Relationship Building on Social Media Hot Trend in Ireland

Irish PR professionals have success in building relationships on social media.

Before leaving the States to conduct my study on how Irish public relational practitioners use social media to build relationships with key online audiences, I read a lot of research on PR and social media. Some studies found that PR professionals are successfully adopting social media tools to accomplish objectives, while others suggest that professionals are not taking full advantage of these platforms (i.e. using social media to disseminate organizational messages rather than facilitating dialogue).

While some may believe that Irish PR professionals fall in the latter category rather than former, my initial findings suggest something different: Irish PR practitioners ARE using social media to share company updates, but they ALSO use these tools to have conversations with key audiences.

Several key points that keep coming up in my interviews include:

• Social media is about networking.
• Research, research, and more research is needed to define the personality of a brand and to determine what the audience want to hear (this includes a lot of listening to the feedback of the audience).
• Social media is about developing community and relationships.
• Brands can keep fans coming back to social media sites through interactions.
• There is no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to developing a social media program. It depends on a variety of factors: the client, what the audience want, and brand culture.

Many of the things that Irish PR practitioners do with their social media programs is similar to developing a traditional PR program: research, planning, implementing, evaluating, applying feedback to program, and more evaluation (something to keep in mind MAIGC students when we get to our capstone classes this fall).

So, yes, Irish public relations professionals DO use social media to promote their clients and share brand messages, but they are more concerned with finding out what it takes to build those relationships. Sometimes it can be trial and error, and it may take a little tweaking to figure it out; but, the goal is to build a program that facilitates dialogue and community among the brand and members of its audience.

To read more about my research in Ireland, or to find out what the other students in the integrated global communication program at Kennesaw State University are doing, visit the MAIGC blog.

Growing Importance of Social Media Leads to a Need for Research

It’s hard to deny: Social media have become a big part of our everyday lives. From keeping up with high school acquaintances, sharing photos and updating our friends with what we had for dinner last night to researching the business hours of a local store or contacting an organization for customer service purposes, we are now more connected than ever.

Because social media continues to grow in importance, the body of literature on the subject has also grown. Both individual professionals and professional organizations generate best practices guidelines through conferences, blogs, white papers and trade publications. But, it’s not just the professionals working in the field who produce content on social media. Academic scholars in areas such as communication, marketing, advertising and business also have a lot to say on the subject.

Although many scholars actively research social media, there is still a need for more. Current social media tools change at a rapid pace, and new ones are created every day. This often means that once an article is published in a journal, it is soon out of date. There is also limited research on the global reach of social media, and how these tools are used outside of the United States.

The need for research on the global scope of social media has led me to Dublin, Ireland—a fast-paced city full of public relations firms, both large and boutique—many with an emphasis on digital and social media.

The purpose of my research is to determine how Irish PR practitioners use social media to develop relationships with key online audiences. This study is significant for several reasons: 1) There is limited research on how public relations practitioners use social media for relationship-building; 2) Most of the studies on the relationship-building qualities of social media were conducted in the United States; and 3) Many of the firms in Ireland handle the public relations for global brands.

My interviews just started and I already have a wealth of valuable information. I will post significant findings as they come to give you a sneak peek at what my paper has in store. Check back often to find out more.

If you would like to participate in this study or have questions about me research, contact me at dteasdal@kennesaw.edu.