Last week I suggested those of us in the PR industry take time to PR It Forward. My thought is that those of us who are utilizing social media should share our knowledge (in a non-threatening way) with our closest journalist contacts. Show them how to use social media tools to assist them in their daily work and help them discover brand new ways to use it in their media professions. It is simply "good PR" for a PR pro, but more importantly, it's taking small steps to help market social media to more users.
Wikipedia defines social media as an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning, as people share their stories, and understandings.
In essence, it's using technology to communicate and interact in new ways and share elements like text, photos, audio and videos. It's no wonder PR is in the middle of the mix of channels adopting social media at a rapid pace. After all, it's our job to provide journalists everything they need to spread the word to their audience. The elements have to be delivered, and social media is offering more avenues than ever before. Moreover, social media opens up a new channel for our clients and brands- a direct channel to their end consumer.
From a brand and client perspective (the ones spending the money) it's an eye-opening opportunity to reach your consumer directly. Why rely on a journalist to portray your client in a positive light when you can immediately hand-deliver the news to the people who care to know about it? Why buy an ad, when you can recruit a strong following of friends and fans who vouch for your brand or product? It's like asking a brand if they'd rather sell directly to consumers via their website and make full margin, or depend on a dealer to sell the products and take their cut before you get yours. As more companies identify niche social media opportunities to reach their consumers, friends, and fans the amount of money being piped into this "trendy" thing (as some skeptics refer to it) could increase exponentially. Down goes advertising dollars, up goes social marketing dollars.
Every company in America is already talking about how much they spend "online", the innovative ones are talking about how they can spend more money in social media to reach their consumers directly and in most cases voluntarily.
From a journalist's perspective it's a frightening time. Traditional media is being threatened more and more as people begin to find their news in new ways and faster than ever before. Instead of a newspaper editor or television producer writing the show, we are all writing our own show. Instead of looking to printed publications (especially newspapers) people are seeking their news online in a more focussed and filtered manner.
Corporate newspapers like the New York Times are making big waves with new and innovative approaches to Media 2.0, but what about the majority of smaller news organizations? When will they wake up to social media? Some journalists are already doing something about it, while others dismiss the notion of a new media scape. Mainstream media must find a way to be relevant in new media to maintain their piece of the marketing pie. I offered up some suggestions a while back which were widely read, but hardly commented on.
Engage, adopt and get social. There will be no better time than the present.
Journalists, bloggers, what do you think - Are there examples of newspapers engaging in social media and succeeding? Is social media a trend or the future of global news media?
Original post on PitchEngine | The Growing Social Media PR Revolution
