1. Social media & public relations

• Melanie Moran

Vanderbilt University

November 17, 2009

2. Today

How online communications have changed

Definitions of social media

The importance of conversations

Audience expectations

Tools and opportunities

3. Then

Press releases (faxed)

Newsletters (mailed)

Magazines (print only)

Mainstream media coverage

Top down control

One-way

4. Now

We still write press releases but

24/7 news cycle

55 percent of Americans have broadband at home

62 percent of Americans use wireless, mobile devices

Blogs, Video, Podcasts

Two-way

No direct control

Anytime, anywhere, anything, any device

5. What is social media / Web 2.0?

Driven by RSS

Digital tools and services that allow content creation with little to no technical knowledge

Consumer-created content

Personal profiles

Shared interests / online communities

Repurposing of content

6. First off, whats RSS?

Web feeds used to publish content

Content comes to users

Must-have for any site with regular updates

Built in to any blogging / social media software

Google reader

7. Social networks

Facebook

MySpace

YouTube

Flickr

Blogs

LinkedIn

Del.icio.us

Twitter

Wikis

Second Life

8. Is social media a fad? 9. Join the conversation

Dozens / hundreds of conversations taking place every day online about your organization

Who is talking? Who is listening?

What are they saying?

What areyousaying in response?

Examples: Dell, Target

10. Why join the conversation?

To correct misconceptions

To provide less formal interaction with your organization

To strengthen connection to your organization

To build community

To empower your community to speak for you

Improve search engine rankings

The media listens, too

11. To succeed with any of these tools

Be a consumer

Know your audience

Know your goals

Be relevant, honest and timely

Understand and watch your stats

Listen

Content is still king

12. But before you start talking

Listen

Read

Ask

Plan

Implement

Listen / Monitor

Regroup

Revise

13. Online Video

Over 60% of American Internet users on broadband

62% of internet users have watched video online (4/09)

Most share what they watch with others

14. Capturing, uploading, and sharing video

Camera

Microphone

Editing software

File format (.flv)

Permission

Lots of good how-to info. Online

Pseudo videos

YouTube - share, embed

15. Twitter

Immediate, brief, global

Social messaging

Mobile

Mini, constant blog

Increasing news use

Learn more fromCommon Craft

16. Blogging: content options

About your organization

About your field

About your profession

About a particular area of expertise

About an event

From the painfully obvious files - dont blog unless you have something to say!

17. Facebook & Organizations

300 million people cant be wrong (or can they?)

Do you have an audience and content?

Are you ready for interaction?

Start small

18. Podcasting - What and how?

Plan - live event? Scripted story? Images?

Shorter is often better

Recorder, mic, software, RSS feed

Check out Talkr

19. Marketing your podcast

Register with iTunes

Prominent link to it from your Web site

Register with podcast search engines

Include podcast information in your news releases

20. Challenges

Building buy-in: overcoming fear

Partnering with IT

Time management

Changing paradigms

21. Going mobile

Over 60% of American adults have used mobile devices to access internet, take photos, text, etc.

Content is being captured by mobile devices

Align your content with these devices

Understand you are not the main content provider for your content

22. Get started in an afternoon

Add Share This to your Web site

Get a Google Reader account

Sign up for Twitter, and start following people and organizations of interest

Search Technorati for blogs on your topic area and add them to Google Reader

Compile blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds of your audiencesand peers

23. Some final thoughts

Use tools to support the overall strategy, not just to say youre using the next cool thing

Be willing to experiment (low-risk investment)

Be a consumer of new media

Focus on transparency, authenticity

24. Contact

Melanie Moran Associate Director Vanderbilt News Service (615) 322-NEWS [email_address] blogvu.wordpress.com twitter.com/melaniemoran

www.slideshare.net/melaniemoran