In our latest Take 5 Live we sat down with Traci Mazurek of INK Communications for a conversation on how social media and PR intersect, especially as social functions as the frontline of PR for many brands.
We highlighted some key takeaways below— including how social media has changed PR and how social and PR teams can best work together.
1. How has social media changed PR?
In the past, companies could use PR to share good news— or to soothe bad news. Now the distribution model has changed completely: everyone is a "reporter". Someone can post a bad experience on Twitter and have it amplified by hundreds or thousands of others in a matter of hours. That can obviously eclipse any messaging or brand identity a company has built.
On the flip side, when someone shares a positive experience with a brand on social media, that's solid earned media and positive sentiment and it's authentic (as long as it is authentic and not an undisclosed influencer partnership).
2. How should social and PR teams work together?
All parts of the marketing team should be working together from the beginning, from strategy to analysis. To get started working together if you haven't been? Talk to each other.
It sounds simple, but it's surprising how often this doesn't happen. Just get on a call, get on several calls. Be sure you know what's coming down the pipeline and what each other's priorities are.
You don't want to get caught in a trap where you have 7 people reviewing every single post before it goes out, but communication across projects is key.
3. How can you be sure that messaging is consistent across channels?
PR and social are two parts of the marketing echosphere; they're not silos. Create strategies that incorporate all of your channels so you have a cohesive brand presence. Create a brand book if you don't have that already and make sure all of marketing is aligned on it. All of this solidifies your brand in the eyes of your existing audience, your customers, your target audience, your employees— everyone.
Aligning social and PR campaigns on the same objectives, key messages and audiences can drive more results, but social has advantages that PR doesn't. You can test messaging, engage with audiences directly, drive direct traffic, and do some remarketing, all while monitoring larger conversations.
Everything you learn from social can be brought back to that integrated program.
