By definition, PR means building goodwill between an organization and its community. As such, social media tools naturally fall under this umbrella. And in today's world, talented PR people are a perfect fit to add social media into their quiver of arrows. The problem, however, is that too many marketing executives are mistaking social media as a platform where old-handed tactics - such as blast email and hiding behind a marketing event - will lead to success.
Let's get real: people who are really bad at PR are going to be really bad at social media.
First off, if you don't know how to put the work into building a relationship with a journalist you certainly won't be able to properly engage directly with a community. There needs to be an understanding about how to properly use technology for word of mouth and social networking. If you believe media relations is the end goal of every campaign you won't succeed in social media. And no, an online video and a Facebook Group are not enough...
Social media has the potential to significantly benefit all aspects of business. Perhaps Corporate America needs to stop playing tug of war with it and start concentrating on how to converse with their customers in the right way...
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