By Stacey Harris
Ten years ago I presented a workshop on basic public relations strategies for small businesses. The room was filled with realtors, bankers, retailers, restaurateurs, and shop owners. We spent hours discussing useful PR strategies and by the end the consensus was that word of mouth was by far, most effective.
Word of mouth is still among the most effective ways to reach an audience – intentionally or unintentionally. Only in today’s marketplace, it is more commonly referred to as social media.
Social media has infiltrated almost every industry, and its impact is continually being analyzed. Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have changed the way we communicated and share information with our friends.
Remember the commercial for “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific” shampoo? “He’ll tell two friends. And they’ll tell two friends…” Today is more like “he’ll post to 300 friends, and they’ll post to another 300 and so on.” The speed at which messages move forward has increased dramatically.
We no longer have to wait to call our friends and tell them of the fantastic (or horrible) dinner we had last night. Chances are good that we posted our location, took a photo of our entrée and rated the experience – all before the check was paid.
This instantaneous nature means that PR practitioners need to engage constantly. It also means we need to be proactive in our messages, taking a long-term approach to our conversations via social media and facilitating two-way communication with our customers.
Embracing the advantages that social media provides, will allow us to plan accordingly and in some cases – think crisis communications – react accordingly.
