The Public Relations Blog

It’s time to put the public back into public relations. Public relations is much more than media relations. It’s also social and web media. One of the more notable ways – especially in the eyes of the executive team, founders, and even employees – to share your company is celebrating your company’s anniversary milestone.

We aren’t talking about your third anniversary or 27th anniversary. Many companies make it to an initial milestone anniversary, and if you celebrate it, then you must find different ways to highlight you, your executive team, and your company and its accomplishments. Take it one step further and find ways to uniquely include the media, community, etc. When celebrating your company’s anniversary, don’t forget about employees, the community, vendors, suppliers, strategic partners, deserving nonprofit organizations that are strategically aligned with your industry, or products and services. 

Make sure your audience sees the best of your company on all platforms.

Content is vital in the world of online public relations, especially since it’s the cornerstone of all online PR efforts. Great content can elevate your company in a way that makes it just as powerful as classic public relations content, such as interviews or being a guest speaker at a major industry conference.

However, you need a place to put content somewhere, and that “somewhere” is platforms. Platforms can be social media websites like Facebook and Instagram or your own site. But trends can change, and platforms that looked like they had potential a few years ago can be dead in the water. This can cause problems, as users will be seeing old and out-of-date content that might not no longer reflect your company’s current views and stances, which can easily damper your online PR.

Use scheduling to make your social media content reach the right people at the right time.

Social media is one of the cornerstones of online public relations. Its ability to reach so many people makes it a key component of any online public relations plan, no matter what platforms you intend to use. However, there’s one critical component companies starting their social media plans can overlook: the value of pre-scheduling their social media posts. 

It’s easy to simply post social media content once your team has developed it, but what really works is having content scheduled in a way that’s published at a great time and to have a backlog of content dating back weeks or even months so you’re fully prepared. There are plenty of tools that let you schedule social media content well in advance, both externally and offered by social media platforms.

A quick guide on how to get your audience begging for more tweets

It can be challenging to come up with creative content to grab your audience’s attention in 280 characters or less. But with the right content posted, it can make all the difference for your company’s success. 

Here are three simple ways to post unique content that will have your audience itching to see what you post next: 

Is society more connected, or are we more connected to our devices?

Although Chuck Nice’s TED talk on the unintended consequences of technology is comedic, the topic is serious and something all PR pros should think about. Recent technology, more specifically social media, has had some unpredicted consequences on society. Technology was supposed to be the futuristic invention to bring us together, and we succeeded in that — but not in the way we imagined. 

Ways to engage your audience through visual storytelling

Storytelling isn’t just for children. It’s a great way to capture, engage, and interact with your audience. Facebook is one of the perfect social media platforms for sharing a company’s story. 

These are some ways that have proved effective for capturing your Facebook audience while telling your company’s story. 

PR and social media go hand-in-hand

One of the many services under the public relations umbrella is social media. It can be daunting to hand over your company social media channels to an outside agency, but building a company’s reputation through social media is an area of expertise for many PR pros.

Here are a few reasons why a PR firm should manage your company’s social media:

A guide to the five types of media your company needs

Before diving head-first into the different types of media, it’s important to first dip your toes in the water and learn what media is. Media is a communication tool used to deliver information. The three types of media are commonly known as news media, social media, and web media, but you might also see them referred to as earned media, shared media, and owned media. 

Some other forms of modern media are print media, television, movies, and video games. 

Social media is a necessary tool to successful PR campaigns

Social media is about conversations, community, and connecting with your audience. It’s not just a broadcast channel or marketing tool. You need to be authentic and candid with your audience to make a connection. 

Social media is also known as shared media, which is user-generated content that can be shared on multiple platforms with friends, family, business associates, and buyers of your products and services. Social media users want to be informed, entertained, and connected with other users. To this end, you must customize each post so it is native to each platform. For example, you wouldn't post the same content on Instagram as you would on Facebook because the tone, audience, and demographics are different. 

Each social media platform should have uniquely tailored content

Understanding each social media platform’s purpose and its audience is vital if you want to produce content that is attractive and engaging to users. 

What if I told you that your company is doing social media all wrong? Stay with me.

To create content that attracts and engages your audience, you need to know and respect them. You can do this by understanding the platforms your audience uses to communicate.