Social Media 101

Social Media 101 Jeremy Pepper, Director of Communications

The Rise of Social Media
Blogs – both corporate and news
Networks include WIN, Gawker Media, B5 Media
Individual blogs having influence
Podcasts and Vidcasts – the rise of the online VNR and ANR
Social Networks – from MySpace to Facebook to LinkedIn
Wikipedia – the knowledge and ignorance of the masses
Bookmarking – Delicious, Digg, Sk*rt, Magnolia
Y! and Google Groups – still powerful, still influential, still social
Message Boards/Newsgroups/Forums – the original social media, with large readership and influence
Messaging – from AIM to YIM to Twitter to Pownce

Simple, to the point, paragraph
Use name
Be upfront and honest and simple about the reason you’re emailing
Let them know why you are contacting
Same with Message Boards
Do not SPAM or go into boards
Look for admin email address
Let them know why they should care
Short and to the point
How to do Outreach

Social Media is not an end-all, be-all
Part of the communications mix
Should be treated like another tactic
Unlike media, cannot be controlled
Unlike media, cannot be harnessed
Unlike media, does not honor NDA or embargos
Unlike media, bad pitches are mocked & exposed
Transparency
Hot button issue is full transparency
Lack of transparency easily backfires
From a PR POV

Best Practices
The basic rules of social media outreach
Honesty and transparency
Be upfront and truthful when working with bloggers, podcasters and other social media outreach
It is not about the corporate marketing message
It is about sharing information and access
Social media outreach needs to be very on point to specific, appropriate bloggers
Bloggers have sweet spots and points of interest, and they need to be taken into consideration before any outreach is done
Readers can syndicate content easily via RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds

Rules of Engagement I
Become involved in the community
Read appropriate blogs and comment with insightful comments
Blogs are written in first person, require a full time commitment, and must not be ghost-written
The purpose of blogging is to let the personality come through
The best blogs are ongoing, interesting and have a distinctive point of view
Beyond blogging are the comments with each post
Comments are part of the conversation and community
Need to be responded to in a timely manner

Rules of Engagement II
Forget what you know about PR
Social Media is about relationships and friendships and being human
Social Media can be cranky
If the pitch is bad, expect to be exposed
Bloggers can be overly cynical and critical
Avoid “marketing” at all costs
Be open, upfront and honest in your pitch
Tailor the angle to focus on blogger’s niche
Be knowledgeable, timely and succinct
Gauge interest, gain permission to send material
Always include relevant links for more info
Tread very cautiously
Be sure what you’re pitching is super-relevant
Digital cameras for Photo enthusiasts, food and events for foodie bloggers, political books for activist bloggers, etc.

Rules of Engagement - III
Be prepared to be ignored and/or insulted
No corporate speak, marketing or overt messaging
No press releases as cut-and-paste or attachment
Provide links to appropriate material
Short and to the point
Monitor conversation in real-time
Forget about the follow-up call / email
Keep expectations realistic
It is about engaging the community
Two-way dialogue, a conversation
Comment only when appropriate – do not comment for comment sake

Message Boards: Two Types
Model A
Go through the moderators of message boards
Be very informal and friendly
Offer yourself up as a conduit to the company
You are the go-to person to get what they want
Offer up information / access / samples
Model B
Join the message board
Be fully transparent - who you are, what you are doing
Participate and answer questions in a timely manner
ABA - always be available

What’s Next?
The growth of Widgets and Virtual Goods
Tools for bloggers and Websites – also known as blog bling
Can range from video widgets to weather – almost anything you want
Desktop or Website widgets – live on the desktop, in Google Deskbar, in Mac OSX, etc
Virtual Goods are an offshoot - gifts you can give on any site
The growth and convergence of social networks
From Bebo to MySpace to Vox to LinkedIn to Facebook to Ning
Getting to the community, wherever they are

Take Aways
Blogs are not a fall-back if the traditional press does not bite
The press needs to write
Bloggers choose to write
It is about “community”
Moreso than journalism
If you are not part of the community, you are an interloper / intruder
It is not MR – it is CR
Media relations is not social media, it is traditional media
Social media is community relations – think of how you work in the community

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Social Media 101

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