Amy Howell, keynote speaker, presented “Telling Your Story Online: How Social Media Has Changed News & PR” at #DFWRocks2014. A few of the highlights of her presentation are listed below.
Social Media Has Changed News and Public Relations
Posting online is:
- Global
- Permanent
- Discoverable (in the legal sense)
No matter what you do, what your actual job title is, ultimately we’re all in sales. Today, PR is 24/7 and everyone is a reporter.
In a down economy – PR is the first to go. So, when things go bad, PR has to show that they are worth the investment. Budgets for traditional PR declined as the economy slowed and social media emerged.
If you don’t have an online, digital footprint you cannot tell your story. If something catastrophic happens and you don’t have a digital footprint, the media will eat you alive.
Traditional media is still very important. When paired with social media, it’s even more powerful. However, social media does not replace traditional media. Embed links in press releases.
What does your digital footprint look like? PR and Social Media merge to tell your story. However, there is no amount of PR that can help you when you’re in jail (at that point your legal strategy is more important than your PR strategy).
Just because you are tech savvy, that doesn’t mean that you are business savvy. You can find people to do the tech side of things but experience is necessary for good PR. If you don’t know what your customers do and how they make their money, you will not be able to translate that to good Social Media and PR for them. Put your clients on Google Alerts. If you get some press, you can leverage that in the local marketplace.
You are what you tweet. Remember to engage and be helpful. Your digital footprint is seen as who you are. Make your posts count.
Ask people how best to communicate with them. Some prefer emails, some prefer to chat on the phone. You need to know what people prefer and respect those preferences. Your engagement/connection will be better if you do.
Visit Amy’s website, Howell Marketing Strategies, to learn more about her.
