Why Is Social Media Important?

Franchise PR has evolved over the years and become more digital and because of this, it has seen a lot of changes. One of the changes in the public relations has been the addition of social media. Social media is a powerful, powerful tool for companies to use because it enables companies to give news in real time and engage with consumers.

The ability to give news in real time and directly engage with consumers means giving companies a face, a personal image that people can see; it gives a whole new level to branding and public relations.

The reason being able to tell news in real time is because it reduces the likelihood of people making up their own stories in the time it takes between news breaking and for the story to be published. Since newspapers cannot rewind time and reprint that morning's paper, they have to run the story the next morning; while electronic newspapers have reduced this publication time, social media can still be and often is still faster. With the ability to type up a tweet, Facebook post, Instagram post all within a few seconds, no more 10 seconds, it is very easy to get news out there. Franchise Public Relations depends on quick response times and having accurate news. Perhaps the biggest principle in public relations is being quick to respond to news, good or bad, especially bad.

Social media has improved quick response times exponentially. For example, after an airline had a plane have a nose-landing at a runway at La Guardia airport, the airline immediately tweeted about the incident and let people know. Without social media, breaking the news of the plane's nose-landing would have taken longer.

Another reason social media has helped franchise public relations firms and companies in general is the ability to engage with consumers. With social media, consumers can voice themselves and let companies know about their complaints, praises, inquiries, etc and have them go directly to the company, who can then respond. Consumers can have conversations with companies. For public relations, the same idea applies; specifically, PR firms can have interaction with fellow PR firms and the media and get news out faster and accurately.