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None of us can possibly keep up to date with the ever-growing number of social media contacts we need to engage with, without using tools to automate some of the processes and managing our time carefully.
One of those tools which has become increasingly useful for those with busy schedules is Buffer – the application which allows you to pre-schedule Tweets to be sent to your Twitter account automatically at times set by you.
So, for instance, if you have blog posts and articles which you would like to bring to people’s attention, but you know you will be in meetings all day for the next two days, you can schedule these tweets (with links to your own website, of course) to go out whilst you are otherwise committed.
For a busy team in a large marcomms department, this can make it really easy to see who else is planning to send out what and when, rather than inundating your followers with a deluge of tweets from different authors who just happened not to know what everyone else was about to do.
Now, Buffer has added the scheduling of Facebook posts to the app, which can only be a good thing for companies looking to intersperse real-world communications with news and PR on Facebook. It is vital not to use any of your social media real estate simply as a one-way mechanism, and alternating broadcast announcements with some one to one human communication with those who post on your wall, page or group is of paramount importance if you want people to return.
After all, social media is not just about how many Likes or Followers you have. It is also about the dialogue that you engage in with those who have taken the time to seek you out and indicate their interest.
Buffer offers a number of plug-ins and apps for multiple devices and browsers, so being able to automate tweets from your iPhone or Android for your business. Or for remote workers to tweet from the road or out of office so that others can see what may be scheduled over the next few days and build additional campaigns or marketing around that.
The Facebook addition allows you to tweet to both Facebook and twitter at once, or just one of the networks (as do applications such as Foursquare) which will reduce your workload and ensure that you reach the different audiences who will be following through the social media of their choice.
A word of warning: if you already have Tweets being posted to Facebook automatically via another mechanism (or vice versa), be very careful not to create a loop. This can mean that you post something to Twitter, which automatically gets posted to FB, and is then automatically posted back to Twitter etc etc until you feel as though you are standing in a room full of mirrors! Keep a record of the tools you trial for which automation tasks as they may conflict if you accidentally set up an infinite loop. And it could have been months since you experimented with a new tool and remembering which it was, passwords, and so on, may come too late if you have a group of followers who find themselves inundated with email notifications from you before you have resolved the issue.
Not that I speak from experience. Oh no. 
Give Buffer a try. It’s free and definitely worth using if your time is limited, if you need to manage a large team, and if you want to schedule in advance any communications when you know you will be otherwise engaged.
Press releases are not going to go away, whichever new technologies come to the forefront. But there is a methodology to sending to them that will guarantee a higher chance of response and which should become a key part of your marketing strategy.
Firstly, you must build up an audience. This means getting in touch, via whichever means the journalist, publication or promoter prefers, and establishing a rapport. It is no good sending a PR out into the cold. And good relationships take time to establish.
Secondly, your PR must have substance. It needs to be newsworthy, timely and include links to further information to allow the author of any piece relating to that press release a chance to write a piece of value. Press releases should include links to video, audio, references, and if at all possible personalised and in-depth content. So, a Skype contact for a quick video conference, a Twitter handle with hashtag for a broad range of input on the subject matter or event, Youtube URLs, audioboos etc should all be included.
Top Tip: Add a QR code for a personalised page for that journalist. Relate some of your information back to previous pieces they have written to give a background or insight.
Thirdly, you must sell your story. The vast majority of press releases are simply puff pieces because the marcomms department thinks it is time there was a column inch or two about the company. Do not fall into that modus operandi. Only send out stories when there are meat and bones, when timely, and when you have a valid reason to see the company name in print.
But do not miss opportunities. This is where a great PR salesperson will come to the fore. A good marcomms person will be able to spot an opportunity eg when something is trending on Twitter, contact the people with whom they have established relationships, have a great piece that can be customised by the journo to suit their publication (without being yet another “Read similar stories” on Google) and who can push the whys and wherefores of this particular story to a specific publication.
Understanding how Online PR works in this fast moving environment where a story may die in a day is vital. And it requires fast action and slick processes in-house to work correctly, backed up by valuable content that is regularly added to your website. But get it right, and you could be viral for a few hours with a long tail audience for many months to come.
Imagine a large corporate, looking to increase links to their site and also raise brand awareness amongst potential customers, and demonstrate the expertise within their company.
Forum marketing is an ideal tool at this juncture, so let’s wheel out an in-house expert to post to a variety of fora and help out those communities with technical problems. Thus clearly exhibiting the knowledge within the business, plus reinforcing the image of a caring company.
However, due to company policy and a culture of fear about online damage to reputation, this expert can only post after getting permission from the PR department. Generally, most PR and Marcomms department are specialists in press releases, marketing communications, crisis management and so on.
Now, they are expected to be able to judge the value of a response made to a question in a forum on a subject in which the expert has spent 25 years becoming so knowledgeable. It may well be that they do not understand the question. After all, it is being asked for a reason ie the answer can’t readily be found elsewhere.
The expert then needs to educate the PR department as to why he has given said answer, and why the question is being asked, and how this fits into the overall marketing strategy of the company (not the expert’s forte, of course).
This all takes time, and therefore costs money. And is also utterly pointless.
If you employ your staff because they are GOOD at what they do, then trust them. Sure, monitor their excursions into fora to start with to ensure they are fully au fait with the brand and are on message, but don’t involve the PR department. Leave them to get press releases out, deal with the media, develop marketing strategies on and offline; don’t expect them to suddenly become experts in the minutiae of your technical department’s expertise.
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