Is it time for you to do some spring cleaning at work? Do you need to bust the social media myths that your client holds onto? How can communications professionals actually use virtual reality? Check out the Hoffman team’s favorite PR blog posts and articles from this week:
- Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard some buzz about virtual reality. But do you know how it can be practically applied for brand communications? PR Newser lists five lessons for brands that are considering entering the VR space. Just like any other method of storytelling, using virtual reality should make sense for whatever message you are trying to get across. For VR, this means that your story should have a compelling, visual plot that ranges somewhere between five and 10 minutes. And while recent virtual reality experiences have mostly been solitary, don’t rule out the possibility of making your VR experience more social.
- It’s never too early to start thinking about what future skill sets you might need in your career, especially when you work in an ever-changing field like public relations. The Meltwater PR Blog highlights 10 skills PR Pros of 2022 will need. Some of the standouts are being able to manage a virtual team, managing social content systems and collaborating with influencers from social media platforms ranging from Instagram to bloggers. These are probably all skills that you might use right now, but in the next few years they will become even more important.
- “Social media doesn’t generate leads.” “My customers aren’t on social.” “Social media analytics aren’t useful.” You have probably heard all of these remarks from a client before, but it’s our job as PR professionals to bust these myths so that the brand we represent can benefit from all of the things social media has to offer. PR Daily banishes 10 misleading social media myths. Even if your client has only a few resources to dedicate to social media, being a part of customers’ conversations is invaluable to businesses everywhere. Learning to put thought into your content, understand proper social media etiquette and how to read social media analytics will help businesses in every industry be more successful.
- Learning how journalists use their social media channels straight from the journalists themselves is the best way to learn how to reach them. Fortunately, the Cision PR Blog featured how four editors at Washington Post use social. You might be surprised to learn that they approach social media the same way public relations professionals do. They distinguish their own brand, see what their readers are talking about, etc. They even admit to using social media to look for story ideas. Although they also mention that picking up a phone in addition to tweeting never hurts.
- Just like your closet could probably use a little bit of organizing this spring, your media lists and editorial calendars could also use some sprucing up. The Shift Communications blog has you covered with tips for how to spring clean when you’re a PR pro. Going over media lists to delete contacts that *never* respond, deleting old folders on your computer and revisiting your social media strategy are all great ways to make sure you feel refreshed and are doing your best work possible.
Check back every Friday for our This Week in PR roundup to discover more PR industry trends and news.
