In my last blog post, I addressed how like it or not, social media is invading the journalism and public relations professions, and in order to survive in these industries it is essential for practitioners to adapt to these changes. Now that we know that social media is here to stay, this week I will be talking about some of the positive ways social media has influenced these industries, such as encouraging collaboration and forming more personal relationships with the publics/audience than ever before.
In the world of public relations, connecting with your publics is your bread and butter. Social media has made this exceedingly easy, but there are also some drawbacks. Because connecting with your audience can be done with the press of a button, there is a lot of room for error, and its not uncommon for scandals or crises to unfold. The article How to Turn Your Social Media Crisis into PR Success from Earned Media Rising discusses how one can utilize social media to resolve any scandals. The tips provided in this article mirror the key takeaways I’ve learned from my PR classes here at Seton Hall. The industry consensus is that the most important thing you can do is be open, honest, and authentic with your publics. Everybody makes mistakes, but the way you handle the situation makes all the difference. Most importantly, when sending out an apology, whether via social media or a public statement, it’s imperative to be genuine and address the situation directly. If you skirt around the issue or take a defensive stance, your audience will see right through it. As the article mentioned, “Transparent communication also establishes a sense of trust among internal stakeholders facilitates team-work and can prevent mistakes that may aggravate the situation further”.
Another key element in journalism and public relations is collaboration. With the advancement of social media, it has made it so much easier to communicate with others and use this collaboration to create better content. The article Real-Time Social Media Creative Marketing and PR by Jeremy Harris Lipschultz from the Huffington Post discusses how covering topics with others in real-time can make a huge difference. Something that resonated with me that Lipschultz mentioned in the article is how it is becoming more common for practitioners to engage with their audience in fun and creative ways.
One of my favorite examples of this is the Wendy’s twitter account. I think they do a great job of connecting with their audience in a relatable and entertaining way. They are a prime example of a company that has adapted with the times, and their PR strategy shows it. Wendy’s was one of the first brands to hop on this trend, but now other fast-food restaurants are joining the band wagon. Kavya Ravi discussed on her blog unmetric.com just how Wendy’s revolutionized using social media as a PR tactic within the post 6 Ways You Can Make Your Social Media More Like Wendy’s stating, “There seems to be no limit to their sass, as they continue winning on social media. In what has been hailed as a potential social media game-changer, Wendy’s social media snark became the talk of the town and also lead to its meteoric rise in 2017”. This just goes to show that possibilities are endless when using social media and being creative with PR strategies, and taking a risk can pay off big time.
Maria's Musings 