Strategy Matters brings you news, tips and strategies for effective communications from Strategic Communications, LLC. We're committed to bringing you success through strategy. www.stratcommunications.com |
Connecting with individuals, not organizations.
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The American Medical Association recently issued some guidelines for physicians on the use of social media. As a former director of corporate communications in a large health care organization, I think these guidelines are much needed. In my "old role" I would have worked hard to keep our providers from independently using social media to communicate with patients.
But since then I've come to believe that it would make more sense for individual providers to communicate through social media than health care organizations. Think about it--who are you most likely to want to interact with, an organization or an individual?
As I dabble in, talk about, and research the use of social media to help organizations and individuals connect with their desired audiences, it's becoming increasingly clear to me that consumers aren't interested in interacting with institutions-they're interested in interacting with people. Individual people.
That creates both new opportunities and new challenges for organizations that must balance both brand/image protection and communication effectiveness.
Learn more here.
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Q: Which department should own social media?
A: No single department!
I participate in a number of online forums that cover various communication issues and a question that invariably comes up is "what department should 'own' social media"?
My bias: No single department owns social media. Various departments may *use* social media to serve their needs-just as over the years they've used the telephone, the fax machine, cell phones and the Internet to do the same.
Think about it this way. In your company...
- Which department is responsible for the organization's brand image? That department should also be responsible for how social media impacts the brand.
- Which department is responsible for customer service? That department should also be responsible for how social media is used to impact customer service.
- Which department is responsible for recruitment? That department should also be responsible for how social media is used to impact recruitment.
The bottom line: social media doesn't change what organizations do or what their individual departments are responsible or accountable for.
While it's new and trendy and not yet widely understood, even by the self-professed "social media experts," it is still simply a communication mechanism. It simply represents another option that can be used to achieve individual, departmental and ultimately organizational goals.
What does this mean for your organization? |
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Still using news releases?
News releases used to be a given in the world of media relations. They were the best way to get your message across to journalists and reporters. They were so common, in fact, that students learned the "rules" of creating and formatting news releases in PR courses across the country. In fact, some still do.
But, news releases aren't as prevalent today and there is much discussion and debate about their value, or lack thereof. I actually rarely produce news releases for my own company or for our clients. Instead, e-mail communication has become more the norm, providing a quick way to connect with reporters and provide them a brief--and, hopefully, compelling--summary of what you have to offer.
Still, I do believe that there are some ways in which news releases can still be used effectively. - Publicly held companies are required to issue releases for certain material events. It's a regulatory requirement and is likely to remain so for some time.
- A news release can provide a good "backgrounder" to include at the end of an email pitch to provide additional information or support for the pitch.
- News releases can be posted on a variety of online sites, many that offer free placement. While they don't necessarily generate media interest, they can help boost SEO (search engine optimization) efforts and increase web site traffic.
- If your web site has a "media" or "news" area, news releases can be posted/archived, providing a handy resource for journalists and reporters.
When writing news releases, as when writing email pitches (which are really just an informal version of the traditional news release), some basic rules apply: - Find the news angle. Reporters aren't interested in helping you promote your products or services. Think of creative ways you can tie your key messages to newsworthy events.
- Focus on the needs/interests of the media outlet's audience--why would they be interested in what you have to say?
- Get to the point and keep it brief. Journalists and reporters are extremely busy these days, they don't have a lot of time to try to figure out what it is you have to offer. KISS - Keep it short and simple!
- Offer something of value. The results of research studies and surveys, case studies, connections with key sources, etc.
Bottom line--put yourself in the shoes of a busy reporter and think about what it would take to interest YOU in your story, recognizing that yours is one of potentially dozens of pitches they're receiving on a daily basis. | |
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DESIGNING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS METRICS
Designing effective metrics often seems deceptively simple. But, while it may sound simple, for instance, to conclude that the proper metric for evaluating the success of a public awareness campaign is whether or not public awareness was increased, a good set of business metrics will dig much deeper than this.
Contact us for a free copy of our latest white paper, Designing Effective Business Metrics.
Strategy Matters! linda@stratcommunications.com
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