More on Social Media

I have a friend who is becoming a social media maven.  He sees it as a way to promote his own work as an artist as well as helping other folks promote their products and services via social media.  His name is Chad Sorg, if you google him, you will find that he's on Facebook, Twitter, you name it.

Meanwhile in the corporate world, news of social media could be the engine for job creation!  One of my Linked In groups posted a link to a very interesting (and charmingly named) blog.

Views on PR and Social Media

Here are more views on Social Media from Linked In professionals around the country.

• Kathy Griffith, who is in Administration for Qoro, LLC Fine Art Services in the Philadelphia area has this to say:  "Qoro, LLC (www.qoro.com and www.qoroart.com) is using all forms of social media to forward our new website and online art gallery. We have used Facebook, LinkedIn, blog and Twitter (all joined together) to reach more artists and end clients. We have seen increase in our stats to our website in the few months that we have ramped up the social media PR but have not reaped the ROI/Sales from those hits yet. 

• We have reached many artists we wouldn't have with just cold calls or emails but what we need to reach is the end clients that want to purchase the fine art giclees.  This is our dilemna, how do you friend people you don't know or reach them? We are hoping that providing the artists with information they will come to us for their prints and that is working slowly.   If you would like more information on our social marketing plan, please feel free to call at 877-470-4278 or email kgriffith@qoro.com. 

• On the West Coast, David Dubrino an Online Marketing Manager at DRS & Associates chimed in with this comment: I think the key is that you have to use all of the social tools out there together to help each social account and platform. You also just can't create the accounts and then leave them, whether it's a blog, twitter account, fb page etc... you have to be consistent and stick with it... every day.   If it's NOT your goal to get people to your website so that they will contact you to hire you for your services or purchase something, then you don't need to worry about social networking. Otherwise it's going to be crucial to your business sooner than later.

• And finally we hear from Giselle V, who is a Sales Director at the Deco Design Center in the Miami Beach area:  Deco Design Center http://www.decodesigncenter.com is using all forms of social media but we prefer twitter and linkedin the best out of all of them. Facebook is more difficult I think and less targeted clients. You can follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DecoDesignCente 

It seems to me that everyone who has commented on this issue realizes the importance of Social Media  in the 21st Century.  Apparently it's more of a PR than an marketing tool from the comments we've listed over the past few posts.  Which is something that I've always felt.  If you disagree, tell us... leave a comment!

Since this blog is already linked to FB, I'm going to go Twitter about it now...

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More on Social Media

I'm going to try to get comments from more folks on this post about Social Media as part of a PR tool kit. Niki VanEch who is the principal at VanEch Studio in Washington, DC, thinks this is a "très groseille" subject:

"Yesterday I attended a panel discussion at the Washington DC Design Center "Growing Your Business Through Marketing Communications: Big Results from Small Budgets". The panel was comprised of Arianne Nardo and James Barra of Interiors Magazine and Designer Victoria Neale from Washington DC. They focused on having good web sites and getting work submitted to editors for publication. Interestingly, the majority of the questions from the attendees were about the relevance of social media as facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc. as well as blogs. All three of the panelists basically implied that while these efforts may keep you somewhat connected, they do little to bring in new business. "


We also have this comment from Tyler Broome the Marketing Coordinator at Ballard Designs in Atlanta, GA:
"We have utilized social media with no intent of achieving any ROI. We mainly use it as a tool to build upon the already existing loyality from our fans. We also use it to get instant feedback about product related issues from our customers. Also, a great way to keep your brand in the minds of the consumer..."

And finally for today, we have thoughts from Denise Butchko, a Designer/Marketer from the Chicago area who says she's "passionate about teaching the benefits of social media":
"The idea with social media is to create an opportunity to make a sale. It really is, first and foremost, about participating from a place of sharing. You really do build relationships - and those relationships bring all sorts of opportunities. And every day there are more ways to track efforts - so you can get a handle on what's working and what's not. And take Jennifer's advise and check out "Social Media Revolution" on Youtube - it's worth the four minutes and some odd seconds."

Feedback on Social Media

Posted a question on a Linked-In group on how people are using social media and what results they are seeing and got some very good responses!  Like this one from Jennifer Smith who is the founder and president at Southeast Decorative Arts Center, Inc in Wilmington, NC:

When I hired my Member Services Coordinator, one of the top five questions was, "Do you know how to use Facebook?" She replied, "I check my Facebook as soon as I open my eyes." She got the job. 

She has built a following for my start-up business and I credit our Social Media efforts with much of the word-of-mouth buzz SEADAC is getting! As I am tightening my advertising budget for 2010 I am less stressed knowing that we can utilze Social Media to keep our name in front of people. Check out Social Media Revolution on You Tube if you don't think Tweeting and Facebooking is important!

 Thanks Jennifer for letting us know what it's doing for you in the Southeast.  However, I've read some reports that the recession is faring differently in different parts of the country.

Tomorrow we'll hear from Niki VanEch on what social media is doing for her in the Washington, DC area.

Who Do You Trust?

Your FaceBook friends?  There seems to be almost as many opinions about social networking and it's relative value to PR and marketing, as there are books about the subject.  Ironically, this post is based on a comment from one of my groups at Linked-In and a possible new job that a friend might be taking soon.

One woman posted in the discussion section about how she had set up Twitter and FaceBook accounts for her company but wasn't exactly sure what she should do now or if there were other sites they should be listed on.  To my way of looking at it, all businesses should have a presence on social media, because it's just plain ole easy PR to keep your name out there.

But the person who responded to this woman told her that she needed to read a book (Trust Agent by Chris Brogan) that had been recommended to her by a Boston-based PR agency.  Chris's blog/website is a very interesting read with some damn good advice on blogging.  Matter of fact, I hadn't realized that one of my techniques about seeing something interesting about PR and then blogging about it was one of his hints. 

Has your business or organization had positive reactions to blogs or social media?  Tell me about them, it's another way to generate some PR because I will write about it!

And if you are thinking of getting some new art for the home, office or gift giving, come see me at the St. Mary's Art Fair, 58th & M Streets in East Sacto, this Saturday, Nov 14th from 10 am to 6 pm.  Print this post out and I'll give you a 25% discount on any framed art or print.

Honest PR

Many people confuse public relations with advertising.  Yes, they are both part of a marketing campagin, but they differ widely.   If  these confused people also happen to be one of your clients, then you are in big trouble because of probable diminished expectations.  I always tell clients that PR is just a crap shoot, sometimes you get lucky and other times you don't.  With advertising, you simply get what you pay for - an ad.  Perhaps it's easier for me to understand media because I was once a journalist who was pitched by PR people. 

I always tell clients this first off before we even get to talk about strategies and the like. The reason I do this is that I too have had clients who expected way too much from one or even a series of news releases that I wrote for them.  Then there is also the problem of importance.  Clients think their service/product/event is the most important thing going on that day.  It can be difficult to break the news to them that journalists don't think that way.  If there's a big say ax murder on the day of your launch, the media won't care two figs about you.  Even in these days of changing media, if it bleeds it leads!

I belong to many (probably too many) groups at Linked-In.  One of these is Freelance Professionals, where Brian Salisbury's post and link to his blog got this line of thought going. He's got some interesting thoughts HERE

If you've found this blog, you might be interested in my other blog: Ann Tracy's Waiting for the Muse, my blog about life as a Sacramento artist and theatre person.  You can find it HERE