Bianchi PR

’s top automotive suppliers have increased their use of social media in the past year significantly, there’s still room to boost the horsepower of their social media programs in 2016, based on our second annual study of auto supplier social media habits. You can acknowledge a customer contact, vendor or partner; share industry trend or issue news that offers your followers insight or perspective; post photos of your customer’s people, products or facilities. the largest professional network going, but more important, it’s also the social channel where the typical auto supplier has the largest following – an average of more than 110,000 followers … who have a professional interest in the supplier. You may want to use Facebook for more fun, humorous or people-focused posts, LinkedIn for more professional interactions, and Twitter for quick updates, links to trend info or breaking news.

Like their North American counterparts, European journalists generally prefer to interview the CEO at the CEO’s office or a company facility; although it seems UK-based journalists usually prefer a telephone interview. European journalists are less likely to turn to social media for background than their North American counterparts, and typically turn to the company’s annual report as the first research source (64 percent), followed by press releases (59 percent), past media coverage (58 percent), and company website and brochures (55 percent). While both North American and European journalists find the CEO’s knowledge of the company and market crucial, European journalists tend to find the CEO’s personality more important … and analyst and third-party opinions to be less important than their American colleagues. This is where a resource like PRGN, which brings together seasoned PR professionals in more than 50 major markets around the world, can be especially helpful in providing CEOs with the local cultural know-how, local media practices and local media knowledge they need.

So why is media coverage only shared by automotive suppliers on social media less than 5 percent of the time? Our recent Social Media and Automotive Supplier Habits 2.0™ (SMaASH 2.0™ Study), which analyzed social media usage by the top 25 North American automotive OEM suppliers during the first six months of 2015, showed that, on average, only 4.3 percent of suppliers’ social media posts shared credible media coverage. It’s time for auto suppliers to help themselves … and help their key journalists and audiences in the process … by stepping up the sharing game. Follow the top journalists, bloggers, industry experts and publications that cover the industry to facilitate fast access to the stories they are sharing and be sure to tag the publication name as well as the reporter if applicable.

To help CEOs and their communications executives understand how journalists in Europe prepare for, and conduct, CEO interviews, the Public Relations Global Network (www.prgn.com) surveyed 165 European journalists. Among the insights uncovered in the PRGN European journalist survey: • European journalists are less likely to turn to social media for background than their North American counterparts, and typically turn to the company’s annual report as the first research source (64 percent), followed by press releases (59 percent), past media coverage (58 percent), and company website and brochures (55 percent). Like their North American counterparts, European journalists generally prefer to interview the CEO at the CEOs office or a company facility; although it appears UK-based journalists usually prefer a telephone interview. While both North American and European journalists find the CEOs knowledge of the company and market crucial, European journalists tend to find the CEO’s personality more important and third-party and analyst opinions to be less important than their new world counterparts.