Really honored to be chosen to Keynote the 2012 Miss Independent Conference this year by Mercy College, C Step, STEP & Upward Bound!

Public Relations and Social Media: A perfect pair

Three years ago, social media was all the rage.  As businesses struggled to stay afloat in tough economic times, they slashed traditional advertising budgets and put PR and marketing on hold.  Then came social media. “What’s your Twitter handle?” and “Friend me” were the buzzwords. Everyone wanted in on the hottest trend in marketing. People soon jumped on the social media bandwagon, not fully understanding what social media was or entailed, but knew they needed to be a part of it. Company’s who had put all traditional media buying on hold began pouring this money into social media, expecting the same sales driven results as traditional media.  Social Media managers were expected to show the results of traditional advertising, marketing and PR initiatives, all through social channels and with smaller budgets.

Social media is in nature, supposed to be social. Social entails “engaging” with fans, opening up the channel of communication from 1 way to 2-way communication, and not direct sales. As companies allocated traditional marketing and PR budgets solely for Social Media, they became unsatisfied with the results. They were looking for social media to be the magic bullet to fix their business, to drive sales, and to give something it was never meant to give. In an effort to stretch dollars put into social media, companies began pushing harder to drive sales through the social channels they set up. The more they pushed the sale, the further away the fans went.

As the economy picks up in 2012, traditional media budgets are slowly coming back into the marketing mix, and companies are integrating these traditional media vehicles with social media strategies.  The result is a fully integrated marketing approach with increased opportunities for the end user to engage with the brand through several touch points.

Social media cannot stand in a silo.  To run a successful marketing campaign, social media must be integrated within a larger Public Relations and marketing strategy.

Social Media and Public Relations go hand in hand, you can’t have one without the other. Public Relations fuels Social Media with content and placements for posting, and social media fuels Public Relations with larger opportunities to form direct relationships with journalists and publications at large.  A social media campaign without PR would lack rich content for continuous posting, and a PR campaign without social media would lack a primary vehicle in which to share placements with a larger fan base.

For example, a Westchester fashion boutique was looking to build buzz about their new store opening. This particular retailer is a perfect example of a company using social media and PR interchangeably.  Traditional press releases were written for the grand opening, as well as social media releases to bloggers. A local celebrity spokesperson modeled clothes at the Grand Opening, and was utilized in the preliminary ad campaigns. The spokesperson also utilized their social media to get the word out about the store. As a way to take the conversation offline and meet their fans in person, the retailer has participated in event sponsorships such as The WAG’s Ageless Forever Event, or A Taste of The Towns at The Gym in Armonk.  They also shoot all of their own ad campaigns, and reward their Facebook fans with teasers of behind the scenes footage from shoots to create a unique experience that can only be found in social media. For Valentine’s Day, a “wish list” was created in print for customers to track their favorite items in the store. We combined this in the digital realm by creating a “digital wish list” so users could get a similar experience at home on their laptops, if they didn’t want to fill out the list at the store. Everything in the campaign is integrated seamlessly.

The role of social media for businesses in Westchester County has drastically changed, and will continue to evolve in 2012. It is no longer a question of “Should my business be active in social media?” but rather, “What social media strategy is my business implementing this year?” As companies continue to put money back into traditional advertising and PR campaigns, social media will become a pivotal feedback mechanism to gauge response rate. Facebook in particular will serve as a powerful and free focus group to test ad campaigns. Company’s looking to place media buys in traditional print are now taking advantage of Facebook’s advertising platform to test ad concepts to determine which ad gains the highest response rate from a loyal fan base. Impression rates, social reach and click through conversions can then be used to create PR and marketing campaigns.

Company’s that are most successful with social media strategy are those who see it for what it is; not a direct sales tool, but rather, a new form of selling through the art of ‘not selling.’  Social Media fans are coming to your fan page to get an entirely unique experience, one that cannot be found in print, email newsletters, or even your web site. Company’s that embrace this form of brand building within their larger marketing budgets will be satisfied with the results. Social Media is only one component of a comprehensive marketing strategy.  The most innovative companies with successful marketing campaigns today are combining social media, Public Relations, marketing communications, event sponsorship and corporate social responsibility initiatives into their marketing plan at large. They leverage all of these marketing opportunities to cross promote and further build their brand.

