Power to the People: How
Social Media Tactics Shape
Global Public Relations
Strategies
Katerina Tsetsura, Ph.D.
Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Oklahoma, USA
2009 European Public Relations Congress, Kiev, Ukraine

CRISIS… NOW WHAT?

(Re)Building Trust
 Treat employees well
 Produce quality products/services
 Have transparent business practices
 Communicate frequently and honestly

 Trust is Crucial
 BUT What about transparency?
 Every company is a media company
 BUT Who has a voice?
 Everyone says something
 BUT Who is heard?
 Everyone uses social media
 BUT What is professional? ethical? legal?

ПР-и-знание Новых Правил

Everyone Talks
 Over 25 million regular blogs in the USA in
2008
 Projected over 38 million by 2013
 Over 5 million tweets posted each day
 Over 4 billion SMS sent daily

Social Network Eco-System
NEED STATS
8

Twitter: a Cinderella Story
 March, 2006 Twitter was created
 March 2007 From 20,000 to 60,000 uses per day
 March, 2009 Monthly growth is 1,382 %
 April, 2009 Ashton Kutcher hits 1 million
 July, 2009 First lawsuit filed over a tweet
 October, 2009 Liz Taylor, 77, announces her heart
surgery, asks for prayers
@DameElizabeth

Shaping Strategies: Using Social
Media For
 Engaging publics
 Uniting for a common cause
 Mobilizing activists quickly and efficiently
 Influencing policies
 Demanding social change
 Dealing with customer complains

Пример: Отказ от контроля и
приглашение к сотрудничеству
С новыми силами
потребители могут с
энтузиазмом говорить
о компании, услугах и
продукции

Пример: Слушаем общественные
проблемы
Активное участие в
глобальном проекте.
Форум для
потребителей и
критиков.

Пример: Быстрая мобилизация
активистов

Пример: Найти и объединить
энтузиастов

Пример: Как решить
щекотливый вопрос

CUSTOMER COMPLAINS FOR
DUMMIES

Post a Bad Review

Get Creative! And Get Famous!

Complain on Twitter –
but Be Careful
 Complained at 6:22 AM Jul 14th from web
 “Travelzoo @tsetsura So sorry to hear you
had a bad experience! Please DM us detailing
your complaint and we'll address it with the
hotel.8:38 AM Jul 14th

Public Engagement
 Trust is crucial
 Transparency is a must
Getting me on board…

Blogs vs. Flogs
Technorati survey 2008

Latest U.S. developments
 FTC Seeks to Restrict Gifts to Bloggers
 Celeb endorsements should be clear
 Law suits over Twitter posts

Social Media First?
 How do we learn about all these success
stories?
 When traditional media cover them!
 How do they learn? Do they learn?
Who are they? Do we care?
 Billion-гри́вна questions!

Dr. Katerina Tsetsura
email: tsetsura@ou.edu
THANK YOU!

WATCH OUT FOR…

Know your APIs

Know your Apps
 Tylenol sleep tracker
 Branded Tylenol application

Know one-stop shops
 Helloflight. com
 Raveable.com
 Tweetgrade.com

Global Revolution in China
235 million Chinese Internet
Users
• 75% are urban, educated
• 80+% are 15 – 35 years old
60+ million active blogs
• 80+ million active BBSers
• 80% of Chinese sites have BBS
sections
• 3 billion registered BBS users
• 1.6 billion daily page views; Premier Wan Jiabao on Facebook
10 million daily posts
600 million mobile subscribers
• 5 – 10 million new subscribers
a month

For more information,
visit www.instituteforpr.org
or
contact Dr. Katerina Tsetsura
email: tsetsura@ou.edu
THANK YOU!

Extra Slides (not for show)

2009 Edelman Midyear Trust
Barometer
MOST TRUSTED INSTITUTIONS:
 NGOs
 USA, UK, Germany, France
 Business
 India
 Government
 China

PR professionals
“I think it can be a fuzzy line. It's hard to know if
they do or they don't [pay] unless you are with
the company working with the magazine or
newspaper to advertise in a unique way.
Sometimes it's just a matter of reading the small
print - although sometimes - it's VERY small for a
reason.”

 “This happens with increasing frequency
because so many media outlets face greater
competitive and profit pressures than ever.
However, such a model of pay for play is not
sustainable - without sacrificing credibility.”

Latest trends in the U.S.A.?

2009 Edelman Midyear Trust
Barometer
Technology is the most trusted industry
in the USA, UK, Germany, India, China