Social media is one of the most important resources a business can tap into in the 21st century. Knowing how to manipulate social media outlets for each individual client is essential to a business’ success. PR firms more often than not have multiple clients, and therefore must learn how to create content that will be most efficient in the world of social media.
Understanding a client’s products or services is the first step in generating eye-catching material that draws in new business. Spending time with the creative team and having a hands-on experience with the products or services will put the professional in the shoes of the consumer. For example, if the client created an app for the iPhone or Android, the first step to understanding the product is to download the application and explore it first-hand.
Sales trainer Adrian Miller puts the responsibility in the client’s hands. “Take the time to explain how your product or service will benefit the prospect,” says Miller in an interview with Entreprenuer.com.
Once a relationship is built with the client and the product, determine the end goal and the metrics in which it is achieved. Did the Facebook page bring in a goal of 20 new ‘likes’ per week? Of those 20 likes, did five people purchase the product? Working with the business to determine what social media can accomplish for its service and how to measure that success will point the firm toward the appropriate social media outlets and content.
Understanding the target audience is the icing on the proverbial PR cake. The age group for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook users is widening, and pre-teens and high school students aren’t the only utilizers. Young professionals, parents, and Gen-Xers are posting photos and following businesses online as well. If a company wants to open a new music hall near a university and its target audience are males and females ages 17-26, references to John Denver and the band Chicago would not be appropriate.
Once the client and PR firm have partnered to understand the product, have determined an end goal, and understand the target audience, language can be formulated to attract potential consumers via social media. Likes and retweets are the building blocks of a media relationship between clients and consumers and cannot be founded without a healthy relationship between the business and PR firm.