• Angelica Perez-Litwin, Publisher and CEO, New Latina,
• Enrique Arbelaez, Co-Founder, Managing Partne and Head of Digital & new media, XL Alliance, and
• Robert Bucheli, President, CTA Mobile Media  

From starting fresh with social media to fine-tuning your social media practices, the discussion unearthed some great tips on how to take advantage of and manage these tools.

Find and fulfill a need

Angelica's New Latina provided the perfect example of finding your own social media niche. She realized that there was a lack of online resources, information and community for latinas interested in more than the latest Hollywood gossip. New Latina was designed to meet that need, as a place where women like Angelica and her peers could talk about family, relationships, spirituality and more.

In Angelica's case, she wanted to provide solutions and discussion where there previously was none. She had the content, and social media provided the perfect outlet. But as Robert pointed out, more and more people turn to their mobile devices for information -- that's another area where social media and other digital technologies, such as text messaging, can reach them.

Find the right audience

Social media allows companies to target their consumers in a much more direct way. It allows for one-on-one conversations between a brand and a consumer, and it encourages the building of relationships. The key to using social media is to find the right audience and then successfully engage with them. And you know your own consumer best -- think about who they are and where you can find them online. 

One of the panel's main conclusions was that success in social media is not about numbers, but rather about the quality of the relationships you build. And in order to achieve this quality, you have to know what you're trying to accomplish. Enrique stressed that companies can either focus on gathering new customers or encourage current ones to return more frequently. Once you determine which is your objective, you can focus your efforts on cultivating the right kind of relationships to further that goal.

And don't forget the power of influencers and your network -- Angelica reminded us that by building relationships with online influencers you help each other out so you both reach new people. And you can also take advantage of the relationships you already have, both online and in person, to widen your social media circle.

Remember Your Mission

The panelists also emphasized that when you're launching a social media initiative, it's very important to stay true to your organization's mission and core values. Ask yourself what are your goals, what does your organization stand for, and what social media tools fit that?

And though social media initiatives may be significantly less expensive than traditional methods of advertising, they still require an investment -- especially of time and effort. If you're short on time and funds, the panelists recommended choosing the one social media platform that would work best for you and focusing you efforts there. And though Robert pointed out that you can save time and money by outsourcing your social media duties, the panelists also recognized that you must exercise caution in doing so. It's all about staying true to your brand -- and for many entrepreneurs, they are their brand. So they must trust and train anyone that they are handing off their brand to in the very public realm of social media.

Keep People Coming Back

So once you decide to join the world of social media, how do you get people to join you and keep coming back? The panelists concluded that the key is developing compelling content. That means you need to commit to maintaining your social media presence. Enrique emphasized that relevancy is key here -- brands should talk about what the consumers want to hear; they should find the common ground between the brand and consumer, and talk with them, not at them.

Robert also recommended pushing out short, sweet messages -- but not too many of them. It's important to provide just enough information to be interesting and useful without being intrusive or overwhelming. He warned that you don't want to irritate you audience, and that you should determine the right frequency of messaging depending on the platform, your industry and your goals.

Remember...

So now that you're ready to jump into social media with these tips, remember these last three takeaways from the panelists:

• Different platforms meet different needs, have different audiences and may require different content. As Enrique said, LinkedIn is like being at the office or a networking event; Facebook is like being at home with friends and family, and Twitter is like being at the bar.
• Remember to listen. Before you start talking, listen to what's being discussed online and use that to jump into conversations and inform what you will talk about. Find out what people are saying about your brand, and leverage popular topics in your own discussion. 
• Websites are a necessity. They inform your consumers and tell them your story, but don't really encourage conversation. Social media can drive people to your website, and it gives you a place to interact with them - so you can provide them with support and service while staying top-of-mind. 

What other questions do you have about social media? Are these tips helpful for those just starting to delve into the social media world? And do you have any social media tips and tricks of your own?

• Twitter: Coca-Cola’s Promoted Tween in June 2010 achieved 86.5 Million impressions
• YouTube: Old Spice’s ‘Mano a Mano En El Baño’ received 22 Million views in a single week
• Facebook: 750 Million total Facebook users, with an average of 4Billion ‘things’ shared daily. Additionally, 52% of those users use the site daily
• Facebook: During the first half of 2011, Facebook raised the price of their ads by 70%
• Location: 500,00 merchants on Foursquare
• Location: As a result of McDonald’s single-day campaign randomly awarding $5 and $10 gift cards, check-ins increased by 33%
• Campaign: Even a product as mundane as a German attachment technology (‘never drill again’) was able to generate 3,500 ‘Likes’ in 3 months, 800 wall posts and hand out 5,000 samples via Facebook.

Let’s Heal, an independent non-profit organization located in Amsterdam, recently conducted a survey of 24,000 consumers from 16 different countries and found that people engaged in social media are more likely to be helpful to others both online and offline. This prosocial tendency—helping other by doing good—also extended to consumers’ spending habits and professional lives. As compared to those less engaged in social media, savvy social media users preferred purchasing products from prosocial brands and preferred working for prosocial companies.

