Just Facebook Me.

Just Facebook Me.
By: Lynley Kees

Public Relations professionals use social media though out their every day schedule. It is used so much in our daily lives that most of the time people are not even aware they are utilizing social media. PR professionals use social networking to generate awareness, promoting products, to staying in contact with work and their clients with the click of a button. I have seen an enormous amount in trends in social media over the past years. I hate that the words “Facebook me” is amongst my daily vocabulary along with asking myself, “what should I tweet today.” It is amazing to see how much social media has affected our lives in how we proactively communicate with others with a click of a button. I have only been a member of Facebook for three years and I have seen numerous positive changes in ways to communicate with people around the world. Now with the invention of Twitter, Blogger and Delicious and many other social networking services, the ways to communicate is never ending. For instance, take a look at this class. We are using Blooger to post assignments on the web to be viewed by our professors and fellow students. Also this semester my campaigns group and I have been using all different forms of social media for our client Big Brothers Big Sisters as an outlet to reach our targeted publics.

It is weird to think about how the world used to communicate to each other. Today the accesses we have to these types of social media have only made our job easier. I see the use of social media excessively growing in the future. In the past few years alone I have seen a change in how the world is communicating with one another for the better and look forward to seeing what the future brings.

Image Information: Social Media
Web source: Social Media Sites

Facebook helps companies seem more personable and easy to reach.

The world is fast changing and developing. As people often say, it is becoming a "global village." Several trends and practices stand out to me in today's worlds especially in the field of marketing, advertising and public relations. One trend that stands out to me especially is social media whether it be Facebook, Twitter, You tube, or blogs.

According the Facebook Web site under "press room," there are more than 400 million active users worldwide. Companies often use Facebook groups to generate friends and a public to target. On a smaller scale, campus organizations use Facebook groups and events to promote an event, and It also helps to estimate the amount of people that will attend the event.

Facebook helps companies seem more personable and easy to reach.

Another social media tool that I think is becoming more and more efficient is Twitter. It is amazing how status updates create awareness about an issue and motivate people to do a certain thing. Just like most social media aspect, status updates are really personable which is an important aspect in getting people to take action.

Another aspect of social media that can help a PR professional with a successful campaign is its flexibility. Social media messages can easily be changed if need be without worry of any confusion or miscommunication. More information can always be added if needed. An example is if a company releases a new product, and announces the wrong date, it can always go back to announce a change in the product release date if needed.

Another trend I am seeing more and more of lately is the videos on You Tube specifically make up and apparel videos. Companies are hiring young and energetic individuals to make videos talking about their products. I think the videos are very effective judging from the feedback and comments that people leave in the "comment section." Its is important for PR professionals to know how to use social media to a specific target public.

Effectively using social media and upcoming trends in public relations

By: Christy Ferguson







Public relations professionals are always looking for new trends to improve the business. According to many articles online that discuss public relations trends of 2010, social media is becoming one of the best vehicles for public relations practitioners to reach their target audiences and/or clients. This semester my campaigns group and I have been using all different forms of social media (Facebook, Twitter and blogging) for our client the Norman Arts Council. Within a few months, the awareness of the NAC has significantly increased just through the usage of social media alone. Along with Facebook and Twitter, the new social media foursquare is a great way to interactively keep in touch with what is going on around you in the city where you live.

Because we now live in a very fast paced world, social media is a nice tool that allows for public relations professionals to stay in touch with work and clients while on the go. Handheld electronics make it even easier for people to access their social media, and I feel that sometimes it has even become a distraction within the working world. Although social media is a great tool for the PR professionals, we don’t want it to distract people to the point where it is the only thing they rely upon.

