Social Media, the New Face of Public Relations

By Anamika Singh

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

At Utah Technology Council (UTC) peer-to-peer clinic on social media in public relations, utility of new media in a Web 2.0 world were discussed. Brian Watkins, public relations manager of social media at Omniture (News - Alert), Utah Technology Council (UTC) led the clinic.  

 

“Many people are intimidated by the thought of creating a company blog or adopting a social media strategy because they think they’ll lose the ability to control their message,” stated Watkins. “What people need to understand is that these types of media also open avenues for better client/customer relationships and communication.”

 

Watkins shared excerpts from Omniture’s framework for social media, which covered points like, monitoring the brand online; influencing the thought leaders; publishing own relevant content and measuring the social media efforts.

 

“While it’s important to understand new media in a business setting, you should also know that it’s not for everyone,” added Watkins. “Starting a blog is very time consuming and it’s difficult to measure success. There can also be legal implications that will need to be explored.”

 

Watkins also said that many traditional media editors are using new media like Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter for quickly establishing themselves as experts. If done correctly, companies can turn opponents into supporters and proponents of the company or product.

 

The P2P clinic was part of the UTC’s aim for business and government leaders to make Utah an attractive and rewarding place for technology companies to do business. The Utah Technology Council is one of Utah’s 5,200 science and technology companies that develop management talent and business environment for better investment capital.