Kris Ruby is President of Ruby Media Group, a premiere Public Relations and Social Media Agency serving Westchester and Fairfield County. For more information, please visit www.rubymediagroup.com

Date of publication: Westchester County Business Journal, February 21, 2012

Join Professional Women of Connecticut on February 27th for a great event: Public Relations Meets Social Media, The intersection between PR and Social Media in 2012. We will discuss social medias role in your overall media budget, media planning and buying, traditional advertising vs. Facebook advertising and more!

Social Media is ever preset in the Super Bowl this year. How will you be following the super bowl? Good old fashioned TV, or through social media? We want to hear!

Check out these great articles for how to stay social this super bowl.

Mashable: How to Follow Super Bowl 2012

ABC: Super Bowl advertisers go big in social media

Davids Soundview Catering is offering their fans a chance to win a free platinum Keurig this holiday season! We are obsessed with our Keurig machine at RMG, and know you will be too! Enter for a chance to win the Platinum Keurig here. Their sweepstakes ends December 26th. Good Luck!

Win a Platinum Keurig from David’s Soundview Catering!

Enter to win here:

http://www.facebook.com/DavidsCatering?sk=app_28134323652

In case you missed it, check out Kris Ruby of Ruby Media giving BRAVOS Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger some Twitter advice!

Tonight I will be making a special appearance on BRAVO’s Millionaire Matchmaker at 9 pm.  Patti and I will be discussing all things social media and Twitter! So tune in to the opening of tonights episode for a special treat!

This morning I spoke on a social media panel at the 914 Inc. Westchester Magazine Business Breakfast and Social Media Discussion. Here are some of the questions we discussed and some of my business insights on the recent Facebook changes, social media for your business today and more! Thank you to Dave Donelson for a great job moderating the panel discussion, as well as all of the other panelists.

Why is social media important to businesses?

Social media is important to businesses because people are talking about your business. It is better to have a voice and opinion then to ignore what people are saying about your company altogether. Social media is important to business because it is an integral part of business; especially how any new business in the current economy can function and market itself cost effectively today.

How does it differ from other forms of promotion?

Social media differs from other forms of promotion in that it is, in essence, not supposed to be promotional. Social media is truly brand building. The issue is that people today don’t realize just how important brand building is for their business, and instead think forms of direct marketing or advertising is more powerful then other types of promotion. Social media is equally as important.

Social media marketing differs from traditional marketing in that it does not focus on immediately establishing the value of your services or products, but rather it is about establishing you as an icon and thought leader in the industry- to create an awareness of your name and brand.  It is not a specific advertisement for a given product or service- it is about brand engagement.

How much time and money does it take?

Social media is not free. On average, it takes anywhere between 25-40 hours per month to integrate your social media and public relations campaign. The two should work hand in hand.  Social Media is an extension of corporate branding.  As a client, you are paying for the ability to utilize modern electronic techniques to get in front of a targeted audience.  Social media is not an advertisement and it is not a banner ad.  Social media is inherently about branding to a focused audience.  It is about the ability to quickly get in front of prospects, current clients and leads, and to establish an online relationship with them and build customer engagement.  The type of results you should be looking to expect is similar to what you would expect from a long term branding campaign.  Social media marketing is essentially a global awareness and branding campaign that takes time to develop.

How do you know if you’re getting any results?

You know if you are getting results based on community awareness of your brand, an increase in press mentions, an increase in brand identity (positive brand identity), or an increase in new leads.

What’s the most important factor in success with social media?

The most important factor to be successful in social media is to have clients who are willing to make the commitment to work with you on content creation. If you are going to represent someone online (similar to how a Hollywood agent represents an actor) then the agent needs to be in fairly frequent communication with that actor. The same is true for social media. In order to truly represent what your clients are doing in real time, you need to be in frequent contact with them so what you are posting about their lives represents what they are actually doing. If you have a client that is impossible to get in touch with or only wants you to make up stories about what they could potentially doing, the campaign will never truly be a success.

