Social Media Agency vs. PR Agency
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. There’s something about a 4–day weekend that makes me think that every weekend ought to be 4 days long. It not only allows for DOWN time, it allows for THINK time.
Here’s what I thought about…
There’s no question: Social Media is having an enormous, life-altering impact on the communications industry. Everything is changing.
- The free and ubiquitous power of online publishing has created exponential challenges in relationship management. We must now contend with thousands of additional voices.
- The distinct lack of editorial “professionalism” in the blogosphere has ironically forced PR agencies to increase the genuine professionalism of their outreach. Indiscriminate “e-mail blasts” are on the wane.
- Consumers are ever more resistant to marketing messages that use the old “one-to-many” approach but are often enthused about marketing programs that are useful, empowering and inclusive.
- “Customer Service” has increasingly direct linkages to Marketing, and vice versa.
- Web 2.0 technologies have made participation more fun, accessible, instantaneous, trackable.
In this brave new world, how should the PR industry challenge itself?
We must always be able to “get ink” in media outlets that make sense for our clients. And in the not so distant future, “blogger relations” will be table-stakes for even the most run-of-the-mill agency. But what comes after that baseline level of proficiency is achieved? It’s not just about ink anymore. How else can we show value? What are our industry’s stretch goals?
Below are some current examples of SHIFT’s own work on the fringe.
- For a consumer products company, we work with the Customer Support group to monitor and flag customer comments throughout the Web, including Amazon.com, user opinion sites, message boards, etc., so that a support rep can respond promptly, directly and publicly to user questions and complaints.
- For a start-up video application developer whose product appeals primarily to Apple users, we identified Mac User Groups (e.g., Final Cut Pro users) and introduced company executives to the administrators of these regional groups. This often led to invitations to have client executives visit and present to the user groups themselves.
- For a Big Pharma client, we’re working directly with Facebook Groups devoted to specific disease areas, alerting FB Admins to guide their members to non-branded informational websites.
- Along the same lines – but in a very different industry – we previewed some never-before-released video footage of a major rock music icon to a select group of Facebook Fan Groups, to create a groundswell of grassroots interest in an upcoming DVD release.
- For another Big Pharma client, we created a YouTube channel, in which video content produced on specific disease areas is shared with the larger community. The informational videos are embedded by other bloggers at their sites up to 15X on average. The tags and video titles are all created to enhance SEO. And because the disease topics change regularly, we have fresh opportunities to visit (and re-visit) the topic areas, introducing the videos to external bloggers. Each video gets about 5,000 views.
- For a division of a major tech company, we’re in talks to create a private online community site for their Value-Added Resellers – where the VARs can interact with each other and with company representatives (via wikis, etc.). The community site will also house all multimedia assets related to the Sales process, e.g., collateral, ROI calculators, latest product specs.
- And of course you already know about the Movember Facebook app we created for Canadian Club. At last count, over 4,000 people had used the app. This was our 2nd Facebook widget developed in-house.
Please note how few of these examples are about “getting ink.” We get PLENTY of ink: I can point you to numerous, recent hits in outlets ranging from The View and Cosmopolitan to the Wall Street Journal and eWeek. But as noted above, “it’s not just about ink anymore.”
The cynical types no doubt see this post as “blatant self promotion.” I will cop to that because it means that the cynics agree that this is pretty cool stuff. But the larger point is that beyond the pride is a genuine state of confusion: these assignments raise questions with which I am struggling!
You see, as a Social Media geek, I am wildly enthusiastic and excited by projects like these, but as a PR agency owner, I spent the long weekend wondering: does this type of work make us a “different” type of agency? – and if we’re no longer “just” a PR agency, what are we? Am I fooling myself? – are these kinds of activities now run-of-the-mill? – are other PR agencies doing this type of work? – if not, why not? Is it appropriate (or inappropriate?!) work for a PR firm?
You tell me!
Posted on: December 2, 2008 at 8:54 pm By Todd Defren
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Here’s a nice post-thxgiving thought from PRsquared http://ping.fm/INtBH
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Celebrating your mistakes from @zen_habits [link to post] . Some really good points.
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Recommended: Social Media Agency vs. PR Agency [link to post]
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A fascinating debate – makes blogging really worthwhile!
