The Intersection of PR and Social Media
Over the years, social media has slowly become one of the most critical aspects of public relations. Most people, no matter their age, has at least one social media account. Social media is now the way to reach a large group of people; however, there are specific things to keep in mind when making PR announcements on social media. Here are five tips to help.
- Always make sure you include all of the information in one post.
When writing a post about an event on social media, all of the information needs to be together in one post. Most people are not willing to go searching for what happened in that incident or how many new shoes are being released in your company’s new launch. If the information is there in front of them and they can view it with minimal effort, they will be more likely to be aware of what’s going on.
- Make sure the post isn’t too long.
Going off of my first point, most people are also not willing to read a post if it is incredibly long. If all of the information is there in front of them, they will read it but once it becomes a novel, most people will click off because they won’t care enough at the moment to continue reading.
- Include a graphic or picture.
If your post is about an event that is going to be happening or about something that people will want to see an example of, it is always helpful to post a picture or flyer. If the flyer is the size of a phone screen, then they can also screenshot it and keep it on their phone in case they want to reread the information and don’t want to search for it.
- Post on more than one social media platform.
It is always helpful to post on more than just one social media platform. Some people only have accounts on specific platforms. To reach everyone, it is important to utilize every option. Content should differ from platform to platform as well. For example what you might post on Facebook can’t be the same thing you would post on Twitter because Twitter has a word limit on what you can post.
- Try to make the content interesting and eye-catching.
The only way people will stop to read your post if they aren’t already interested in your topic is if you make the post-eye-catching. If it’s just a short paragraph of words, most people won’t stop to read it so try to make it colorful or fun. Including a picture can also make it interesting because people might stop to look at the picture and stay to read the information you have written.
Social media is a way to get your information out there. It’s a free way to help shape the public image of your company and a way to support any campaign or event you might be hosting. It can also be a way to have fun and be creative with how you want to share your company’s information.
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Browning Lane is a junior at Samford University majoring in Public Relations and Advertising with a minor in Film Production. You can connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
