Thinking Clearly About Social Media Relations

Let’s admit it. Trying to decipher which bright and shiny object to pay attention to these days is a pain the arse.

Some folks have their head, er, are ignoring it. Others show up at the right conferences and give speakers the deer in the headlight look (any public speaker or teacher knows the look all too well).

So here are some quick links reinforcing why you should pay attention to social media if you are in media relations.

Facebook’s Reporter Gravitas
The minute I said NEVER pitch a reporter on Facebook, SiliconValley Watcher’s Tom Foremski told PR people to do just that. Social networks are a great way to build media relationships directly and indirectly.

AP/Reuters Hit YouTube
AP and Reuters are posting videos to YouTube. In the past, the news wires made you a star for a couple of days (depending on how many outlets picked you up). A week later you were history. What could you do with a Reuters video clip of your client? I’d get my junk bronzed while I forwarded that video around the world in 80 clicks.

Twitter Offers Insights
We’ve told you before to follow reporters online as you would your own vanity feed…Google News Alerts, SocNet Sweeps and the like. Brian Morissey offers a ton of insight into his PR likes and dislikes via Twitter. Pay them heed if you want to engage him in an AdWeek dialogue.

SlideShare Makes You Smarter
If SlideShare was around when I was in college, I’d have had more time to play. There is a ton of great content here. Sometimes it’s about the media outlet or journalist you’re targeting. Sometimes it’s about industry trends. SlideShare reminds us that we can always make our pitches smarter.

Media Outlets Pitching You?
USA Today, CNN and Fast Company are just three media outlets that now have their own social networks where you can increase your level of engagement with an outlet.

None of these examples are about gaming the system, they’re about improving your game. Social media is ultimately about conversations. Technology helps us make connections more easily than before.

So keep your head out of, er, in the game. Don’t try and swallow the Internet whole in one afternoon. Just roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. These are some pretty interesting changes in our craft.

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