Publicity and social media are usually staffed separately and judged separately, which works until something goes wrong. Then they become one function whether or not anyone planned for it, because a statement given to a journalist and a reply posted to a customer have to say the same thing within minutes of each other.
One set of messages, two cadences
Publicity works in hours and days against journalists' deadlines. Social works in minutes against an audience that is already talking. Both should draw from the same agreed messages, held by one owner, so that a spokesperson and a community manager do not contradict each other. That document is cheap to maintain and expensive to lack.
Social is the early warning system
Complaints, rumours and emerging stories usually appear in social channels before a journalist calls, and the team monitoring them is best placed to notice. A route from the community manager to whoever handles publicity, with the authority to escalate quickly, is what buys the hours that make a difference.
Decide who may speak, in advance
Which accounts respond, who approves a statement, what may be said before facts are established, and what is held. Improvised responses posted quickly are how a manageable complaint becomes a story. A short written protocol, rehearsed once, does more than any amount of monitoring software.
Paid and earned must not be confused
Anything paid for must be identifiable as advertising, and a creator's connection to a brand must be disclosed. Where publicity and social sit with different teams, the paid element is often the one that slips, because each assumes the other handled it.
Questions people ask about pr and social media
Should one team own both?
In smaller organisations usually, because the coordination cost of splitting is high. In larger ones they can be separate with shared messages and one owner of consistency.
Who responds to a complaint on social?
The community team, within an agreed protocol, escalating anything that could become a story. The mistake is improvising a substantive response quickly.
Does social coverage count as earned media?
Genuine mentions do. Content the brand paid for must be identifiable as advertising and should not be reported as earned.