Huge props to The Wedding Channel for putting their name on this video. This video series has caught fire and I am not complaining – they are great and as far as I am aware this is the first ‘branded’ video out there. My favorite part has to be the Pinterest reference, “Pin… Pin’d… Pinning.” Beyond true to life!

Not only does it perfectly fit the brand but it doesn’t feel forced. Nice work all round!

Social Media is, at its most basic definition, a shift in how people find, share, and consume content. Communications and conversations are the driving forces behind social media and are the main reasons why public relations professionals are better able to utilize this marketing tool.

Advertisers use social media to target consumers through carefully crafted messages via paid media and ad buys. More often than not, these social media placements are promotional and involve one-way conversation from the company or organization to the consumer. Through their social media use, advertisers can communicate a message, yet their ability to actually use social media to have conversations ends there.

This conversational aspect is a key underpinning to social media and is the comfort place and specialty of public relations. Where advertisers can effectively promote one message, public relations can build on their message by engaging in conversations with brand loyalists and potential consumers in a way that is seen as authentic rather than promotional. In this way, public relation professionals can manage and sustain ongoing communications that can help elevate an organizations’ image to a new level.

In addition, a number of people turn to social media to find up-to-the-minute news, straight from the source, and that is exactly what public relations is responsible for managing. As newspaper circulations dwindle and magazines fold, blogs and social media networks including Facebook and Twitter are an invaluable tool for public relations professionals to get their story heard almost instantaneously. The fast pace of the social media world lends itself best to public relations professionals who can quickly react and respond to breaking news to maintain an image and build awareness for an organization.