For those of us who come from a traditional communications background, the idea of “crowdsourcing” messages, content or design can hard to grasp (even though it’s happening more and more frequently). As PR people, it’s still our job to shape messaging, but there are times when taking a cue from the masses can be the best decision. For example, when Southwest Airlines, an early social media adopter, began blogging, the posts focused primarily on company culture. As the readership grew, bloggers discovered that the community wanted to hear more about news as well. Likewise, Southwest’s Twitter stream has evolved to reflect the types of information and links their followers want. This ability to listen and respond accordingly to the community is one of the key reasons why Southwest’s social media has “taken off.”

If your company is participating in social media, does your community drive content, or are you taking a more traditional approach? Watch this interview with Paula Berg, manager of emerging media at Southwest Airlines, to learn more about their approach to social media.

If you’re a PR person working for a sales-driven organization (and aren’t most organizations nowadays tied to sales?), have you ever stopped to think about how your work fits into the sales cycle?

At its core, selling is reliant on personal and non-personal communication to convince prospects to take a specific action. The sales team will rely on personal phone calls, visits and emails – as well as direct mail, newsletters, e-marketing … and many other marketing tools.

But, where does PR come into play? Certainly, it’s part of the prospect education process — which takes place during the earliest stages of the sales cycle. However, PR’s role doesn’t just end there. Here are three overlooked ways to align PR with the sales efforts:

1. In-sync messaging. As a PR person, you need to be in constant contact with the sales team so you understand what they’re hearing “on the ground.” What messages are resonating with prospects? Then, align your story pitches appropriately. It goes without saying that the economy is the hot issue right now. How does your product or service save money, increase efficiencies or maximize resources?
2. Smart community relations. The sales team has identified the next hot prospect … but is struggling to get a meeting with the right person. If you’re taking a strategic approach to your company’s community relations, you might be able to help. Research the prospect’s involvement in causes, organizations, events, boards and committees. Is there an opportunity for your company to also be involved or supportive? That might just be enough to get on the prospect’s radar.
3. Professional online networking. By now, you’ve hopefully bought into the importance of networking online. However, unless your sales team is full of early adapters or tech-savvy folks, they may not understand the value of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or other professional networking tools As a PR person, you should help them figure out how to navigate social media and leverage online networks to boost sales. For starters, are they actively participating in LinkedIn discussions? Have they asessed connections available through their network?

As PR people, we become that much more valuable to a company if we can demonstrate how our efforts are tied to the bottom line. What do you think — how else can we enhance (and accelerate) the sales cycle?