Ever played the board game Mouse Trap? The goal is to build a contraption that's set into motion when a player turns a crank. The crank spins gears that push a lever that smacks a boot that kicks a bucket that spills a marble that rolls down a chute…Well, you get the idea. In the end (if you're lucky), it catches a mouse.
Seeing how media has evolved reminds me of this old game. You get a mention in a newspaper article and find an online link to share on Twitter. Your followers retweet it to their followers, who post it on Facebook, where someone finds it and mentions it on a talk-radio fan page and, before you know it, you're a guest on a radio show.
But in order to arrive at this dream outcome, you must first integrate your publicity with social media. At my firm, our social-media campaign manager turns the crank. She writes and posts blogs and comments and tweets updates on behalf of clients. Her aim is to build a large, credible following for them.
Here are a few of her tips
People who use social media casually may send a few tweets, update their Facebook status or write a weekly blog post. They connect with people whose content they're interested in: family members, friends, co-workers, fellow hobbyists and people who share their interests.
If you have a serious goal, such as building an audience for marketing purposes, however, you need to do all of that and more. One strategy I use for our clients is generating "third-party conversations." Instead of simply posting on our clients' own social networking sites, I visit the blogs, websites and fan pages of people with similar interests. I comment on their content in hopes of engaging their audience in a conversation that can drive traffic to our clients' websites.
