The last before-the-conversation principle discussed in the UMSL Department of Communication’s course on the use of social media in public relations is integration, i.e., ensuring that social media actions work in concert with other communication tactics, organizational functions/experts, and media narratives — as well as across social media platforms/technologies.
During the 2011 holiday season, General Mills brands integrated social media with a variety of communication tactics. Months later, the NYT profiled similar efforts by a small chain of diners, demonstrating that tactical integration is not limited to large organizations.
H&R Block has invested resources to make sure the efforts of its social media team are integrated with other teams throughout the company. (For this case, scroll down and watch the imbedded video, especially the question-and-answer exchange starting around the 5:40 mark and ending around the 6:37 mark.)
World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE has used “social media to fill in the gaps that occur between TV episodes,” illustrating the integration of media narratives.
Finally, an article at Mashable recently outlined various combinations of social media technologies that could complement and boost one another.
