What kind of computer do you use? What kind of car do you drive? What brand of shoes do you wear?

The point of these rhetorical questions is to show that you’re a consumer everyday. Even though you may run a company, it fundamentally comes down to what the customer wants. Shown by the questions above, you can be both company  and client at the same time. The important part, is to remember to do your marketing strategy by looking through the customer’s eyes, as if you were buying the product or service.

Side note: I use a Mac, I don’t drive any car, and I wear comfortable shoes — in case you are interested.

The same theory applies to your PR strategy. All of your tactics need to be interesting to the consumer in order to drive them towards you. After you decide which tool to use and the work needed to follow through, make sure that you’re as interested as you hope your customer will be.

For example, if you create a Facebook page, you need to follow the  proverbial map on how to reach your customers. Hopefully, you’ve done the research to understand the best way to reach your audience. However, after implementing the page, add a little spice. Facebook is one of those opportunities to be a little more casual and a lot more colorful. It’s imperative that you grab the opportunity and use it to its fullest potential. You also  to stay vigilant with its upkeep.

Most people will tell you that content is the most important part of gaming a strong reputation. That’s only half true. Your content is definitely one of the most important pieces in your public relations strategy and can easily decide whether clients choose your product or service or one of your competitors. However, it’s even more important to create a strong relationship with your clients and customers. Don’t patronize them and prove that you actually care, contrary to their beliefs.

One of the best ways of doing this is to tie your product or service to a relevant advocacy program. By combining these two tools, your company is showing that it cares for its community and customers, as well as acknowledging that there is a difference between getting your hands dirty and writing a check. Any goofball can sign a check but you will stand out by getting on the same level as your clientele and understanding their point of view.

With social media becoming such a large part of public relations and marketing, it’s no surprise that using it correctly will help your company find an advocacy program that relates to your product or service, spread the word that you’re very sentimental and community oriented, and generate a boost in your company reputation. The basic idea — if you give, you will get.

Again, it’s a very thin line between actively engaging the community and simply annoying  them to hell. The truth is, no expert or blog can tell you how to straddle the line perfectly because each case is unique. The only thing to do is to take all the information, and your common sense, and try to create the perfect balance.

Step back — try and sell to yourself — if you don’t like it, chances are nobody else will.

Tags: Corporate social responsibility, integrated marketing, Internet, marketing, pr, PR Scoup, public relations, social media, Social Media Issues, social networks, tools

This entry was posted on March 20, 2010 at 12:53 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Internet Public Relations Social Media Issues by Gabe Chesman No Comments Yet