Comprehensive Study Notes: PR, PESO Model, and Social Media Strategy

The PESO Model and Media Categorization\n\n* Definition of Owned Media in Social Context: If a social media post originates from an organization's official account, it is categorized as Owned Media. This is because the company maintains complete control over the message, content, and timing of the outreach.\n* Definition of Shared Media in Social Context: If a social media post is made by an influencer or a third party, it is categorized as Shared Media. In this scenario, the company lacks total control over the specific messaging and the audience's interaction with it.\n* Importance of the PESO Model: \n * Audience Identification: Helps Public Relations (PR) professionals identify which publics they want to reach.\n * Channel Selection: Assists in determining the preferred channels for specific audiences.\n * Budgeting Decisions: Informs whether resources should be allocated more heavily toward Paid Advertising or toward outreach with journalists to secure Earned Media coverage.\n * Distribution and Amplification: Effective utilization of different media types allows an organization to amplify its message regarding products, services, or causes to various publics.\n\n# Understanding Digital and Social Media Dynamics\n\n* Advantages of Digital Media: Facilitates easy content generation and instantaneous sharing. It allows for high levels of interaction and the ability to build a large following. \n* Challenges and Negative Repercussions:\n * Rapid Rumor Spread: Misinformation can travel quickly (e.g., Reddit rumors regarding organizations like Chuck E. Cheese).\n * AI and Disinformation: The rise of Deepfakes and AI-generated content allows disinformation actors to slander CEOs and organizations.\n* The Power of Algorithms: Algorithms prioritize content for users who already follow a brand, making them more likely to see the organization's messages compared to random users.\n\n# Global Social Media Statistics (Source: Data Reporter)\n\n* Total Users: There are approximately $5,660,000,000$ social media users worldwide, representing over $78\%$ of the global population. \n* Account Nuance: This number includes duplicate profiles; many users maintain more than one account on a single platform (e.g., \"Finstas\" or fake Instagram accounts).\n* Platform Diversity: The typical user visits an average of $6.75$ social media platforms per month.\n* Time Consumption: Users spend an average of $18$ hours and $36$ minutes on social media per week. This equates to approximately one full day per week spent on social media, assuming a sleep schedule of $8$ hours per day.\n\n# Social Media Platforms and Affordances\n\n* Popular Platforms Cited: TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, X, and Blue Sky (originally intended as an exclusive replacement for X).\n* Platform Characteristics:\n * Facebook: Historically one of the oldest; remains popular for uses like \"Facebook Marketplace\" for secondhand items.\n * X (formerly Twitter): Characterized by short, text-based posts with a limit of $280$ characters (formerly $140$).\n * LinkedIn: Focused on professional networking, requiring more professional imagery, slideshows, and longer, career-oriented captions.\n * TikTok and Instagram: Heavy emphasis on visual aesthetics and short-form video content.\n * WeChat and XiaoHongShu: Chinese \"all-encompassing\" apps that combine features of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok, including payment services.\n* User Motivations for Social Media Use:\n * Filling spare time/boredom.\n * Finding products to purchase.\n * Seeking inspiration (quotes, design).\n * Keeping up with community events (e.g., the \"Dan at Hamilton\" newsletter/social feed for local events).\n * Avoiding FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).\n\n# Public Relations Strategy and Insights\n\n* Transitioning Data to Insights: PR professionals must transform raw data into \"actionable insights\"—suggestions for how an organization should change its communication to reach target publics effectively.\n* Audience Segmentation by Age:\n * Ages $16$ to $24$: Primarily discover new brands through social media ads.\n * Ages $65$ and Up: Primarily discover brands through traditional TV ads.\n* New Zealand Social Media Context:\n * Population: $5,260,000$ people.\n * Facebook remains the most popular and used platform in NZ, making it a priority for local PR awareness.\n * However, users spend significantly more time per session on TikTok due to the \"endless feed\" of content, making it superior for sustained engagement.\n\n# The Social Media Audit\n\n* Purpose: Acts as a \"report card\" for an organization's social strategy to assess goal achievement and identify challenges or opportunities.\n* Audit Template Components:\n * Who: Identification of the speaker (the company, a consumer, or a competitor).\n * Where: The specific platform (TikTok, Reddit, etc.).\n * What: The content type (article, video, text) and its Sentiment Analysis (positive vs. negative reaction).\n * When: The frequency of posting.\n * Why: The goal (awareness vs. call to action like signing a petition).\n * Results: Metrics such as likes, shares, and identifying if a Paid Approach is needed to boost engagement.\n\n# Influencer and AI Marketing\n\n* Influencer Marketing: A hybrid of Shared and Paid Media. Categories include micro, nano, and macro influencers.\n* Vetting Influencers: PR professionals use tools like Social Blade to detect fake followers by checking for spikes in follower counts (e.g., a sudden increase of $10,000$ followers in one day).\n* AI Integration: \n * Social media managers use AI for producing text, writing captions, suggesting hashtags, and generating DM replies.\n * Efficiency: AI helps tailor copy across platforms (e.g., converting an Instagram post to a LinkedIn post via ChatGPT).\n* Virtual Influencers: Digital personalities like Lil Miquela (launched in $2016$, with $2.4$ to $2.5$ million followers). \n * Pros: Consistent appearance, no aging, easily adaptable.\n * Cons: Lack of human authenticity; transparency issues.\n\n# Brand Storytelling\n\n* Objective: To communicate brand values and create a cohesive narrative that resonates with the public.\n* Storytelling Framework:\n * Identify the Conflict: Address the public's \"pain points.\"\n * Public as the Hero: Do not talk down to the audience (Critique of the Kellogg's CEO who suggested poor people eat cereal for dinner as a cheap option).\n * Develop the Plot: Create a compelling arc for the brand.\n * Identify the Moral: Always include a Call to Action (CTA) to drive positive word-of-mouth, reputation, or sales.\n* Use of Frames: Stories can use an Emotional Frame (e.g., sad animal adoption ads using \"In the Arms of the Angel\") or a Humorous Appeal (e.g., talking animals).\n\n# Questions & Discussion\n\n* Question: \"What do we call it now? A fake Instagram account?\"\n * Response (Penelope): \"It’s still Finsta.\"\n* Question: \"Who do you think are following an organization's LinkedIn account?\"\n * Responses: Employees, customers, investors, and job seekers researching the company before an interview.\n* Question (Audience Discussion on AI Ethics):\n * The lecturer mentioned the Coca-Cola $2024$ Christmas ad (which faced backlash for being \"eerie\" and hitting the \"uncanny valley\") vs. the Heinz AI ad (which was better received for its creative use of AI image generation to show Heinz is the most recognizable ketchup).\n* Question regarding ICA 2: Clarification on finding eight examples for the PESO model (two for each category). The lecturer noted that finding one organization that uses multiple categories (like the E.L.F. Beauty campaign) is the most efficient way to complete the assignment.", "title": "Principles of Public Relations: Social Media Strategy and the PESO Model"}