Building Relationships
Posted by Krista Rogers
PRNewswire hosted a recent panel discussion about media, public relations and the impact of social media. One of the quotes that struck a chord with many attendees was from Becky Carroll, President of PETRA consulting.
Becky said, “Social media is not a campaign, it is a relationship.” Heads were nodding throughout the room and flashing thumbs quickly tweeted and retweeted her words.
A campaign has a distinct beginning and end, she said, where as having an effective social media presence is about communication and building relationships. Social media is not a tactic to check off of your public relations to-do list. It provides a platform to connect with those current supporters of your organization and find new ones.
In one example, Becky cited Coca-Cola currently, with over 3.5 million fans on their Facebook Page, where Pepsi has less than one-tenth that, around 250,000. The main difference? The human approach versus a corporate one.
Coca-Cola’s fan page was started by two men, Dusty Sorg and Michael Jedrzejewski, who simply enjoy the beverage and had no relation to the company. They care about the brand and are Coke brand advocates. Coca-Cola eventually approached the men and asked to partner with them on the fan page. Coke did not try to commercialize the fan because; its PR team understood that for social media to be successful it must remain authentic. The people who read and post on the page do it because they love the product and not because they are paid to post. Being involved on the Coca-Cola’s Facebook fan page doesn’t leave a feeling of being “sold.”
Companies often fail in their social media initiatives because they are trying to sell themselves rather than create an open forum for discussion and interaction. Many post corporate messages and re-packaged press releases on their social media networks. They don’t interact with their followers. For instance, Coca-Cola’s page has over 1,700 pictures that fans have uploaded from around the world to share with Coke and the Coke-loving community. Pepsi’s page only has 52.
Being involved in social media means relinquishing control and cooperating and engaging with your audience. As all the social media gurus note (Robert Scoble, Shel Holtz, Chris Brogan, Seth Godin, etc.), to be effective in social media requires an organization to open up to what others are saying. Listen closely and respond in an open conversation with a human voice. By getting beyond the one-way communication model, organizations can enjoy sustained interaction with their fans and expand the fan base, while letting traditional PR strategies such as media relations and news releases handle the heavy-lifting in an ongoing campaign.
Posted by Liz Dill