social media pr

Help Yourself to Help Your Clients

There’s a great scene in the movie Jerry Maguire. In it, Tom Cruise’s sports agent character has finally lost it with his one client (a football player brilliantly played by Cuba Gooding Jr.).

Frustrated by Gooding Jr.’s frosty relationship with the media, Cruise implores, “Help me to help you.” It’s a pivotal moment in the movie for both characters – and it’s one that should be used more in the PR industry.

Although it’s true of many industries, public relations is at a pivotal stage in its history.

New media sources and resources have changed the way PR is handled – and if it hasn’t made your agency change with it, then perhaps questions should be asked why.

So how can you help yourself to help your clients?

Use the Tools Effectively

We continuously hear how great social media is for PR. Yet are clients seeing why social media is so effective?

Try this experiment. The next time you have a promotional campaign, organize a pre-determined Twitter Q+A session between your client and users of that brand. Use a hashtag to keep the conversation separate and set up a Twitter username for that particular discussion.

Let your client see how he or she can immediately engage with their consumer base. They get both positive and constructive criticism in the open, and the customer feels appreciated because their brand is listening. Relationship building like that is priceless and if your client doesn’t get social media’s benefits then, they probably never will.

Encourage Greatness

I’ve met a lot of PR agency bosses (corporate and boutique) that seem to have their head up their asses when it comes to growing their agency. They seem to feel that they’re the only ones that have something of value to say, or offer. Get over yourself.

Some of the brightest voices are being unheard because of the way you think. The industry is changing and new blood is heading the rush. Instead of trying to hold that back, embrace it.

Do you have team meetings? Hand over the floor to a junior executive or intern and see what they have to say. While their ideas might not all be gold, what happens if you discover that one nugget that blows you away so much you wonder why you weren’t doing it in the first place? Greatness is in everyone – allow it to shine and it can only benefit you and your client in the long run.

Share the Accolades

There’s nothing better than seeing a carefully crafted PR campaign come to fruition and be a major success. You’re cock-a-hoop because it shows your agency knows its stuff and your client is over the moon with the resultant interest in his or her company. So why not share the success?

Suggest a fun agency/client get-together where everyone from both companies can get to know each other better away from a corporate environment. Your team feels more involved, and they should – after all, they were an integral part of the success as well, weren’t they? And your client sees you’re appreciative of their involvement in helping your campaign, therefore strengthening the relationship. It’s a win-win.

Change is all around us. Are you keeping up?

photo credit: Jose T?llez

Social Media is the Playground at Recess

This is a guest post from PR professional David Mullen, whose insights into the industry always intrigue me. I read his blog often and ask why many of his suggestions on how PR can evolve aren’t standard practice yet, and I’m delighted he’s sharing his views here today.

You remember those days. You would run straight to your favorite diversion and play with reckless abandon until the bell rang. Or you?d start there and then visit two or three other amusements before heading back inside.

What drove you and others to the merry-go-round or the slides? The thrill? The butterflies in your tummy? Whatever it was, you were there because you genuinely enjoyed yourself. If your friends were there, too, great! If not, it was no big deal. You?d make new friends with kids who shared your love affair for the monkey bars.

Social media is like the playground. It has a ridiculous supply of platforms and applications and tools to enjoy. You gravitate to one or a few of those because they play to your interests and allow you to meet other fine folks who are as passionate about those same things as you are.

This is why a thoughtful communications strategy is imperative for brands to engage with others on the playground. Don?t start a Facebook page because everyone else is doing it. Don?t create a YouTube channel because you read an article in Adweek.

Take a step back from the temptation of knee-jerk reactions, identify the interests you share with your customers, find out where they go to talk about those interests together and contribute meaningfully to the ?play? going on there. Participating regularly on a niche message board may reap far more rewards for your brand than an under-used Facebook page among millions.

How do you strategically target where your brand shows up on the playground? As importantly, how do you connect with your customers once you?re there?

David Mullen is a PR and communications consultant with Mullen (no relation), a full-service marketing agency and an independent brand within the Interpublic Group of Companies. He has worked with brands such as The Home Depot, Coldwell Banker, Intercall and Healthtex. To learn more about David, please visit his Communications Catalyst blog or connect with David on Twitter.

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Why Scott Monty of Ford Motors Has My Respect

Being the lone line of defence when pretty much everyone’s after your blood is a thankless task that no-one should have to face, but Scott Monty of auto manufacturer Ford proves it can be done. As the lone social media face of the US car giant, Scott probably has one of the toughest jobs around at the minute:

– He has to face negativity surrounding his employers and their part in the auto-bailout

– He has to show social media’s worth in an industry not always associated with open minds

– He has to deal with some pretty vociferous opinions thrown his way as the face of a frequently unpopular company

I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been one of the people that have thrown some of these tough question’s Scott’s way. I’m not a big fan of under-achieving companies being “rewarded” for their failures with a Get Out Of Jail card. Maybe it’s my Scottish upbringing, or my grandad’s socialist side showing a little. But to me, you live or die by your own sword and the auto and bank industries didn’t do that.

Yet that’s an argument for another time.

Anyone inside the social media bubble knows how difficult it can be to not only make your voice heard at times, but to make it respected. So many variants and opinions of what’s right and wrong – although is there actually a right and wrong in social media to begin with? So to use the medium and make it work for you is a skill.

What Scott Monty does goes beyond that.

