Social Media is like a shiny new toy for PR people.  It’s all the rage and everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon.  If you’ve read other posts on this blog then you’ll know that we are big fans of utilizing the web and various social media platforms for public relations purposes.  We’re excited these strategies are getting the attention they deserve, and to see where they take the industry.  That being said, PR Channel isn’t quite ready to jump ship on the classic PR strategies.

The gold standard for a PR person is landing your client an on-air TV appearance or interview.

When trying to land a TV interview it’s important to remember the visuals – they need to grab the viewer’s attention.  A lot of PR firms seem to forget to plan for visual content before they approach the producers/execs.  In a multi-media world PR people can’t expect to be able to rely on a well-written press release – audio and visual elements have become standard tools of the trade.

Producers across the board say that when deciding whether to give an on-air interview its a bonus when a firm includes a list of available audio or visual elements in their press kit and mention the visual strengths of each.

Think of it as a grown-up version of show and tell.  As a kid, you were way more likely to pay attention if a classmate brought in something really cool for you to look at while he talked.  PR firms would do well to remember this, because not much has changed – people still like to be presented with something visual.  Watching two talking heads is incredibly boring, and you should coach your clients on how to ’show’ while they spread their message.  Here are a few tips we’ve come across for making sure the interview is a success.

• Have something the interviewer can actually see and touch. This is a big plus, as it ads a realistic element that audiences will appreciate.  If you aren’t sure what to bring, bring everything you’ve got and ask the producers what you should include-they’ll have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t.  Just stay away from signs or brochures, its a little cliche and the audience won’t be able to read them anyway.

• Don’t get too promotional – its fair game to bring your products, but don’t wear a company shirt and constantly mention your web address etc.  If you want current promotions/issues mentioned make sure the host or interviewer brings them up, same goes with your contact information.  Audiences don’t respond well to sales pitches.

• Keep moving.  If appropriate do a demonstration,  have ’stations’ set up, have your visual elements nearby and ready etc.  Try to avoid just sitting there with nothing to do but talk.

• Know your facts.  Its part your job as a PR person to make sure your client knows the correct stats and sources to back up their statements.  The last thing you want is your client to get stumped on a question about one of their visual elements.

President elect Obama’s inauguration gala is tomorrow and the total cost of the celebration has been estimated to be upwards of $160 million.  The PR team behind this should get a medal.  In the midst of an economic crisis, shortly after the PR nightmare of fiscally irresponsible corporations, not many people seem to care about this hefty price tag…or maybe they do, and we’re just not hearing about it.

That’s good PR.  The general public and policy makers seem to be OK with this number. Admittedly there are several factors to take into account.  Yes, the money has been raised by the campaign and how they spend it is mostly to their discretion.  However, included in that $160 million estimate is the price of intense security and transportation – courtesy of the government, aka taxpayers.

To put this in perspective, 4 years ago Bush spent around $40 million on his inauguration celebration.  At that time, with an on-going war and the economy starting to decline, Bush was met with harsh criticism and encouraged to be more frugal.  Obama and co. don’t seem to be having the same issues.

That tidbit of information has been widely circulated.  What is less known is that the $40 million Bush spent doesn’t include the astronomical cost of the security and transportation that is included in the published estimate for Obama.  The estimated cost of security/transportation/federal salaries etc. spent on Bush’s inauguration by the government was $115 million.  Add that to the $40 million Bush spent and suddenly the difference between the two inauguration’s pricetags diminishes significantly.  Check out this story from Media Matters for more details and the source of these figures.

Our goal isn’t to finger point or judge whether this is good or bad, it is simply to point out how important a great public relations team can be.  There are two fine examples of PR spin at work here, one from each side.  The first is the fact that this celebration will cost a lot of money, but the Obama public relations team has succeeded in downplaying it and making it a non-issue in the eyes of the public.  The second is the burying or, worded less harshly, non-disclosure of certain aspects of where exactly both of these cost estimates come from. A good move from the Obama opponent side, but we have to ask – Isn’t the fact that this information doesn’t seem to ‘matter’ to the public yet another result of the stellar PR work being done by Obama’s team? What do you think?

There have been tons of posts on PR blogs in the last few months about how Twitter is becoming an incredibly important tool for today’s ‘web 2.0′ PR professionals.

Check out this post on the PR Squared blog, aptly titled ‘Get Into Twitter or Get Outta Public Relations?’ That pretty much sums up the attitude in the industry right now, at least among early to mid-adopters.  Just take a look at the list they’ve compiled of PR pros (both new and old-school) who are currently on Twitter – its an impressive list and warrants attention.

Posts like these Twitter hacks and tips or this post on Ogilvy’s blog about Media Relations & Twitter are popping up all over the place in an effort to outline the benefits of using social media – twitter specifically – as a marketing strategy.

The benefits are somewhat obvious.  Twitter especially is a great tool for building relationships, a staple of good PR.  If you follow the big names in the industry an opportunity to forge a relationship that would never occur in the ‘real world’ may present itself and I think that this, more than any other factor, is why people are getting so excited.

Not everyone agrees though -read Twitter is Completely Overrated for some insight into the drawbacks of using Twitter and similar social media strategies.

It’s becoming a real debate – but something generating this much buzz is at least worth checking out.