Making Social Media PR Work For You

Thy hype of social media is gone. It just is and that’s okay. The tools continue to mature and the strategies for executing social media PR campaigns are as diverse as the company’s and organizations using them. But if you’re just now seeing the return on investment of social media, how it builds social capital and provides a two-way means of communication between you and your stakeholders — the whole thing can look quite complex and confusion. Where do you start?

1. Defining Clarity. Through a well-written mission and vision statement that focuses on the values of your business you can begin to bring a clear sense to the overall direction of your company. Research will help you understand what stakeholders expect, and that same data will help you understand how the public perceives your company.
2. Understanding What’s Right for You. After developing and sticking closely to well-defined mission and value statements, let the research guide your decisions. The world has enticing choices and almost infinite possibilities, but not every choice is right for you. To be honest, what communication strategies you think are right may not be right for your stakeholders. The right choices you should be making are the ones that help your stakeholders, prospects and other people interested in your company’s products and services communicate with you. Make it easy for them.
3. Establish Priorities And Restrict Choices. Restricting your choices takes a certain amount of discipline. It also takes a certain level of focus that some don’t have, or haven’t practiced. The secret to success however, is about restricting choices, discipline and focus — no? This is also true for using social media too. Don’t use a tool or a strategy just because your competition uses it. Use tools and strategies that help you customers, constituents and stakeholders communicate and build relationships with you better.

Once you clarify what’s most important to you and begin provides the best communication channels your stakeholders want and need, and practice discipline in the sense of restricting choices and fighting the tendency to “keep up with the Jones’” you’ll find better success.
-Rodger D. Johnson