Social Media

Jeff Bullas has a great post on his blog that outlines many of the reasons that companies aren’t using social media. The post showcases many of the points that we, at AHA, have heard from senior communicators and CEOs. What I also found quite interesting are the comments. They put forward a range of perspectives and are worth a read.

In the world of a communicator or marketer, there is a great deal of focus on social media. It’s important for those of us who work in this area to keep in mind that not everyone has embraced social media the way that we have. We have had many senior executives talk to us about their fears about using social media and their concerns are valid. We’re facing a culture shift and change isn’t easy – even change for the better.

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There is a good piece on Mashable.com on How To: Use Social Media In Your PR Pitch Plan. In your organization, whether you are the communications person or not – we are in a time of change. The challenge is that we’re not all at the same spot yet. There are many people who have embraced social media, many who are looking at it but not quite sure yet, and others who are either fearful or in complete denial. Some of those in denial have decided they are going to completely ignore the conversations happening online and others have decided to use the technology and tools, but are still going about it in a traditional way. And, that just doesn’t work.

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We have regular production meetings at AHA and during today’s briefing, it hit me that public relations is a different profession today than it was even a year ago. Technology, specifically online technology, has changed how we do our job.

At AHA, we have always approached the publicity and media relations component of what we do much as a media outlet would. We have regular story meetings, we hold our ideas up to scrutiny and we review each pitch through the eyes of the specific journalist and media outlet that we are approaching. We have a focus on acting (as much as possible) like a newsroom would when it comes to clearly identifying the news value and the heart of the story before we take it to media.

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Brian Solis has a great blog post that showcases some very interesting stats about social media. It turns out that women rule when it comes to social media. I have only had a quick review of these stats and haven’t had a chance to look at some of the other blog posts and tweets on this topic yet, but there is a great deal of value in understanding not just who is using social media, but why.

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Arik Hanson has a good post on his blog that showcases nine great social media presentations for PR pros. There is a great deal of valuable information in these presentations and it’s definitely worth a read.

At AHA, we are often asked about social media and how it might work for an organization. Our answer is never “off the cuff.” Identifying whether your organization should participate in social media is a decision that needs to be based on knowledge and understanding of the organization’s objectives and goals. (We do believe that every organization should be aware of social media and know what is being said. You should be listening, even if you are not participating.)

The social media presentations listed on Arik’s blog are a good start to answering some of the questions that you may have.

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