Public relations in an era of social media

Social media in Singapore is fast becoming a new “democratic” front for the country’s fledgling political discourse as well as businesses. Social media has shown how it can be a game-changer in the “Arab Spring” of 2011 that swept the Middle East.

By enabling people to broadcast and share their thoughts, opinions, sentiments and emotions on a reach and scale never imagined before, social media engenders many complexities in terms of social and political relationships as well as interaction.

More fundamentally, it has endowed people with the power to influence and shape perceptions and attitudes, and it is forcing many public relations professionals to recognize and include social media tools in their communication strategies.

In the realm of business, social media has been able to transform the roles and relationships between businesses and customers by facilitating conversation amongst users. Social media represents a shift from “traditional” media rooted in a broadcast mechanism to a dynamic, multi-faceted “many-to-many” conversational model that would enable as well as require businesses to engage more directly with customers. With social media, the traditional approach of “marketing at” people is changed into an “engaging in conversation” with people.

Public relations in social media participates in this conversation by contributing expert advice, information and content; it seeks to build portfolios of knowledge and develop online reputation that boost brands and raise profile of the businesses which the public relations professional and/or company represents. In this conversation, it is critical to engage with people on a one-on-one basis through an appropriate form and style of communication that actually speaks to people.

It also requires companies to work directly with “organic influencers” such as blog and Tweeter “celebrities”, and approach the market with a mindset that is different from broadcast marketing and generic messaging methods.

People or customers want to hear stories that they can identify with; they also want to share these stories and build relationships with other people through these stories. Therefore it is pertinent for businesses to participate in these conversations and to become the people they want to reach out to.

People interact and build relationships with people, not faceless entities. And in the social media-scape, effective public relations is not about spamming media with generic messages and news releases, it is an art of personalized mass marketing built on a foundation of market research and analysis to understand peoples’ needs and how to reach them at “street level”.

Consumer brands such as KFC and Ben & Jerry’s have had very successful Tweeter campaigns in the US and even lifestyle brands such as Bay Hotel Singapore have began its launch in the social media space. New entrants such as the cosmetic label Sophie Monk are also making forays into markets via this new democratized frontier.

However social media is still unchartered waters many businesses fear to tread or have a mindset about it as “just” another sales channel and/or marketing platform. Businesses may have wrong perceptions about blogs, tweets and social networks, and fear losing control of their communication.

However people are already discussing brands, products and services, and sharing experiences across multiple social media platforms – with or without them. Social media provides an opportunity for businesses to participate and contribute to the conversation in order to earn the attention and trust of customers.

Or they can choose not to participate in the conversation at their own peril like the beleaguered SMRT’s CEO Saw Phaik Hwa who once (in)famously said “People can board the train – it is whether they choose to”# in response to overcrowded MRT trains.

Cecilia Tan, Publicist PR LLP