In honor of Social Media Day, we wanted to provide our perspective on this growing field within communications.

Social media and traditional public relations really aren’t all that different.  Yet many organizations still struggle quite a bit in navigating the landscape.  Sure, there is plenty to keep track of with seemingly constant technology challenges and ever-changing platforms.  But in my mind, there is one difference between public relations and social media that is more important than all the rest.  The editor.

To get straight to the point, the biggest missed opportunity for organizations in utilizing social media is they don’t put themselves in the shoes of an editor.

PR professionals have traditionally played the role of ambassador between clients and the media.  Every media outlet has its own specific audience and the journalist’s goal is to meet the needs of that audience as best as possible.  For example, Wired Magazine knows exactly what its audience wants and does an amazing job of creating content to match.  The result is a well-read, powerful and influential magazine (and one I know several of our clients would kill to be featured in).

The role of PR folks is to take our clients’ messages and shape them into appealing, topical, and timely stories and news. Then we tailor those messages for the journalist and his/her specific audience.  When we do our jobs well, the idea sells and our clients’ messages make it into the media and in front of the readers they want to influence.

The challenge with social media is that organizations control their own Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogging pages.  Who is the gatekeeper with independent power to shoot down story ideas or edit articles to make them a better fit for the audience?  I think you know where I’m going with all of this.  Not surprisingly, lots of folks miss this step or do a poor job of it.

Want another way to think about all of this?

Your Facebook page doesn’t belong to you.  Neither does your blog or any of your other social media properties.  They belong to your audience.  And if you are not giving your audience what they want or need, they won’t pay attention to you.  However, figuring out what they want and need is a completely different subject.  A good starting point is realizing that pushing every boring morsel of information about your company’s product or service is not a great idea.

Just remember: it isn’t all about you or your organization.  The sooner you start thinking about the needs of your audience instead of the needs of your own marketing department, the better off you will be.

Matt Smedley

The first international social media awards competition, called The Bees Awards, held its reception last night in San Fransisco where it announced the 2011 winners.

Click here for the complete list.

There are many categories, some of which include:

- Best Use of Micro-Blogging Platform

- Best Use of Social Media Platform

- Best Use of Mobile

- Best Relationship with Blogs

Clearly, there are some big brands and big dollars behind a lot of these campaigns.  And in that statement lies an important takeaway from this blog post: social media has matured in the eyes of international corporations and organizations.  One thing that is common among most, if not all, of these campaigns is that they are truly campaigns.  Each recognized program had a clearly developed strategy and focused execution of that strategy.

If you check into some of the winners and nominees, you can easily see how there are highly efficient and finely tuned machines behind each campaign.  Clearly, these campaigns were methodical and the teams managing each used social media tactics as more than just another tool to post key messages.

Matt Smedley

I have a test for what makes a successful conference: If information resonates with me a month later, it’s a success. Well, the Rural Washington Conference 2011 held in Moses Lake on March 18-19, 2011, is a hit by those standards!  I’m already using the information I gathered and I look forward to following up with everyone that I visited with one-on-one.

I’m a big fan of Roger Brooks from Destination Development International.  His keynote was dynamic and he offered up details on the common elements that have made 400 downtowns successful.  Brooks’ information reminds me of the value of the communications work that our firm does in economic development - we help communities thrive.  That’s satisfying.

The 16 tips for community branding from George Sharp, executive director of Olympia-Lacey Visitor and Convention Bureau, are valuable.  He makes marketing and branding feel accessible, and who wouldn’t want to hear all about Sharp’s brave polar bear swim.   

“The Future of Energy in Small Towns” was my favorite presentation overall. The case studies were awesome examples of successful wind and biomass projects.  I had the great fortune to talk with Paul Kimmell of Avista, Rod Fleck of City of Forks and Mike Canon from Klickitat County.  This session helped add more depth to my clean tech energy project case studies – both from an economic development and environmental benefit. 

It’s a good thing that this conference worked for me because Frause was a sponsor.  I think we’ll be back next year!  Thanks to Maury Forman with the Washington State Department of Commerce.  I appreciate the lead.

-Erika Schmidt