In the article Public Relations Trends 2010 by Christine Perkett, she says, “It’s an exciting time to see PR going back to people and relationships. Successful PR executives know how to build and maintain quality relationships – today, social media is a core part of making that happen.” I completely agree with this but at the same time I think PR professionals have forgotten how important it is to create mutually beneficial relationships and to actually meet face to face with a client rather than over the Internet. If you please your client or employers by doing good work for them, then you have benefitted from this relationship because you know that can do your job to the upmost ability. Don’t get me wrong, social media and the Internet are great, but we need to make sure that we are still creating strong relationships and keeping clients in the forefront of our minds at all times.

CR Ransom’s article 2010 Five Smartest PR Moves and Trends to Start Now, gives great advice to those who are already in the PR field or who will be in the near future. These PR moves included everything from value awareness and branded exposure to event effects and social engagement. I think event effect is interesting because it is basically creating events “that leave lasting effects to influence brand loyalty.” We so often promote events whether there is a “wow” factor or not. It’s time that PR professionals go out and promote events that they know will be successful and stand out among other events.

I look back 10 years ago and wonder how people communicated without the social media we have today. Social media has made our job as PR practitioners more efficient and it is easier to stay in contact with those who are important to us. Another great thing about social media is that it is constantly growing and with that, the communication vehicles seem to be getting better and better. For instance, we started out with MySpace followed by Facebook, Twitter and now foursquare. What will the future bring?

Image courtesy of http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/social-media.jpg

Is There Something New?

Is There Something New?

By: Matthew Wilson

Oh, life in the world of public relations. We are always searching for that new communication tool to draw the public towards your client. Whether it be your client’s website, Facebook or Twitter account or using new social media like Foursquare (hmm…Dr. C), there is never a lack of trying something new.

But why do organizations try to find the next thing to catch the attention of the consumer? It is trying to catch that next popular communication tool and tap into the rush of usage in relation with your client.

The next three sections are trends that could be on the horizon for the PR community, if not already.

1. Social Media: According to a Brigham Young University PRSSA newsletter, one of the top trends in the PR profession is social media. The development of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter will drive out some of the old techniques.

“The importance of print media and classic channels of public relations are soon at an end,” says Stephanie Hunt, a writer for the BYU newsletter.1

2. Searching for PR: According to the ProActive Report, the Google search for public relations has been declining for years now. In 2009, the searches for social media and networking surpassed searches for public relations on Google.

“It will become an integral part of PR programs in 2010. And PR people have to master social media and use it strategically to be effective,” says Sally Falkow, a contributing writer for the ProActive Report.2

3. Transparency: One of the knocks on PR is that there is a lot of trash that goes into the communications to the public. According to Small Business Trends, “With the advent of transparency, open communication and the integration of social media into everything that we do, our industry can’t help but weed out the good from the bad.”3

The new way to reach the public is through short and sweet messages that will not try and waist the public’s time. With the new trend of being open and transparent, a PR organization should not try and sugar coat their messages.

There are quite a few options to choose now in this day in age but a company need to watch out for over-stimulation of the public. In the search for something new a company could alienate someone who likes the old ways.

1Hunt, Stephanie, The Professional, http://www.byuprssa.org/uploads/1/4/7/0/1470586/december_newsletter_final.pdf

2 Falkow, Sally, The ProActive Report, http://www.proactivereport.com/

3 Perkett, Christine, Small Buisness Trends, http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/01/public-relations-trends- for-2010.html

PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences

by Nick Holmes

PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences by Deirdre Breakenridge highlights the “new” Public Relations. Public relations has become a “Two-Way Highway” in the past few years. No longer does one send a press release and hope it gets published, then hope someone actually reads it. In the modern day, publics feel the need to interact with their lives.

Social Media is the face of this changing medium. Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have forever changed the way Public Relations practitioners interact with the publics. Using these new tools, PR professionals can place messages in places not traditionally known for news.

These new tools are developing around us. PR Practitioners needs to realize that this new medium is the way of the future and to embrace it rather than fight it.

