Social Media

AHA - Social Media



Social media has changed the game for everyone in the marketing, PR and advertising world. There is a different approach to how we communicate and what consumers expect from a brand or organization.



Social media is a big part of what we do at AHA. Whether a client organization should participate in different areas of social media or not depends on the organization, their stakeholder groups and their communication objectives. However, every communications plan that we develop has a social media component to it – at the very least for monitoring the conversations online.



We often partner with ad agencies and marketing agencies on projects and social media is usually a part of a campaign. Who manages the social media aspect is usually an interesting discussion. It often becomes a blend of the advertising or marketing team and the AHA team.



I strongly believe that social media provides an opportunity to deliver what PR was created to do: generate authentic, transparent, two-way conversations that engage, inform, educate and, often, entertain.



I came across an excellent blog post by Cheryl Gale that clearly explains (and supports) why PR should take the lead with social media. It’s worth a read.

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There is always something new in the world of social media. Google+ is a new opportunity (or challenge, depending on your perspective) in this arena. At AHA, we are in the middle of checking out Google+ and what it will mean for our clients and for us, as a PR agency.

I was thrilled to come across this piece by Shel Holtz on the implications of Google+ for public relations and marketing. It’s definitely worth a read.

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We recently did a communications audit for a client. The results were surprising to them. When we undertake a communications audit, depending on the objective, we usually review everything being done that focuses on communication – e-newsletters, staff memos, meetings, town halls, intranet, external website, news releases, media pitches and, of course, social media interaction.



This particular client wanted to know what they were doing well and what they could do better. Social media was something that had just kind of happened at their company – with great intentions. Staff had taken it upon themselves and started a Facebook page and Twitter account and the CEO had taken to Foursquare. To their credit, they updated quite regularly. The challenge was that the communication coming from this company was all push out – and this wasn’t just through social media channels. The tone and style of communication was outdated throughout the organization because it was a top-down, “we want you to know this” style. Facebook and Twitter were used to send out information about what the CEO was doing – board meetings, business events, etc. and on Foursquare, we could learn at any given time where the CEO was having coffee, drinks or dinner. And there was no interactivity. It was all about what they wanted you to know.



There were solid intentions from the people of this organization; it’s just that the execution fell short because their approach wasn’t based on any kind of strategy. (Do most people care where company’s CEO gets his/her coffee or have dinner?)



If you want to improve your organization’s outreach on social media or through any communications vehicle, it’s important to identify how people want to get the information (e-newsletter, blog, website update, Facebook, etc.) and this means doing your research. Don’t make assumptions. It is crucial to define what your audience or stakeholders are interested in hearing; don’t assume you know what they need to hear. And, last but not least, don’t make it all about you. It’s about them and the value you can bring to them. Create opportunities to interact. Ask questions. Ask for feedback and comments.



While you are developing a communications strategy, take a moment and think about that time you were at a party and the most boring person in the room cornered you and talked about themselves for half an hour. Do you want people to feel that way about your organization? (The fact is, if you are boring them, they don’t have to be polite and stick around for half an hour. They have a delete button.)



Have you taken a realistic look lately at how you reach out – what did you find?

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