It’s still not rocket science

I’ve never been an advocate of using complex terminology, technical speak and marketing buzz words during my career in PR, and have always found that a straight forward and direct approach to business suited me just fine.

But that’s become more difficult as we have all embraced the myriad of new digital and social media over the past year or so that has brought a whole new language straight into mainstream culture.

I have been an avid ‘Facebooker’ for some time, having family spread across the world meant that was the best way to stay involved with people I know everywhere – it made sense for me.

Linkedin has crept through the PR industry and other professional services – especially recruitment – with an undeniable momentum. Last year we started using Facebook fan sites for clients who had ‘follower’ customers – restaurants, bars, websites and hotels particularly see the benefit.

Then came ‘Tweeting’ – and more than ever we have been drawn towards the world of blogging and social media as devices that are relevant for communicating with new publics, and not just for clients targeting ‘Yoof’ groups and geeks.

We have reached the point where social media PR is now relevant to every client, whether B2B or consumer to some degree or other. As an agency we aim to bring our trademark no bull approach to this exciting new opportunity.

Our challenges now are to filter the most relevant media devices for each campaign and client, to explain their relevance and implement them efficiently. That means getting to the bottom of every piece of jargon, every new trend and every facet of social media. If people can understand how this will benefit their business, they will use social media and benefit from it.

As a starting point, I found Darren Rowse A to Z useful.

We are already working with our clients to take the most relevant aspects of the social media mix for their businesses, and sew them together with traditional PR and media relations into a package that makes sense and delivers value.

Our use of digital media can amplify traditional PR results – media coverage – with very little additional effort, and funnel the benefits – sales and enquiries more directly to client businesses.

Just like media relations, this isn’t rocket science, but the devil is most certainly in the detail. We know some very clever specialists and we are learning from them and using the best expertise. Most of our clients want to get the most ‘bang for their buck’ – and by making social marketing relevant for their business – we can deliver that.

The social media and digital revolution is the biggest opportunity to get value for money profile in decades, and we hope to share some of our experiences of making social media relevant to all manner of business, tell you more about what the Appeal team are up to, and hopefully get your views too…