Today our class heard from two communications professionals
from the W2O Group: Haifa Barbari, director of digital strategy and account,
and Kieran Fagan, group director of corporate and strategy. They spoke about
the idea of social commerce – a relatively new concept in the communications
field that involves using interactivity through digital media platforms to
foster more effective relationships between businesses and their publics.
Several key points of the discussion stood out to me in
terms of the value social commerce brings to the field of public relations
today. First was Kieran Fagan’s point about the increased importance of
writing. There is a misconception in the field today that writing is no longer
a crucial skill, due to the shortened format of communications and nontraditional
trends we are seeing. However, Kieran made a great point: writing, if anything,
is even more of a major skill today than ever before. The channels and tools
are useful, but the content is what matters. Writing is a reflection of
thinking and problem-solving ability, so being a good writer is absolutely
critical as an upcoming public relations professional.
Another major point that was discussed is the incorporation
of analytics to corporate PR efforts. By zeroing in on key search terms and
matching them up with content production, we can narrow the gap between
customer and company. It is critical to make content user-friendly and
“findable,” too. Sephora does a great job of this by making products easily
visible to actively searching customers. The application of analytics to
traditional PR will determine the success of modern businesses in this
ever-evolving era of social media and digital strategy. By using data to
observe what’s working and what’s not, we can tweak and improve content to
better serve customers and better build relationships over time.
A final takeaway from our guest speakers is one involving
crisis communications. Haifa Barbari stressed the importance of assessing a
situation as it arises. She emphasized the importance of NOT reacting
immediately without thinking it through first. It is too easy to make a
mountain out of a molehill when it comes to social media feedback. If one
blogger or tweeter is ranting a slew of concerns, it is better to isolate the
issue and react privately when possible, rather than making a small blip into a
major reputation crisis on multiple platforms. There is no cookie cutter way to
respond to a potential crisis in the digital age; every situation is customizable
and must be looked at in a detailed light before crafting the appropriate
response.
Social commerce is full of new and exciting ways to
interpret data and apply it to public relations efforts. However, despite all
of these analytics tools and data-based research methods, the root of the
message remains important. Word-of-mouth is still powerful, writing is still important,
and it is still crucial to be a reactive listener and an interactive
participant in the conversations between company and constituents.