While his parent company Ford were being publicly flogged for the company’s CEO flying into Washington in a private jet to state his case, news broke of Ford going after an enthusiast site for trademark infringement. With the climate already hostile toward Ford, word soon spread throughout social media sites and networks about Ford bullying “one of their own”.

Instead of ignoring the situation and letting the legal team resolve it, Scott engaged the hostility head on and promised to keep everyone up-to-date with proceedings. This he did from his Twitter account – from latest news from Ford, to conversations with the site in question, to bringing the full story into public view.

The fact that he did this and kept the owners of the website on his side (not to mention gained new fans into the bargain) says a lot about Scott’s value in the social media world. The guy epitomizes all that’s good about this field we play in – transparency, honesty, openness, interaction and trust. And he does this every day of the week.

Of course, people might say that this is what he’s being paid to do, so he should be responding to the public – and that’s true. But how many people can honestly say they’d keep putting themselves in the firing line of such an eager execution squad and remain positive about it? That’s the difference.

Being genuine isn’t always a visible trait in the PR industry – being genuine in an industry where you’re only as good as your last sale is particularly less obvious. Like anyone, I can be a pretty tough taskmaster when it comes to the everyman versus the corporate giant.

People like Scott Monty mean I have one less giant to worry about.

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Ten PR People to Follow on Twitter

A recent post over at ProBlogger offered an excellent overview of 10 people that new Twitter users should follow. Admittedly, it consisted of the usual suspects, but then when the suspects are so good it’s hard to complain.

A conversation with one of my Twitter friends Lizz Harmon raised the question of which public relations-type Twitter users would make an equally good list for people to follow. Sources of great information for both PR professionals and interns alike. So, in no particular order, here is the list of 10 PR People to Follow for anyone interested in PR.

Beth Harte. One of the earliest adopters of Web 2.0 and social media benefits, Beth offers an excellent voice in PR and currently teaches public relations, marketing and more at Immaculata University.
Todd Defren. The Principal of Shift Communications, Todd is also the founder of the social media press release and an influential voice in Web 2.0 public relations.
Lisa Hoffmann. Lisa is the Chief Copywriter at PRstore and is vocal in her support of combining social media, PR and communications.
Lizz Harmon. Far from inclusion just because of her suggestion of this list, Lizz would make any PR list on Twitter. President of HarmonTampa Public Relations and another key social media proponent.
Dave Fleet. Dave is a Senior Consultant for Thornley Fallis Communications and has an extensive background in PR and communications. Always an interesting conversation.
Dana Willhoit. With a background in news journalism and lead press release writer for The Press Release Site, Dana offers an invaluable view from both sides of PR.
Joan Stewart. Otherwise known as The Publicity Hound, Joan is one of the foremost voices in PR on Twitter and an excellent source of useful Tweets and opinions.
Brian Solis. Principal of FutureWorks PR agency and owner of the industry-respected PR 2.0 blog, Brian is one of the key voices when it comes to social media and PR.
Sarah Evans. Director of Communications at Elgin Community College, Sarah has recently begun guest authoring at respected website Mashable.
Jason Kintzler. Founder of PitchEngine, a social media newsroom that’s fast becoming one of the go-to resources for social media press releases.

Like any list, this one is by no means exhaustive and I’m sure there are others just as worthy of a place on it. However, as a mix of PR professionals and services for anyone in PR (or interested in it), it’s not a bad starting point, though I’d love to hear who you would have on your list.

Of course, if you feel like following me, please feel free to join me on Twitter. 😉

So What is a Social Media Guru, Exactly?

I’m tired. Not in the physical sense (although I will admit to some late nights recently working on a particularly in-depth client project).

No, I’m tired of all the “social media gurus” that have suddenly appeared from nowhere. Now I don’t want that to be misconstrued, nor do I want it to sound as if I’m disrespecting anyone – that’s not the intention.

Instead, I’m tired of looking at someone’s Twitter profile, or blog bio or similar, and finding the description “social media guru” or “social media expert”. I’m not saying that they’re not a guru or expert – but is that really for someone to decide by themself? And when did they decide that they are a social media guru or expert?

It probably wouldn’t be so obvious (and therefore so visual to me) if social media wasn’t still such a new medium that everyone is still learning about as we go along. There are so many facets to it, so many different windows that we can look through and see a different view each time, that it’s pretty much impossible to class yourself as a social media guru, or expert.

Even in other mediums or industries, can you really class yourself as an expert or guru?

For example, I own a boutique PR agency that specializes in search engine optimized press releases and social media PR. Yet I wouldn’t say I’m a PR or social media expert. I have expertise in these areas, and I’d like to think that I offer an informative outlook on both as well.

Yet that doesn’t mean I’m a guru or expert.

Social media in particular changes so fast that no-one can keep up with everything that’s happening. Even the guys that could truly be classified as social media gurus would struggle to know all the ins and outs of the latest applications, tools and similar.

And that’s the difference – they don’t proclaim themselves as social media gurus. Take a look at Chris Brogan, or Brian Solis. Both leaders in the field of social media and PR respectively, and sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience with anyone that wishes it. Yet neither of them describe themselves as a guru, or expert. And that’s why I respect and acknowledge them as the most accurate description of “gurus”.

To me, a guru or expert becomes one from people’s views of them. Recommendations to go to a person because of the help and knowledge that will be forthcoming. After all, you wouldn’t recommend your friend to someone whose view you didn’t respect, right? Or who couldn’t offer your friend something valuable?

As I said, I’m not meaning this post to be in any way disrespectful. I just feel that to be known as a guru, you need to prove it. And earn it. Self-classification doesn’t quite count.