Keeping contact with…well, your contacts

During our #untj4460 tweet chat, I saw a blog by Social Steve, senior director of social media at Media Whiz. He pointed out a really good point—Where is the WOW in social media? He pointed out that the WOW factor for brands should include the following:

a) demonstrating their ability to tell their story in a most compelling way,
b) setting the tone for their position, and
c) having their audience respond strongly, positively, and passionately.

And it’s true. Not only do marketing professionals have to do that, PR pros should do the same. If we tell a compelling story that relays our message and have a positive and strong response from our target, then our job is complete… Well, sort of.

Steve wrote this blog to help people shape brands digitally. Even though it was mostly for brand builders, this plan could apply to PR campaigns, too. “But brand building, marketing and social media needs to be continuous as opposed to a campaign – that’s success!” Continuous is the key word. That’s where we come in.

Teachers and employers often encourage us to go to networking events to make important connections and get to know the field before we start working. So we go. We get their business cards, take their advice and move onto the next guy who works at another company and has another important piece of advice.

Now, let’s put Steve’s motion to work. If we keep in contact those people, we’ll make a lasting impression and possibly be able to help out with whatever problem they have. It’ll help us long term and even land us a job. There would be no way that those guys would remember every student they meet because they only met them once for about five minutes then moved on to the next student.

It’s the same with a brand and its audiences. Continuous connection is the key. Companies should always have that in any plan it implements—marketing, advertising or PR. “Our initial mission was to remind PR practitioners that we are working with people and not broadcast beacons,” as Brian Solis mentioned in his blog “Identifying and connecting with influencers.” And people like to be recognized.

PR pros should keep constant communication. This not only helps the company short term, but also long term. The best example is when companies keep track of its Twitter mentions. In our social media class last semester, Donna’s Taco Cabana (or was it Taco Bueno?) experiment made an impression on everyone in class. Companies have long ignored its audiences and now every time people say something, whether it’s positive or negative, they don’t expect a response. Only more marketing gimmicks.

But now, with Twitter and Facebook and other social platforms, companies can (and totally should) monitory what people say. Like I stated earlier, continuous communication is the key. Companies would have a face to its billion dollar revenues and students would have a face to a lifeless resumé.