Tag Archives: social media

Keith Trivitt

The Impending Data Deluge

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(CC) Courtesy akash_k

I recently returned from the PRSA International Conference in Washington, D.C. (full disclosure: I am employed by PRSA), where much of the focus was on social media and enhancing the strategic value of public relations. What struck me most about the sessions was how few of them were geared toward the once-hot topics of “Social Media is Great!,” or “This Social Media Thing is A Fad.” Instead, a majority focused on a similar theme: “Social media has revitalized the PR profession . . . now what do we do with all of this data?!

That strikes at the heart of the next great movement for public relations. The need to understand, analyze and utilize the vast array of data, sentiment analysis and other metrics gathered from social media. Continue reading →

Mike Schaffer

ROI Measurement

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Woman catching snowflakes in her mouthPsst! I have a secret!

There is no one way to measure the return on investment of social media. None. Each campaign is kinda like a thumbprint…or a snowflake…totally different from start to finish.

The National Restaurant Association Marketing Executives Group asked me to give them ways to increase their ROI at a recent conference. So I came up with the following presentation, affectionately entitled “Show Me The Money.” Continue reading →

CTMichaels

A Social Media Unity

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Two groom figurines on top of wedding cakeI have been working on this post for almost three weeks.  Every time I think it is complete something else happens which makes me add more to it, as you will understand as you read.

Over the past few years, gay rights have been in the spotlight.  With states legalizing gay marriage, shows like Flipping Out and Queer as Folk debuted, and, stations devoted to the gay demographic such as LOGO surfaced, an acceptance of the gay population had made many strides in most of America. And isn’t it about time?

As we have seen with the acceptance of the gays, the embracing of social media as an important form of spreading awareness. Not only has social media been able to spread the word about issues, but it has made voices of those previously-unheard  heard. Continue reading →

Jeff Esposito

What does PR mean to you?

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Girl using cookie cutterOver the past few weeks I’ve been trying to get a handle on what PR had become to me.  The industry is in a state of flux and evolution. Instead of the old fare cup of coffee industry that we grew up in the current state is robust with flavors that would make Starbucks blush.

With many PR folks taking the helm of social networking (SN) activities, I’ve also wondered if PR was the correct term for the industry as the space blends PR with many other disciplines like customer service, sales and word-of-mouth marketing.

I asked folks in the #PRBC discussion what PR meant to them and really just got back a handful of generic cookie cutter answers that reflected what the industry used to be. Continue reading →

Joseph Vasquez

We Live in the Age of Groupon

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Jackpot winnerSome of you know that one of my favorite pastimes is dining out. It’s obvious when you see the anti-Situation abs that I sport nowadays. [I’ve been doing a lot of GTL lately though minus the T so I’m expecting to get my washboard abs back.] Sorry, I digress. 🙂

In any case, one company that seems to be thriving in this awful economy is Groupon. I don’t have hard facts. My opinion is simply based on word of mouth, social media buzz and earned media coverage that I’ve seen for the company in the past couple of years. Most recent was Groupon’s first national launch with Gap where it likely garnered more in free publicity than the amount of Gap Groupons it sold. The company has transformed the way the average consumer saves by featuring mainly half price deals that change daily. The concept is attractive because it builds anticipation from its users on a daily basis, which I believe is a key factor, in developing any successful social media program. It has also changed the average consumer’s purchasing behavior, but it’s also fueled other companies to follow its business model such as Living Social, Half Off Deals, and many others. Continue reading →

Rebecca Denison

Using Metrics to Reduce Uncertainty

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Ruler with imperial and metric measurementsSometimes we all get too caught up in perfection. If you work on that report 10 minutes longer, will it be closer to perfect? If you search one more time, will you find every single mention of your brand or company across the Web? There’s a point at which additional effort isn’t worth the reward.

I often find that there is a misconception about the purpose of measurement. Whether in PR or social media or physics, for that matter, the purpose of measurement is to reduce uncertainty. Note the word “reduce.” Continue reading →

Michael Schechter

The Social Marketing GAP

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Mind the Gap warning on a subway platformI’m guilty; I’ve been making fun on The Gap and their new logo.  It is an ugly, half-assed, badly designed misstep from a brand that hadn’t made a logo change in over 20 years.  In our little world of Social Media, we are having a field day and The Gap is taking a heck of a licking for their latest new design.  As if that were not enough, now I’m taking things one step further and making fun of their mind-numbingly poor decision to leave the design up to the crowd and invite people to suggest better logos via Facebook.  I cannot help but mock their “Fine if you think we screwed up that badly, you do better” mentality.   They are really going to regret ever posting the follow up to what was already a fairly massive branding gaff.

That said, I am done talking about it and I think you should be too.  Here’s why: Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

You’re doing it wrong….

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Wrong WayWe’ve all seen the horrible horrible examples of things done wrong in the digital world.  You know the things I’m talking about – bad policies, bad designs, just bad bad bad stuff.  Below, you’ll find my own list of the worst of the worst and those of some other contributors crowdsourced from Twitter.  Do chime in with your own net horror stories 🙂

Continue reading →

Christina Khoury

Christina’s Coffee Talk with Rick Calvert

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On Thursday, October 14 many of our friends will head to Las Vegas for the largest social media conference: BlogWorld & New Media Expo.  Since some of us may not be able to attend, we’re providing you with some inside scoop from Rick Calvert, CEO and co-founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo.

If you are attending, remember two things:  Rick likes Lipton Tea and played guitar for 20 years in a heavy metal band.  Do us all a favor and grab a flip cam, get this man some tea (preferably spiked for coaxing), and find him a guitar.  If you get him on camera performing, there will be a prize waiting for you from PRBC (just kidding…maybe).

What makes BlogWorld different from other social media conferences?

The first thing is that it is the biggest.   BlogWorld was born before Social Media became the de facto term for the new media revolution.   That’s why the event is called BlogWorld & New Media Expo.   Most people didn’t even know what blogs were when we announced the event in 2006 and no one had ever heard of Twitter. Continue reading →

Mike Schaffer

The Sore Thumb of Social Media

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HammerOne recent evening, I was listening to a talk radio station while driving home after a business trip.

(As an aside, did anyone else think they would never ever ever listen to talk radio when they were kids?)

I don’t recall the exact topic of conversation, but it was insignificant until the host’s last line: “You’ve gotta be careful.  Twitter, Facebook, social media will hurt you.” At that point, I started making odd faces at my digital dial, because there was obviously a disconnect between the host and the actual concepts he was discussing.

You see, social media platforms like The Twitter (thank you, Betty White, for making that an acceptable phrase), The Facebook (thank you, Justin Timberlake, for reminding us why they dropped the “The”) and others are tools.  Tools can’t hurt you unless you make them. Continue reading →