If you're a public relations professional like me, you're probably using Cision (aka MediaMap) or Vocus or EdCals.com, or one of the many other tools to make your life more effective for your clients. But, many of you are not using social media tools. And, those can be just as effective for informing your target audiences on your messaging and client news.
But, wait! You say you are? How? What?
Because every time a press release comes out or an article you secured hits the Google News Alert, you "tweet" about it? What you're really doing is wasting your (and your clients') time, and not maximizing what you could be doing on the social web.
Here's some tips on how to make it all worth it:
1) Research off Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn - There IS life beyond those networks (ie. Ning, Google and Yahoo Groups, etc.) where you can find niche networks (and email list serves) where you can non-commercially become a part of those communities and add value to them, engage in dialogue, inform, and spark conversations. And, you don't have to necessarily be the focus of the conversation either...
2) Use social bookmarking services - Get creative on how you're tagging your news and information on social bookmarking services (ie. DIGG, StumbleUpon, Delicious, etc.) to attract a broader set of audiences. Also, find like people who may be interested in your information and news and befriend them. If you're consistent with the information and news that you send them over time, you'll notice that they'll be sending you the same.
3) Don't worry so much about the numbers - So, you're targeting a certain group of people (ie. web developers) and have a couple hundred followers / friends on Twitter. Don't try to make conversations with them all. That's impossible and not needed. Only a very small number will influence the many. Target the most well liked and conversational. Notice I didn't say to target the one or two with the most followers / friends. When you converse with those few folks, keep it within the context of a group (ie. #webdev - if one such exists - research it first on Twitter search), and expand the audience in that manner, not by spamming another person's Twitter followers.
4) Re-read your content to see if it has a broader reach than you originally thought - Your press release was about a new product for web developers. But, after re-reading the piece, you realize that it could be of interest to security minded folk too. BTW, This kind of realization is best done prior to the initial outreach because the messaging to different audiences will be, different. But, now you can run the same exercise as mentioned in 1-3 above and expand the brand footprint of your client's information and news.
There's a lot more we could do as public relations professionals to leverage social media tools, but this is just a start. I hope it was helpful in expanding your mind on the subject.
Good luck!
