A Developing Brand in the Public Relations Industry: Analysis of a Professional Social Media Strategy Catherine Harper 4/4/11 Royal,

Social Media MW 2-3:20 p.m.

1. Situational analysis a. Identification of client i. My shift from college to career and the necessity of a social media brand b. Background of industry: Definition of public relations and the transformation of communications principles i. The digital revolution ii. Introduction of social media websites c. Current trends in public relations d. Goals for my social media strategy e. Audiences for my social media strategy 2. Background research a. Net neutrality b. Link journalism c. Mobile journalism d. Analytics and data e. The rise of Facebook f. The rise of Twitter 3. Strategy a. Programming: themes and message b. Tactics i. Data sharing ii. Blogging iii. Twitter iv. Mobile applications to build brand v. Visualization and storytelling 4. Evaluation a. Strategy for evaluating completed objectives b. Challenges and opportunities c. Change in the future

The shift from college to career is noted as one of the most groundbreaking in a new professionals life. While the experience of higher education is sheltering in many ways to the constantly shifting industrial world, the emerging professional must learn to adapt their learning habits and interactions in their professional environment in order to successfully focus upon their strengths and the opportunities that come their way (Scheele, 2011.) They must also become knowledgeable of the shifting trends in their industry in order to establish effective communications through networks. As a Mass Communications major with a specialty in public relations, it is necessary that I have a thorough knowledge of my professional objectives and forge networks using effective communications platforms such as social media tools. As a current user of Facebook, Twitter and a blog, I have built up a small network of interactions in my current use of social media tools. However, the theme for my blog is underdeveloped and my interactions on Twitter are at a minimum due to a slow progression of my knowledge of these mediums. This has created a heightened need for a social media strategy that will guide my utilization of these tools and creation of my audience in line with my professional goals. As an emerging public relations practitioner, building both online and offline networks is integral in standing out among competition and is also the foundation of public relations. Public relations is defined as, Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other (PRSA, 2011.) People and interactions are essential in the public relations process, while communication is merely the means to an end (PRSAY, 2011.) However, the utilization of varied communications tools is necessary in reaching a wider range of audiences, which has become more of an accessible feat with the emergence of social media tools as a product of the advancement of the Internet and technology in the digital revolution. The digital revolution of the last few decades has brought about a massive transformation in the way people communicate and share information. The Internet has advanced exponentially from its creation as an informational tool known as the AARPA-NET in 1960 to a primary tool for sharing information and communicating worldwide as it is used today. The implementation of tools such as e-mail, search engines and peer-to-peer information sharing sites has changed the way that we absorb and organize data, which has shifted industries such as public relations which rely heavily on reaching publics through relatable information and targeted messages. The introduction of social media websites has made these interactions with publics much more

accessible and thus much more widely used to create a lasting impact on the way that we communicate in both our interpersonal and online conversations. The introduction of social media websites shifted the concept of online interaction from the very basic method of packet sharing in the Internets early stages, which was not very accessible by the public, to a peer-to-peer method of communicating and sharing information. This method originated with audio companies in the 1990s such as Audion, Winamp and Napster that designed the first peer-to-peer music sharing services. In 2002, Friendster adapted this method to an online social environment in which a community of people could interact and share information. This launched a virtual social media movement online with websites such as Digg, Youtube and Myspace following in the millennium to build upon this new method of communication that showed a massive behavioral shift in users from their implementation into the industry. None impacted the industry more than Facebook however, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, which focused on how people communicate to establish connections and translated it to a purely online social environment for building relationships and a personal brand. This movement has spurred the popularity of social media branding, which involves creating a network of interactions online, and it has become more accessible than ever to measure the effectiveness of these objectives. The revolutionary shift from interpersonal communications to the public domain has opened up a variety of possibilities for an emerging professional to create their brand and increase the knowledge of their industry. The use of social media websites has multiplied the amount of relationships we are able to make, which easily allows for construction of professional networks that are conducive to success in a career and social media brand. This has also allowed a professional, particularly in public relations, to engage in reputation management of their brand, organization or client through interactions online. According to Proactive Report, Listening to the online conversations and having a PR team that is trained to react effectively is no longer an option it is a necessity (Proactive Report, 2011.) This has led to some revolutionary trends in the industry that are necessary to become aware of in creating a brand using these tools. Social medias perforation as a primary communications tool has guided trends in public relations relating to data sharing, reputation management and targeting audiences that are necessary to know in building a professional brand. According to a recent survey by PRSAY, trends in 2011 for careers in public relations include being able to aptly measure data, create well-