But I am uncomfortable about the focus on pigeon-holing our activities and outcomes on channels or techniques. Does it really matter whether you work for a PR or Social Media agency? What we do on behalf of clients or our organisations is to use social media or PR tools and techniques to communicate with people. I see myself as a corporate communications specialist and will use whatever methods or skills I can to get effective results.
What’s in a name?
we have found that by having a good PR company behind any of our social networking efforts have paid off considerably.
sandy
http://www.megastarmedia.com
social networking software
I just found your blog and love it! These are great examples of social media in action. While some of the metrix are fairly straightforward, I’d love to get a better understanding of measurement. There is so much more to track and how do you measure its importance?
Todd–
What I find most fascinating, though, is how hard it still is to put a dollar figure behind social media efforts because the metrics aren’t as straightforward as some clients would like.
Even some of the smartest folks I know are still seeing social media as its own thing–as a bit of a fad–and not as a symbol of the dynamic, changing nature of how people are communicating. What they do understand are those tactics that appear more “tangible” and ROI-linked; monitoring, analyzing and posting on TripAdvisor, for example, is the most basic of tactics in the PR 2.0 world, but it’s more quantifiable so it’s an effort that’s easier to get behind. Clients know that bad reviews can lead to fewer heads in beds, so to speak. (Translation: it can affect revenue, therefore it’s worth investing in.)
I think the onus is on us in 2009 and beyond to integrate social media into the broader PR strategic PR picture–to talk about it within the context of how we talk to and with consumers.
One of the best quotes I recently heard was this: “When we realize that we should start treating consumers as peers and not target audiences, we’ll really be able to move the needle in this increasingly consumer-driven world.” Good insight, I thought.
Melissa Flynn
Rawle Murdy
Seems like the more social media grows the more niche audiences will emerge making it better and better to take the grassroots approach discussed.
Hi Todd!
I’m Lauren Gaulin, one of @prprof_mv’s PR students. She we subscribe to your blog, and I have enjoyed keeping up with you and your thoughts and ideas. This post in particular has been very interesting particularly because we have focused so much on social media in our PRinciples class. It’s good to know that everything we have been learning will actually be useful and that we have been keeping up with the most cutting edge ideas and practices that will come in handy when entering the job market. Thanks for all your great posts on PR and social media!
-Lauren
If you really think what PR formerly meant — relating to *all* of your publics — social media is a set of tools to continue the process. Good PR was ALWAYS a conversation, only now it’s apparent because the conversation used to take place intermediated by an editor or reporter. Now you can converse directly with the customer or stakeholder. I owned an agency for 20 years, and I never blasted reporters; I got to know them. I figured out how to supply them things they already wanted.
But I find out that as a mentor of startups, I’m much more successful at getting reporters interested in our portfolio if I’m NOT a PR person, just a person with interesting stuff.
Good post. Set me thinking as well.
Todd,
Great post and I love everyone’s comments. My question would be, does it matter what type of agency you call yourself? In some ways it does. I also think the services people expect from PR agencies are changing, thus change the definition of what is a PR agency.
You list some great examples. I think what you call yourself maybe dictated by the industry. I think agencies of all types need to be able to provide on and offline advice and execution.
If you have staff web developers does that still make you a PR agency? It is an interesting question.
Todd,
First let me start off by sharing your thoughts on the four-day weekend. It would be nice to have one of these a quarter.
As for your post, I think you accurately framed the multi-dimensional challenges and opportunities facing the PR industry.
Having launched my career in the PR business in 1988, I have seen the profession evolve. Paper-based press kits and snail mail have migrated to the immediacy of the Web. The use of email is moving to shorter bursts of communication in 140-character nibbles.
I believe we all have a front-row seat and are watching a real-time transition and “shift” away from just “getting ink.”
This has been the mantra of the PR industry for many years, but from a top-down, command and control perspective. As hierarchies and gatekeepers have been replaced with distributed networks and influencers, the PR business needs to adapt to this model and rethink how it is wired.
My agency is also implementing the social media tools, techniques and programs you describe. In fact today, I am off-site at a conference shooting video for a client’s Web site.
While some of these new tools and tactics may not be measured in column inches and front page features, new metrics are emerging such as Twitter follows, Web click-throughs, etc. This is not to suggest “getting ink” is old school or no longer a priority.
I think the tactics are always going to change.
