| Ryan Hansen Most social media marketers share the same thoughts as they open up their mobile phone or computer each morning: Who am I going to reach today? How will my posts result in shares, comments and other interactions? I know those questions come to my mind when I log into my computer. However, your social media strategy must run deeper than that. When you think about social media for your brand, it's not enough to consider what you put on your social channels. You also have to consider how social touches other aspects of your multichannel marketing plan. What was once a separate entity, social media and the 24/7 brand visibility it has brought must now be considered in all of your brand's PR and marketing content. "A brand needs to become a regular part of the social conversation to understand and serve its audiences," writes Victoria Harres, VP of strategic communications and content at PR Newswire and author of the white paper Tips for Creating a Press Release that Maximizes Social Sharing. Simply put, your content strategy must be “social ready” with thought given to social media’s capacity for amplifying your content’s reach, connecting you directly with thought leaders, and extending your content’s shelf life. Here are five ways to maximize your social readiness. Events: Social media opens up a number of different options when it comes to events. Your event promotions have the potential to reach an almost limitless audience. In addition, people who cannot physically attend an event are able to follow along via Twitter and other channels using event hashtags. This also allows chatter surrounding your event to have a longer shelf life after it takes place. And don't forget, Twitter chats can be an effective way to create a discussion on, well, whatever you feel you and your audience find beneficial to one another. Thought Leadership Content: Beyond promoting blog posts, white papers, and other content marketing pieces over social media, you also need to look at how the content itself enables social sharing. Tweetable headlines, social sharing buttons and images optimized for various social platforms are just a few ways to make your content "social ready." Another advantage is that thought leaders are now more accessible than ever thanks to social media. Outside of my responsibilities at PR Newswire, I run a nonprofit focused on improving maternal healthcare. By using social media to identify and reach out to thought leaders in our field, I have had the opportunity to communicate and work side by side with influencers who have helped further our mission. 
Media Outreach: In the past, uncovering the preferences of individual journalists and bloggers was much less exact. At times it may have felt like throwing darts at a dart board hoping to hit the bullseye. Now, social enables brands to better understand who is working where, what they are interested in, and how they prefer to be contacted. Additionally, brand monitoring of social media provides marketers with insight into who is talking about them and what exactly they are saying. This is powerful information for any business and helps open up opportunities to join the conversation. Today, we don't just aim for the bullseye, we can help create it. Paid Advertising: As the social media manager at PR Newswire, I am always monitoring what topics our audience finds interesting. Using trackable links provides me with a view of what people are and aren’t clicking on. This enables us to make informed decisions about the content we want to amplify with our paid advertising strategy and allows us to make a decision based on data rather than a gut feeling. Press Releases: For starters, the press release has taken on a completely new look. Photos, videos and infographics – to name a few things – now emblazon almost every release issued. Not only do these attract readers, they are highly shareable elements. The evolution doesn’t stop there, though. Today’s releases are written in a style that encourages social sharing. Where press releases once stood solely as a vehicle for traditional company news, they now are a vital part of a strong multichannel content marketing strategy. Providing brand exposure and driving traffic to your website are just a few of the critical functions of today's press release. For more social media and press release best practices, download the white paper Tips for Creating a Press Release that Maximizes Social Sharing. These days, PR and marketing professionals are creating content that is not only brand centric, but tailored specifically to an audience on social media that didn’t even exist a decade ago. While the task may feel daunting, it represents a major opportunity. Author Ryan Hansen (@RPH2004) manages social media at PR Newswire, sharing the latest PR, marketing and social media trends across our networks. See what he's up to around the PR Newswire offices by following @PRNewswire on Instagram. | 
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