written content that tells an effective story, merge other communications industries to become more flexible for a client, and utilize several social media platforms in the communications process (PRSAY, 2011.) In order to establish networks and demonstrate my credibility as an emerging brand, I will utilize my knowledge of these trends and enact them through my professional goals and defined social media strategy. In order to see success in my use of social media tools, I must establish obtainable and measurable goals based on my interests and profession in a defined social media strategy. Through social media tools, I intend to establish and maintain consistent professional relationships, employ useful data that is valuable to my interests and my audience, and create original and engaging content over several social media platforms to encourage interaction with my audience and demonstrate my social media expertise. With these objectives, I hope to expand my online presence, become more aware of the issues and trends of my industry and interests, and increase my professional network by May 2012. In order to emerge into my industry and create a successful online presence, I must build consistent relationships based on targeted audiences that identify with my objectives. In establishing my social media strategy, my primary audience will be the future employers that I wish to connect with on the basis of my determined and creative personality, while demonstrating my expertise in the field of public relations. These employers may include: public relations firms, non-profit organizations, new and traditional media broadcasters and other industries that may require public relations in accordance with my interests. Among this primary audience are also the clients I may represent under these employers that expect a level of transparency and honesty that is demonstrated through an established social media brand. My secondary audience will be the professional contacts whose example I can learn and adapt from and with whom I can build relationships. Through understanding and connecting with my established audiences, I must also remain mindful of growing Internet topics and trends such as net neutrality and link journalism which could help in creating and sharing content. In the public domain, the concept of net neutrality is a fundamental principle underlying online trends and data that is necessary to understand and utilize while interacting with online communities. While many news organizations traditionally safeguarded their practices and information from the threats of competitors, the introduction of news as a conversation online through social media tools has expanded news organizations and publics to interact and contribute

with each other in the freedom of the Internet. Rather than enforcing the concept of private intellectual property and discouraging creative use of information, journalists and web creators alike have realized that linking or sharing data with neighboring websites can drive a larger amount of traffic and build a community through useful information. According to Tim BernersLee, the creator of the World Wide Web, The primary design principle underlying the Webs usefulness and growth is universality. When you make a link, you can link to anything (Berners-Lee, 2011.) By understanding the role of information in keeping the Internet a public instead of private domain, the community and industries that operate within them can grow and build off of each other in their interactive distribution of information online. This emergence of link journalism has also aided in allowing for news and information to be an interactive basis for conversation on the Web. While news sources, public relations practitioners and other web users encourage the freedom of information by linking to neighboring content and drive traffic in many directions online, the comments feature encourages interaction between these websites and input from users about a story or visual (Briggs, 2010.) This conversation contributes to the free flowing of information and interaction in the public domain, which thus allows us to engage in intellectual action (Hoffman, 2011.) Another trend in social media branding and in public relations is the use of interactive analytics to increase the sharing of information and online interaction through organized data. By making analytics useful to viewers online, such as through visualized infographics, a public relations practitioner and social media brand can engage their online community with effective communications and interact with them with useful and in-depth information. According to Dr. Hans Rosling, a professor of international health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Statistics is now the sexiest subject around (Singer, 2011.) The use of analytics in new and creative ways allows for a heightened appeal for a brand, which keeps an audience engaged and invested. The rise of mobile blogging and journalism has also contributed largely to the prominence of social media branding and the good enough revolution, which has allowed for content to be good enough in usefulness to audiences due to the massive amount of input from mobile phones

in the form of photos, videos, analytic-data and other information (Capps, 2009.) The increasingly applicable functions of mobile phones toward sharing this media from almost any location has also aided in encouraging users to contribute with creative input, thus fueling the free flowing of information to the public domain. For example, location-based services and mobile apps, which use analytics to determine a users location, are a growing trend in travel and tourism public relations in which a travel agent can communicate to their clients the interesting spots to check in and other deals based on their location (PRSAY, 2011). This incorporation of mobile devices into interactive and easily accessible information sharing is particularly useful for public relations in that a practitioner may use any number of tools in their mobile environment to increase their clients brand as well as their own personal brand. Facebook has contributed largely to the movement of online personal branding which has virtually taken a life of its own. With its six degrees of separation model, Facebook in its creation in 2003 strove to link people in a social world-wide environment by allowing them to forge relationships, share links and photos, and provide both personal and professional information online. Facebook has combined the movements of conversation news, mobile journalism, net neutrality and organized data distribution through its highly interactive and informational functions. For example, the introduction of Facebook Places has allowed for users to interact and provide analytics based on their locations through their mobile (PRSAY, 2011.) In the future, Facebook intends to grow even more exponentially with the introduction of Facebook Platform, a tool for businesses and industry professionals to link all of their professional relationships and business ventures through an all-encompassing social media tool. Micro-blogging has risen to popularity through tools such as Twitter and mobile which has had a revolutionary impact on social media and personal branding. The definition of micro-blogging is that it allows users to publish brief text messages, usually no more than 140 characters, with links to other Web sites, photos or videos submitted in a variety of ways, including text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, digital audio or simply posting to the Web (Briggs, 2010.) Twitter has become one of the most important tools for this trend, having been implemented in 2006 by founders Jack Dorsey, Evan Stone and Biz Williams through the popularization of SMS text messaging in Verizon and Cingular phones. In 2007, it was highlighted as the best mobile application at the SXSW Interactive festival. The booming growth of Twitter in its early years gave users a platform to tap into this mobilizing trend and build their social brands through the use

