Communications and media as we know them are evolving at a rapid pace. The manner in which we communicate and what is considered “media” is ever-changing. I remember public relations in the era of blast fax distribution and the pre-World Wide Web era. I realize that I’m dating myself by making these statements, but the fact remains:  those of us in public relations are ever-challenged to keep abreast of “new” media and to discover ways in which to use it to our – and our employers’/clients’ – best advantage.

Take social media, for example. Consumers are increasingly relying upon social media for their information – going to a company’s Facebook page, for example, before visiting a company’s website. And consumers demonstrate their brand preferences (and loyalty) by following and liking their brands of choice on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, a recent Nielsen report states that 53% of active online adult social networkers follow a brand, that social networking and blogging now account for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet and that Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other U.S. website. Pretty compelling statistics…and pretty valid reasons why public relations professionals need to include social media as part of their overall communications tactics.

Naysayers may dismiss these statistics, but I recall a similar conversation about the World Wide Web nearly 20 years ago. Enough said.

But beyond B2C communications lies the evolution of “media.” Media is ever-increasingly an online vehicle as printed media – printed news media, most especially – fades away. Writers and editors rely on social media platforms to magnify their voice and reach in the hope that it will (1) increase their reach and (2) drive traffic back to their articles/website, thereby increasing their readership and the value of their advertising.

Even what we consider “media” sometimes comes into question: are bloggers considered media, for example? In my opinion, creating online content does not a member of the media make; however, those with the forum and the voice may not be afraid to use it. So we as public relations professionals must manage these relationships just as we must consider social media platforms as media relations tools – platforms for engaging with the media and platforms for communicating with our various publics.

Does your company need assistance navigating the evolving world of social media? Do you have the tools necessary to harness the power of social media in order to communicate your messaging in a cohesive and an articulate manner? Domus does! Put our expertise in public relations and social media to work for you. Visit www.domusinc.com today and be an active part of the conversation that’s taking place in the world of social media.

For more on this topic, see “Public Relations in a Social World” posted on COMPREHENSION – PRSA’s blog: http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=3557.

Amy Whilldin is an Account Director at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Creating any print ads this year? Then it’s worth taking a look at Microsoft Tag. It’s a free technology both for advertisers and consumers, and it’s starting to get some traction in the marketplace.

Basically, as an advertiser, you can create your own 2D barcode design, which you embed in your ad. Then consumers who have downloaded Microsoft’s free Tag application for their web-enabled phones can snap a picture of the ad and go directly to your targeted web site landing page. It’s a pretty interesting way to merge the print, mobile, and internet worlds.

Domus is a Philadelphia-based advertising, public relations, and internet marketing agency. For more visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Led by the iPhone and now other smartphones (and devices such as the iPad), mobile web traffic is increasing exponentially and many expect it to surpass desktop web usage in the near future. So what does that mean for web site designers and advertisers?

For one, Flash is still out of the picture. Apple, especially, has steadfastly refused to embrace Flash for their iPod (and iPad) platform. Even Google’s Android (currently) does not support it. So, every web site and banner ad based on Flash is basically unreadable by smartphone browsers. If you’re not taking this into account in your internet marketing efforts, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

How about other rich media advertising platforms? Whatever technology you use, it behooves you to test it on the iPhone and other popular smartphones. For example, for almost a year now, PointRoll now offers distribution of its rich-media ads on the iPhone. Microsoft, similarly, has recently demonstrated streaming Silverlight videos on the iPhone.

Over the course of 2010 there will be many new announcements of mobile web technologies and platforms, but between now and when those are adopted, we as marketers need to understand who is visiting our target sites and distribute our content accordingly. Otherwise, a good portion of our intended audience will be excluded for no reason other than our inattention.

Domus, Inc. is an advertising agency, PR agency, and digital media agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Mobile internet usage today is exploding. The year-over-year numbers from January, 2008 to January 2009 showed over a doubling of usage. Since then, the introduction of new generations of “smartphones” such as the iPhone have stressed the mobile networks almost more than AT&T’s and Verizon’s combined $35 billion per year in mobile infrastructure investments can handle. And the trend looks to only point up, with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter being increasingly accessed by mobile devices.

So, as a marketer, what are you doing? At a minimum, this is the time to revisit all of your web properies and ensure that they are mobile-friendly. Other avenues of mobile marketing, including mobile ads, text messages, etc. will all be drastically less effective if you don’t have a mobile-friendly web site. Would you ever invest in wired web banner ads without a web site or at least a landing page for users to click through to? The same is true for the mobile web.

So, if you wish to position yourself to take advantage of the mobile web as it explodes throughout 2010 and beyond, your first step should start now – make your web site mobile-friendly.

Domus, Inc. is a full service marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. One of our priorities for the remainder of this year is to position ourselves and our clients to take advantage of existing and growing mobile marketing opportunities. Please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com for more.