Maybe the “public” in PR evolves to “social” relations. Regardless of the name, as an industry, we must never lose sight of the real value of our profession which is to help clients effectively create and communicate their message to the audiences most important to them.
Thank you all (AGAIN!) for the great comments. Not only have you given me a lot to think about re: our agency’s positioning, you’ve also given me some fresh ideas for blog posts.
I went out on a limb with this post, and I am now glad that I did.
IN OTHER NEWS: Super-special kudo chops to Shannon Whitley (@swhitley on Twitter) for creating the ChatCatcher application: it creates trackbacks from tweets that use the URL of the blog post. The beginning of the end of the Broken Conversation?
Twitter Comment by @LeftTheBox (Samir)
Suggested reading: “Social Media Agency vs PR Agency” – [link to post]
– http://twitter.com/LeftTheBox/statuses/1036676126
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Todd,
You raise a very interesting question:
“…if we’re no longer “just” a PR agency, what are we?”
PR agencies have become pigeon-holed into being good for one thing (mainly)- press coverage. When you ask your clients and prospects to define PR’s value- what do they say? Do they understand that your company’s counsel and proposed strategies impact the whole business?
Social Media certainly falls within the PR arsenal of tools. As we talked about on today’s Comet Branding Show, people and company’s that hang their hat on being “social media” experts are going to be displaced by savvy “communication” experts who know social media ALONG WITH a the other bevy of tools “PR” enacts.
So instead of re-defining your agency, why not re-define for your clients what PR is?
Excellent piece, thanks! When I founded my firm nearly ten years ago, I quickly realized we were going to be buggy whip salesmen pretty quickly if we didn’t embrace brave new forms of media. We find some clients embrace experimentation with social media. Others, however, require a tremendous amount of education and are simply not comfortable with the “customer talking back” model. Any advice from the crowd on bringing folks along?
Todd – how profitable is the social media work vs the more trad approach (not raw numbers, but are your margins better on the new vs the old?).
Assuming the new stuff is more profitable, can you scale it? Does it require new skill sets? Assuming growth, where are you going to find the people with the skills you need? And can you achieve this at a profit level you (and your stakeholders) are happy with?
You are raising many of the right questions? I’m keen to seen more open discussion of the real economics of social media PR.
It’s about being a “conversation agency” that brings customers closer to brands through whatever medium the customers prefer.
That’s the future, and it starts now.
I could swear that in a post a long time ago, you quoted someone as saying that social media is public relations.
But maybe the older PR folks remember asking this question of themselves when radio and television became the name of the game and now those are standard outlets used only when appropriate and strategic.
You can have a social media firm that specializes in SM, but i think it’s better to have a PR firm that understands and works to incorporate an appropriate social media strategy.
Otherwise, go rock on with your bad self and don’t worry about it so much. (and yes I’m at a pr firm too, but I’m practically growing our social media department because communication is communication, no matter how it looks.)
Todd,
I don’t think the terms “public relations” or “social media relations” are broad enough to describe what you’re doing because they don’t include the SEO efforts that you’re engaging in. The disciplines of PR, social media marketing and search marketing are becoming inextricably linked and all are critical to building relationships with buyers/customers.
I think one of the key differences between agencies like Shift and the typical PR agency is that you recognize that all three disciplines are equally critical components of your efforts, as opposed to viewing SEO as something that comes as a by-product of good PR.
I view what you’re doing as “word-of-mouth marketing” or “inbound marketing” (using Hubspot’s terminology). More inclusive of everything you’re doing and better represents the total value you provide (much more than just a communications firm).
Great post, Todd.
I’m cool with self promo as long as it teaches a lesson. And I think the PR and marketing industry needs a big freaking slap on the face – educationally speaking, of course.
At the end of the day, PR company clients need an ROI. If PR agencies measure themselves based on performance as it contributes to their client’s topline, we’d all be in a better place right now.
Long gone are the days of $10k retainers to get an article published in the WSJ. It just doesn’t produce a measurable return.
This post reminds me a lot of a post by Paul Roetzer at PR 20/20 about the Inbound Marketing Agency. As you know, at HubSpot, where I’m the partnership manager with firms like Paul’s and yours, we espouse 1) attracting an audience to your website and 2) converting them into leads and sales and 3) measuring what’s working and repeating that.
Paul has taken it to a another level and applied the principles of HubSpot’s software business to the PR business.
