3 Ways Social Media Have Influenced Public Relations

In 2004 ING Group did a survey on the use of social media among public relations professionals. The results show that 85% of them use social media daily. Other 81% say they cannot do their job without social media, while 78% consider social media important to perform their duties. How did social media affect public relations? Discover three ways below.

1.     Conversation versus speech

Thanks to social media, communication with customers has become two-way.  Social networks ease live communication - companies listen what customers say, customers get what they need. They bring customers closer to the company and lowers communication barrier. Besides, public relations professionals can target specific audiences, enrich customer base and create unique content.

2.    Information gathering and content creation

Public relations professionals can connect with others any time. They have access to useful material they can share with customers, and use it for content creation. Thanks to social media, they can connect with prominent bloggers and digital influencers. In turn, bloggers can connect public relations specialists with their followers.

3.    Integrated services

Since social media include diverse items, public relations agencies broaden their work. They integrate digital marketing, advertising and big data teams into their workflow to offer customers first-rate services. Measurement reports and big data help drafting catchy headlines and useful content. Thus, PR experts use numbers to engage better with the media and customers.

The use of social media and their impact on the PR industry will increase. Public relations professionals should adapt to a developing digital landscape and integrate innovations into their practices.

Article written by Liudmila Kazak,