Community Engagement: Social PR

By: Jamie Hooker

 

Perhaps the easiest way to reach your audience in this day in age is social media. No matter what age group, everyone is on some type of social media. It’s Twitter for the younger generations, and Facebook is growing more of an older user demographic. And if you ask anyone, social media channels are being scrolled through, checked and looked at way more than traditional media is. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Social media is the best way to reach any audience now because of its prominence in our culture. If a business doesn’t have a Facebook page, they’re missing out on a lot of people they could be engaging with, a lot of people that will buy their company’s product over another that does have a Facebook page.

Community engagement is so important in order to develop a loyal customer base and to spread the word of a product. There is a huge difference between a company advertising their product and actual real-life people advertising a product.  A review of a product written by a consumer goes further than what the business has to say about their own product.

When it comes to building your following on social media, setting objectives and goals is a good thing. You can say, “We want to increase our Twitter followers by 100 people by the end of the month.” One hundred more followers is great, but are they engaged followers? Are they going to mention you on their own social media accounts? Are they going to turn into buying customers? These are the things you want in the long run.

When it comes to posting on social media, a company’s voice should be consistent. Posts should encourage followers to comment, like, and share with others to get more reach. It’s easy for followers to scroll right past your content if it doesn’t engage them in the first place.  If people are commenting on your content, make an effort to reply to their comments, or even favorite people’s tweets where they mention your organization. It’s a cool thing for social media users to get that notification that their favorite brand re-tweeted something of theirs, and that will only make them like you more.

Stay engaged with your audience through social media and create PR for yourself.  It’s easy and it’s free.