Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Social Media and the Future of PR

It's no secret that social media is creating quite the buzz in the public relations profession. Websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube make it incredibly easy for PR professionals to connect with their target public with more ease than ever before. While having access to these social media outlets is important, it's even more important to understand how to use them effectively.

In the article Social Media New Releases and Social Media Newsrooms-Just Good PR by Sally Falkow she explains the upcoming trend of creating media releases specific to social media. She discusses that the press release has transformed from being targeted at newspapers to radio, to TV (where the VNR was born) so why not for social media? PR professionals have to understand they need to present their information in a format that will get them the best results.

Falkow goes on to explain that in the social media release it's important to include URL links to all social content, all news releases in a social media format, any multimedia assets, syndicate all news content in RSS feeds, and provide embedded codes with images and video so bloggers or journalists can easily use your content.

After researching public relations trends it was easy to see that social media is all that’s being talked about. I feel like it's important for PR professionals to embrace and use social media but I also feel like they shouldn't forget their roots. Networking and getting out into the community is still key for the future PR professional to remember. There are many wonderful things that can be done from behind a desk using social media but you should never forget the power of networking within your own community.

Photo Courtesy of :kellerwilliamskissimmee.com

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