overaLL, soCial media “has worked really well for us,” [eriC] berrios said. “and the Cost is almost nothing, whiCh is really the upside of this whole thing. when you look at the exposure we’ve gotten inside the atlanta Community, our investment was almost nothing. that has been our strategy. it sounds inCredibly manipulative but it works.” Asked about the return on investment for social media, Berrios said “you can’t really quantify an ROI; it’s just a method of communication.” Like banner ads, he said, social media is “not really a great revenue source. It’s a brand impression source. So I think the ROI conversation has faded quite a bit.” Overall, social media “has worked really well for us,” Berrios said. “And the cost is almost nothing, which is really the upside of this whole thing. When you look at the exposure we’ve gotten inside the Atlanta community, our investment was almost nothing. That has been our strategy. It sounds incredibly manipulative but it works.”
Much of the approach to social media involves “taking the same communication we’re already doing and looking for other ways to repurpose it. That’s exactly the way we run our own website and that’s what we’ve been talking about with our clients.” DePalma said one reason for her merger was that the Chicago firm has two partners who are experienced editors. “I can see this call for planning content across multiple channels and multiple ways of communicating is probably going to be the next big thing for PR people and marketing people.”
o'reiLLY/depalma Nora DePalma, a partner in PR and communications firm O’Reilly/DePalma, said her group has had “a lot of success using various forms of social media” following the merger of her Atlanta-based Building Profits firm with a Chicago agency last May. “We use LinkedIn and Twitter mostly.” The partners have personal Facebook pages, “which also helps with clients and people who are watching us, and with getting referrals.” The firm has also done “a few things” on YouTube. DePalma said her prior agency was well known in her niche industry, building and architectural brands, so social media was a good way to transition to the new agency name. “The relationship building – which everyone talks about in social media – has really helped expand our network,” DePalma said. “I can’t say that we’ve landed or found somebody new through social media. But it has raised our presence and reminded the people we already knew that we’re out there.” She said her clients “are turning to us for a common sense approach to social media, specifically in the building products industry.” O’Reilly/DePalma has used social media to “study and learn what’s out there . . . no other agency would get that granular, because very few really focus on the building products industry…and even fewer focus as we do on the trade professionals and building products like we do.” That knowledge has enabled the firm “to make proposals that make sense to the various clients at a fairly low risk,” she added.
brand and my skills.” Leff’s Facebook is open to the public and appears on Google searches. “So when people are looking for me, they come to my page and they’ll see me and my clients,” he added. Leff said he does not position himself as a social media expert. “I’m a media relations expert; social media is just another tool.” While some see social media as a different animal, Leff said, “To me, it’s all part of the same skill set. It’s a tool. Just as the press release can be a dangerous thing in the wrong hands, social media can also be dangerous if you over-commercialize it or don’t use it with discretion.” Everyone is still learning what to do with social media, Leff said. For example, Leff and one of his clients built a Facebook page and “realized we needed to create a mechanism for encouraging people to come back regularly.” Their solution is what he terms an “internet radio station.” Each Monday morning, the CEO of the financial management company posts a two-minute audio podcast that forecasts the week ahead. The podcast is posted on the client website and iTunes, plus links on Facebook and Twitter.
nora depalma o’reilly/depalma She added that for clients, “I think we can demystify the buzz around social media and bring it down to the basic level. It’s just another way to network and communicate.” Also, “in our industry, it’s mostly about networking, and social media helps us compete out there.”
LeFF & assoCiates Mitch Leff of media relations firm Leff & Associates said he uses Facebook and Twitter to promote both clients and his own company. He posts notices of clients’ upcoming appearances on television, for example, then captures the event and posts a link for those who missed the broadcast. “Everything we promote through clients’ Facebook pages, we promote through mine as well,” Leff said. As a result, “My page shows a long list of work I’ve done for clients recently. Everything I do on my Facebook page shows my
MiTcH leff leff & assoCiates The podcast is “a work in progress,” Leff said. “We’ve been doing it a few weeks and looking for feedback. That’s the beauty of social media: there’s low cost to entry, and if you don’t like what you’re doing, you change it.” And if there is one thing to be sure of in the world of social media for agencies and creatives, believe that it will be change. The one constant in all of this: Successful agencies will adapt and lead their clients through the ins and outs of the cyber-woodwork.
"THe reLaTionSHiP buiLding – whiCh everyone talks about in soCial media – has really helped expand our network,” [nora] depalma said. “i Can’t say that we’ve landed or found somebody new through soCial media. but it has raised our presenCe and reminded the people we already knew www.ozonline.tv OZ MAGAZINE 29 that we’re out there.”