How to make social media part of your PR strategy

Samantha Dybac

While it would be hard to find a business that is not using some form of social media to establish an online presence or as part of their overall marketing mix, there is still a huge opportunity for many businesses to up their social media game.

Do you know exactly who your ideal customer is and what their preferred social channels are? Are you planning and creating content tailored to those channels? And are you keeping abreast of emerging trends to stay one step ahead of your competitors?

Making a success of social media in business involves ongoing conversations around all of these questions. Yet understanding social media’s relationship to public relations – and how to leverage it – might not be so clear cut.

Earned versus owned media

Whenever a new client comes to us at The PR Hub, we look at what social channels they are on, how often, what content they’re producing, and (importantly) is it getting them in front of their target audience? It’s all well and good to get set up on multiple platforms, but if you’re missing your target, you might be wasting precious time, energy, and resources on activity that is not generating the results you need.

As public relations specialists, we tend to spend most of our time generating earned (versus owned) media through activity like business news announcements, podcast interviews, placement of thought leadership articles, expert commentary on news of the day and founder profile stories.

Social media falls under owned media, despite the fact that you don’t actually ‘own’ the platform like you do your own website or blog. So you need to make the most of owning your own channel and its content and always be thinking about how you can maximise the opportunity.

The importance of LinkedIn for PR

 Personally I am a huge fan of LinkedIn. When I started The PR Hub almost ten years ago I was singing the praises of LinkedIn to anyone that would listen, and since then it has become a vital PR tool for business owners and the broader business community.

LinkedIn is also a great place to:

  • Research publications that you think could make a great fit for your product or service or expertise.
  • Keep an eye on what’s making headlines in your industry.
  • Connect with journalists, editors, and producers. They’re all business professionals just like you, and they’re on LinkedIn. Take some time to research who covers stories in your industry or sector and say hi with a note introducing yourself and why your business might be of interest to them.
  • Make new connections; you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by sending connection requests, but be sure to offer them something of value, taking time to understand what their ‘beat’ is before hitting send.

Do I need TikTok for my business?

Hugely popular with the younger generation, TikTok is not just for dance lovers and home cooks, or to watch people poke fun at themselves. More and more we’re seeing an increase in small businesses using TikTok to build their social media presence and engagement and showcase their professional expertise.

When used correctly, TikTok can be an excellent tool for PR. You can use it to make company announcements, create stories, help out journalists, and build some juicy links. It’s a chance to have fun and show your authentically human side, which people love.

In the latest episode of my podcast, Influence Unlocked, I spoke with Adam Bub, Head of Commercial Media at Pinstripe Media by day and social media influencer by night. In our chat, Adam shared some terrific insights into what makes a good story and why it’s important to become your own PR brand hero. He also encourages anyone in business to evolve their social media content beyond the still image, and make sure the channel you choose is the right fit for your audience before creating content.

Social media gives you an opportunity to own and completely control the content you’re pushing out, and find meaningful ways to embrace your business’ story to connect with audiences, and new and potential customers. So having a social media strategy in place is great, but being authentic, proactive, and consistent is more important. And don’t forget to have fun!