PR Practitioners need to remember in this digital age to monitor what they send out, and the frequency in which information is released. The fastest way to lose followers is to pollute their streams with useless information. Publics are willing to share their social networking time with outside organizations, but this privilege should not be abused. As a twitter user, I have “unfollowed” many celebrities or companies when they pollute my Twitter feed. If I am doing this as a Public Relations student who understand and supports their efforts, what is this causing your average society member to do?

Social Media will continue to evolve and eventually be replaced by the next “big thing.” But until PR 3.0, this is the world we’re living in.

Get out from behind your computer screens!

By Kristin Biery

Today's lecture about Twittering really made me think about the transition the communication field is making. We are moving out of the boardrooms, off of conference calls and are instead sitting behind a computer screen. Although I am someone who loves text messaging and getting online—there is a time and a place for it. Websites like twitter, facebook, myspace, craigslist and other popular blog sites are becoming the norm for social networking and advancing careers.

Today in class we had a guest speaker who had over 15,000 followers on her twitter page. That’s ridiculous to me. I understand that by using the internet you can reach a broader group of individuals, but how genuine and sincere can the relationships be? There is only so much information I am willing to give out online and I am not very trusting to people who I meet on the internet.

We all watch the stories on Dateline and 20/20 about internet predators and unfortunately it has tainted my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, I have a facebook and today in class I signed up for a twitter page, however I hope that that is not the life line of my social network.

Social Networking and Public Relations

By Leah Packard

For the last blog assignment, I interviewed Whittney Beech, the public relations manager and First Fidelity Bank in Oklahoma City. Throughout the interview, she brought up the importance of social media and the future of public relations so I have decided to expand on this issue.

Social media is everywhere now; there is a social networking site for just about everything out there. Every career field has its own site for those in the field or students planning on joining the field. Colleges have their own sites and so do sororities and fraternities. And of course you can't leave out the giant-sized facebook.

However, not only are public relations practioners using their own sites like www.onlinepr.ning.com but they are using sites like facebook to monitor and participate in conversations about the companies or brands they represent. There are many blog stories I found about the importance of practioners engaging in social networking, like this story with tips about making the most of your online networking time, or this website completely dedicated to the future of public relations and marketing.

The upcoming class of consumers will be more tech-savvy than any before. They have access to the internet practically everywhere they go on social networking sites more so than any other besides yahoo and google.

Not only are practioners engaging with other social networking users but they are paying for advertising space. But not just any advertising space, this advertising can be tailored to a very specific audience based on what type of information the user reveals in their profiles.

Social networking is a huge part of life today and will only grow in the future. Public relations practioners know how valuable understanding social networking is and will continue to integrate it within their campaigns.

This is... Miguel Gonzalez

by Matthew Burris

Summer.

Most people spend it on vacation or in front of the TV. Not me. I spent the whole summer in Washington, D.C. performing intern duties (filing, collating, sifting through data, etc.) for the National Education Association. For all the pain of walking 30 minutes to work in Mid-Atlantic summer heat, I got to work with some great people. Miguel Gonzalez definitely fits into that category.

On top of having earned his Master's in Public Policy from American University, Miguel has also been working in the PR field for 15 years. He has worked in areas ranging from non-profit to government, and now he excels as a spokesperson and Senior Press Officer, Public Relations for the National Education Association. He leads the Association’s national communications efforts on major advocacy and public engagement campaigns such as the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, the 2008 presidential campaign, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Miguel says he enjoys his job because it combines his three passions, "policy, politics, and public relations."

This kind of experience means that Miguel has a lot of knowledge to pass on to the next generation of PR professionals.

Some people want to deny the slow death that the print media is suffering through, but those people are probably going to be left behind. Miguel is not one of them. He realizes that it is time for PR professionals to embrace the new technology or perish.

"As the media landscape changes (more and more newspapers are shutting down, others are curtailing coverage beats, etc.,) public relations professionals in the 21st century have to be flexible and adaptable and look for creative ways to contribute to the mission of the organization and to the bottom line," he says.

