More and more businesses are turning their focus towards digital marketing, and specifically public relations, in an attempt to boost their credibility and visibility with the target audience. One of the best ways to get a company’s name in front of a lot of people, as well as build thought leadership, is through PR. However, companies that are looking to get more media coverage as a part of their marketing strategies can improve their odds by doing some of the work ahead of time.
One of the things that companies should be considering before they get more media coverage is to focus on social media. This is because whenever a journalist gets interested in a company, aside from looking them up on search engines, they will also check out their social presence. That’s why it’s important for companies to be active on social media platforms.
Sharing things on social media platforms makes it easier for journalists to do their jobs since they are looking for as much background information about the business as possible before they talk about them to the public. It also shows the journalists that the business cares about its online presence and its SEO.
Additionally, it’s not just the business itself that should be present on social media platforms. The executives and some other high-level people should have their own, separate presence on social media as well.
Doing that will increase the trust that the employees and shareholders have in the business itself, as well as the company’s leaders. According to research, more than half of employees in the US have stated that it’s important for them to see their executives actively communicating about their businesses online, especially during a PR crisis.
Furthermore, plenty of people also take a glance at the executives’ social media presence before they decide to join a company, to see what they can learn about the company, and to figure out if that business would be a good fit for them.
Social Media Platforms
Some of the most important platforms where companies should have a presence are LinkedIn and Twitter.
LinkedIn is the most popular place for learning about industry news, as well as making industry connections, while Twitter is the place where most journalists are active. Twitter is also a great place for businesses to connect to relevant journalists that can cover the business in news outlets, or have them notice the company in the first place.
Ultimately, companies should be looking to start and build relationships with journalists or other industry people long before they need them, and social media platforms are one of the best and easiest ways to do that. It doesn’t take a lot of time, it’s available to everyone, and it doesn’t require any sort of budget to share relevant information about a business, or some industry insights.
It’s also the best place to start a PR push for many businesses, as they can also get noticed by, and connect with other customers, as well as a large number of journalists.