Martin Waxman presented to Loyalist College in March 2011 on how social media is changing communications. He discussed how social media has disrupted traditional assumptions about how information and communication works. It has become a democratic, transparent, and conversational way for organizations to build relationships. Waxman outlined several social media platforms like blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and mobile and provided tips for how PR professionals can engage with and leverage these channels as part of an overall social media strategy. He emphasized the importance of listening, conversing, engaging and developing relationships across social media to help build brands.

1. The New PR:How Social Media are Changing the Communications Environment Martin Waxman energi PR, Communications, Digital Presented to Loyalist College March 2011 © 2011 energi PR Inc. All Rights Reserved.

2. The blogosphere – a view from above

3. “I’m old enough to know a lot of things, just from life experience. I know that newspapers are where you get your political news and how you look for a job. I know that music comes from stores. I know that if you want to have a conversation with someone, you call them on the phone. I know that complicated things like software or encyclopedias have to be created by professionals. In the last 15 years, I’ve had to unlearn every one of those things and a million others, because those things have stopped being true.” -Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

4. What is PR?

5. An industry definition According to the Canadian Public Relations Society: Public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals, and serve the public interest. (Flynn, Gregory & Valin, 2008)

6. It’s all about relationships!

7. We are also… Storytellers Personal trainers Trends experts Guardians of reputation Trusted counselors

8. What is social media?

9. My erstwhile attempt at a definition Social media is a democratic, transparent and conversational way for people and organizations to interact and build relationships and communities of mutual benefit - usually online. (from my(PR)Palette)

10. It’s all about relationships!

11. What else? It’s similar to MSM (mainstream media) Influencers spread stories to an audience you want to reach It’s different from MSM in that there are even less checks and balances and anyone can do it Facts? What facts? It can leap across traditional country borders in a single bound Link to MW article for International Public Relations Association

12. And… Social media uses many of the same tools as MSM, except it’s mostly DIY (Giovanni Rodriguez) Cost of entry low, or practically non-existent Two-way, more conversational, long-term commitment Word spreads fast online; need to stay connected Tag to be search-engine-relevant

13. Why is social media important? Listen: monitor what’s being said and decide on response Converse: adds human element to companies and helps develop credibility and trust Engage: develop relationships with influencers/customers across a variety of platforms to help build your brand

14. Where to begin...

15. A few considerations Intersection of personal and professional (Joseph Jaffe) Need to establish parameters; social media policy New tools, old rules Ethics Professionalism Transparency Production values/writing/style

16. Develop a plan Start with strategy and goals Ask questions: Who? Why? Who are the influencers? Do you have a strong relationship them? Are you in it for the long haul? What’s your budget, staffing? Which of your partners can best help you bring it to life?

17. Then pick the tools

18. The glue Real Simple Syndication RSS = subscribing

19. Now vs. Then  

20. Reaching bloggers Todd Defren All about relationships (like PR) Join the community, listen and then participate Important to be transparent, honest, credible and conversational Disclosure – new FTC rules in U.S. Never, ever spam a blogger – or journalist – or ANYBODY Jay Baer Gini Dietrich Joseph Thornley

21. Reaching bloggers Use Social Media News Release to distribute information Similar to traditional news release but with added features – links, visuals, video, audio, quotes Consider social media newsroom with RSS feed on your website as useful media resource

22. Podcasts Pre-recorded, downloadable audio shows Self-produced using free software Like blogs, can cover virtually any topic Education PR Politics Beauty/fashion Cars Sports Entertainment Cooking Shopping You name it PR industry examples: Inside PR For Immediate Release

24. 2nd most popular search engine

25. 24 Hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute

27. Production values should match

28. Promote on multiple platforms

31. @anywhere new function that lets you build in Twitter apps into your website

32. Promoted tweets, new ad platform lets businesses pay for tweets

33. 65 million tweets per day; Twitter donated archive of public tweets to the Library of Congress

35. ROI How do you determine whether or not you’ve been successful at reaching your goals? Have you reached your influencers and had an impact on perceptions, behaviour (outcome vs. output)? No definitive measurement tool… yet New definition of ROI: ‘Risk of Ignorance’ (Todd Defren)

37. PR students Think about your online footprint Have you built a relationship with us? New skill set required: telling stories visually and not just with words, understanding of and comfort with the tools Some things don’t change: judgment, morals, strong writing, creativity, smart business thinking

38. Jumping in Develop a social media strategy and then use the right tools that help achieve your objective Not everyone needs to be a blogger, video producer, podcaster Don’t get caught up in the shiny, pretty things Who do you call for help? Become part of a community that means something to you Try it out Ask questions All it takes is a bit of clicking, patience and time Test and learn, repeat Don’t get lost in the traffic jam if your head is swimming, you’re probably headed in the right direction; you will get there

39. Resources And… Suggested reading: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel Groundswell by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff SocialCorp by Joel Postman Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky Content Rules by Ann Handley & CC Chapman The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

40. Questions? Contact: Martin Waxman martin.waxman@energipr.comBlog:my(PR)palette www.energipr.com Twitter: @martinwaxman www.facebook.com/energipr