Although this study found a relationship between prosocial tendencies and social media use, it is not clear whether social media makes people “nicer” or if “nicer” people are more likely to be savvy social media users. Regardless, online social media platforms provide a unique opportunity for individuals to connect and help each other.

Wish Upon A Hero, an online platform founded in 2007, creates such opportunities. This social platform allows users to post or grant wishes and uses crowdsourcing to determine which wishes should come true. Anyone can browse through the wishes posted on Wish Upon A Hero, each of which is classified as a “need” or “want.” And anyone—an individual, organization, or company—can be a wish granter, choosing to either help anonymously or be credited for their contribution. 

Since 2007, more than 78,000 wishes have been granted. And Wish Upon a Hero has helped these wishes come true by connecting people in need with others who can help. The platform is supported by a non-profit foundation under the same name that helps promote such connections and also grants wishes by providing services, scholarships and grants. To learn more about Wish Upon A Hero visit their website or Mashable.

With social media platforms dedicated to helping individuals, groups and charities, as well as individuals choosing to help others on their own through their social media use, it seems the societal and social benefits of social media are only beginning to emerge.

In the wake of natural disasters and political revolutions, social media has played its part. Do you think social media helping platforms will be able to have an actual impact? How can brands and organizations use such platforms in their community and consumer relations efforts? And does using social media actually make us nicer?

[1] Hyperlink: http://www.letsheal.org/

[2] Hyperlink: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/05/26/does-social-media-make-us-nicer-people/

[3] http://mashable.com/2011/05/27/crowdsourcing-wish/

[4] http://mashable.com/2011/05/27/crowdsourcing-wish/

[5] Hyperlink: http://mashable.com/2011/05/27/crowdsourcing-wish/

Although the New York Times will be implementing this human-based approach temporarily, its benefits are already apparent. With increased opportunities for replies and retweets, which an automated system is not fully capable of, followers will experience a higher level of engagement. This approach takes full advantage of the Twitter platform, taking the @nytimes stream beyond a basic RSS feed.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a place for automation in the world of Twitter. Pre-planned tweets that are automatically posted at a pre-specified time through platforms such as HootSuite can complement real-time tweets. Automated headline feeds, especially when they concern breaking news, also add valuable content to a Twitter stream. The key here is to balance automation with real-time content and follower engagement.

PRNewswire’s Maria Perez offers some advice for tweeting as a brand and incorporating real-time content and follower engagement. Although different brands and companies will find an approach that works best for them, Perez offers a few overarching tips to keep in mind: keep your tone positive, respond to negative feedback, and stay true to your brand—all of which require more than just automation. 

And now that Twitter allows you to view other accounts’ timelines—so that you can see the tweets of the accounts a brand or company follows—it’s even more important to reconsider automatically following those that follow you. This new feature creates an opportunity to engage your followers not only by providing them with your timeline as a resource of relevant and interesting information beyond your own Twitter stream, but also by rewarding those followers who themselves post relevant and interesting content by following them and featuring them as a part of your timeline.

So is an automated Twitter stream enough? Should the New York Times make its “experiment,” permanent? And what tools do you use to engage with your Twitter followers? Different approaches work best for different brands, companies, and people—what works best for you?

Are there any PR-centric mobile apps not on this list that you think should be? Tell us what you're using and what you like about it... 

Some of our industries smartest practitioners offer their insight and perspective, which could come in handy if you ever find yourself in a crisis communications situation. Which I hope you don't. 

Loads of good insights and resources. 

I wanted to focus on the second point in the article because I think this is one of the biggest challenges we as PR practitioners face when working with clients. It suggests to throw back that curtain once you have committed to an agency relationship and treat the agency - specifically in my case a PR firm - as a partner. MP Mueller hits  the nail on the head, stating:

"We are not the printer repairman; we’re an extension of your marketing team. An agency can help create some remarkable shifts in your business, but not if you keep us at arm’s length. Throw back that curtain and share what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t. Give us access to your team. Let us listen in on your customer calls and evaluate all of your touch points — your reception area, proposals, receipts, signage, ads and Web experience. A good agency wants to be challenged and held accountable for results."

Well said. Truth is, in order to get the most out of your PR agency you need to give them access and treat them as part of your internal team and not as outsiders with the approach that it is a buyer-seller relationship, because it can be so much more than that if you let it. Any successful working relationship starts with clear objectives. Understand exactly where PR fits within your entire marketing effort. Share more than your baseline business and marketing objectives with your prospective PR agency so that it can interconnect their strategy and tactics with your organizations short and long-term communications, marketing and business development activities to deliver maximum value both internally and externally.

It's time to throw back that proverbial curtain and let the PR folks and the Sun in.