As you have too w/out calling it the same thing. Your examples above are brilliant and exactly what a PR firm should be doing in the days where everyone starts looking for services and products in search engines, blogs and social media sites.
Here’s Paul’s article:
http://www.pr2020.com/Blog/post/2008/09/Dawn-of-the-Inbound-Marketing-Agency.aspx
(Not sure if you allow links in posts. Please delete the link if that’s the case. I did read your comment policy and didn’t see anything.)
Todd, having done my own PR campaigns for a consumer web startup to enhance backlinks for SEO rankings(that ultimately generated about $7M worth of organic traffic per month), I can definitely say that many PR agencies could focus more effort on getting and measuring in terms of links.
In my experience, PR folks talk about links as sort of a side-effect of their efforts, when for me,links are the real core value that I’m trying to get. To your point– my consumers are “deaf” to marketing messages. If they can’t find me on Google, I don’t exist.
One actionable area for PR agencies to get involved is promotion of link baiting campaigns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overlinking#Link_bait). As the Wikipedia article says, “Part of successful linkbaiting is devising a mini-PR campaign around the release of a link bait article so that bloggers and social media users are made aware and can help promote the piece in tandem.”
-Jeremy
PS: I’ve blogged that SEO and PR are merging, so this is bit of a pet topic for me:
http://www.buzzstream.com/blog/seo-and-pr-are-merging.html
Todd,
Thanks for inspiring everyone to have a great discussion. At thunder::tech, our PR department operates in the larger realm of the integrated marketing world (similar to Daniel) and we look at PR as a necessary component to any communication strategy. We have several clients ranging in size and function who are actively engaging in social media in various ways.
We see social media as not only new outlet for communicators, but also as a way to determine which campaigns are engaging the public. Marketers have always been driving word-of-mouth discussion, we now just have a new way to listen and engage.
Social media should not be the only focus of a communications or marketing strategy. Traditional public relations and social media work in a complimentary manner. I like what Wayne wrote about PR changing from getting INK to getting THINK because that is how we are now approaching PR. Our goal is to listen to our clients and their audiences to in order to determine the best way to send targeted messages that resonate, be it through a local newspaper or a twitter post.
Todd;
Ah, now you are beating a drum that is close to my own heart. In fact, just posted about the idea on Monday.
I think that calling yourself a pure social media consultant or agency is limiting, though I mean no disrespect to those that are doing this and doing it well. I think that public relations strategy, to include social media, will be a salable one well into the future. However, I think some of the social media tactical execution might become a bit of a commodity – if you get my drift.
Thank you, all, for helping to guide my thinking. The majority of opinions here seem to favor a “stay the course” approach, i.e., “just be a (cutting edge) PR firm.”
That’s kind of where I am at: it’s broad and frankly requires no “new” positioning work on our part.
Twitter Comment by @michsineath (Mich Sineath)
@TDefren’s post on “SM v PR” @ [link to post] brings up a ?: Where’s the line between customer service and replying to a heckler?
– http://twitter.com/michsineath/statuses/1036209625
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Social Media Agency vs. PR Agency: I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. There’s something about .. [link to post]
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In summary, you (we) used to do media relations. Now you (we) do public relations.
Hi Todd,
As frontrunner with new media practices, it’s certainly not surprising that SHIFT has accommodated these array of expertise. It’s certainly not run of the mill, and I don’t actually agree that in the near future other agencies will have to do it.
I think it’s still an “if the shoe fits” kind of practice. Some agencies can extract huge financial and personal gains from pulling off these social media campaigns. Others simply cannot. There’s little use in agencies adopting trends just for the sake of it.
I agree with Lisa though, if agencies aren’t willing to explore, they might be missing out on ripe opportunities.
The entire landscape is changing. In some countries like the US, it’s happening much faster than for instance, here in South Africa. But I’m seeing more local agencies attempting it with relative success.
I don’t think it’s for everyone, but those with the capacity and creativity to do it, the quicker they get into it, the better for their brand.
