I recently sat down with two of my favorite and D.C.’s best new media, social media, all things digital strategy and public relations genius wonderboys, James Walker and Peter Corbett. While the two chats occurred on two different days and in two different locales, the commentary is not surprisingly of the same vein, as great minds truly do think alike. Check out James and Peter’s thoughts on why public relations practitioners should use social media and how.

Need help getting social media savvy?

If you missed the first Social Media Seminar of the DC Chapter of the Black Public Relations Society, you didn’t get a copy of my whitepaper “Selling Social Media”. But fear not: I’ve compiled the main points here for you.

If you’re like me, you are in charge of convincing business owners why social media is important to their bottom line; and you’re probably also trying to get them actively  engaged in it.  It’s a process to truly win over those who are extremely private or just simply averse to telling the world what they’re doing.  Here are a few tips to get those you’re working with on board.

Sell It. Before you can expect your client or boss to buy into the virtues of social media, you must first answer the obvious questions: “What’s in it for the company? Why should we invest our resources here?” As your client or company’s social media ambassador,you have to do your homework. Offer up clear examples of where social media worked for a similar company. Show where a direct competitor saw results and you’ll get and keep a client’s attention.

Educate the Gatekeepers. Consider hosting a half-day social media camp for your client or Marketing Director to go over the basics. Make your presentation fun, interactive and easy to follow. Remember: those who don’t use social media are often intimidated by it or at the very least, don’t understand how far-reaching it is. Hold your boss or client’s hand and let them know you understand their apprehension. Repeat your belief that social media is a worthwhile investment.

Offer a Roadmap. What good does it do you to create an incredible plan that can’t with real ways your client or boss can begin using social media immediately. Set up accounts on social media sites for them and hand them a username and password.

Set Metrics. Be sure that you set goals that your client can really measure. Give them participation goals (i.e., two blog posts per week, or 1 Twitter update a day) as well as goals for the newly implemented social media program (i.e., 200 new Twitter followers by [date], or an improved online brand image by [date]). If you set goals, you can chart your progress easily. Knowing your progress allows you to change course if your strategy isn’t working.

Build It In. Developing your marketing and PR calendar for next year? Build social media into the plan so those in charge can
see exactly where it fits, and exactly how it complements the work you’re already doing.

Communicate the Commitment. While implementing a social media program may seem to have no real associated costs, developing quality social media programming can be extremely time-consuming. Communicate this fact to your client or director to be sure that you are well-compensated for your time.

Why Twitter? (Part II)

As you may recall in Why Twitter (Part I), I promised to follow up with more ways that you can use Twitter for business.  If you’re a business owner/entrepreneur, artist, celebrity-in-the-making, you need to get on Twitter. Here’s why: Your customers are on Twitter.  Your would-be customers are on twitter. And more than likely, the competition is on Twitter.

Let’s say you sell…uh I don’t know, post-it notes (first thing I saw on my desk, sorry).  So anyway, you’re selling these post-it notes and you set up your Twitter page online.  You’re following a few people and you’ve got your mom, cousin and best friend following you back. But that’s it. You’re thinking “How in the world is this silly page gonna help me sell more post-it notes?” Let me tell you. Read the full story