Social Media Strategies ... Managing Business Relationships Are you on LinkedIn?  Do you Tweet?  Do you have a blog?  Are you on facebook?  How about YouTube or Flickr? As social networking continues to evolve, it's important to remain up to speed with social media trends.  And, it's all evolving so rapidly that getting up to speed isn't easy to do. Social media gurus - those who really know what they are talking about - are hard to find.  Most experts agree, though, that there are trends evolving and some segments of the online market place are beginning to sort out.  One Size Does Not Fit All Chances are you don't need it all - every online gadget or gimmick that some friend is using.  What works for some businesses might not suit yours.  What works now might not work in the future.  This is not a time to play, "keep up with the Joneses."  Your social media strategy should be tailored towards the business goals of your company.  If integrated with your traditional marketing activities, social networking can support and enhance your efforts to achieve important business objectives. It's All About Relationships For starters, it is important to humanize your company.  Remember, with social networking you are establishing an on online relationship with someone that matters to your business.  Your target audience should see you as a person, rather than a corporation.  With the volume of information online, flat and uninteresting content will be flushed.  Creativity Wins Thinking of new ways to connect online is a necessity.  Be original and think outside the box.  Burger King's " Sacrifice a Friend" application is an example.  The campaign offered a free Whopper™ for those who deleted 10 Facebook friends.  This idea was fun and creative and caught on like wildfire.  In the end, 233,906 friends were sacrificed and nearly 24,000 Whopper were served. Social Media, if used strategically and creatively, can help build and manage relationships.  Understanding social media fundamentals, formulating a strategy and incorporating that strategy to meet your company's business goals is key.  Although social media is free, it requires an investment of time and thought in order to return meaningful results.  If you need help developing social media strategies, contact Vehr Communications.  We've initiated social media programs for clients and for us, and we'd love to help you out. New Face at Vehr Communications Katie Fox Denis, a graduate from Indiana University with a degree in Journalism and Political Science, has joined Vehr Communications as an Account Manager.  Katie joins Vehr Communications after some pretty heady work in our Nation's capital.  She first worked for Ohio Senator George Voinovich, then for Arizona Senator John McCain (in his Senate office and Presidential campaign committee), and most recently for Cincinnati Congressman Steve Chabot.  Katie offers diverse experience and will play an integral role in providing strategic communications support to a wide variety of clients.  Learn more about Katie and feel free to send a note of welcome (contact Katie). Vehr Communications' Global Reach Grows with IPREX Vehr Communications is the Cincinnati-area partner of IPREX, a global corporation of more than 70 leading independent public relations firms in major markets in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.  Vehr Communications global reach has just been expanded with the addition of the following firms: ·         Arenalia (Barcelona, Spain) ·         Wilkinson Media (Sydney Australia) ·         Chayun PR (Seoul, South Korea) ·         Paper Communications (Kosovo and Albania) ·         MGH Communication Management (Buenos Aires, Argentina) ·         Rantau PR (Malaysia) Our partnership with IPREX allows us to couple our local expertise with global reach for the benefit of our clients, and the clients of other IPREX members. Subscribe to "Vr3" Please visit our blog.  It's called Vr3 .  The "r3" stands for reputations, relationships and results.  That's PR.  That's what we do.  And, that's what we exchange ideas about on Vr3.   Good Reads on Social Media Amazon: 1. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans & Susan Bratton 2. The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko & David Brake 3. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff PR News, PR Insights This edition of March Forth provides links (on left) to some excellent blog discussions for building strategic communications plans. As practitioners, we use communications to manage reputations, build relationships and deliver results.  The Internet is changing how we do it, but how we have always done it is just as important. We hope the connections we provide here, and the various additional news outlets and blogs we connect to on the Vehr Communications' Web site, help you to understand this rapidly changing industry as much as they help us.