Building Trusted Relationships

PRWeek ran a story last week announcing Volvo selecting a media buying shop to handle its entire social media strategy. 

My first reaction is: What makes Volvo think a media buying shop can all of a sudden build trusted relationships by buying or pushing a brand on an audience?

Social media exists in the context of trusted communities – communities built on people who develop and nurture relationships by creating, co-creating, sharing, commenting and engaging in content.  PR people have a history in managing company relationships and positioning brands around trusted content with influencers such as various media and analysts. In other words, if you trust your PR people to talk to the Wall Street Journal, why wouldn’t you trust them to communicate directly with your customers?

Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a purpose for media buying shops as well as advertising firms.  I’m a firm believer in integrated communications in delivering and maintaining consistency in a company’s value proposition and key messages.  I also believe social media should be integrated into a company’s marketing communications efforts.  It must be a team effort, with respect to each group’s skill sets, to deliver an integrated social media campaign.  With that said, it is trusted content that PR develops that will build long-term customer relationships. 

As Lee Nugent said in the comments section of the PRWeek article:

“To deliver an effective social media campaign companies need to understand why customers are using social media, and ensure they are adding value to this essentially personal time.  This requires a deep knowledge of your target audience, their [web behaviors], motivations and perceptions of your brand.  This knowledge can then be applied to the social media strategy, to guarantee you are not invading their personal space and delivering long-term brand engagement.”

The most important things that PR people do is start with a content strategy and then focus on the mechanics and design of delivering that content.  PR carefully identifies and defines target audiences and considers what content is required to meet their needs.  PR takes into consideration all the following questions:  Who are my readers?  How do I reach them? What are their motivations?  What are the problems I can help them solve?  How can I entertain them and inform them at the same time?  What content will compel them to purchase what I have to offer?

There are millions of people online right now looking for answers to their problems.  Will they find your company?  And if they do, what will they find?  Remember, on the Web, you are what you publish – it better be trusted content.

Tags: brand, branding, communications, digital media, media buying, PR, prweek, relationships, social media, volvo