Takeaways from the PRSA Boston Social Media Summit

Last Tuesday, my colleague Katherine and I attended the PRSA Boston Social Media Summit at Bentley University. We returned to the office with pages of notes (and we did plenty of live-tweeting) – here are a few takeaways that stood out to us.

From Karen Raskopf, Chief Communications Officer @DunkinDonuts
The rules of traditional conversation apply to social media. Great conversationalists are authentic, engaging, entertaining and funny, but not inappropriate. Instead of monopolizing the conversation, they listen and they encourage other voices. If you consider this conversational common sense, why should your brand behave any differently online?

From Corinne Kovalsky (@kovalskyc), Director of Digital and Social Media @Raytheon
Content is king. No amount of social media prowess will make up for bad content. That’s why Raytheon has its own “news organization,” complete with an assignment desk, business-level bureau chiefs, weekly editorial meetings and a detailed editorial calendar. Social media is a great tool for distributing relevant and engaging stories, but your audience won’t feel compelled to read or share content that is mediocre or overly-promotional.

From David Oksman (@davidoksman), Head of Marketing @Lifeisgood
Wait to speak up until you have something to say. After the Boston Marathon bombing, Life is good demonstrated caution before going to market with any messaging. Ultimately, they chose to focus on the selflessness, compassion and kindness demonstrated by so many during and after the attacks with the tagline “Nothing is stronger than love.” Posting just for the sake of posting, especially in the wake of a tragedy or around a sensitive topic, will irritate your followers and fans. Ask yourself before hitting the send button: is this something my audience will be excited to see on their news feeds?

From Jessica Gioglio (@savvybostonian), PR/Social Media Manager @DunkinDonuts
Keep it short, sweet and highly visual. Ashoards of social media users migrated from blogging to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, each new channel has become increasingly focused on micro-sharing. Pictures allow us to communicate lots of information about brands quickly and succinctly. Dunkin’ Donuts’ most popular Facebook post is an image with the message “Donuts = Smiles :)” – this post received over 52,000 likes, 5,700 shares and 1,700 comments.

Thank you to all of the speakers who joined us on Tuesday. We’re already looking forward to next year’s Social Media Summit!