Social media both excites and bemuses travel PR fraternity
Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2010
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Panellists and PRCA members, SirenPR and Davies-Tanner, at last nights debate
Social media channels are both exciting and confusing the travel PR community, a debate led by the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) and moderated by TravelMole has revealed.
The emergence of media such as Twitter, Facebook and mobile technology has blurred the lines between old and new PR channels and as a result, they have become forces to be both embraced and feared, debate panellists concurred.
On the one hand, PR professionals are petrified of not being able to control the social media environment whereby everyone has become a journalist and news is generated 24/7, with negative coverage or PR able to spread like wildfire.
But on the other, the same channels allow PR teams to directly target consumer groups, including niche communities, and also to create effective viral campaigns.
“The problem with online media is that [unlike newspapers], it is no longer tomorrow’s fish-and-chip paper – it’s there forever and how you respond will be there forever,” explained one of the panellists, PRWeek editor Danny Rogers.
“Now everything moves so quickly and everything is transparent; if you try to mislead people you will be caught out.”
His advice to the packed room of PR professionals, who gathered at The Cumberland Hotel in London for the event last night, was when using social media, “don’t pretend to be someone [or something] you’re not”.
“I would say be careful, be completely honest and be fast,” he said.
Fellow panellist John Carmichael, the marketing manager for Visit Brighton, stressed that the transparency of social media was “good for the [tourism] industry”.
“It means businesses that are no good are found out and are forced to raise their standards,” he said.
VisitBritain head of international destination PR Tess Longfield concurred and added: “We advocate transparency. We have very active platforms on Twitter and Facebook and it enables us to see what people think about Britain and engage with them so we know how to improve the image of Britain.”
She also noted that if you create such platforms, it is your responsibility to respond to criticism openly and honestly.
Virgin Holidays head of PR Phil Bloomfield said his team monitored social networking channels and if negative criticism was posted, the tour operator’s “award-winning” customer services department dealt with the complaint offline.
IHG senior vice president corporate affairs Leslie McGibbon warned that social media meant customer complaints were “no longer a one-to-one transaction” and monitoring negative coverage was something the industry needed to get to grips with.
However, he also stressed that it allowed firms such as IHG to roll out initiatives efficiently and effectively.
“We have used this technology in innovative ways – for a big staff engagement exercise (a photography competition on Flickr) that saved us a lot of money,” he said.
Bloomfield said social media allowed Virgin Holidays to reach new target markets and promote lesser-known holidays and initiatives that would appeal to them, while Carmichael explained how Visit Brighton had targeted potential new visitors through a local photographer who had a huge following on Flickr.
Debate delegates told the panel that clients were pressuring them to use social media to promote their travel product or service but then complained when they could not present them with meaningful return on investment data when such campaigns were implemented.
The panel acknowledged that calculating ROI from social media coverage was still an issue that needed to be dealt with.
Bloomfield said links to online viral campaigns could be posted on the company website and then linked to booking channels.
Rogers advised PR professionals to also remind their clients of the ROI of effective crisis management in terms of intercepting and dealing with negative stories generated on social media before they blew out of proportion damaged reputation and revenues.
The panel – and the audience – agreed that social media needed to be embraced, but also stressed the continuing importance of traditional media.
PRCA chairman Robert Wright said “people still like to see trophy coverage” such as big spreads in the dailies or glossies.
Summarising the session, he said: “With the increase in the number of [social media] platforms, it’s all about [engaging] audiences and influencers and while the lines between traditional PR and new communication methods are blurred, they [new media channels] do present opportunities for us.
“But PR is about [managing] reputation and revenue and while digital is important, it’s not the only answer.”
KEY POINTS RAISED:
· Travel PR standards are good, but the sector could do better
· There is no “dark art” to getting PR right – it’s about sticking to the basics: read what journalists write, know their deadlines and return their calls
· With the emergence of social media, everyone has become a journalist and news is generated 24/7
· No social media etiquette has been established – there are no rules of engagement
· There is confusion as to how best to measure to return on investment from social media PR activity
· One benefit to social media is that it creates transparency and raises the standards of both PR and the products and services being promoted
· When using social media observe three guidelines: be careful, be honest, be fast
· The are opportunities for PR firms to engage niche communities via social media channels
· The lines between traditional and new communication methods for both PR and publishing are now blurred
· It is essentially the role of PR people to manage revenue and reputation, no matter what media they engage to do so
· Digital is important but traditional methods still valued and PR clients will want “trophy coverage”
· Social media presents new opportunities for creative PR – a chance to get away from just churning out press releases
Phil Davies
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