The rise of Twitter as a powerful social media tool as seen its deployment in a wide variety of marketing, journalism, and propaganda campaigns. Recently many companies have also begun to use Twitter as a Public Relations tool. From real time communication to brand reputation, Twitter can be used for public relations, but only if your PR team is wise and careful. Here are three factors to keep in mind:

Twitter creates a real-time dialogue without taking on dangerous newscasts

Almost like having your own global LP Chat software, Twitter creates a running dialogue with the world that can be updated so rapidly it begins to take on characteristics of real time communication. This can be extremely beneficial for time-sensitive events related to product releases, political campaigns, and even international stock market tips. With the world more connected than ever, the ability to spread information efficiently and instantaneously allows companies and public entities to address issues concurrently with network news cycles. Continue reading

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When introducing potential customers to a product or service, PR professionals know they need to focus on benefits. Features are there to create some sort of gain for those who purchase whatever a company or individual is selling. Ideally, when a new product or service is launched, those behind it think in terms of benefits, be it real ones or just apparent ones – making people feel cool when they need to is just as much of a benefit as helping them grow their business.

We do consider benefits, and those clearly stated, to be a way to help sell more, increase brand awareness and get all the recognition a company deserves. Simply put, benefits return benefits – monetary gain, image boosts, new opportunities. Therefore, to become successful, you need to help your customers become successful.  Continue reading

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Guest post by Susan Daniels

Social media is an integral part of any PR efforts. We all know the importance of having multiple social media accounts, and why we should be Tweeting and posting everyday to maintain good online standing.

But what do you do when Tweeting or posting to Facebook fails? How do you manage the masses and save your business when an inappropriate Tweet or post hits the web? A social media PR fail can ruin a business, but that doesn’t mean it has to ruin yours. By integrating the following 10-Step program you can be on the positive road to recovery in no time:

1. Admit You Are Powerless

Once you click submit, there is nothing you can do about it. Instead of frantically trying to devise some mastermind way to crash the internet or trying to buy the best SEO software to bury your FAIL deep, simply accept the social media PR FAIL you have just created.

2. Admit Your Fault

Once you realize that you have done something wrong, you need to figure out what type of social media disaster you have created. Continue reading

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Public relations is not always an easy-peasy walk through the bark. A lot of times getting results from a PR campaign involves a lot of effort: thinking it through, brainstorming, drafting and then reviewing everything you need, choosing the right channels to communicate, reaching out to the media, bloggers, fans, evangelists, friends and partners, monitoring and measuring your progress, fine-tuning and starting again, right from the beginning.

It takes time and resources to make PR efforts work for a certain company, person, non profit or cause. But there are also times when an opportunity to make your story known just lands on your lap. An interview request , an invitation to speak at a conference, a friendly request to take part in a high profile online debate. Everyone would smile and cheer just thinking of such a possibility. But the reality is, a lot of companies just don’t find the time to make the most out of these opportunities.  Continue reading

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Guest post by Susan Daniels

New research out in the PR space seems to favor the use of theory-based PR relations techniques. But by thinking inversely, like a person using a search engine’s reverse phone number lookup to stop businesses from doing solicitations, people can build great stories to capture any audience and build better brand recognition.

Catherine Sweet is one that disagrees with those perpetuating the theory-based PR. She says that “my teaching has made me realize the power of ‘story telling’ as being the best form of PR and communication there is. As humans, we are hardwired to listen and learn; it’s how we acquire language in the first place.” To her, storytelling is a much more effective communication technique for PR, and gives those in PR some creative expression to think directly or indirectly. Continue reading

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