Your public relations specialist has an array of options to use on your behalf when publicizing your brand or business.
Right now, in the middle of the biggest health crisis the country has faced in 100 years, perhaps the most important of those options is social media.
In myriad ways, we are still in lockdown – mandated or not. Many people are still reluctant to leave the house. Many decline to sit indoors at a restaurant. Many refuse to travel, as the airlines are barely at 30% capacity compared to this time last year.
That makes social media more critical than ever.
Depending on how smartly you use it, of course.
Things have changed with social media during the course of the pandemic as well. For instance, many businesses and brands use apps like HootSuite to schedule out tweets and posts in advance. As we saw in the last few days with President Trump and his wife being diagnosed with COVID-19, things can change in a heartbeat. The tweet you thought was benign four or five days ago might be interpreted far differently. Be diligent about how you approach your social media posts.
It also might be difficult to sell the public on celebrities as pitch people at the moment. Influencers are still needed, no doubt, but on a smaller scale. There has been an increase in the significance of nano and micro influencers. If you have a niche product, don’t discount the importance of the nano influencers (1,000-10,000 followers) and micro influencers (10,000-99,000 followers).
Social listening is even more important these days as well. This is something all brands should monitor. It’s less about how many times your brand or business is mentioned, and more about the substance of what consumers are saying. It is imperative to listen to help craft future messages that are on-point; those who fail to utilize social listening often create content that is irrelevant or, worse, tone-deaf.
And, it goes without saying but we’ll state the obvious – patting one’s self on the back is all good well, but time and place are the keys to remember. This isn’t the time, and social media isn’t the place.
Finally, let’s not forget that public relations firms are businesses and brands, too. Many of them, like Media Maison, are boutique shops. The pandemic has hit us all. You should be increasing YOUR social media presence as much as the clients you represent.
Want to chat about how to be in this together? We host a PR Zoom call the last Friday of the month to vent. share and help each other through these times. Email us and we will get you connected. info@mediamaison.com
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