Social media has drastically changed the face of PR. Read on to find more about modern PR trends and ways social media boosts your PR campaign.
7 Creative Ways to Use Social Media For PR
Public relations are rightly called Persuasion Business. Using social media as part of your PR strategy is just one of the channels through which you can connect directly with your customers and build your profile.
But why? Because your audience is there. Let’s face the truth: no one’s into commercials anymore — hence it’s become tougher to reach the audience. That is why if you’re trying to reach out to your audience, you need to grow your online presence and use social media for PR.
The ubiquity and impact of social media marketing have experienced a boom over the years. With virtually every individual, from generation X to gen Z, having an account on multiple social media platforms, social networking is omnipresent in today’s world. In fact, digital marketing is the advanced vessel of word-of-mouth promotion.
Most businesses buckle down to social media marketing to keep on top of the news agenda and establish a link-up with their target audience. Social media presence also helps companies make their products and services noteworthy and viewed in the favorable light. But wait, isn’t it the focal area of PR?
PR and Social Media must be synced
These days have muddied the water, and the various niches of marketing have become intervolved. The same goes for public relations and social media. Once upon a time, public relationships revolved around big fish investors, shareholders, and other high and mighty people. But as social media came on stage, the process has become more simple and faster. As both PR and social media are used to develop trust in the brands and their services, it is only logical that they work together.
As social media outlets are taking over all spheres of your consumers’ lives, they have become a pivotal driver in getting your brand featured in the media. On top of that, the “media” has evolved from news networks and newspapers to influencers, celebs, and bloggers. There have never been more channels to promote a product.
With this being said, let us break down seven creative ways to hack your way through news feeds to get more exposure online.
How To Use Social Media For PR
1. Become a Contributor or Guest Blogger
Guest blogging has been a buzzword for many years. But is it still a reliable and effective SEO technique? The answer, in a nutshell, is yes. For the unaware, guest blogging is the process of crafting posts for another company’s website to attract traffic back from their website. As for PR benefits, guest blogging can be a free yet valuable tool for advertising your products or services.
This marketing tool entails numerous benefits for any business. By showing your expertise on popular blogs or media outlets, you won’t only get a toehold in the industry. Still, you can even establish yourself as an authority figure within your niche. This marketing method also helps build bridges with other supposed front runners in your market and expose your company to a broader audience.
On the other hand, you’ll receive a backlink to your platform, keeping search engines happy with your website. In case you are unskilled in backlink art, it is better to buy quality outreach links from a professional and reputable backlink service. In this case, you will increase your brand recognition on social media without lifting a finger.
2. Channel the Brand Message through Optimized and Engaging Content
Sharing unique and branded content to the niche audience is a seasoned and effective social media strategy for PR. It helps PR teams to deliver the company message online strategically. Since PR teams handpick the type of content published, and the copywriting within the post, the proper brand message is sent crisp and ready each time.
However, the content must work per brand values and the PR campaign objectives. The text should be written by a professional copywriter, who can be found on UpWork; for images it is recommended to use photo touch up services or leverage photo editing online using tools like Picsart or BeFunky picture editor.
Another vital tip content-wise is that you should post consistently. Sparse posting kills your organic and audience reach.
By seizing upon a consistent brand presence and integrating your brand’s narrative voice into all of your publications, you can make sure that your company is reinforcing unflagging messaging.
3. Invent and Leverage Campaign Hashtags
Branded hashtags are one of the most universally applicable and powerful tools in social media marketing. According to Twitter’s research, they can increase brand engagement by 50%. Hashtags make it easy for your audience to follow your social media content, boost social media engagement, and reach new readers. On top of that, company-specific hashtags can entice discussions, thus snowballing your promotion campaigns. For businesses, hashtags can serve as a beacon of campaign performance.
But make sure you use them with care. Random use of hashtags makes your posts look like a “visual Tommy gun,” whereas a well-suited hashtag or two is considered a welcome help. Overall, it takes some time and hit-and-miss experimenting to figure out what works best for your business. You can leverage the top hashtag generator platforms to generate relevant hashtags for your business posts.
