We have seen real time marketing and PR efforts take place in 2013 for many brands and individuals. Who can forget what Oreo did during the Super Bowl? Pure genius – they were able to position their brand to be at the right place at the right time. Some brands have been successful, but some have not been.
However, PR professionals and brands need to move forward and look at ways to evolve these real-time practices even more. One of the things that we have to consider here is not just real-time content creation, but real-time curation. While it is important to consider creating content that fits a particular moment in time to generate conversations and discussions online, it is also important to consider the right time and place to share content.
How do we make sure we are sharing content from others at the right time and on the right platform? Here are a few thoughts on the subject:
- Not all platforms are created equal for sharing content: This is one of the reasons why Twitter is a very useful tool – you are able to share content you see on your timeline or follow a particular hashtag so you are able to monitor and listen for any types of articles, images, or videos you may think your audience may be interested in exploring.
- Practicing what is important content versus “noise“: While I think it is good to a certain extent to schedule updates, I really think the best is to do it as it happens. You don’t want your important information to be considered to be “noise” if you are sharing the same information over and over again – even if it is out of date by three years. You want to make sure you have a strong narrative in place with the content you do share – quality is better than quantity in this case.
- Determine your niche in what content you are sharing: This goes down to what you are known for in your communities – what content are you going to make sure you share on a regular basis? For example, I try to make sure I share on various social media platforms (ex. FB, Twitter, Pinterest, etc) about social media, PR, and crisis communications. Why? These are some of my professional interests and areas where a lot of my friends are coming in from.
- Real-time curation is a combination of sharing both professional and personal information: You want to share information that is relevant to your professional interests of course, but you also want to make sure you are sharing content that is happening to you at the moment as well. For example, I made sure to share pictures and updates when I got Google Glass last week across various social media platforms before and after I got Glass. It is key to invite your community to be part of the conversation in real-time so you can share not only information, but the experience with people as well.
- Consider looking at real-time curation sites for particular events: AEJMC PRD uses Storify to collect content being shared at the conference and makes sure to get this information out on the traditional social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. However, Storify also is a good tool to use for other events and coverages to share a story (ex. crisis situation, national news event, etc).
In summary, what we have to be aware of as PR and social media professionals is to not only be aware of the implications of the content we create and share in real time, but what are are sharing as well. It is all interconnected in many ways – you want to have a nice balance between the two and listen to what your community is talking about as well as what they are interested in hearing more about. Both take a lot of planning and strategic initiative – but when done effectively, the rewards can be very big for both brands and individuals.
Hope you all have a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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