Creative Public Relations for a Digital World

The rise of social media has been a boon to many communicators, from public relations professionals, to digital marketers, to SEO specialists. It’s also spawned countless land grabs and turf battles, since we all want a piece of the pie.

Successful social media campaigns can puff up reputations and fatten our bottom lines. But budget grabs and salesmanship aside, should PR own social? Should advertising? The debate continues.

The truth is, social media is a tool that works best being integrated across marketing communications and customer service lines, so technically, no entity should stake a proprietary claim. But a gatekeeper is necessary.

There are the ways in which PR professionals are best qualified to influence and manage social media. Here’s the case for PRs:

PR pros are content creators. Storytelling is in our DNA. Most, if not all, PRs know instinctively how to craft a story or message so that it’s a conversation, not a one-way commercial pitch.

We listen. Every good PR program starts with monitoring. It’s the foundation of a social media outreach as well.

We’re relationship builders. This one has been given too much weight in recent conversations, but it holds true that relationship-building, traditionally with journalists and influencers, is a core PR skill. Translating this to direct customer/follower contact can be tricky, but many of the same principles apply.

PR owns reputation management. Clearly, social media crosses over from brand engagement to reputation, and not just when things go wrong.

Yet there are ways in which the typical PR practitioner’s skills and experience can fall short:

Direct customer contact.  We’re accustomed to communicating through the intermediaries of media or even bloggers. Crisis chops aside, direct contact is NOT familiar and may even be distasteful or overwhelming to many with traditional PR background.

Media production. Though there is wide variability among firms, many PR agencies lack direct experience in critical aspects of content development for social platforms, including video, images, and other content for sharing and syndication. Yet, most, if not all, is easily outsourced.

Measurement. This is typically the biggest weakness of our industry, and the only true concern that clients should have. But it’s a big one. To realize the power of social media, a full grasp of analytics and success metrics, and how they’re linked to specific campaign goals, is critical, and most PR pros haven’t “grown up” with the measurement sensibility.

We’re not there yet, but as a recent CARMA survey shows, we’re on the way. Our slice is getting larger, so save room for dessert.

With or without relevant experience, it’s tough to secure an interview for that first job or next best career step. So when you do nail it, you want to make the most of it. Employers differ, but I have a mental list of “red-flag” responses that make me wonder if the candidate is a fit for my firm, or even for public relations overall. After a straw poll of other employers in PR, I’ve come up with a short, and subjective, list of things not to say in a PR firm interview.

“I’m a people person.” It may be a personal quirk, but this one is the most cringeworthy in my book. It immediately makes me see the candidate in a Cruise Director’s uniform. Yes, relationship-building is important in our business, but “I’m a people person” is facile, smacks of naievete and does nothing to differentiate. It might make sense in an interview in hospitality or customer service, but I think it’s better unsaid.

“I’m the most qualified person you’ll meet!” This and similar proclamations could suggest an arrogance that isn’t appealing. It’s better to offer specific anecdotes that illustrate why you’re qualified, motivated, or dedicated. Sweeping statements, in general, are weaker than examples.

“How quickly can I be promoted?” Ambition is a good thing, as is having set goals. But the timing is wrong here. Save it for after you’ve proven your skills and work ethic. Talking about advancement prematurely, or in the wrong way, can make you look superficial or overly title-conscious.

“What kind of ads do you create?” You must ask questions, but make sure that they don’t betray a lack of knowledge about the industry or company.

“I wasn’t being given enough independence and creative freedom in my last job.” For some employers, this translates as, “I’m hard to manage.” While it may be important to offer reasons for your planned move, be careful to speak in positive terms, and whatever you do, be respectful of your current boss and company.

“I have lots of ideas for your clients X and Y.” This one depends on timing and approach. It’s wise to be ready with thoughts about the company, and, in the case of an agency, its key clients, but feel out the interviewer with some general questions (“What are your key initiatives for client X?) before you share your ideas.

“My last boss and I had a personality conflict.” This is simply a cliche, and it sounds hollow. You may be better off explaining a poor fit by saying something like, “I discovered that I work best as part of a team, but the agency structure wasn’t developed for that.”

“We just got an RFP from client X.” I can’t count how many times a junior staffer from another agency has volunteered information that shouldn’t be shared in a routine interview. If you’re working at an agency and interviewing at a competitor, take care not to divulge anything proprietary or inappropriate, including new business pending, confidential client insights, or office gossip.

You covered everything so thoroughly that I don’t have any questions. You must have questions. Even if this is your umpteenth interview at the company, have a question in your back pocket, or ask the interviewer to elaborate on something she said. It’s not fair, but having no questions can make you look incurious, passive, or disengaged.

