Social Media is everywhere and part of practically everything. It is so important for one considering the PR industry. Social Media can do work for you if you know how to use it correctly. All types of social media are not right for all projects. The spray and pray approach is not always the best. You should not put yourself out their in all forms of media and hope that the results are positive. This is a good way to look like spam or perhaps even unprofessional. When considering social media, you should consider the organization, its target publics and the current project and then make the decision as to what form of social media works best. The great thing about social media is that it continues to work for you even when you aren’t working. The blog posts, tweets or facebook groups are still live and generating buzz even when you are not logged on.
Some people also refer to social media as viral marketing. Regardless of what you call it, it is here and important to know how to use. I am not saying that social media will replace all forms of marketing/pr, but it is a nice supplement to them. Social media is not the wave of the future, it is the wave of the present. So log on and start learning because knowing the ins and outs of different forms of social media can be the difference in a successful and unsuccessful organization.
People need to reconsider what they think of as social. Social does not have to mean in a room full of people it can be in a chatroom full of people. I personally utilize facebook and twitter. I also plan on signing on to linked in one of these days. Between those three and blogging keeping up with my online life can get pretty time consuming. I suggest for an organization planning on utilizing social media to set aside a certain amount of time in the morning and then perhaps again at the end of the day to manage their accounts. This is a good day to get buzz out or send out new information at the start of the day and then respond to feedback or send out updated info at the end of the day without spending your entire day checking for updates. Setting aside specific times for social networking can also make sure that it gets done everyday without consuming your day!
