Compared to PR, social media is the cool new kid on the block, and since the early 2000s, it has become a major means of communication between brands and their audience. 5 tactics to improve your social media accounts, these days, PR departments, regardless of brand or organization, turn to social media first to spread the latest information about services and products and get the widest coverage.
5 Tactics to Improve Your Social Media Accounts
By aligning social media and PR, brands can drive engagement and keep customers abreast of the latest developments.
In this article, you’ll look at five tactics to help improve your social media PR. We’ll also look at examples of brands that have used some of these tactics.
What Does PR Mean in Social Media?
How has social media changed public relations?
Social media has completely changed the public relations landscape. The press release has ceded the throne to the much younger and much more persuasive heir: social media.
Communication
Brands can now use different channels to communicate with consumers through social networks. Whether it’s through engaging Facebook posts, Instagram Reels, or Twitter Tweets, brands can develop a personality that resonates with consumers and forms a personal connection with their audience.
Unlike traditional public relations methods, such as press releases, social media allows consumers to interact with their favorite brands. This two-way street of communication can be a huge advantage for brands that know how to use it.
Influencing
Social media has enabled ordinary people to become influencers who can help brands promote products and services to targeted audiences.
Brands can now work with bloggers, vloggers, experts, and more to create impactful PR campaigns.
Instead of creating the content itself, a brand can harness the creative powers of these influencers. Influencers with large followings are highly sought after for obvious reasons. However, it is vital to look beyond the number of followers to see if the influencer is a good fit for the brand.
Time Schedule
The Internet never sleeps, allowing PR professionals to deliver news at any time, confident that the message will reach consumers.
However, while the ability to reach consumers at any time is great, it also has its drawbacks, as PR messages have a shorter shelf life in the consumer’s memory.
Consumers find themselves in an endless information mill, challenging PR professionals to keep up. Bad reviews and news travel very fast, so PR agents need to be proactive and nip those problems in the bud before they escalate.
How to Use Social Media for PR
How much does a typical public relations campaign cost? R10,000? R100,000? R1000? You can get a PR campaign for these prices and even less; it only matters how effective the campaign is.
So how can you use social media for PR no matter how much you’re spending? Here are some valuable tips to help you.
1. Add social share buttons to your message.
A super-easy way to use social media for PR is to add social sharing buttons to your message. For example, if you have a press release, you can add social sharing buttons to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
Adding these buttons allows consumers to share your press releases and do some of the legwork for you.
Additionally, you can embed social media links within the press release. It drives traffic and increases engagement.
2. Work with influencers.
One of the best ways to create PR for your brand is to partner with an influencer.
When choosing an influencer to become a brand ambassador, look for more than follower counts. You should want authentic coverage that hits on a personal note with actual people.
An influencer or ambassador must share, or even create, relatable, emotional, and personal content. The right influencer for your brand is just as concerned about delivering the content right for their audience as they are about doing good work for you (and getting the check).
Furthermore, when you cultivate an audience of people who genuinely love what you’re doing, you’re building a pool of loyal, engaged brand ambassadors who’ll stick with you not just because you’re paying them but because they truly feel connected to your product and are honored to be ambassadors with the brand.
3. Be consistent. Improve Your Social Media
To get the best from using social media for PR, you need to be consistent. This consistency includes showing up with regular posts and interacting with consumers as soon as possible.
It also involves being consistent with your brand voice and tone. By being relatable, helpful, and valuable, you can build a social media presence that boosts your reputation.
4. Be proactive.
Adulation from social media is fickle, and those that praise you today can quickly turn on you and ‘cancel’ your brand.
Therefore, you must have a proactive crisis management system to handle the flames when they come. PR teams should take advantage of the ability to reply instantly and tackle crises as soon as they arise.
4. Create good relationships with the media.
PR professionals have always realized how meaningful a good relationship with media outlets and journalists can be. So, cultivate a good relationship with these essential parts of the industry. Having a good relationship with them will increase the chances of getting positive press with the right outlets.
You can kick off the relationship by sharing necessary, practical, and valuable information to extend conversations.
A note of warning: Spamming media houses, journalists, and even influencers with pitches and press releases can come off as annoying and disrespectful. Be professional and have some self-respect.
5. Take advantage of hashtags. Improve Your Social Media
Hashtags are used on almost all social media channels, and you can use this tool to boost your PR campaign.
Hashtags offer the following advantages:
- Let you monitor the consumer conversation
- Engage your audience
- Direct the audience to the right content
