Social Media 101

Slideshow Transcript

1. Slide 1: Social Media 101 Jeremy Pepper, Director of Communications
2. Slide 2: 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 
3. Slide 3: How to do Outreach 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
4. Slide 4: From a PR POV 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
5. Slide 5: 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
6. Slide 6: 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
7. Slide 7: 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.
8. Slide 8: 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
9. Slide 9: 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
10. Slide 10: 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
11. Slide 11: 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