What is the one thing you should never do in social media?

The one thing you should never do in social media is to be too promotional, and yet we are all (myself included) guilty of it. Once you have committed this crime, it is best to disappear off the Facebook radar for a little while so you redeem yourself, or you can try 30 days of positive posting and make sure NONE of your posts include the words “Me” or “I” in them and are only informational, sharing posts that have nothing to do with you, your clients, or your company.

Any media, social or otherwise, needs an audience. How do you get one in social media?

You get an audience by branding yourself as an opinion leader and expert in your field. Take your knowledge that you have in a specific niche market and start sharing it with friends and family to begin building the audience. If they like what you have to say, they will then start sharing your posts with THEIR friends and family, and it can eventually lead to you developing your own unique audience.

Given the limited audiences of most social media, how does a business justify it?

I disagree with the premise of the question. According to recent statistics, Facebook has 800+ users and Google+ has 43 million users. Definitely not a “limited” audience.

If you have to prioritize, which social media should come first?

1.    Social Media Strategy should always come first (so to answer the question, the first social media to come first is NOT social media, it is traditional marketing/PR laid out in MS Word!)

2.    Once you have chosen the appropriate channels for your strategy and business goals, you can then choose which networks work for your company accordingly

What’s the newest, greatest thing in social media?

• The new Facebook Timeline will revolutionize your Facebook experience, but it also has the potential to drudge up everything from your entire Facebook history (from 5+ years ago that you thought was gone forever)

• On Sept 30th, everyone’s Facebook profile will go through a drastic change and everyone will have the Facebook Timeline. This change will be mandatory.

 ”Rather than just displaying your most recent activities, your profile will become a scrapbook documenting your entire life, all the way back to your birth. Facebook will become a record of your existence: All your memories, your victories and your defeats, your loves, your losses and everything in between. You’ll be shocked, as I was, when this change is made. Suddenly your life is laid out before you, the highs and lows somehow pinpointed by Facebook’s algorithms.” Pete Cashmore, CNN “You’ll Freak When You See the New Facebook” 

• Users will have more control over what shows up on their newsfeed. You can unsubscribe from people’s updates as opposed to de-friending. Additionally, you can control how much of what you see from their updates
• Hulu and Spotify are now integrated directly into Facebook. You can actually watch and play music directly from Facebook. Additionally, you can share what you’re listening to and comment directly on what other people are listening/watching as well.
• You don’t have to just “Like” something anymore; you’ll be able to use any verb through “Facebook Gestures.” I wonder if this will change the premise of “Liking” a fan page and how this will impact business fan pages?

Check out Jason Fells latest article on the home page of Entrepreneur Magazine.com.  I particularly love his intro with Disney!

“Master animator and entrepreneur Walt Disney suffered an emotional meltdown in 1931, three years after the debut of Mickey Mouse in the cartoonSteamboat Willie. He was cracking under the pressure of running Walt Disney Studio and overseeing a brand that was beginning to receive global recognition.

“I had a hell of a breakdown,” Disney recalls in a TV biography called Walt: The Man Behind the Myth. “I got to the point that I couldn’t talk on the telephone. I’d begin to cry.”

Disney ultimately began to better manage stress by traveling with his wife, Lillian, and by playing polo. For other business owners, the road to recovering from work-related tensions isn’t so clear. “Stress reduces the entrepreneur’s ability to make effective decisions and manage risk, which creates additional stress,” explains Dick Thompson, author of The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions — And What to Do About It (Jossey-Bass, 2010).” Jason Fell, Entrepreneur Magazine, copyright 

Read The FULL article here! 

Definitely also want to give a major shout out and thank you to my business coach Bonnie Haber of Corporate Calm, who worked with me through surviving “startup stress” Thanks Bonnie! Highly recommend her