"A public relations professional in the 21^st century needs to have a solid mastery of basic skills like writing, proofing, editing; coupled with the strategic vision to look around the corner and assess emerging issues; and understand how to utilize social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and others to do your job well."

As for career advice, Miguel reminds us all that we should never settle.

"Diversify—work in politics, campaigns, Capitol Hill, private sector, understand how other disciplines work. This will enhance your experience and bring value-added to the organization."

True words of wisdom.

The Sooner yearbook campaign

The Sooner yearbook campaign
Carrie Musch

As part of the JMC 4403 (PR Campaigns) class, Innovative PR was assigned a client, Sooner yearbook, and charged with developing a public relations campaign that addressed Sooner’s lack of student awareness and poor sales.

Dr. Carstarphen suggested our campaign take an indirect approach – our efforts should focus on creating college nostalgia rather than directly promoting Sooner. We were also asked to develop a way for Sooner to participate in campus life so that it would be a more visible entity of OU.

Secondary research has shown that Sooner is not alone. College yearbook sales are dwindling across the United States. In fact, Lori Brooks, Sooner’s director, said only 83 college yearbooks are still in print. Yearbooks are also competing with newer mediums such as social networking Web sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Innovative PR distributed surveys to collect primary data. Our survey research reported that 60 percent of students said the yearbook was slightly or completely insignificant to their college memories. We will continue to collect data through updated surveys and a focus group.

Innovative PR has begun event planning. To evoke college nostalgia, we will host a free screening of Old School on Monday, April 14. We are currently seeking donations for this event in addition to executing our media strategy and finalizing our crisis plan. To keep Sooner in touch with campus life, we are implementing a sticker campaign during Big Event, a one-day student run community service effort. Our stickers will say, “Your smile is a Big Event in OU history.” The sticker will also direct students to a MySpace page that gives them more information on the yearbook and how to place an order.

We believe that both of these events will add value to Sooner.

How to Pitch in the Millennium Era.

How to Pitch in the Millennium Era.

Traci Reiserer

In today's day and age, everyone is busy, on the go and does not have a second to waste. This is why pitching is becoming more and more important to public relations practitioners. Pitching, whether it be over the telephone, by e-mail or in person, can be one of the most difficult yet important tasks in the public relations profession. The reporter on the other line might be distracted by others, working to finish up a story on a deadline or just flat out does not have time to talk to you. Whether you are pitching a feature story, exclusive story or breaking news story, you need to be prepared and know when and how to pitch. The absolute worst thing one can do when trying to pitch a story is to be unprepared.


Pitching by Telephone: The telephone is one of the most common ways to pitch to a news writer. When on the phone, it is best to act as if you only have 30 seconds to pitch the story; 10 seconds if you want to "speed pitch." The most effective way to start your pitch is to immediately explain why you are calling and begin to convince the reporter that your story is extremely important. Always ask a reporter if it is a good time for them to talk, otherwise they will not listen to you and will probably rush you along. Explain to them why your story is important in just a sentence or two and why readers will want to hear about your story. Immediately close the deal with them and ask if he or she has any questions.

Pitching by E-Mail: These days, many people pitch by e-mail. Since our inboxes now are filled with junk mail and spam, this might not be the most effective way to pitch a story. On the contrary, with e-mail, you can make a quick statement with a catchy headline as well as add a few pictures to catch the eye and attention of your viewer.

Pitching by Facebook: Surprisingly, one reporter suggested that PR practitioners pitch to him via his Facebook wall. This might not be completely valuable for all PR practitioners since not everyone is listed on Facebook and does not have that sort of contact information. Not to mention that everyone will see your wall post and could steal your story. Better safe than sorry.


Although there are many different ways and tactics to pitch a story, most PR professionals still think the most efficient and formal way to pitch a story is to simply pick up the good ole telephone.

Photograph Link:

http://hometown.aol.com/arisenshine/images/phone%20call.jpg