Earned Media: Going, Going, Gone – Social Media
Social Media has forever changed the definition of Media Relations. At one time promoting your company or agency was all about getting news coverage on TV and radio or getting an article in a newspaper or magazine. But today, earned media must include a big focus on your online audience. Nielsen research tells us that 85% of consumers seek out and trust peer reviews when considering any significant purchase. So, how do you earn positive media? It’s very definition, publicity you haven’t paid for that’s created by a third party, could make you believe that you don’t control it, but that’s simply not true. While there is NO perfect science behind what’s a good post, here are few pointers to consider.
Be Engaging
The Facebook algorithm puts a higher priority on posts that organically generate engagement; reactions, shares and comments. A photo that entertains or makes people laugh is more likely to generate the type of social traffic that ensures your posts will reach a higher percentage of your followers. Also, information that is useful, news people can use, is another way to achieve this goal. And never underrate the value of a shareable infographic as a catchy way to package your message. To illustrate this point, Check out this graphic on the most successful types of Facebook posts in 2016. When in doubt, be engaging!
Be Likeable
To borrow a phrase from PR guru, Peter Shankman, instead of chasing likes, be likeable! If you make your customers happy, they will post and tweet about it because that’s how people communicate today. And if they are saying good things about your brand in their reviews and testimonials, then they are generating the social traffic that 85% of people trust! This is sometimes easier said than done because it requires a company-wide philosophy of exceeding customer expectations, however it may just be the key to becoming not only likeable, but lovable!
Videotape It
Back to the Facebook algorithm, it’s set up to compete with YouTube. Which means, videos posted on Facebook will reach more of your followers than photographs. In fact, video is estimated to get a 135% greater reach than pictures. And your videos do not have to be well produced or well shot they just need to entertain, inform or inspire. It’s worth the time and effort to create one considering videos are watched eight billion times a day on Facebook.
Get Involved
For consumers, one of the great benefits of social media is they get to know the team of people behind the brand. But the only way to achieve this is by dedicating time to monitoring and interacting on your social media platforms. By using social media monitoring tools, you can jump into conversations about your company. You can thank the happy customers and try to address the concerns of unsatisfied ones. This shows the world that you care about your customers and their experience with your company. If you want people to talk about your brand, you must talk with them and build a relationship worth tweeting about!
Invest plenty of time in interacting on social media.
Without social media, you and your potential customers are basically strangers. That’s the really cool thing about social media: It brings you so much closer to consumers. To have an impact on them and to encourage them to talk about your brand, you should spend plenty of time and energy interacting with them individually online.
Set up filters in your social monitoring tools to help monitor conversations about your brand, and jump in when you can add something to the conversations. Ask your followers questions about their daily lives or about their experiences with your brand. Give your biggest fans a shout out from your account. Your willingness to show people you care enough about them, about their experience, and about your own business to respond to their posts can elicit positive emotions about your brand, and those positive emotions are shareworthy.