By Maury Tobin

Let’s me say it clearly. I believe in the power of social media because I’ve seen how it can propel our clients’ campaigns.

But as traditional outreach (media relations) gets left out of many communications plans and discussions, I’m convinced that a social media-only strategy can be a big problem for organizations that want their messages to be taken seriously. In many cases, social media-only campaigns tend to look, for lack of a better term, “fake,” because these efforts are often self-serving and they lack the authenticity of independent stories produced by journalists.

Since creating believable content is so crucial today, it’s worth considering a tried and true tactic such as a Radio Media Tour (RMT) to gain credibility. An RMT is a series of phone interviews conducted by radio journalists with an organization’s spokesperson. The news coverage generated from interviews is usually more valuable than focusing solely on self-produced content. After an RMT campaign is completed, we glean audio soundbites from the interviews so our clients can share them through their social media channels.

I’ll Leave You with This

Despite all of the new tactics that are available to PR pros, we continue to believe that fostering a dialogue between journalists and the clients we serve is important, not only to our industry and clients, but also to our democracy.

Learn more about Radio Media Tours.

Maury Tobin is the President of Tobin Communications, Inc., a firm he founded in 1996 that provides integrated campaign and digital services. Tobin earned both a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master’s Degree in Public Communication at American University.