Going through my old files, found a presentation from 2007 on social media. The more things change, the same they are.

1. Social Media 101
Jeremy Pepper, Director of Communications

2. The Rise of Social Media
 Blogs – both corporate and news
– Networks include WIN, Gawker Media, B5 Media
– Individual blogs having influence
 Podcasts and Vidcasts – the rise of the online VNR and
ANR
 Social Networks – from MySpace to Facebook to LinkedIn
 Wikipedia – the knowledge and ignorance of the masses
 Bookmarking – Delicious, Digg, Sk*rt, Magnolia
 Y! and Google Groups – still powerful, still influential, still
social
 Message Boards/Newsgroups/Forums – the original social
media, with large readership and influence
 Messaging – from AIM to YIM to Twitter to Pownce

3.  Simple, to the point, paragraph
– Use name
– Be upfront and honest and simple about the
reason you’re emailing
– Let them know why you are contacting
 Same with Message Boards
– Do not SPAM or go into boards
– Look for admin email address
• Let them know why they should care
• Short and to the point
How to do Outreach

4.  Social Media is not an end-all, be-all
– Part of the communications mix
 Should be treated like another tactic
– Unlike media, cannot be controlled
– Unlike media, cannot be harnessed
– Unlike media, does not honor NDA or embargos
– Unlike media, bad pitches are mocked & exposed
 Transparency
– Hot button issue is full transparency
• Lack of transparency easily backfires
From a PR POV

5. Best Practices
 The basic rules of social media outreach
– Honesty and transparency
• Be upfront and truthful when working with bloggers,
podcasters and other social media outreach
– It is not about the corporate marketing message
• It is about sharing information and access
– Social media outreach needs to be very on point
to specific, appropriate bloggers
– Bloggers have sweet spots and points of interest,
and they need to be taken into consideration
before any outreach is done
– Readers can syndicate content easily via RSS
(Real Simple Syndication) feeds

6. Rules of Engagement I
 Become involved in the community
– Read appropriate blogs and comment with insightful
comments
– Blogs are written in first person, require a full time
commitment, and must not be ghost-written
 The purpose of blogging is to let the personality
come through
– The best blogs are ongoing, interesting and have a
distinctive point of view
 Beyond blogging are the comments with each post
– Comments are part of the conversation and community
– Need to be responded to in a timely manner

7. Rules of Engagement II
 Forget what you know about PR
– Social Media is about relationships and friendships and being
human
 Social Media can be cranky
– If the pitch is bad, expect to be exposed
 Bloggers can be overly cynical and critical
– Avoid “marketing” at all costs
– Be open, upfront and honest in your pitch
– Tailor the angle to focus on blogger’s niche
– Be knowledgeable, timely and succinct
– Gauge interest, gain permission to send material
– Always include relevant links for more info
 Tread very cautiously
– Be sure what you’re pitching is super-relevant
– Digital cameras for Photo enthusiasts, food and events for foodie bloggers,
political books for activist bloggers, etc.

8. Rules of Engagement - III
 Be prepared to be ignored and/or insulted
– No corporate speak, marketing or overt messaging
– No press releases as cut-and-paste or attachment
– Provide links to appropriate material
– Short and to the point
 Monitor conversation in real-time
 Forget about the follow-up call / email
 Keep expectations realistic
 It is about engaging the community
– Two-way dialogue, a conversation
– Comment only when appropriate – do not comment for comment
sake

9. Message Boards: Two Types
 Model A
– Go through the moderators of message boards
– Be very informal and friendly
– Offer yourself up as a conduit to the company
– You are the go-to person to get what they want
– Offer up information / access / samples
 Model B
– Join the message board
– Be fully transparent - who you are, what you are doing
– Participate and answer questions in a timely manner
– ABA - always be available

10. What’s Next?
 The growth of Widgets and Virtual Goods
– Tools for bloggers and Websites – also known as blog
bling
– Can range from video widgets to weather – almost
anything you want
– Desktop or Website widgets – live on the desktop, in
Google Deskbar, in Mac OSX, etc
– Virtual Goods are an offshoot - gifts you can give on any
site
 The growth and convergence of social networks
– From Bebo to MySpace to Vox to LinkedIn to Facebook
to Ning
– Getting to the community, wherever they are

11. Take Aways
 Blogs are not a fall-back if the traditional press
does not bite
– The press needs to write
– Bloggers choose to write
 It is about “community”
– Moreso than journalism
– If you are not part of the community, you are an
interloper / intruder
 It is not MR – it is CR
– Media relations is not social media, it is traditional
media
– Social media is community relations – think of how you