mhn PR and Social Media Blog

Media is like lighting and you will never know when it is going to strike.

As such, it is essential that you always be prepared to talk and that you are polite and knowledgeable about the mission and role of the media. This should be true for your staff as well.

As with many pieces of advice on social media and public relations that I share here, it springs from events that I am part of in the real world.

This is no different!

Last week while visiting the Chicago Boat Show with a friend of mine, we ran into a situation with an exhibitor who simply refused to speak to a reporter after he introduced himself as a member of the media. This was even though my friend was wearing a press badge, was polite, professional, an even presented a business card identifying himself.

It is simply shocking that in today's fast paced world that this business owner would throw away an opportunity to generate positive press for his business - yet it happened! Sadly, this happens more often than you can imagine.

My friend had been excited to have found this company that runs fishing charters from downtown Chicago. However, because of the poor reaction from the owner of the company they lost an opportunity for being featured on the site, as well as social media exposure to the site's thousands of readers.

As I mentioned above, this isn't an uncommon occurrence when media work with small business owners.

To make matters worse, In today's world, many people have personal followings on Facebook and twitter that rival that of newspapers. As such, it is even more important to always be prepared and open to discuss matters with the media - unless you really couldn't care less about giving the public a positive impression of your company.

It seems like it should go without saying, but social media is about more than just hard-core marketing of a product or service. With respect to marketing efforts involving social media, you should consider it as planned social interaction. After all, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others aren't magic and they aren't just places to advertise. Instead, they are simply ways to enhance communication with customers and prospective customers.

Interacting socially online isn't much different than it would be in the real world. Think of it this way, If someone walked into your place of business would you go up to him and say "Thanks for coming, download this ebook!" would you tap him on the shoulder repeatedly trying to convince him to buy this product or that? Would you walk up to someone at a restaurant having a conversation with their friend and say, "You know, that is a nice tie, I sell ties, visit my site!" No, you wouldn't. Or at very least you shouldn't, because customers will walk right out the door and never come back. Worse, they will tell their friends what an ass you are and you'll get a bad reputation.

The same is true in social media, but the trick is to develop a plan and a framework for how you can develop natural conversations and integrate those into your overall marketing program.

Just because you have a Facebook page, it isn't going to suddenly skyrocket you and your business to the stars. However, it is an opportunity to enhance your ability to communicate with your customers and interact with them on a social level - nothing more. That's where we come in and work with clients to better understand their business and how they can have a great conversation that makes people want to be a part of what they are doing.

Read more: Social Media and Planning Social Interaction