I stole the following quote directly from Concera Media‘s website. I admit it. Lindsay Shannon just twittered about me as a #followfriday and I thought I’d check him out while I’m having my morning coffee.
“Integrated Public Relations and Marketing
Using both traditional and social media public relations tactics, Concera Media can help you connect with the media and influencers in your industry – online and offline.”
I’ve been trying to bring home the idea of what social media really is and WOW here it is. Public relations. As everyone already knows I see the world as relationships. What type of relationships do you have with yourself, your family, your customers and what type of relationship do they have with you or your business? They also mention marketing but to me marketing is getting the word out about yourself. It is the Public Relations part that makes customers loyal to you, if you do it correctly.
Using social media is really about building that relationship. Going deeper then a superficial hello. People go back to restaurants sometimes just because they feel like the wait staff know them and make them feel welcome. Have you ever been sitting in a diner and someone walks in and from across the room the waitress yells “Morning Mike, your late today I was looking for you a half hour ago.” Do you relate to your customers like that? Do you even know their name?
I have a gym membership and when they scan my card the best public relations step they can do is say “Have a good workout, Chuck”. Some just say hello, or have a good workout. But the employees that take the time to use my name in that split second make me feel like I’m special.