- Image via Wikipedia
DEFINITION: Social Media is a place where two or more people are communicating about something publically.
(This means things like blogs, forums, facebook and other places where ‘the people’ are in control of the content.)
So as marketers, business owners and brand managers, we want to expose our message through this channe – and its EXCITING TIMES, as its new and very misunderstood.
Social media is exactly the same as traditional media in principle with some technical differences.
So if social media is just a delivery channel, like ‘traditional’ media, why are there social media specialists? Well, because its widely misunderstood.
Social media has the following communication benefits for marketers
- Market ressearch: Listen, read and watch what people think about you, your competitors or your category
- Public Relations: free exposure of your message by building relationships with the media
- Advertising: buying the opportunity to expose your message to your
There is no confusion around advertising on social media, and market research is being used by very few, however public relations is the gray area where people are becoming social media specialists, and its WRONG!
How Public Relations works in media relations (and I’m no expert)
Public Relations consultants have relationships with editors at media outlets. At one newspaper there will be 10′s if not 100′s of editors, from the business section to the social pages. PR people also create content that is relevant to individual editors. Through either good content or a strong relationship, the PR consultant can get their message to their audience. But at the end of the day, the editor has control of the message.
What is a media outlet?
This may seem silly, but media outlets historically have been newspapers, TV, radio. What most people seem to be missing the point on is that blogs, forums, Facebook and all social media is just another media outlet. Sure, there are a few technical differences, however the key fundamental is still there: the publisher is in control of the message.
What scares people, PR firms and marketers is that the person ‘in control’ of the message isn’t a ‘respected newspaper editor’ or some such thing, its some teenager in their bedroom blogging about random stuff. And we all know this isn’t true.
If you build a relationship with a blogger, community manager, online activist or whoever, and give them good content, you’re likely to get the same outcome as you would with a newspaper.
ITS NO DAMN DIFFERENT! PR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING IT FOR DECADES!
So why then, are there all these ‘social media specialists’?
I believe its a mentally that wont shift, its a bunch of people (I’m looking at you PR industry) who have done what they’ve done for so long, and don’t like change, so a bunch of people have jumped into the gap that is continuing to widen.
So don’t call yourself a social media specialist, you’re a PR person, or if you’re a PR person, be a leader in your industry in the top 21% infact (based on a recent study) and start seeing ‘social media’ as another channel, like TV, radio or print. Start building relationships, reading their articles and giving them content, or whatever they want, product samples, event invitations, whatever.
And what I’m saying is in no way new, Public Relations has been around for many moons, and social media was identified as a PR exercise way back in 1993, when Brian Solis coined the phrase “PR 2.0″.
Footnote
Sorry about the strong language (in caps) I’ve been working with PR people for years, and trying to help them realise this with very little progress.
