DavidLibby.com

Social Media IS a Super Food

Right now 55 percent of my business is social media relations, 45 percent is media relations, and 5 percent is helping a client get speaking engagements at nationwide conferences. I expected it to be different. Also, interesting, is that more than 60 percent of my time, monthly, is being used to contact the press aka media relations and secure mentions in print, online, and blogs. Only 10 percent of my time is spent doing social media relations, yet it accounts for 55 percent of my total business. What's my point? My point is: social media is a super food.

And, only one of them. While direct marketing and public relations agencies swallow the gift that is social media, form new muscle, and wreak havoc on expanding client programs beyond traditional means, social media relations is only one of the many super foods we eat up every day.

SEO is another. Podcasting. Webcasting. And so on and so on. If you were to sit down and map out the universe of PR, it is expanding, and now involves a smorgasbord (had to look up the spelling of that one) of integrated elements, similar to how we entertain our palettes with a complementary selection of wine, food, and desserts. Yes, I am hungry now.

My data also indicates that as PR people - and those who are without carrying the official title - can strategize and execute a social media PR program with very little and generate great results for clients. But, of course, any good chef - still hungry - would admit that to make a certain dish, you must allow for the right amount of time.

And, results are subjective - oh, lots to talk about here - unless of course you and your client or company identified the objectives up front - and all forks are pointed forward. Social media for the sake of doing social media is at the sake of social media. Unless of course, you know you have to do (social media) - which you do - and you get creative with it, instead of sitting on your hands.

Or, creativity is simply identifying what your competitors are not doing with it, and doing it better, as you can easily find the best practices of most anything these days - on the Internet! 

So, which super food is social media. They're not all equal. I think blueberries are one of the best. Walnuts are good too. It's been a long time since I've studied up on this stuff. My running days are long gone. Maybe it's worth applying this kind of thinking into how we strategize a PR program - push social media aside for a moment - and integrate SEO, social media, podcasting, webcasting, etc., all into the mix. Sound like too big a venture?

Probably so. But, nonetheless, worth the exercise. I think that while those blueberries may be the best thing on the super market shelf right now, it's not in excess, and, not without what else balances out that food with what else your body needs. Water, after all, makes up 70+ percent of your body. What kind of water are you drinking? Not drinking enough? Eating dark chocolate? Drinking one or two cups of coffee a day?

And, don't even get me started on what outside of the super food group will make you feel and look better aka exercise just the way advertising, direct marketing, and email marketing can blow your PR - and social media - program, most days...

I'll say it again - even though 55 percent of my current business is social media relations, my core business - media relations - is at 45 - and climbing. Just like any diet, I know what my vocational body needs. It needs to stick to the core of what is driving everything else. The PR objectives are the same, the tools are what's changing. 

Maybe one day social media relations will be a significant majority of my PR practice, but PR will still be at the core of my practice, just akin to water being at the source of my life - without it, I would die.

Hey, Let's Be Careful Out There

Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (actor Michael Conrad) didn't say it first, but on the hit 80's TV show Hill Street Blues, "Hey, let's be careful out there," was one of the most memorable quotes his character sang, as his officers were exiting the briefing room for their daily duty. As you exit your conference rooms, I would err the same caution, when thinking about how to execute your marketing ideas.

There's a lot of great ideas out there. I was listening to Anna Farmery's interview of Jay Berkowitz and started thinking of the implementation of marketing ideas, not just the ideas themselves. While I thoroughly enjoyed both podcasts, I got concerned that marketers (authors) like Berkowitz are creating "pixie dust marketers."

I know the goal of his book, blog, Twitter posts and everything else pushed out into the media sphere is to draw new consulting business and speaking opportunities, just like are mine, but are we also birthing new kinds of marketers who get some "great ideas" and fire them off onto the web or through a social media tool, then wait for a quick hit from their existing or new audience, rather than focus on building their brands and business?

I'm noticing that small technology companies are writing commercial "comments" as responses to blog posts, replying to people on Twitter just to push their wares, launching Facebook fan and group pages just to see how many people they can get into their hands, and so on and so on.

The big brands have the dollars to build marketing strategies and social applications. But, the little guys are either DIY or need to hire a Berkowitz like expert to make an ROI impact. I think the time is coming when marketers like myself and Berkowitz stop pushing marketing one offs to the web and create a series of how-to paid webinars or series of workbooks that actually help small businesses grow, holistically.

As it becomes easier for any small business to market to their audience online through multiple non social and social applications, too will there be a need for professionals to transform into teachers and guide those small businesses on best practices and better marketing performance to drive the overall health of their businesses.

Don't get me wrong. I like all of the ideas and have learned a lot from Berkowitz and like marketers, but also caution small businesses to be careful out there when trying to execute on the unknown and without a long-term plan.