4. Create Social Campaigns Around Customer Case Studies
Let’s say you’ve got a decent number of loyal social media followers, and you count on your own service or product PR strategy. To win over new customers, you’ll create articles on how you’ve doubled someone else’s engagement rates, but how do you prove this is not some bravado? Google the case study.
If you want to master how to use social media for PR, study the real-life cases. Social media case studies are an essential part of a sales funnel. Successful companies always prioritize customer case studies to build credibility and showcase successes. However, brevity here is the soul of a social campaign. Keep your story short and straight to the point. It’s better to pick out the key facts and point out across the board. No one has the time for a long hard look. With a case study one pager, you’ll turn your customer’s story into a concise yet engaging narrative.
Also, consider thinking of social media carousel ads highlighting your product values and increasing brand awareness.
5. Ask Your CEOs to Maximize Presence on Social Media
When CEOs or other executives are proactive in interacting with colleagues and customers, they play an essential role in building trust with key stakeholders. However, showcasing faces behind the brand is also useful for perfecting a PR campaign. Sadly, according to a CEO report, only a fraction of CEOs use social media as a communication channel.
In a world dominated by social media, it is odd to think that LinkedIn or Instagram is included in many companies’ strategies while their CEOs do not engage in transparent and authentic communication on social media. Therefore, if you haven’t tried it yet, you are missing out on a loyal audience. Posting relatable images as well as captions, but still remaining on brand with the company, engages followers.
6. Online Reputation Management
It’s much easier to interact with the audience, handle an unexpected crisis, and establish a clear, fleshed-out presence on social media than on any other online channel.
Since your followers are actively using social media platforms, by consistently engaging with them, you’ll drastically enhance the prospects of bringing brand loyalty forth, including new users as well. This primary online communication channel you have at your fingertips is the optimum solution to notify your customers of something they should know. Whether it is the welcome news or not – your audience will appreciate that you’re trying your best to keep them in the loop and clear the air with any event related to your company.
Some giants like Nike and Adidas even use social networks to address negative customer comments, concerns, and queries. This is an excellent example of online reputation management done right. Understandably, startups and small businesses may not be able to deal with customer concerns 24/7, so it won’t hurt to create a chatbot that will answer queries while no one’s on the desk.
In addition, if someone is constantly making false and damaging comments about your business, you may need to take more aggressive actions. One possible option could be to send a demand letter to stop their harmful behavior. If you are receiving inappropriate messages on TikTok, you can limit comments on TikTok to prevent and reduce the occurrence of harmful or offensive messages
7. Engage with Journalists on Social Media
It has never been easier to personally connect with journalists, editors, or reporters covering your industry. You don’t have to bug them over email anymore or be that stick in the mud that is always begging for feedback. Since handling social media isn’t as time-taking as sending emails, it’s a great channel to have a word with your strategic platforms and relevant journalists.
PR specialists can develop and establish rapport with journalists and media outlets to get their news out and share engaging stories. After a PR bridge is built, you may develop a give-and-take relationship and get press mentions. Such an approach will immediately raise your online profile presence and establish your business as an authority in its field.
However, you should bear in mind that less is more here. If you press on with your business intentions, you’ll become that headache you avoid being. Therefore, it will prove counterproductive and result in fawning adoration from your side.
Instead of cold-pitching a person, dig up about their hobbies, professional area, and media outlet. Think of it as a customer insight research.
The Bottom Line
Over the past few years, the focal point of public relations has broken from tradition. The advent of ever-evolving technology advancements in the sphere of communication has encouraged PR to shift its focus.
Today, the growth and popularity of social media are what occupies PR specialists the most. Social media has drastically changed the way people communicate, as well as when and where they communicate. Therefore, building a robust and strategic online presence is no longer an option for brands.
A proper digital strategy is key to skyrocketing brand exposure and enticing a new audience. There are various ways for companies to take advantage of this trend to bring their PR efforts to another level. From guest posting to online crisis management, social media provides never-fading sources for making your PR work.
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