Tag Archives: social media

John Trader

PR and Social Media – Don’t Press the Ignorance Button when you Know it Doesn’t Work

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The other day I stepped on to the elevator with several other people at the office building where I work.  We stood there for about 5 seconds waiting for the doors to close and when they didn’t, a man reached over and hit the “close door” button.  The doors remained open.  As everyone else waited patiently, this guy hit the button again and again and again for what seemed like 10 seconds until finally the doors closed.  As I watched him initially frustrated by beating the button repeatedly to no avail, I began to think, “This has applications to PR via social media.”

(FYI — There are many theories about whether the close door buttons on elevators actually work or they are merely there for psychological reasons to assuage our lickety split mentality that comes with a world built on speed and the value of time).

So what exactly does this have to do with PR and social media you say?  Continue reading →

Jason Mollica

Back to School: The Perfect Networking Refresher

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“I heard you missed us… we’re back!” –Van Halen, “Hot For Teacher”

While you may not have the flair of good ol’ “Diamond” David Lee Roth, this time of year can still be a perfect opportunity to show your networking chops. Ok, so you are shuddering at the thought of going back to school. Don’t. You should really be relishing the chance to grow your relationships: in school and in the community.

See, we are always networking… whether it be at school, out with friends, or online. Think about your last PRSSA meeting, Twitter chat, or Facebook group discussion. Did you talk about how you can help with an event or talk to a respected pro about setting up a lunch discussion? Bingo! You are networking. Continue reading →

Michael Schechter

Social Media Politics

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I may be in a minority here, but it’s getting harder and harder to tell when I’m watching politics from when I’m reading the conversations on some of my favorite blogs these days. As things change, money comes into the picture and a new wave of bloggers emerges, the “vibe” inside the social media bubble is feeling a lot less hospitable.

I don’t want to get lost in the who are the Republicans and who are the Democrats nonsense (although it would be a funny post if anyone else wants to write the damn thing), but what I do want to point out is this… At the moment, no matter what your leanings are, it has always been difficult to have a political conversation and it is starting to feel similar in Social Media. Continue reading →

Jason Mollica

Blaming Social Media for the Market Crash: Finger Should Point Elsewhere

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It’s no secret that the stock market is falling faster than someone with cement shoes. The blame game focused on Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrading the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+. The markets reacted violently, dropping 635 points on August 8. It was enough to get many queasy about their financial futures.

The next day, the markets rebounded. But that didn’t stop the finger pointing from journalists and “experts.” A story in The Atlantic Wire’s technology section by Rebecca Greenfield placed blame on social media, saying it “could be making the market crash worse.”

I usually read these stories because it’s remarkable that they get published, in print or online. This quote is from the initial paragraph of the post: Continue reading →

Jeff Esposito

From “Yes We Can” to No You Didn’t; A Cautionary Lesson in Social Media

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President Barack Obama’s use of social media has seen its ups and downs. Back in 2008 his social media savvy helped propel him into the Oval Office. His use of technology was instrumental in his campaign, and it is looked at as the blueprint for how campaigns should be run in the Web 2.0 world. Many social media books use his historic campaign as an example or case study of an effective social media strategy.

Now that he’s in office, however, there is significant room for improvement in his social media activity. First of all, after the election, his social accounts lost their personal touch and turned into more of a broadcast medium managed by his staff. As his Twitter profile notes, only Tweets marked BO are coming directly from the Commander in Chief. So engaging, it is not. While I wouldn’t expect the President to be Tweeting away, his staff should have kept up an engagement level similar to large corporations.

In the middle of the federal debt ceiling negotiations, Continue reading →

Aaron Perlut

Rashard Mendenhall: Shut Yo Mouth!

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Two years ago I was talking to an executive of an NFL franchise. Twitter was just blowing up and I counseled him that the team should be harnessing their players’ burgeoning interests in getting on the social media tool as a means of connecting with fans.

Set the tone with your employees, teach them how to use it, and you’ll potentially have a quality brand ambassador.

His response to me was, “There’s no way in hell we’re letting our players on Twitter.”

And I thought, “Man, he doesn’t get it. He has no choice. His players will be on, and he’ll have lost the battle before it even begins.”

All of this brings us to the case of Rashard Mendenhall, the talented yet troubled Pittsburgh Steelers running back. Continue reading →

Jason Mollica

Google+: Let’s not put the cart before the horse

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By now, our world has experienced and started actively using the latest in social platforms. Google+ launched to excitement and rightfully so. Google has been looking to enter the social space for some time. But, I think we need to temper this giddiness a bit. Much like Facebook and Twitter before it, time is needed before we can really understand how Google+ will fit into our plans. Should we do our due diligence on it? Absolutely. Any good social media manager or PR professional should be researching and planning to uncover any which way it can be used effectively.

In the last few weeks, though, I’ve seen that it will be a “Facebook killer.” I’ve also read numerous stories telling me that LinkedIn needs to watch out because Google is coming with “Google+ for Business.” The old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” fits here. How can anyone truly know what it will do to Facebook? We had no idea that Facebook would eventually make MySpace irrelevant. Who saw Twitter becoming a success? Continue reading →

Amanda DiSilvestro

Is Traditional PR Even Worth It?

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Any PR pro knows that PR is entirely different than marketing and advertising. So how much should be done online and how much should be done through more traditional styles? That depends; how much what? The answer to this question differs depending on if you are discussing marketing, advertising, or public relations.

Every company should capitalize as much as possible on new, online forms of PR. This is the latest rage in the world of PR, and for good reason. Online PR is often cheaper, allows for better targeting, reaches a wide variety of people, and is flexible. However, this does not mean that you should forget about your old, traditional PR ways. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

Are Your Employees Undermining Your Business?

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Quite a few of us have been there – the new agency on the block – handling a portion of a client’s business while another agency hangs out with the lion’s share.  Either it’s a new line of business for the company or the old agency fell down and this particular part ended up in your lap.  Everyone play nice but there’s no mistaking it – you want the rest of the business and the other agency, no longer resting on their laurels, wants to get the part you have back.

But we “play” nice. Continue reading →

Jason Mollica

Engagement…Is There One True Definition?

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I was scouring the blogosphere last week after getting some recommended posts via re-tweets. Of the three I read, all had different definitions of engagement in social media. In our ever changing world, we’ve had to define and re-define certain aspects of PR and marketing. I would think we’d have engagement pretty well narrowed down by now.

However, I don’t think having a solid definition of engagement is a real issue. Why? Because we all talk about engagement in certain ways. Some see that re-tweet that directed me to a blog as the ultimate form of engagement, while others believe that it is responding to a post on Facebook. And if you got into an argument, both of these answers COULD be correct. Continue reading →