By Samuel Scott
Has your company ever put out a job opening for a social-media manager and then received countless resumes for people with experience as community managers – or vice versa? You’re not alone. Many people – and even many businesses – mistakenly think that the two are merely different phrases that mean the same thing.
In 1982, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) adopted the following definition of “public relations” that had remained in place until this month: “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” (For even-earlier definitions, you can see Wikipedia.)
On March 1, PRSA announced a new definition after a lengthy debate and vote by public-relations professionals: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” The organization describes the new definition thusly:
Unless you have been living under a digital rock, you probably know the increasing importance of social-media marketing to your business both today and in the future. However, it is important to know that social media is not a panacea – it is not a magic bullet that will get you a quick million dollars in sales in return. If it were, then every business would be successful within weeks of creating a Facebook page or Twitter account.
By Samuel Scott
If you follow marketing news, you have probably heard of national brands launching large social media campaigns like Kohl’s and Target on Facebook and Radio Shack and Nestle on Twitter. Still, it is very easy to use social media for business even if you just have a local store.
In Boston, where I lived for nine years, one of the most-famous pizzerias is Santarpio’s in the neighborhood of East Boston. If you live in Eastie – as Bostonians call it – and order delivery from somewhere else rather than take-away from Santarpio’s (pictured), your neighbors will think that you are crazy or have bad taste in pizza.
By Samuel Scott
A lot of business and marketing is impossible to measure quantitatively but still widely regarded as valuable. Take branding, for example. Companies spend millions on logos, product appearance, communications, and guerilla marketing – among countless other tactics – to ensure that consumers think of a desired connotation when they think of a brand. It’s not a cheap endeavor – it can take years to build a solid brand.
By Josh Cline
Is every single one of your Facebook and Twitter posts delivering something that your target market will find valuable, or are you posting items in social media just to put something there? The answer will likely determine the future of your social-media marketing efforts.
In a recent Harvard Business Review blog-post, Brian Solis relates how he had once attended a presentation by a Facebook sales-representative and was shocked at his useless recommendation:
Google had never been very good at the “social” aspect of the Internet Age. After all, users of platforms including Adwords and Webmaster Tools who have questions are unable to get a customer-service person at Google on the phone. In an emergency one time, I found the number of Google’s office in Boston and gave them a call. The person who picked up told me – at least in a very polite way – that she could only direct me to the website’s FAQ and support pages.
Online search may have come down to “Like” versus “Follow” versus “+1.” Who will win?
Facebook’s “Like” feature has become well-known since its unveiling in February 2009. Twitter recently announced its “Follow” feature, which lets visitors subscribe to a website’s Twitter (through, it seems, two clicks rather than one). But the most significant release of all may have been Google’s announcement of “+1” early this week:
