Why Public Relations is Becoming More Important in Businesses Today

The field of public relations has evolved other the course of time as business as changed. As Harold Burson once said, he saw the meaning of public relations go from “How do you say it?” to “What do you say” and finally to “What do you do?” Public relations has moved as a behind the scenes practice to being engaged with executives directly.

With the rise of social media, public relations has become a key communicator with consumers. Instead of solely doing press releases, companies are taking advantage of social media to build relationships with their customers. Public relations has been taken a step further to ensure that they are building the brand by enhancing their reputation by direct communication.

Many businesses are still resistant to social media. While some businesses (especially financial businesses) cannot fully utilize social media because of regulations, the opportunities for those who can use it are endless. For businesses that are weary of joining the social media movement, here are some tips about each outlet and how it can be used:

Facebook: The largest social media site with over 500 million users. Businesses can create pages which consumer’s can “Like” and share with their friends. Facebook allows businesses to post pictures, have discussion boards for customer stories (if they so choose to), and allow for consumers to post in more than 140 characters.

Twitter: A social media tool that is smaller than Facebook with 190 million users. Twitter allows businesses to “follow” other similar businesses to gain information instantaneously, as well as engage with consumers directly. Twitter makes it easy for businesses to track the use of their name with hash tags (#) or a mention of keywords. Businesses can use this to see what the public is saying about their company or product. Interaction is limited to 140 characters, but businesses can use link shorteners (like bit.ly) to post links from relevant websites or their own website.

Youtube: A video social media site that has around 49 million users (this doesn’t include people who only watch videos on Youtube and don’t have an account). Youtube may not be a valuable option for every company, but it allows for companies to be more interactive with their consumers. Youtube allows consumers to put names to faces, and also to be more engaged with the company’s products or services. For example, a company like H&R Block could use Youtube to give helpful tips about taxes, and that for more information the consumer can visit their website to find a store near them.

With public relations moving to a more active role in business, it’s important to know what social media tools can be used, and how they will benefit your company. Building relationships with your consumers using social media will help your company to utilize public relations to its fullest. For more information about social media, please visit: http://mashable.com/2010/03/16/public-relations-social-media-results/

Kelly Watkins
University of Minnesota
Jour 3279
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