Face book; yes it attracts but it doesn’t prompt action

Every new day comes with new inventions on social media. Just when some social media early adopters are starting to leave Facebook, the mainstream majority who reached a record breaking 500 million seem to be more hooked on the world's favourite social network than ever.

But here is the paradox; I’ve discovered a problem with Face book dependency amongst ‘first year students’ on the treasured site. A few weeks ago we tried organizing a burial fundraising on facebook; we became so confident because scores of people had indicated their commitment on Face book.
Little did we know that showing interest on social media is not in any way linked to committing to a certain cause? Did anyone show up for the fundraising day? No….We resorted to old-fashioned word of mouth to salvage our noble cause.
While Facebook's success is based on its recreation of the real world of friendship online, the process doesn't work so well in the other direction. It’s easy to get people to click but where's the commitment in this? Where's the engagement? Barring a few posters, the old-fashioned means of publicising an event were missing: personal invitations, stunts (forcing the staff members to contribute), media publicity (death and funeral announcements), even celebrity endorsement (inviting your local MP).

It appears the real world is an increasingly confusing place for Generation F (facebook).
This was a real life experience….

It is not the size of the PR firm that matters;It is their output

Many companies opt for publicity instead of advertising because they believe that “publicity” is free, while they must pay for advertising. Well, the truth is that if you get a story about your company or organization on the business segment of the 7 PM news or in daily newspapers, you obviously don’t pay for the story. But what did it cost you to get that story if a PR professional helped place it for you?

Good PRO's can be invaluable in getting your story told in the media. And a positive story in the press can lead to increased sales.

But unfortunately, too often the PR agency / client relationship sours and falls apart before it has a chance to take hold. Why is this?

There are several reasons. Perhaps it was a mismatch between the PR firm and the client. The client needed certain expertise and the PR firm didn’t have it. Or maybe the PR firm did what too many of the larger firms do, which is “bait and switch”. This means when the firm is pitching the account, they bring in the experienced smooth talkers. But when it comes to doing the work, they relegate it to young, inexperienced assistant account executives while the people you first met are off pitching more business.

Most of all, PR agency / client relationships don’t work out because clients don’t feel they are getting value for the money they are spending. Hiring a large PR firm today can seriously dent your marketing budget.

That is why many companies are switching to hiring smaller PR operations. A small firm has minimal overhead and can often produce higher quality work for less money. This is because smaller firms are headed by experienced PR pros who usually have worked for the large firms. They have the experience, but not the overhead, and can therefore give their clients more effort and produce more results for less money.

When searching for a PR firm, make sure you know what you are paying for. Will you be paying for the time, experience and talent you need to accomplish your objectives, or will you be paying for the PR firm’s fancy offices and getting inexperienced personnel to represent you?

The smart companies, of course, go for the latter.

We have no alternative, Social Media is here to stay.

Ignoring social media is like the early nineties secretaries who refused to enroll for computer classes saying that computers would never see the daylight while offices will never operate without typewriters.
Anyone who’s had just a passing experience or two with social media engines like Facebook and Twitter could pretty fairly conclude it’s a big swamp they don’t need to wade into. BUT, there’s strong reason to start heading in. The waters get clearer over time and the value grows more evident.
This sector is a community of common interests and concerns, and technology is enabling companies to build industry awareness and relationships, distribute information and solicit feedback rapidly, and at no real cost other than time.For instance Tahidi High,the local production on Citizen TV has over 58,000 members on its group.
If you think Facebook is for birthday photos and seeing what your high school buddies are up to, you’re right. But many, many, many major brands have strong Facebook fan sections set up with hundreds of thousands or even millions of people hooked in to them. It’s a forum to talk to customers, distribute information like videos and product launches, promote events, promote your people, and do recruiting. And a lot of other things.Look at Google Chrome the new product launched by Google a few months ago, I was surprised there group on Facebook has slightly below two million comments from users across the country.
With Twitter, a little knowledge and the right tools allow you to fine-tune the “stream” of content to your interest area. I use it to flag interesting articles I’ve read online, and read things that people I follow and respect say are worth my time. I know people who follow others for industry intel.
In other words, social is not going away, and if you’re not using it, you need to start.
But have a strategy and rules going in. I’ve seen a few corporate accounts run by junior staff, who think nothing of blending their personal lives into the messages. That can go sideways on you.