8 SOCIAL MEDIA PR TECHNIQUES TO BEAT THE COMPETITION
In the past few years, social media has revolutionized the world of marketing. According to Pew Research Center, around 65 percent of American adults use social media, and new communication channels are emerging for social media PR all the time.
This presents a huge opportunity for businesses to reach out to potential customers, but to use social media PR as an effective business tool, you need to approach it the right way. Try using the following PR techniques to help you rise above the competition.
Start with quality content
Most brands now understand the importance of content marketing to PR, but there are always content gaps you can find and fill. Consumers today expect quality articles, reviews, blog posts, and videos by industry experts. It\’s what they seek out in order to learn more about brands and inform their purchase decisions.
Consistently publishing high-quality content that is unique, engaging, useful, educational and shareable ultimately puts your brand in front of more people and improves the credibility of your company.
Be newsworthy
You’ve got to have something new to offer, no same old, same old. Today you can reach potential buyers instantly by hijacking current new stories that align with your branded content. \”Newsjacking\” is one of the best ways to generate traffic for your website and social media profiles, but make sure your brand belongs and relates to the topic.
Search online for hot topics and trends to gather inspiration for your own content. Look for trending hashtags and use them in your taglines and tweets so you can become a part of social conversations and increase your online visibility.
Don\’t be boring, and honor thy platform
Don\’t just post a press release across your social networks; it\’s much better to tailor unique content to each social channel. On Facebook, rewrite your press release without the jargon and make it friendly. On Twitter, craft a memorable phrase to announce your news. On Instagram and Pinterest, publish a great image related to your announcement. Produce a short video for YouTube. Whatever you do, make it interesting. And remember to honor thy platform – each platform and audience has nuances that need to be honored in order to succeed.
Be ready, be engaged
With the growth of social media, more brands are encountering negative publicity. Fortunately, it can be dealt with effectively, as long as you\’re prepared beforehand. First you need a team in place to monitor social media mentions. Most social platforms have their own tracking tools, but there are many online tools you can use to track brand or product mentions. When your team is prepared, you can quickly address any negativity that crops up online. And even more effective, engage with your audience, thank them for their time, passion and patronage. A little bit of real time gratitude and appreciation will go a long way.
Reach out to influencers
Social media users with large followings, or \”influencers,\” have become incredibly useful to brands trying to take their PR campaigns to the next level. Whatever industry you\’re in, one of the best ways to improve your credibility is by having people of influence endorse your product or company.
Look for popular bloggers and social media users that are aligned with your audience demographic, and try to develop relationships with these people through social connections, commenting, and content sharing.
Use strong calls-to-action
Using the right phrases in your content can make all the difference in whether or not your post is a persuasive, social media PR driven post or an ineffective one. Including strong calls-to-action makes sure you maximize engagement from potential customers, and capture more potential leads. Now that you’ve read that last sentence, like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BlackInkPR/
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Invest in paid promotion
More marketers are turning to social ads and promoted posts to increase brand awareness. If you haven\’t done so already, it\’s worth experimenting with paid ads so that more social media users encounter your brand. If you\’re spending time and resources on Facebook and Twitter already, you might ultimately save money by targeting your audience more precisely, using such variables as age, gender,location and similar audiences.
Keep testing
Continual testing is vital to ensure your content, whether it is organic or paid, is engaging your audience. Thankfully, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks have some excellent internal analytics tools which allow you to track the reach of your posts, measure click-through rates, and more. Understanding your audience preferences is key to building your social media presence in the long term.
The bottom line
It\’s an exciting time for businesses trying to improve their public relations strategies. Gone are the days of ineffective press releases; social media has the targeting capabilities and analytics tools that can help any business build relationships with customers and industry influencers.
However, in order to stand out from the competition, you need to be smart with social media. Every business is different, so test some of these social media PR strategies and track the results. With practice and some fine-tuning, you\’ll soon be reaching more potential customers and reaping the rewards. And if you need some help, Black Ink PR (www.blackinkpr.com) is here help you succeed.