No Bullshit Social Media

7. Relating to Your Public: Social Media Marketing and Public Relations

Say the words public relations, and your first thought is probably about press releases, TV news interviews, and newspaper stories. PR flacks—a slang term for PR pros—are paid professionals whose job it is to get your company or your product into the mainstream media. They have relationships with journalists and can call them up to get a story placed. Or they have an email list of journalists a mile long they send press releases to on an alarming basis, hoping one of them will stick.

But public relations is no longer just a matter of dealing with the mainstream media. The mainstream media is still important, but it’s not the only game in town anymore. In fact, the mainstream ...