Twitter Comment by @BryanPerson (Bryan Person)
@bradatpharma: Check out @TDefren’s post today. He includes some examples of SHIFT’s work with big pharma: [link to post]
– http://twitter.com/BryanPerson/statuses/1036037560
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Twitter Comment by @conosco (conosco)
Social Media Agency vs. PR Agency (via Blog) [link to post]
– http://twitter.com/conosco/statuses/1035821712
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Todd, yours IS a “different” agency – one that has some traditional trappings, yet is flexible enough to acknowledge the new media environment. You can likely tout your expertise in social and new media with great results to new clients, and WOW existing clients while presenting new ways to place/promote their message.
Your public relations firm is finding enticing, exciting ways to help clients relate to the public. Sounds like a winner to me.
If other PR firms aren’t exploring these strategies they are missing ripe opportunities. Daring and innovation are marks of leadership.
I think you’re right on and appreciate you sharing these specific examples.
Todd,
I’m finding that it really depends on the size of the agency and the size of the client. It could be the market I’m in and the clients I work with, but I’m finding that smaller clients really only care about getting ink, while larger clients are more open to social media. Which is ironic, of course, considering that mainstream print media is quickly loosing its influence (as is TV media to some extent).
I work at an integrated firm (traditional marketing, PR and interactive). Our favorite accounts to work on are generally the ones that take an integrated approach. Why? because philosophically (can I use that word in describing marketing) it says something about a holistic approach to communication. It’s not about covering all our bases, it’s about being effective. And social media is a highly effective tool, but it’s not the only one.
Todd:
Thanks for your thoughtful fleshing out of these new issues we’re all facing in our workplaces about how to integrate social media strategies into our old PR strategies.
I think there would be much more of a problem if this blog was called ‘MR squared’ – as in Media Relations. If we think in terms of Public Relations, I think social media has finally given PR folks a way to actually engage with the public, instead of being at the whim of the traditional media outlets.
Of course (as you aptly point out) there will always be a place for getting ink. But if our goal is really to reach the public – and to create value for our companies or clients in the marketplace – social media engagement is the way to do that.
Of course, the scary thing, as many have pointed out, is that you feel less in control of your message. But perhaps this is where the ‘relations’ part of PR comes in. We’ve never referred to it as ‘public control’.
The questions of who is your target audience(s) and how do you reach them have become complicated.
Public relations is changing from getting INK to getting ThINK. More specifically, mind share where you need it.
Web analytics is also changing. More psychographic data will become available on users. Analytics will be able to determine how to best interface with individuals opinions, attitudes and interests.
The future of public relations firms will have to either grow across media or become very focused. I’m not sure there will be a third option.
As a marketing and web analyst, I see the profitability in growth across all media.
Feel free to contact me, and good luck!
Wayne
And this is the kind of brilliant forward thinking that put you on that Top 10 list!
I feel that the best agencies will definitely recognize the new ways to communicate (if they haven’t already). Bloggers are definitely becoming more visible as news sources/resources, and as recent examples on Twitter has shown (Mumbai, Motrin) that micro-blogging service is also key at getting news out.
Yet if PR agencies really think about it, all they need to do is evolve. One half of PR is “relations” – isn’t social media all about the relations we’re building?
There’s a definite change in the air, and thankfully there are people and agencies like yours that are helping to make the shift (no pun intended!)
I think you have to ask yourself what do your customers want from you? And what business do you want to be in? Traditional PR, or rather media relations is all about getting ink, through pitching and relationships within the publishing community.
Social media gives companies a new way to market themselves, one that actually bizarrely involves focusing on what the community is discussing rather than just trying to get your client’s message out there. If you will, by paying attention to others, part of your message through your actions is that you are willing to listen. That’s a different strategy, but the goal might still be the same getting more ink. You just get there in a different way, people become evangelists for your client because the client took the time to listen and engage their customers and community. Social media may have the same goals as traditional PR, but you achieve those goals with a different strategy.
I’m a marketer, and the concept of engagement using social media tools immediately made sense to me. Why not talk to people who want to talk with you, and about topics they want to talk about? Why not listen to what people have to say, and try to build a better product or service based on their ideas and suggestions. Marketers have always done these things, it is just that social media makes it a lot easier, and frankly an imperative that companies listen in order to conduct marketing well.
I don’t suggest you change your agency to a marketing agency.
I do think you might stick to the core of what makes marketing and public relations strategy so powerful, in both disciplines there is an element of listening, of building a better product or service that meets the needs and wants of customers. Social media just affords a new and better way to execute those strategies.
Keep the old strategy, use the new tools.
