DavidLibby.com

Small businesses think too small when it comes to public relations and social media marketing

I've been running my public relations consultancy for over 8 years now and can tell you that when it comes to marketing, the small businesses we've worked with think too small. It's not that the small businesses don't think about what they can do with their small business, they don't know how to think about it - beyond what it's going to cost, and, in some cases, don't know where to start. Here's some tips on how to think about public relations and social media marketing for your small business.

1) Just admit it, you're not the marketing expert - Often times our clients get sales, business development, and marketing confused, jumbled, and lump everything into one basket. The truth is, one is very different than the other. Don't expect to know how they all work, nor find one person that does. Hire the right public relations expert who can suit your needs. Sometimes these means finding a person who has experience in your field or someone who you like and feel you can trust. Other times, it's a person who's reaped great success for their clients, similar to your company.

2) Don't focus on the tools - Your public relations staffer is no more going to know more about your business than you will about theirs. Just because you've heard of Facebook, Twitter, press releases, etc., don't assume to know how those tools may best suit your business. They may not. One thing's for sure. Make certain that your public relations professional has an open mind, that's focused on how to help you grow your business, not on how the success of your marketing will influence theirs. If they create a customized public relations and social media marketing plan for you, it's most likely it will be successful, especially if done in concert with your audience targeting and messaging.

3) Take your time - It's not the quick "hit" in a local newspaper that's going to turn your business on it's ear. Public relations is an evolution, not a revolution. It takes time to build up brand awareness, develop relationships with journalists, industry analysts, and generate new business leads, partnerships, etc. What's important is that you start with a plan, and stick to it best you can, of course being flexible to any market or inside company changes.

4) Push, don't pull public relations - Running a public relations campaign is much akin to planting and growing a garden. You can't wait for it rain. You've got to water your own plants. Get out there, tell your public relations professional everything that's going on in your business, the related economy, what's up with your competitors, and get marketing. Your public relations plan should consist of many elements which compliment one another. Don't just rely on one press release. Create a calendar of your upcoming announcements, look at what your key publications are writing about / what they could write about, think about what you can do with your partners, and much, much more!

In conclusion, public relations and social media marketing are not thankless jobs. Assuming (and hoping) that all of your efforts point to your business and marketing objectives, you will have marketed your company well in a very challenging environment. It's not an easy task to take, but one that has to be collaborative with your public relations professional and supported by the energy, enthusiasm, and growth which your company deserves.

Listen up PR peeps, make social media work for you, now!

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!

Delete me as your friend

I'm begging you to delete me as your friend. This is not a dare. I am not drunk. For those of you who know me, I can hold my liquor. And, that's my point. For those of you who know me, know me. For those of you who don't, let's either get to know one another or not. I am not good at my public relations profession because you can see that I have many connections on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

I did a quick look around and found many like individuals who have been in the PR biz for over 15+ years like yours truly have the same amount of "friends" and followers. My lists have gotten so out of control that on Facebook I created separate lists and only regularly check on those - and make comments - as those people I truly know.

So, why bring this up now? Yes, our digital Spring cleaning has come and gone. And, the summer is about to come to an end. However, with every end, there is a new beginning. With every death of an idea, a new one is born. By that I beg of you to delete me as your friend on any one of the social platforms, or choose to make conversation with me, or be deleted. 

I also imagine that at some point this will become an emerging trend. People will begin de-friending one another, and brands. They'll have to. As the web widens, and we become more naturally social online, so too we will need to limit our interactions with people and brands, and only keep a simple few (or a little more) within our circle of trust.

With that said, I'm going to take a stab at what defines how a person and/or brand can build that trust in me.

1) We share a past connection - you and I went to a school together, and knew each other, dated, are family, worked together, shared common business interests, former competitors, were close or distant friends, or friends with my sister.

2) We're the same religion - not just that we're both the same religion, but have identified around it together, by attending the same religious school(s), camp(s), youth group(s), etc.

3) We both like the same things - not saying that everything has to be identical, but if you're a big Depeche Mode fan, I'm sure we'll find something to talk about. I also love Radio Shack, science fiction, Apple, Nordstrom, Build-A-Bear, Sprite, Red Vines, etc.

4) We behave in similar ways - I love to be creative, generate ideas, be playful, sing, share and tell, etc.

5) We're at the same point in our lives - you're married with two young kids, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, are an active Dad / parent, etc.

6) We share the same hobbies - you like to collect stuff, read business books and science fiction, watch independent movies, listen to music like Zero 7, play the guitar, walk the dog, etc.

...and the list can go on and on. 

If someone said, "David Libby I dare you to sit down right now and delete a bunch of people (and brands)," it wouldn't be hard. And it won't be difficult for you either because you'll find that once you've shed those who are stalking you, and not talking with you, you will begin to recognize who is listening to you, and who you are listening to.

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.