The Changing Landscape of Public Relations

Deanna FerrariWordWrite Communications

About me• Graduate of Slippery Rock University (B.S.,

Public Relations)• Board member of PRSA Pittsburgh• Former Assistant Account Executive at

MARC USA• Account Executive at WordWrite

Communications, Wexford, Pa.

How did I get here?

• Active at Slippery Rock -- lacrosse, PRSSA, editor of department newsletter

• Took advantage of opportunities at school and after graduation

• Networked and more importantly -- followed up• Put in the time; a job search is a job itself

How can YOU get here?

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Social Media Revolution

So just what is social media?

. . . A shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content

. . . A fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many)

. . . The democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers

. . . Extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use

. . . User-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).

— Wikipedia.org

Facebook - then & nowCollege students --> High school students --> EVERYONE

NO

YES

• Twitter lets you write and read messages of up to 140 characters, or the very length of this sentence, including all punctuation and spaces.

• The messages (also known as tweets) are public, and you decide which accounts you want to receive messages from

• Evaluate your online presence• Give yourself an online “makeover”• Un-tag, un-friend, and delete compromising

posts on Facebook• Sign-up for free Webinars (PRSA, PRWeek,

Marketwire, etc.)

How to use social media to your advantage

• Get LinkedIn• Get a Twitter account • Get an online business card (card.ly)• Think about a blog• Own your domain (KnowEm.com)• Take it slow and don’t do it all at once• Put it on your resume

How to use social media to your advantage (cont’d)

Engage with other students and professionals

• Twitter is the best way• Join a chat

– #PRStudChat– #Journchat– Talk to others on Twitter on a regular basis -

retweet and ask questions– Host a “tweetup”

How social media has changed PR

Essentially, you can control if the message is put out and what the message says…

…on the other hand, you have no control ofthe message. But once it’s out there, it’s up

to you on how you step in, approach the message, and what to say back.

It’s like PR 2.0

Social media is instant

Print is shrinking…

The viral video effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

http://www.hulu.com/watch/101187

Don’t forget the PR fundamentals

• Engage• Be a great communicator -- on and offline • Grammar, punctuation, spelling = good writing• Develop relationships with journalists• Social media is simply a tool to facilitate

communication• PR pros wear many hats• Social media only comes full circle when it “comes

to life”

Questions? Additional Comments?

Twitter:@dferrari / @wordwritepr

Online:deannaferrari.com / wordwritepr.com