Social media lets brands reach customers
Social media is changing the way companies interact with customers, said Natalie Wardel, social media director for KSL News during the Taste of PR Dinner Wednesday.
“You probably didn’t start (your Facebook profile) thinking, ‘I’m going to interact with brands,'” Wardel said.
On the other hand, public relations representatives do create accounts on Facebook and Twitter to reach potential customers. Good public relations representatives work hard to make those online interactions positive for the consumer, Wardel said.
“A relationship that you feel you have with the brand … should be carefully created, carefully maintained by public relations in a company,” Wardel said.
Wardel was the keynote speaker at the Taste of PR Dinner, a promotion for the upcoming Vivint Mountain West Public Relations Conference held by USU public relations program and the Public Relations Student Society of America.
The field of public rel ations has changed focus over the past decade, from getting publicity for a company through news media to building a brand’s image through social media, Wardel said. Public relations representatives formerly had to write press releases, call news reporters and wait for a newspaper article to be published, she said.
Now, representatives can bypass the newsroom and interact directly with potential customers through sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, she said.
“You can go out there and you can create a Twitter account,” Wardel said. “You can reach your fans on Facebook … you don’t need to wait for that front-page story.”
Social media also helps public relations representatives prove their efforts are paying off for the companies that hire them, Wardel said.
“You can’t prove or show that someone read an article,” Wardel said.
Social media has built-in measures of popularity, such as Facebook “likes” or followers on Twitter that help public relations representatives prove their message is reaching potential customers. Online surveys about a brand’s image are easier to organize through social media and representatives can show companies when a brand’s image improves.
Wardel graduated from USU in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in print and broadcast journalism. At this time, many students weren’t optimistic about employment opportunities in communications fields, but that outlook may be improving, Wardel said.
“When I was graduating it was total doom and gloom about the industry that we’re going into,” Wardel said. “I can only imagine — with the economy being as stellar as it is now — that there’s not that kind of feeling.”
The rise of social media may mean more work for public relations representatives, but it also means more jobs, Wardel said. When she left her position as marketing coordinator for San Diego’s transit system, she said the system offrice created two jobs to carry on the social media campaign she started.
The upcoming public relations conference should appeal to students studying communications, said Jackie Berryhill, director of the Vivint Mountain West Public Relations Conference Committee.
“There’s information for everyone, because we invited so many different fields, from business marketing, social media — all of those,” Berryhill said. “I just want everyone to walk away with the feeling that they learned something new and that is was worth their time.”
The conference will take place March 1-3 at the Eccles Conference Center. This is the 4th year the USU chapter of PRSSA will host the conference. The cost to attend the conference for all three days is $20 for PRSSA members, $35 for other students and $95 for professionals.
Last year, one of the main complaints students had about the conference was the cost, Berryhill said. This year, directors tried to lower the price through sponsors like Vivint and local companies, she said.
“BYU is holding a conference the weekend before us and their cost is $50 for PRSSA students … ours is only $20,” Berryhill said.
Carolee McMullin is a local business owner and sponsor for the conference. McMullin said good public relations representatives are important for companies that want a presence on social media sites.
“As a company, it’s vital,” McMullin said. “You could not get your message out there and let people know what you’re doing in social media if you didn’t have someone.”
– steve.kent@aggimail.usu.edu