Veronique James is an EO Arizona member and CEO of The James Agency, an integrated agency specializing in consumer advertising, public relations and digital marketing that has been honored locally and nationally for its excellence in workplace culture. Members of her team, public relations expert Christina Caldwell and social media guru Jessica Suerth (pictured with Veronique at center) shared how PR and social media can work together in the ever-evolving effort to get business messaging out into the world:   

The way people stay informed about the world around them has changed dramatically over the last two decades—all thanks to social media. Gone are the days when your biggest online worry is your MySpace Top 8 or your AIM away status. Now, social media provides a consistent feed of entertainment, opinions and news. It’s the biggest lens through which we view the world.

Cultural debates about the long-term effects of this phenomenon on our collective mental health aside, we’re left with an undeniable fact: Social media and news are now forever entwined. 

According to Pew Research Center, about half of Americans get their news on social media. That means your business has an incredible opportunity. 

For the people who don’t visit news sites or are among the estimated 50 million Americans who consider themselves “cord cutters” (don’t have cable TV service), social media is the perfect outlet for them to see your business’ updates. 

In other words, if you want to get your news out to the broadest audience, capitalizing on social media is the way to do it.