Todd,
This is a very great discussion and a nice continuation of some discussions we’ve had in the past. PR is changing, PR has to change and I think you are seeing in your own agency how it can change.
In its most basic form, your agency is still relating to your clients publics. You are just doing it in new and innovative ways, namely through social media.
If Shift was to shift (sorry could resist that clever pun) to being a social media agency, I think you’d be heading down the wrong path toward a tactic. No matter how amazing social media is (Twitter is awesome, along with many others) and will become it’s still pretty much a channel for strategic communications (a great channel that allows brands to connect with customers really well, infuse personality and use great storytelling).
So, that being said, please allow Shift to be a public relations agency. The PR industry needs great shops like yours to spread the good word and be a shinning example of what we all can and should be. Keep the faith man and smile.
Working on behalf of a PR firm I am known as the “internet guy”. I embrace and use social media ( I follow you on twitter), maintain a blog, all of the usual things that go along with being a typical social media geek.
While many clients look to use social media as a means of outreach and coverage not all clients need social media coverage. It really varies greatly on their business model. I think Social Media is just one of the many different tools in the PR arsenal.
While most of us PR types are embracing this technology there are many who fail to understand the nature of the beast. They don’t realize that it’s all about relationships and not direct pitching and outreach.
The “public” is a vast series of interconnected community networks.
If you’re doing Public Relations, you’re seeking to reach those people/community/networks in whatever ways are effective.
To ignore new, effective, technology-driven methods would probably be akin to PR malpractice. Hard to see how you would NOT evolve into using these new tools, and still be able to best serve clients!!
That’s why SHIFT and my firm (W)right On refer to ourselves as ‘communications’ firms. Public relations pigeonholes its practitioners.
Third party, earned commentary and endorsement of the client’s messages is the essence of our output. The goal continues to be creating interest in and acceptance of the messages. It’s just that now social media enables our firms to reach out to stakeholder groups directly and in a way that encourages greater dialogue. It’s a giant leap forward!
A few minutes ago, @latimes subscribed to me on Twitter. Like many on Twitter, the reader is now the content provider and the media is the subscriber. (Geez, now I feel some pressure to Twitter more meaningful stuff!) Lines are blurring everywhere.
And earlier today, I initiated an SMS and mobile web campaign with a vendor to help a client in their public outreach campaign with messages targeting car owners when they’re out and about. That’s not quite traditional ‘ink’ either.
We’re a smaller firm, and keeping abreast of a sea change in communications is as exhilirating as it is completely exhausting. But I haven’t felt this jazzed about a new trend in communications technology since the late 90s and the early days of the dot com boom. (Sorry, fax machine — you just never really did it for me, but I’ll always fondly remember my early days as an account coordinator feeding you page after page and listening to you persistently redialing those busy newsrooms.)
As always, more great stuff for communicators to think about from PRSquared! Thank you Todd! And apologies that your posted promted such a lengthy comment here… It just spilled out of me…
Hi Todd,
Sounds like you didn’t have much of a long weekend at all, what with all of the thinking.
I don’t know if all PR agencies are doing everything your agency is doing, but I think they’re going to have to. The new web is turning PR on its ear and agencies are going to have to roll with it. You seem to be adapting rather well. While these activities are probably not run of the mill just yet, there’s certainly nothing wrong with filling the vacuum with your own ideas and tactics. It’s going to help you become the best agency out there, or at the very least the most plugged in to how people want their communications served to them.
Todd-
I love your examples of how you’re implementing social media into your PR strategies– and I definitely think it’s an appropriate and unavoidable integration.
Since I work with mostly b2b clients, thinking outside the trade pub box is not always easy. I DO think there are ways to integrate social media even when targeting at other businesses, and some of the examples you gave are proof of that.
I also think it’s tough for some veteran PR pros to get their head into the realm of social media. It can seem like too much, like they’re too far removed from it, and does it even really matter? I mean, facebook and twitter are just what college kids do when they’re messing around at work or posting pictures of a frat party, right? Of course most people by now know that’s not the truth, but I don’t think it’s quite made the shift from that to what it’s truly become, a totally viable and increasingly necessary means for reaching your audience, your public– whoever they may be. Once again, I think your examples help “solidify” what social media can do aside from getting people to go to a party or to simply build a personal/professional network for the individual.
Great post and I look forward to following your blog!
Valerie