Engage in PR

Part III of my Social Media Case Study series: Part I, Part II

There is so much talk lately about what social media is, what tools encompass social media and who should “own” social media.  These are all great topics and the posts I linked to are all ones I enjoyed…but are we getting to the point where these discussions can end?  At this point in the “evolution of social media” we need to talk use-studies and real-world examples.  Sharing these with the community so that we can empower others and get critical feedback on how to improve. We are entering a time where social media should not be about talk and “experts”; it must be about action and results.  I left my life in the PR agency world to start implementing and measuring social media for a company (note, that is not a slam against agencies, some of whom really get social media).

This is why I’m going to continue on with the Social Media Case Study series, sharing with you our (@poneal is my boss and partner in crime for this stuff) use of social media and results.  Part III happened quickly and  reawakened my mind to the power of community.  Instead of reiterating the entire story I’m fortunate enough that Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) had a terrific post where she recapped some of what we were facing last week. Go read the article, I’ll wait…

It had it all did it not?  Misquotes! Mis-representation! He-said/she-said! Security exploits! Bloggers not doing their research!  Ohhhh!  Ahhhh!  It was an interesting conundrum and one that we took very seriously, since any news; good and bad, right and wrong, take off and build their own momentum in today’s media/blog environment.  Within hours of the incorrect article there were dozens of posts and dozens of Twitter conversations elaborating and seemingly corroborating the incorrect article.  Many of them, however, did not post the corrected article nor went back to revisit the piece after the facts came out.  This is something we all have to deal with in this day in age, so what is a communication person to do?  Here is what we did:

1. Get the facts straight internally and highlight the truth through personal and/or corporate blogs;
2. Monitor the conversation using all the tools available: Google, Twitter Search, FriendFeed, del.icio.us and more;
3. Comment on blogs who got the story wrong in a personal and polite manner, leading people to the facts;
4. Interview with other journalists/bloggers making sure to communicate the facts clearly and concisely;
5. Talk about the incorrect story and it often becomes the story;
6. Twitter folks who post the incorrect story and let them know (recommend DM);
7. Twitter publications to make sure they correct the story online;
8. Twitter folks who post the correct story and thank them;
9. Watch your community respond and defend…highlight those on your own blog or Twitter feed;
10. Watch the story evolve into the real issue on blogs, Twitter and MSM;

It was a site to see, following along on Twitter or searching blogs, as folks went from slamming to correcting in a matter of hours. Twitter became an important lifeline for us to monitor what the community was discussing, but it also gave us a chance to communicate directly with publications such as PC World, PC Magazine and NetworkWorld.  The folks managing the PC World Twitter actually got in touch with us directly over Twitter, letting us know they were putting up the correct story.  Twitter also allowed folks to directly tell us where the story was incorrect so we could fix. WOW!

Is this something that happens for everyone, no.  You have to build up your community and participate with them for a long time before they will respond for you.  We had been doing that long before I got here and HD is a recognized figure in the industry with his own community.  But it shows why we continue to do more and more of these activities.  Some folks ask me why we are on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, blogging, etc.  I can now point them to three main results:

1. It increases quality traffic to our website;
2. Social media generates business leads;
3. The community you build through transparency, trust and listening will always be your number one proponent;