Today’s guest post is by Stacey Acevero, Social Media Community Manager at PR Web.

Looking for a way to boost your social media and PR?  We have the perfect tool to deepen your engagement with consumers and provide your online marketing with a creative spark.

Skype can give your business the face-to-face time with consumers that might otherwise be missing in your marketing.  You can use it in a number of ways to increase your public presence through the social realm.

Check out these 9 tips:

1. Install A Skype Button On Your Website

Give consumers immediate and direct access to your company by installing a Skype button on your website.  The person who manages your social media campaigns, responds to customer and writer inquiries can be the contact for all Skype calls.   

2. Create Video Contests

Because Skype and Facebook are integrated, you have the perfect opportunity to create a live platform for audience contests, combining social media and PR to produce powerful marketing results.

Try offering special rewards for contestants who answer questions correctly or demonstrate how your product worked for them.

For example, invite followers to put together groups and show all the places they ate your pizza or drank your coffee.

3.     Provide Question and Answer Sessions

Introducing a new product or service?  Skype can help you converse directly with potential customers.  Arrange a pre-set question and answer session and put out invitations via all your social channels for followers to join in

4.     Encourage Followers To Speak

One of the best ways to stay engaged with consumers is to ask for their feedback.  They get to share their opinions and you get the benefit of knowing how well you are giving them what they need.

Create regular feedback sessions and reward contributors with special coupons.  You can tweet or post the results and give credit to the folks who participated.

5.     Connect Your Audiences With Your Spokesperson

Do you have a celebrity spokesperson or CEO who conducts interviews for your brand?  Create a schedule of Skype interviews to connect journalists and bloggers directly, and then share the best moments on your website.

6.     Provide Customer Service Assistance

Suppose a consumer is trying to use your product, say an oven, to accomplish something (in this case, cook a holiday turkey) but has questions beyond what the user manual addresses.  Encourage them to Skype your customer service department for immediate support

7.     Help Your Workforce Communicate

Don’t forget the initial appeal of Skype for business.  You can use it for video conferencing between co-workers and vendors.

8.     Create A Video And Share It On Facebook

Get a number of your employees to put together a Skype group and create a video message to followers.  You can share holiday greetings or news of your next big event – and add to your social media and PR library of successful tactics.

9.     Strengthen Your Media Relationships

Perhaps there is a blogger who is especially important to your industry.  You may have sent them dozens of press releases but never met them.  Invite them to chat on Skype and add more power to your pitches.

The power of social is that it creates and sustains relationships.  When adding the immediacy of video to that formula, you’re bound to increase the connection between you and those you want to touch.

Searching for more tips? Check out this social media survival kit.