“Winning Takes Care of Everything,” boasts the ad. Sponsored by Nike, the only brand that stuck by the disgraced golfer as he struggled to get his reputation out of the rough, it has an impertinence that’s gotten everyone talking. It’s confident, cocky, even, and, most of all, buzzworthy. A winner for Nike.

Yet the tone is at odds with Woods’ carefully choreographed repentance and new, more humble lifestyle, and it may be a little premature (the Arnold Palmer Invitational isn’t the toughest tournament, after all!) More to the point, it violates a cardinal rule of reputation management by indirectly reminding us of his fall from grace. And many criticized the ad for seeming to trivialize or excuse his misbehavior.

But, as Nike points out, Woods set a goal to regain his game stature and through hard work, he has – at least for now – accomplished it.

So does his status mean he is, literally, out of the woods? Are his recent wins and (presumably) stable relationship with Lindsay Vonn enough to wipe out the bimbo eruptions and hostage-video-style apology of three years ago?

Probably. Woods is now the game’s number-one player again, which is a tangible and indisputable achievement, and one that at times seemed impossible. My guess is that he wins the Masters next month, it will clinch his comeback. Because most of us, even casual fans, now really want him to win.

Life doesn’t give us many mulligans, but Woods has earned this. There are few stories more irresistible to the media – and the public – than redemption on such a grand scale. Tiger Woods is a just a shot away from climbing back from the longest, toughest, and most painful match of his life.

It was Guy Kawasaki who coined the phrase “evangelism marketing” after his stint as the first Chief Evangelist at Apple. Since then, all types of companies have been trying to let loyal customers do their brand building for them.  Social media makes that more accessible and easier than ever.

But true brand advocacy usually happens organically. The most ardent fans are responding to an authentically positive brand experience. Can a marketer accelerate the process? Here are a few principles that work for many companies.

Start Inside

The best programs work from the inside out. After all, if employees aren’t brand advocates, how can they help customers get there?  Starbucks has an inspiring model. It recognizes that each store manager essentially runs a small business, so it has invested heavily in a “Leadership Lab,” an intensive training experience featured at a recent conference for about 9,600 Starbucks managers. Think pep rally on steroids.

Empower Staff

The most successful employers give their staff the license to make on-the-spot decisions, like waiving an airline penalty or approving a retail markdown.  These moves can engender the kind of instant, but highly shareable, gratitude that is usually the first step towards evangelism. Don’t we always want to tell our friends when we scored a freebie or an upgrade?

Make it Social

Empowerment can extend to social media, too. Wanted to establish a “connected brand,”  iCrossing created not only social media guidelines for its employees, but training on content creation. According to CMO David Deal within one year, the company tripled its volume of blog posts, boosted website visits by 74 percent, and was recognized as a social media role model.  The guidelines are a win-win for the company and employees as they help each with its own brand development.

Remove Roadblocks

Stop targeting. Think in terms of engagement and conversation. and start engaging.  Marketers are conditioned to look at customers and prospects as targets, but it’s more productive to plan for a long-term relationship, or at least a dialogue. The upfront time investment is more than worth it in the long run.

Drop the Marketing-speak

Customers aren’t engaged by jargon or marketing strategy.  People buy from other people.  Usually, it’s people they like and want to spend time with.  The art of community management is to make the human side of the brand—and the manager—come through.

Use Incentives

But don’t assume cash is the best motivator, because, chances are, it’s not.  More powerful lures for evangelists-in-the-making include exclusive or early trial of new products, insider access to information or announcements, trips to corporate headquarters, or other tangible but highly branded experiential rewards.

Create a Community

If they’re not already doing so, encourage your advocates to meet one another and share reviews, opinions, tips, and the like and give them the content and tools to do so. Like attracts like.

Use Humor

Nothing is more disarming for cynics or more attractive to would-be advocates.  Recently P&G brand Crest was criticized on Twitter by comedian John Freiler.  Rather than giving him the brush-off or responding in kind, its community manager engaged Freiler by offering him a three-year supply of “toothgoop” and negotiating a tongue-in-cheek truce to the feud.  Today, Freiler is a Crest advocate, if not an outright evangelist.  Nice.

A version of this appeared on MENGBlend.

Clients and prospective clients are the lifeblood of any agency. We love them! But they do say odd, confusing, and even exasperating things at times. Here’s a list of some of our favorites.

“We finally figured out what we need. Let’s do a viral video!”

“We’re looking for someone to grow with us.”

“We’d like a campaign/stunt/launch like Apple. Something like when the phone was left in the bar.”

“Don’t spend a lot of time on it, and don’t write a plan, just give me an approach.”

“My nephew just graduated from college and has some thoughts about our social media.”

“How much for a press release?”

“The last agency we worked with had a good idea. Maybe you could do a campaign like that, but different?”

“Can you make this look great by the end of the day? But don’t change anything.”

“We’re looking at 30 agencies and hope you’ll want to participate.”