A few months back I was shocked by a client who was trying to throw a party for the media houses that had been good to his brand, this great man told me that ‘Social media was not media’ thus no invites for them.

How can social ‘Media’ not be Media? There is even the word Media in it, most of the stories we have seen feature in Newspapers and on Tv, in conversations on radio are inspired off social media. As I shook my head, I was inspired to disapprove him, we went at it for a few minutes and then I walked away with the invites.

Social Media is Media because it has media in it…duh!

Looking  back to that conversation I have realised that there are many like him still holding onto the stone age of how things are done that even the Cabinet minister is way ahead of them. ‘We will shut down the internet’ hehe

Anyway let me school however lands on this blog;

  1. Media is an instrument of communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social instrument of communication.
  2. Social Media is not really about the platforms, no! It’s about the people on the platforms.
  3. Social media is not a fix for your PR backfires and not a replacement of it (PR) or your marketing team and it’s not a stand- alone kind too, no! It is about Relationships hence Public relations are supposed to use it though it is not a trusted media source because it is a middle man: it links your audience to the next big stepping stone in your integrated communications cycle.

Social Media is not about Facebook, Twitter and all the other platforms.

4. Social media is here for good and for a long time.

It is about Relationships hence Public relations are supposed to use it though it is not a trusted media source because it is a middle man: it links your audience to the next big stepping stone in your integrated communications cycle.

Here how PR agency use social media just so you know;

PRNewsSocialMediaSurvey_Infographic3_620px-1

5. Social is a listening/storytelling/inspiring media. It’s a process, about Integrating with all business processes and a journey. It’s about ongoing engagement and about two-way dialogue. Above all it’s about slow and steady ROI which is here for good. Simple but not easy and requires resources (time, people, and money).

So find ways to integrate it in your budgets for media, marketing and PR.

Patricia Kahill

Patricia Kahill is a multipotentialite Christian entrepreneur, Content Marketing Coach and founder of the Content Marketing agency, Kahill Insights that helps business owners create engaging and interactive content items for digital platforms with a focus on returning a desired outcome. Patricia was the producer of SlamDunk Basketball Talk a show on House of Talent online TV, a former fellow at Harvest Institute for leadership and now an assessor there, and an alumnus of the YELP class of 2017. A member of the BNI Integrity chapter and African Women Entrepreneur Cooperative. She is driven by passion and curiosity, been taking every opportunity that has been given to her with an ambition of stamping her footprint on the world.

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