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Social media integration essential for effective PR

Guest post by: Georgina Dunkley

Article Overview: The growth of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ has taken the world by storm, yet some brands and businesses are still failing to integrate it into their wider marketing strategies and subsequently are missing significant opportunities to amplify their key messages to a wider audience. Below I have outlined a basic guide to social media including out how to identify which channels are best suited to your business.

Social media integration essential for effective PR

The growth of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ has taken the world by storm, yet some brands and businesses are still failing to integrate it into their wider marketing strategies and subsequently are missing significant opportunities to amplify their key messages to a wider audience. Below I have outlined a basic guide to social media including out how to identify which channels are best suited to your business. Be prepared for the commitment - before commencing with any social media activity it is important to understand the resource required and commitment keeping profiles and channels updated takes. It may be that one dedicated resource is allocated to creating and uploading content as well as feeding pack on posts, if that's the case ensure the person is effectively briefed on brand messages, tone of voice and how to handle a social media crisis.

Engage with the most appropriate audiences - before setting up the channels consider who you are communicating with and want you want to say. Each of the social media platforms, although similar in purpose, are targeted to very different audiences and may not be that appropriate for your brand or business.

Facebook - predominately Facebook is much better suited to a consumer brand. For a retailer, such as a fashion brand having a Facebook fan page where brand news, deals and exclusive content can be shared is an excellent way to engage with current and prospective consumers. For a business-to-business brand, Facebook may not be as suitable because it is so much more consumer-facing.

Twitter - compared to Facebook, Twitter is a much more versatile platform as it is suited to both a business and consumer audience. Similarly to Facebook, deals and exclusive content including imagery and videos can be shared, but for a business audience retweeting interesting news pieces and including your own comment is also a great way to target potential influencers, media and target audiences.

Google+ - the recent launch of brand pages on Google+ is an early indication that, like Facebook, it will be beneficial for reaching a consumer audience. Early signs also illustrate that as a platform for sharing expert commentary and news, that it is already extremely well-received as a business-to-business outreach tool.

LinkedIn - is an excellent resource for finding new staff, positioning yourself or brand as leading commentators in your industry sector and sharing news on events and awards. Therefore, it is much more b2b focused.

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Article Tags: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, social media, Twitter



Related Forum Posts
Re: 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report - [quote="Alan Mater":3vkduro4]Hi Terri, Interesting report. The stats are intriguing. Social media has come a long way, and it's almost essential these days to help build your brand. I would say Facebook and Twitter are my top two. MMO Social Network is starting to pique my curiosity, and it seems I can get some nice exposure to blog posts. It's important to find sites that work for you personally and then build up a profile on those sites. I believe it's here to stay and should be a regular part of our marketing efforts.[/quote:3vkduro4] I totally agree -- it's essential, and you need to figure out which network(s) work for you and focus on them. I'm curious...what is MMO Social Network? I did a quickie google search but only came up with Massive Multiplayer Online games...
Re: ANA Survey Says ... - [quote="GT Bulmer":3tfz6j3x]Which discipline will offer your brand the largest opportunity for growth? - 28% Social media integration - 19% Grassroots, viral public relations - 17% Traditional 30-second spots - 16% Web advertising - 7% One-page ads, newspaper/magazine - 7% Direct marketing - 5% Radio[/quote:3tfz6j3x] Hi GT, Interesting info you've presented! But what exactly is "Social Media Integration"?
Re: 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report - Hi Terri, Interesting report. The stats are intriguing. Social media has come a long way, and it's almost essential these days to help build your brand. I would say Facebook and Twitter are my top two. MMO Social Network is starting to pique my curiosity, and it seems I can get some nice exposure to blog posts. It's important to find sites that work for you personally and then build up a profile on those sites. I believe it's here to stay and should be a regular part of our marketing efforts.
Re: I thought social sites were a waste of time. How wrong I was - According to my point of view Social media sites play vital role in online promotion. You can interact with your customer and improve your services and even you can spread your business everywhere through social media sites. Now days people use social media sites to interact with their friends, family and everyone. Below are the famous Social media sites: 1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. LinkedIn 4. Myspace 5. Google+
Re: From $0.30 to $300 / Day on Google AdSense Part 1 - How To M - Hi David - traditionally social media traffic does not convert very well. Search engine traffic is by far and away the best kind of traffic you can get because they are specifically searching for an answer to a problem. Social media traffic are just browsing out of curiosity and usually don`t click through on ads. Social media traffic, however, typically leads to more links to your articles (from bloggers, website owners, forum members, etc) which then in turn boosts your rankings in the search engines. More will come on the AdSense topic in the coming weeks!


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