumers.
To further guarantee this increase in brand reputation and awareness, brands are encouraged to constantly share announcements on social media. May it be awards, launches, updates, or events, brands should post it on their social media sites. They can also promote internal blogs and articles to boost their website traffic.
- Establish niche authority – When people often see brands on social media, the more they get familiar with them and believe the content they put out. Constant social media presence greatly helps in building consumer trust! In addition, brands that are active on social media have high chances to attract more partners, collaborations, and investors.
Some companies are inclined to work with a public relations firm to know how to properly handle partnerships via influencer marketing and other offerings. These agencies can help establish a relationship and form a well-crafted content plan that will help garner more customer interactions and skyrocket your brand visibility online.
- Effectively manage relationships – Instead of contacting the brands or its representatives first to settle a complaint, some people would turn to posting on social media first. It’s not the best practice, but it’s understandable since the goal is often to spread information and warn other people. That’s why PR specialists now consider social media as a primary line of defense when a brand is facing negative public commentary.
Since it’s easier to proliferate messages on social media, this is where brands and their PR teams first release statements or contact people to settle concerns. This emphasizes the importance of having effective community management for social media. Brands can react immediately and accordingly with the help of a PR strategist and a skilled community manager.
- Present the human side of business – The robotic customer service voice turns customers off nowadays. What they want is an personalized interaction with a brand – a conversation, rather than a transaction. Social media is generally conversational and casual, especially Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. It is better for brands to adapt to the vibe of these social media sites to better connect with their audience.
The brand’s social media voice should often be approachable and inviting to attract interactions with their target audience. Tactful humor best does the job of garnering reactions and shares! Learn how to consistently show this human side of business through content calendars, style guides, and trendjacking.
A huge gamechanger – that’s what effective PR and social media collaboration can bring to your business! More than increased brand reach, you’ll reap the benefits of generating more leads, higher profits, and more partnerships through your active social media presence.
To achieve this, connect with an established public relations firm in the Philippines! With their years of experience in the field, they can help you effectively and creatively communicate your brand’s story.
Jossaine Nunez is a freelance article writer, blogger, and SEO-driven maven. While her true passion lies in writing fiction, her love for storytelling extends to helping brands convey their message in ways that are both engaging and helpful for attaining their business goals.
Jossaine’s interests in writing particularly about people, for people – which translates to brand audience engagement – stems from her experience as the Editor-In-Chief of Siliman University’s The Weekly Silimanian, which published slices of life and educational pieces surrounding university life. Her piece, A Review of Leoncio Deriada’s People on Guerrero Street, published in the Silliman Journal on discussions and investigations in the humanities and sciences, earmarks her foray into the world of writing about, and writing for, humans that make the world go round.
