At Rhetoric HQ we’re dedicated to bringing your brand the media exposure you deserve. However, the party just doesn’t stop with press coverage, by following these quick commandments you’ll unlock the true potential of traditional media in the world of social media.

1. Be not afraid to toot one’s own horn

Are you excited about an upcoming interview/ news piece/ online article? Let the world know your success!

Social media is the perfect platform to let the world know about your accomplishments. We’ve done the work to get you into the spotlight, now it’s up to you for some self-promotion.  If you know a piece is coming up beforehand give your fans a heads up so they can turn on, tune in or by the newspaper/magazine.

By knowing where, when and how to post your recent success can be the difference between finding a new customer or missing a new opportunity.

2. Thou shall know thine platforms

You’ve won some awesome media exposure, but where to post on your social networks?

Each brand of social media has its own personality and message, and you will have to craft your posting for those platforms.

Here’s a quick guide of the blue chip networks:

• Facebook- Fun and Social. What happened and how has it affected me?
• Twitter- Pearl of Wisdom. Wow, this just happened and I’ve learnt ‘x’ from it
• Linkedin- Formal but Interesting. Today ‘y’ brand will be featured in ‘z’ giving solutions to ‘r’
• Instagram- Arty but informative. Here’s a great picture of ‘y’ interacting with ‘x’

To exponentially increase your already gained media coverage with social media, an important factor is time. Know your audience and how they use social media, for a quick rule of thumb:

• Facebook- Mid Afternoon Weekdays. Late Afternoon Weekends
• Twitter- Early Afternoon all week
• Linkedin- Just before and just after work hours
• Instagram- Late Afternoon Weekdays. Early Evening Weekends

For more detail, check out this great infochart from fannit.com, http://visual.ly/best-times-post-social-media

3. Remember the hashtag to keep it topical

The power of the hashtag lies in its ability to bring together the entire social media’s thoughts on a very specific topic or event.

This power gives you, the brand, and an edge in getting to your direct audience across a great many platforms, e.g., Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. By using a combination of two hashtags on your social media postings of an event or statement, (one general subject and the other specific) you not only efficiently summarise your statement but also leave a calling card for any journalist or potential customer looking into the same field.

For example, if uploading a picture/link and tweet of your latest media exposure involving your brand changing the way the Australian education system currently runs; #Education #VirtualRealityReplacesHistoryBooks.

A journalist using social media to track down information on a topical story will hashtag the subject and are greeted with your unique message.

Image by www.someecards.com

 4. Thou shalt not miss a behind the scenes opportunity

You’ve scored some amazing press coverage and let your social media networks know about it. You’ve even remembered to topically hashtag your postings, allowing for follow up reporters to find you.

However, the party doesn’t end here. It’s time to get creative with your content; with the power of mobile phones we have the opportunity to be our own directors in the bonus footage of our life.

Social media portals such as Instagram can automatically repost into other chosen platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) so now is the opportunity to take that photo of you in front of a studio camera, comfortably waiting in the radio studio or being cool, calm and composed before a photoshoot.

The underlying principle of social media is that it’s social. Your brand may be a business, but to flourish on social media you have to show that it’s a business filled with people with positive emotions and experiences.

          Image by twitter.com/TheEllenShow

 5. Honour thy interactions and contributors

The social media posting of your awesome exposure is out there, hashtag’d in with topical subjects AND you just posted a picture next to a Sky News camera. Thanks to the connection to your followers they’ve started commenting on your posts with congratulations and enquiries.

Now is the time to communicate back. By you and your brand bouncing back to each follower not only do you remove the sensation that they’re talking to a brick wall, but you further encourage future brand interactions and discussions.

This is the unique opportunity of social media, the creation of three-way communications. The goal is to have audience communicating not only with the brand, the brand to the audience, but to invite and promote audience to audience communication.