PR used to be about controlling information, but recently this has turned a full circle. A good PR team these days will encourage their clients to be more open. Why? Because, in a world where social media bypasses any formal information funnel, nothing remains a secret for long.
Transparent businesses are trusted businesses – even in a crisis. Compare a company spokesperson who parrots “no comment” when something goes wrong to one that acknowledges there’s an issue and tells you what they are going to do to address it. Which approach do you respect more? When it comes to everyday business, companies that interact with their customers and stakeholders tend to be more successful than those that give nothing away.
However, PR firms aren’t advising this policy to do themselves out of a job (heaven forbid!). Social media is growing fast. Over one billion tweets are posted on Twitter a week and Linkedin recently clocked up its 11 millionth member in the UK. Facebook figures are showing signs of levelling off, but the site still has around 30 million UK users. In a “state of adoption” survey carried out by customer analytics firm Attensity, 91% of respondents disagreed with the statement that “social media is a passing fad with limited business appeal”. Yet, businesses wanting to use social media to engage with, and learn from, customers need expert help to get the best return from their time investment.
For example, most B2B-focused companies begin their social media strategy by finding ways to increase followers and fans across their social profile. There’s nothing wrong with this tactic if all a business wants to do is to extend its audience reach and increase exposure. However, just quoting impressive metrics means little; if ever there was a case for quality not quantity, this is it. Are these followers analysts, influencers, prospects, journalists and customers? Or are they just the mildly interested or even fabricated avatars, spambots and even worse, pornbots?
There’s also confusion about posting information, with many businesses seeing social media channels as a recycling depot for their corporate messages.
Taking Twitter as an example, a digital-savvy PR consultant will be able to identify the key thought leaders in their client’s industry or those involved in a particular industry issue. Experts are selected based on the range of engaging content they post. Once a specialist list is created it can be continually updated as appropriate.
Content shouldn’t “tell”, but engage, with the aim of starting a dialogue. Links to original material with comments are great, but discussions around existing news stories, articles, white papers also help to build up clusters of interested influencers and a high-value content stream to which prospects and customers will want to return. Social media is also a great vehicle for asking questions and involving customers in the development of new services and products.
But how can this knowledge be captured? And, importantly, how can it ultimately be used to generate sales? Once again, this is where investment in specialist help is worthwhile. Whiteoaks, for example, uses tracking codes on all the online content it creates – and this has already resulted in new business wins for several well-known clients.
These codes are compliant with a client’s CRM and sales automation systems such as Eloqua and Salesforce and enable the measurement of traffic and its effectiveness. They can also be used when interested parties are directed to a gated landing page requiring registration, so helping the business develop a database for lead generation. Ultimately, these codes enable our clients to track all interactions with a named individual and this can be extended into Salesforce to track all touch points and measure effectiveness.
Measuring how many of these leads convert to sales provides a better understanding of the types of content and activities that appeal to a particular customer and prospects base. In turn, this enables further optimisation of social media efforts. Hashtags can also be analysed to measure buzz topics to help this process.
Calculating ROI becomes a straightforward equation when businesses can see instantly the numbers of leads generated, followers added, retweets and downloadable, gated material used. Having this transparent view ensures that businesses can see where their PR budget is being spent and the quality of the activity they are enjoying as a result of their investment.
Used wisely, social media platforms can become a valuable collaborative ecosystem between a brand and its customers and prospects. But a business itself and its chosen PR partner both have a role to play. While PR consultants can facilitate digital media activity, success also requires co-operation, flexibility and an open attitude from the client.
Obviously, businesses don’t have to tell all their secrets. But being prepared to have an opinion, to comment on the views of others and to actually involve customers in discussions will lead to more business. This much we’ve proved.
