Does social media belong in the hands of PR people?

31Mar09

I think the use of social media in public relations has a lot to do with corporate culture. If a company has a strong corporate culture, social media tools can be an effective way to promote and enhance it. Whether it’s a Twitter account, Facebook page or a company blog on behalf of the CEO, the PR professionals can use social media as a way to connect with both internal and external audiences.

Executive director of the Society for New Communications Research, Jennifer McClure, suggests that some of the best corporate cultures use social media. She credits corporations such as IBM for embracing employee blogging. As a result, they create trusting, open, talkative relationships. It becomes about conversation and two-way interaction, resulting in better business success.

So I think that social media does belong in the hands of PR people, especially if they (and/or their corporations) have an understanding of how to use it. No one can stop them anyways. Chances are their own level of understanding will affect its success in a business environment, so they are entering into the world of social media at their own risk! The corporate culture must embrace it in order for it to be effective, and for the PR people to really do their jobs.

So exactly how should PR people use social media? Once again I think it depends on corporate culture, business intentions, available resources, etc. Lynn Terry gives readers 10 suggestions of what they can do in her post on “How to used social media…Successfully.” The gist of it: “have a clear objective, be a valuable resource, and use the social media services in the ways they intend to be used. Anything else will get you filtered out, unfollowed, banned or blacklisted and ultimately be a complete waste of your time.” I think she makes some good points. If you’re social media efforts fail it’s because you’re not using the tools wisely.

In addition, I think social media is most effective as a tool when it is combined with traditional elements such as communications plans, news releases, etc. that all reflect the same corporate culture and help build strong relationships. Overall –it’s about expanding PR! Social media can and should be used by educated, relevant professionals. This doesn’t mean that they have to abandon traditional methods, but instead use them together. Whether it’s an online blog or a news release a company’s key messages and visible image must be clear.

Why not make use of the craze of social media? There is no debate that it is happening, so companies might as well benefit from it. It allows them access into a growing, evolving means of communication, and access to a large, diverse audience. If PR professionals aren’t engaging in social media, are they really doing a good job of communicating? I don’t think so! At times I understand they are held back by their corporate culture, but if so, they should be fighting for the cause. And if not, don’t they know that they’re missing out on such a huge opportunity?

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Tags: corporate culture, PR, social media