Make the Noise

I love Twitter. It’s a brilliant tool to communicate in a simple and precise way with a gathering of individuals from all walks of life. However, it is merely a tool in an armory of other social media and traditional PR weapons, it does not solve all problems nor can it single-handedly reach mass scale outreach. Twitter will never replace the phone, nor will it replace the need to have professionals working to get the word out to properly promote your product. Twitter is a tool for public relations:

Twitter is best when it’s used as part of a group of tools (i.e. email, phone calls, press releases, etc.) – it is not the cure for all public relations needs.

Aw, well don’t we feel loved? ValleyWag just wrote about the Bombay Sapphire Spirit of Exploration Community Blog that my team has been working on for the past three months.

We feel so special… Thanks Owen..

Bombay Sapphire discover spirit of exploitation

In their endless quest for authenticity, marketers have latched onto bloggers as their new spokespeople. They’re less demanding than celebrities, and far cheaper than copywriters. In this spirit, Bombay Sapphire, a brand of Bacardi Limited, which sold $5 billion worth of booze last year, has recruited bloggers for its Spirit of Exploration website. In exchange for writing paeans about exploration, Bacardi is allowing them to enter a contest, and linking to their blogs. At least Federated Media, the ad network, sold out its bloggers’ credibility in exchange for a large Microsoft advertising buy; Bombay Sapphire’s ad agency has cut out the middleman and persuaded bloggers to whore themselves out for free. Impressive!

Publicity must move past blasts to a new formula.

The most powerful outreach is a special combination: one part online, one part traditional, multiplied with a bit of new media socialization.

In practical terms this means a key placement must first be secured with a leak of the news to the top blog for the target audience along with a “print” exclusive with the priority traditional publication, followed by the submission of articles to the top socializing services, i.e. Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, Twitter, etc.
The ideal formula does not consist of a mere press release anymore, or even a simple blog post on a high-profile site. The days of a single exclusive placement to spread the word for products or announcements are gone. It is the combination of both Traditional and New Media intensified by social submissions that will be the most combustible solution to make the noise.

It still amazes me that major corporations have no clue what social media is.  Most jump to the wrong conclusion when posed with the idea of social media – it’s either a facebook / myspace stunt, or its SEO.

Social Media IS NOT SEO, but search engines DO look kindly upon blog posts/community comments/online noise.  Social media has far less to do with how high in the search engine you are, and more to do with developing solid relationships utilizing online tools to create a brand / product awareness that goes beyond the SEO and social networks.

Let’s break it down.  I’m into defining words lately, according to Dictionary.com Social is defined as (pulled the first two)

1. pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations: a social club.

2. seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable; gregarious

Ah the word “Relationship” pops its lovely head again.  Social media needs to be all about relationships.  It’s an exchange between brand and consumers on an intimate level utilizing the social tools, in a social manner, to get social groups engaged,  NOT SEO.

One definition of “Relationship” is: A particular type of connection existing between people related to or having dealings with each other.
To be effective in publicity, one must first have a relationship with the person they are trying to reach. To be a successful publicist we must do more than just maintain connections with a handful of a key contacts: the age of citizen journalism has taken over.  Now we are faced with developing, following and managing relationships with hundreds of individuals from around the world.
In order to keep track of this unprecedented amount of data, we can leverage the technology that has made social media possible, using new services like Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo! Pipes, and MySpace in combination with older, more established channels like instant messaging and email.  The combination allows us to build and maintain two-way relationships with more people than would ever have been manageable before.
In this new era where publicists and writers follow each other, we can reach our audience more quickly than ever, but also with a stronger personal connection by keeping our relationships fresh and interesting.  It is this personal connection that brings life and excitement to the blogosphere.  It is this connection that makes social media such a powerful force in the daily lives of today’s consumers. And it is this connection that will forever change the face of public relations.