SOCIAL-NETWORKING SITES UPDATES

Whilst looking into the pros and cons of Twitter for PR Professionals, it gave me the idea to look deeper into how PR Pro’s can actually benefit from Social Networking Sites as I feel they are one of the key innovations in the modernization of PR. In this post I plan to cover how Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr etc help the PR Pro’s in reaching their goals, gaining first hand news and information along with connecting with their target audiences. To start off I looked on a website called Mashable.com after finding it in a Google search ‘PR professionals using social networking sites’. From reading the blog ‘How PR Pro’s are using Social Media for Real Results’ which can be found at: http://mashable.com/2010/03/16/public-relations-social-media-results/

In this blog that I read Jeremy Pepper speaks about how he and his company Palisade Systems benefit from using these Social Networking sites. Pepper states how by introducing product placement and discount deals on twitter in his companies ‘tweets’ he gain new customers just by simply writing 140 characters. He also leads on to say how social networking sites allow there to be more legitimacy in news that is produced and better and more personal connections between celebrities/political figures and their followers. For Example, when the UK General Elections were taking place, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown all used PR Pro’s and Twitter to aid their campaign. This I feel was to have a more personal relationship with their followers as ‘tweets’ were coming from them personally. Social Networking sites like Twitter are a great resource for news and information for PR Pro’s as they can follow their clients and other PR agencies to try to get the news before anyone else. Also by using Twitter PR Pro’s are able to retweet work which they have published through a ‘tweet’ which can lead to it being circulated around Twitter and read by thousands if not millions of people. Where as before PR Pro’s would have to wait time and time again for relevant information from reliable sources through telephone calls, where as now they can simply log onto Twitter and look at the current trends using the #tag system. Such apps on phones such as the Twitter app allow PR Pro’s to access the news on the move and anywhere in the world. This I feel is a big positive for PR as they can gain news and information from just the click of a button and publish it into the public papers and news channels as soon as possible. This is also made possible through Facebook as PR Pro’s can keep tags on their clients by following their day-to-day movement through the new location tool on the Facebook phone apps. This tool allows everyone on the person’s profile to view exactly where they are when they ‘Check In’. This again another advantage for PR Pro’s when using Social Networking sites. From this I feel that PR Pro’s can benefit from social networking sites greatly as they can connect with clients and the public on a personal level and make it a legitimate news source. The use of Tumblr and YouTube are also used to great effect as using these social media tools, they can promote their clients and companies to specific audiences worldwide. The beauty of the digital world for PR is that its gives us valuable tools to create these conversations. I see the digital world delivering three benefits to the PR sector. Firstly, the capacity to communicate with all of your target audiences at the same time. Online communications reach consumers and customers at the same time as they do the media. Secondly, the opportunity to create a real and recorded two-way conversation, which will highlight both the good and the bad in an organisation’s relationship with its customers, prospects, employees and stakeholders. This gives the communications process considerably more value as it allows companies to gain insights into customer behaviour and attitudes towards products and services – what they like and what they don’t like. Thirdly, the ability to truly measure the impact of your communications – quickly, simply and affordably – demonstrating once and for all that PR can directly support business development and sales.