At university I am
completing a major in Public Relations and Web Communications. As a result, I
have learnt a lot about the theory and benefits of Social Media, and it was
very exciting for me to see these in action in the real world. I learnt how
social media could help develop a well-rounded client strategy, and how social
media helps establish an online presence for the consultancy.
gtmedia holds a
strong online presence. Currently they have a Website, Twitter and Instagram.
One of the tasks I completed as an intern was to find content for these social
media sites. A pattern I came to realize, was that the more we kept our
accounts updated on a regular basis, the more followers we gained. Ideally, we
post to Instagram once a day, and to Twitter three times a day.
It was imperative
we be selective about the content posted, as it is ultimately a reflection of
the company and a method for interacting with current and potential clients. We
wanted to maintain a professional reputation online with a light sense of
humour. For Twitter, I found content like articles relating to the PR industry,
what our clients were up to, or a lighter piece like the top 10 Jimmy Fallon
moments. On Instagram, we post photos of things happening at our office. Like a
team dinner, or a TV shoot with a client. By using hashtags on our photos like
#pr101 and #Perth, we can take advantage of the Instagram platform and get our
posts noticed by the right people.
gtmedia also runs
the initiative @project_thankyou on Instagram. It is an account that celebrates
gratitude by posting photographs of everyday people with a caption of what they
are thankful for most in this world. Another of my tasks was to find content
for this page by talking to people, finding what they were thankful for, and
capturing the moment. It was an initiative I really admired and enjoyed helping
out with.
A little while ago,
we worked with client Breast Cancer Care WA to develop a unique strategy for
Purple Bra Day 2015 that had a heavy emphasis on social media. The client had
told us they wanted to use the hashtag #PutYourBrasOut, similar to the hashtag
#PutYourBatsOut that trended in memory of cricketer Phillip Hughes. The
strategy invited people to put their bras out in recognition of the one in
eight women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Part of
our PR plan was to instigate this hashtag and gain some traction across social
media platforms in order to promote Purple Bra Day.
One of our goals
was to target Perth bloggers like @pegasusunicorn and @lovethread because of
their large followings on Instagram. Blogs hold niche markets as well as an
element of trust with their followers, and therefore can effectively promote a
message. These bloggers were lovely to work with and helped us promote a
message for a good cause.
Something I had not
thought about before was the importance of measuring reach and engagement of
social media. Because it can generate a lot of publicity for a client, social
media needs to be taken into account for billing purposes.
Social media is a
massive game changer for the Public Relations industry.
Until next week.
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