Building an effective social media presence for PR professionals and organisations

While PR agencies have made the successful transition to digital for their clients, however when it comes to their own presence on digital media, specifically social media, PR agencies have not been as bullish. In today’s market ecosystem, it has become imperative to have a well-devised strategy to navigate the digital and social media world. While brands and advertisers have been very bullish on social media presence and are engaging with various stakeholders and consumers on a consistent basis, PR professionals and agencies need to be more proactive when it comes to their own selves.

In the run-up to Adgully’s premier event – IMAGEXX 2023 – for the Public Relations and corporate communications industry on June 9, 2023, we have been highlighting various topics encompassing this industry.

The latest episode of #GullyChat on Twitter turned the spotlight on ‘Building an effective social media presence for PR professionals and organizations’.

The #GullyChat covered areas such as how PR professionals can build strong relationships with key stakeholders, best practices for building a strong social media presence, how social media can be used to monitor and manage a company’s reputation, and much more.

The participants in this Twitter Chat included some leading names from the PR industry:

Jagriti Motwani, Co-founder, Cha Chi

Tarunjeet Rattan, Founder, Nucleus PR

Udita Dutta, Founder, Artsmith

Harday Gupta, Co-Founder, The Right Pr

Bhaskar Majumdar, Head - Communication, CSR & Digital, Egis

Sumathi Chari, Director and Partner, PRHUB

Asif Upadhye, Director, SPRD

Shalini Gupta, Founder, Secret Sauce Communications

This edition of #GullyChat was held on Friday, May 26, 2023.

On why social media is important for PR professionals and organizations and how PR professionals can use social media to build relationships with journalists, influencers, and other key stakeholders, Asif Upadhye said, “Firstly, it enables direct engagement with potential and existing audiences. The obvious second is creating a competitive advantage in a digital landscape and the third is building reputation.”

Bhaskar Majumdar pointed out that Covid fast-forwarded the digital transformation. The global phenomenon has transformed the PR industry as well and leapfrogged to a new digital era. He added, “During the lockdown, the print copy of newspapers were not available and hence, the adoption of digital news was predominant. Social media became critical because it allowed you to reach, nurture and engage with your target audience – no matter their location.”

According to Jagriti Motwani, “PR and social media are two sides of the same coin for today’s professionals. Both are important and needed to create impact and reach relevant target audience to build credibility.”

Harday Gupta noted that social media platforms offer a wider audience, enabling PR pros to amplify their message and reach stakeholders. It provides an opportunity to connect with existing potential audiences on a global scale. By using social media, PR professionals can increase brand exposure and visibility. These events allow organisations to maintain an active presence, share valuable information and engage in discussions about their niche. “Social media platforms allow PR professionals to identify opportunities to partner with media outlets, influencers and other organisations,” he added.

“By reaching out to them with well thought-out partnership strategies or guest promotional opportunities, PR professionals can build mutually beneficial relationships that increase brand awareness and credibility,” Harday Gupta further said.

Shalini Gupta added here, “Whether one is in PR or not, social media self-branding is imperative and in PR the only way to use owned media, and social space is where you can explain the work better.”

“As for media engagement, social media is a great platform to research topics a journalist covers and the audience who reads and engages, helping target the right reporters to pitch a story,” noted Sumathi Chari.

Tarunjeet Rattan, too, said that social media is a wonderful addition to the PR world that helps one create conversations with the audience directly. “For brands, there is a direct benefit. However, PR pros need to look at it themselves for their own brand building. After all, our brand image is what sells,” she added.

Udita Dutta added here, “It builds trust, credibility and helps in setting the context. It also helps to become a Voice (specialist of any subject) or a Conversation Starter that encourages engagement.”