of the medium. For example, President Obamas use of Twitter as an informational tool in his 2008 Presidential Campaign helped users connect with Obama on the campaign trail and tap into his brand through linked videos, fundraising efforts and appearance dates on his Twitter site (Ryan, 2009.) Twitters emergence as a credible informational tool has shifted the way people share information while interacting with one another online, and has become one of the most effective tools for creating a social media brand. In establishing my social media brand, I will use an overarching theme of my profession in public relations to communicate my interests through my defined strategy and timely tactics. Underneath this overarching theme, I will use my interests in music, media and technology to guide the information that I absorb and share, appeal to my audience with a more in-depth sense of my personality, and create a uniformity in my creative output to the public domain. This will help my audience identify with my brand in an easily viewed form, and will allow for opportunities to come my way based on these defined themes. To employ my social media strategy, I will first demonstrate my strengths in absorbing and sharing data from online sources by using organizational data technology such as an RSS feed and distributing it to my audience through several social media platforms. This organization and consistency of data distribution will establish my brand according to my strengths and passions in public relations while infusing my social media DNA with the data that I distribute to my followers (Proactive Report, 2011.) Another benefit of providing analytics and data to my audience will be that I can easily manage the reputations of my future professional organization and clients through the organization and interaction of factual information to outside publics. By engaging in link journalism through sites such as Facebook, Twitter and a professional blog, I can offer my audience an interactive and useful environment using information to tell a story. All of these tools will allow me to tap into my interests and profession in public relations while building a similar professional audience. To use information and data in an effective and engaging way, I will establish an informational blog about trends in public relations and my interests including media, music and technology. By engaging my audience with well-written and informative content, I will demonstrate a thorough use of data which will merge with my interests and identity. Writing about topics that extend beyond those dealt with in the day to day of my career will also allow future employers and clients to view samples of my writing ability outside of traditional forms.

According to Howard Sholkin, Writing beyond traditional media relations [in public relations] is required for a range of digital content, such as websites, newsletters and content-marketing related to white papers, case studies, research and journalistic-quality articles (PRSAY, 2011.) As a blog must also be updated frequently in order to engage an audience, this tactic will demonstrate my consistency and perseverance while showcasing my personality and writing ability. Alongside trends in link journalism and micro-blogging, I will use Twitter to establish my consistent personal brand and encourage interaction with my audience. Through linking data that is useful to my interests and followers, I will encourage conversation in my community based on the fundamentals of my personal brand. This will also allow me to build upon my knowledge of industry trends as well as global issues through links by my followers and those that I follow, which will allow for growth of my personal brand as my perspective expands. I will use Twitter as a pointing device where I will link my activities on other social media platforms such as my blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursqaure and more (Johnson, 2009.) Twitter will also be a useful tool in developing my writing style through the short 140-character tweets, encouraging creativity and insightful words and links to create meaning through Tweets. In identifying my personal brand with my unique daily life, I will engage in mobile journalism through analytics and blogging to connect with my audiences and publics in a much more engaging, newsworthy and creative utilization of my skills and tools in public relations. This includes capturing photos and videos that tell a story while also communicating useful information based on their timeliness, novelty and location. I will also use mobile tools such as location-based services and mobile apps which rely on analytics based on location to engage a hyper-local audience. In engaging my audience in a mobile setting, I will utilize Twitter and Facebook mobile apps to communicate and encourage interaction with the media I create. This will expand my brand and allow for a broader audience as well as a heightened personal interaction with social media. Finally, I will utilize creative and original visualizations through interactive infographics, photos, videos and graphic design to demonstrate my creative strengths and interact with my community through a visual demonstration of my interests and profession. With data-driven

journalism on the rise in both journalism and public relations, it is becoming more important to utilize tools in organizing data to become more appealing for a wider range of users. According to Ben Shneiderman of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland, The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures (Singer, 2011.) By creating visuals in accordance to the data that I absorb and distributing them over a number of social media platforms, I can translate the meaning and purpose of information that applies to my strengths and passions and encourage interaction and community-building from my creative output. To assess the effectiveness of my social media brand and completion of my objectives by May 2012, I will examine the relationships I have forged within the social media platforms that I have adopted and implemented in my professional environment, while also assessing the usefulness of my creative output to my targeted audiences. At this time, I will hopefully have engaged a larger involvement on my blog through the conversation I have created, and also will have created a professional network on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, and any other networks to which I expand my brand. I will also hopefully have forged contacts among my audience of employers, clients and professional peers in my industry as well as others. Some challenges that I feel I will face in creation of my network is differentiating my brand from all others that utilize the same themes and showcasing my personality through these mediums despite a busy and hectic schedule. With a determination to persist through these challenges, I believe that I will succeed in establishing my brand with time, consistency and perseverence. Some opportunities that I may find if I am successful are job opportunities, professional relationships that may translate to my offline network as well and a heightened knowledge of my personal strengths through the use of these mediums. I have already made such progress with my use of social media tools to find out much about myself, and I greatly look forward to continuing this process to see much success in my career and personal aims.

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