Business Wire conducted a seminar on social media and how PR can engage and participate in the social web. Here is a summary:

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What is social media:  Companies are impersonal entities.  Social media helps to convey a more personal, human side to a company’s image.  It provides consumers with a face, voice, and message that create a deeper understanding of the company.

How to pitch journalists:  Despite all the new tools, the old media relations rules still apply, including:

• Know what and who you are pitching.  Understand that your story may not be appropriate for some journalists to cover.  Make sure that the journalists you are pitching cover your subject
• Help the reporter find the story relevant to their readership.  Explain the key topics, why it is relevant, and most importantly, the impact it is having on the reader’s industry, culture, etc.
• Do not suggest or insist that the story is important.  Journalists know what they are looking for and will pick stories they find interesting.  Keep your pitch focused on the aspects of the story and relevant details.
• Provide them with plenty of content (any and all that is relevant).  This can include links to blogs, photos, screen grabs, etc.
• Make sure to summarize the most important points that provide a sense of the big picture at the top of your pitch
• Sometimes you may need to provide multiple aspects / angles to the story and its implications for the reporter to find the one that fits his beat.
• Continue to develop relationships with journalists.  Journalists are now on sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Use these sites to continue your relationship building.

Key tips to writing a successful social media (or traditional) press release:

• The headline and first paragraph are crucial.  These grab the attention of the reader, and normally determine whether or not they keep reading.
• Use bullet points to provide an easy to read press release.  Plus bullet points provide natural SEO in your newswire releases.
• Include multimedia!  You are more likely to catch a reporter’s eye if you provide them access to usable multimedia – from photos, to charts to audio and video clips
• Provide back-story, when relevant.  This gives depth and context to the current happenings.
• Embedded links are very useful in directing journalists to additional content or materials needed to round out their story.  Plus they provide your news release natural SEO.

How to start your social media a presence online:

• Establish a presence outside of your own sites by commenting on industry blogs and participating in the social media sites relevant now to your company/industry
• Choose social media sites that are the best fit for your company and audience.  Check the demographics that populate each site, and decide on an appropriate match
• Maintain a commitment to social media.  New, consistent content is almost more important than perfect content.  Keep it fresh.
• Let your site grow organically.  Make contact with others on the same site or similar sites, network, and invite others to join.
• Numbers and statistics are not the most important factor in measuring a social media campaign. It is about connecting with your key audience(s).  Don’t try to inflate viewing numbers
• Have patience.  Most sites take time to build momentum before they attain a significant following.
• Blogging is a great way to reach out to your customers, create a dialogue, and keep the public informed

Benefits of companies using social media:

• Provides an identity for your company, and allows you direct access to your consumer base
• Allows you to control your image, as well as the online debate about your company.  (If you don’t, someone else will, whether competitors or consumers)
• Serves as a market research tool.  Learn more about your customers’ needs, opinions, and impressions of your company.
• Becomes an extension of your brand

Corporate examples of social media:

35 examples of corporate social media sites (from Mashable):  http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-media/

Jeep:    http://www.jeep.com/en/experience/community/index.html

LinkedIn:    http://www.linkedin.com/companies/1481/eBay?

•       http://blog.linkedin.com/blog/2008/03/company-profile.html

Myspace:    http://www.myspace.com/cherrycoke

Facebook:  http://www.new.facebook.com/blockbuster

http://apps.new.facebook.com/cbssports/

Facebook Widget:   http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=9041804134&ref=pr

Twitter:   www.twitter.com/comcastcares 

www.twitter.com./zappos

•       www.twitter.com/richardatdell

Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec

http://www.youtube.com/user/ThomsonFinancial

Additional social media links:

Business Wire social media:   http://delicious.com/EON_Resources

Business Wire blog:   http://businesswired.wordpress.com/

Social media club:    www.socialmediaclub.com

Twitter search engine:    www.summize.com

Social Media Publications:

The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media by Paul Gillin and Geoffrey A. Moore

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott (Author), Anthony D. Williams

The Cluetrain Manifesto by Rick Levine; Christopher Locke; Doc Searls; and David Weinberger

The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by: David Meerman Scott

Now is Gone by: Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis

Marketing on the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business by: Larry Weber

Naked Conversations by: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

Blogging for Business by: Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos

Radically Transparent by Andy Beal

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