PR’s great opportunity.  Let’s not blow it.

Thanks to Jeff Wilson from our friends at CRT-Tanaka for Tweeting about this Shel Holtz article on how PR is “winning the battle” over the control over social media in most organizations.  This continues to validate the thoughts of many (including me) that PR is best positioned to manage social media activities for all the reasons Shel and the folks at the Annenberg School outline in the study and in his piece.

Apologies to our friends at ad agencies or IT firms, but given our years of experience having conversations with the media and the public and not talking at them, I think we at PR firms are best positioned to take the lead.  Again, sorry….please still love me.

But at the end of the day, we can’t oversee that management in a PR vacuum.

If there is anything that we at THP have learned over the last few years it that you can’t move the social media needle just through the use of traditional PR tactics.  A story in the paper or constant broadcasting of offers, events, or media relations success on a Facebook wall or Twitter stream will only get you so far.  You need to marry traditional marketing into the mix.  Dare I say the dreaded “i” word….integrate?  (Okay I said it…so there)  For example:

• You need to cross promote your social media presence to drive social media traffic.  Why do you think so many marketers now include the Facebook and Twitter logos on their TV ads.
• Taking it a step further, you need to use direct mail and email marketing to drive traffic for Facebook and Twitter contests like the one we’re working with CarMax on right now.
• You need to marry design and development to engage with consumers especially on Facebook so they don’t just land on the Wall all the time.
• You need to get creative with your offers especially if budget is tight.

In short you need to use your PR brain and use ALL the marketing tools at your disposal to drive traffic.  Once you capture that traffic you then really need to use your PR brain to keep them.  At that point, engagement and conversation is key.

As PR folks we need to look at the marriage of PR and technology.  My thought is that it’s easier for PR to sell social media to clients and then bring our IT friends to the table to help bring the approach to life than it is for IT folks to sell where they have no experience selling.

We have seen that model work for us and frankly we are moving quickly to expand on that approach.  We will be announcing some exciting moves in that direction in short order.

This should not be limited to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, viral videos, etc. but should include mobile APPS, online community creation, and all the places where we can continue the PR conversation through the use of new technologies.

It is a very exciting time for PR.  As long as we don’t lose sight of how important the social media message relies on cross promotion and new technology to be successful.