People want it faster than instantly

  

         Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Lowery. He gave me a new way of thinking and was very humble with the work he has done. 

      Here is the interview:

       What is your position here at Central Washington University?

Director of content development.

       What did you major in college? Was it your first choice?

Communications and Political Science, two bachelors degrees from Washington State University.

        What’s your view on social media now a day?

Its expanding at a tremendous rate, and in my position its important to keep up with social media and try to determine what’s going to be the next big “thing”. What’s trending and what’s important now. How much effort do we put to stay in touch with those social media platforms.  Every thing now is very specific.

        What was your work experience like?

I did radio in Seattle, Yakima, Wenatchee, and Spokane. I came to Ellensburg to be the play-by-play announcer for sports. I did a lot of on air news, behind the scene news gathering and reporting. Since then I got hired as a part time news writer, became a full time writer then went on to be the media relations officer and now I am here as the director of content development.

       What is a typical day at work for you?

No such thing. Every day is unpredictable. Things have to get pushed back if something else important comes up.

         What is your insight on how businesses target their audiences today? Has it changed over the years?

It has changed; 20 years ago you can get people to come in if you have hot dogs and popcorn. Now, consumers are savvier and more particular. Attracting students is not easy. You need to pitch the programs they want, the information, how programs will affect them, how they make you marketable and how program focused it is.

         Do you think advertising and public relations intertwine with one another?

Yes, they do. They do but they are distinct. Advertisement is a small part of public relations.  Not a big part of PR. It’s wider than just buying an ad; we make our ads to advertise to future students.

       

        Any advice for public relation majors or people in the communications department in general?

       Learn English, and know how to write well. The common denominator is writing. Delivering a message quickly and short. First 8 words are what really draw in the readers. Learning how to write for different platforms is a must because who knows what the next biggest thing will come around.

At first I went in for an interview, but after hearing what Mr. Lowery had to say about social media and the different aspects we have to understand made me want to stay and just talk to the man. He said, " People want things right away, back in the day consumers were patient enough to watch 2 minute commercials and now if you have a commercial running for more than a minute then you already lost your audience. They want it faster than instantly."

  

Circle of social media

Today, I'd like to talk about the hand in hand relationship social media and public relations have in today's world. When breaking new's occurs, it often is distributed through Twitter. A live tweet is more effective than trying to get a reporter down to the scene and speak about what just happened. In Erin Richard article, " 8 ways to use social media to optimize your campaign" She talks about how broadcast news channels often refer to tweets as part of their newscast now a days. She used Oprah as an example, stating how while Oprah was on a speaking tour across many cities, she instagramed " David's Tea" on her account and soon enough it led to mass amounts of press and rocketing sales. I loved that example because something so simple as posting a picture of where you went to eat can get so much attention on social media and spread like wild fire across all platforms.

Erin's 8 ways of using social media for your public relations campaign are :

1. Monitoring the conversation
You can find out a lot about celebrities or people on twitter who like certain brands. She used an example by searching a soda brand and adding pop after it and found out radio host Dean Blundell is a huge fan of Dr.Pepper based off his twitter account.
2. Sharing is caring
Sharing stories to journalists when a story drops can earn yourself some very generous thank you's.
3.Include social media information in interviews and scheduling
If you got an interview with a spokesperson or journalist, connect through twitter to better familiarize each other before the interview.
4.Document interviews with fun photographs to share online
Why not take a selfie with the interviewer or spokesperson and post it on twitter/instagram! Stir up some conversation so people can tune in.
5.Create key messaging specifically for social media
Have some tweets or posts ready for during/ after the interview to let people know whats going on
6. Establish yourself as a resource
Keep on eye out for breaking new's and follow journalists online to get ahead of other people. If you're paying attention, you might just score a great opportunity.
7.Keep an eye out
Follow reporters online to seize a great opportunity for yourself or a client.
8.Use video to tease your announcement
Before sending a press release or PSA, play with Vine or Instagram video to give a little teaser. Described as the "Drip Drip Drip" technique.




The article can be found here: http://socialmediatoday.com/erinr/1905096/8-easy-ways-use-social-media-optimize-your-pr-campaign