With so many different marketing channels at your fingertips, how do you decide where to invest? Which online marketing techniques are really going generate leads for your firm?
Here at Hinge, we set out to answer these questions in a recent study of 500 CEOs and marketing executives from professional services firms across the globe. The survey was simple: rate each of 15 online marketing techniques on a scale from 0 – 10 on how effective they are in generating leads for your firm. Continue reading →
In the first part of this series on the influence of social media in politics, I took a look at the benefits brought by the age of social media to politics. However, everything isn’t sunshine and rainbows – the influence wielded by the social platforms can just as easily have a bad influence. Continue reading →
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In our last post on this topic we reviewed the new challenges agencies face in staffing to handle the much broader knowledge base they expect of employees. PR, marketing, and the other related arts previously had a comparatively limited set of tools that they’d actually use on a regular basis – media relations (print, broadcast, etc.), event marketing, etc. – with the occasional foray into something digital.
Now, in addition to the old tools, we’ve got all the digital arenas (platforms) to play in and on, each with their own set of rules and standards and much more specialized types of media – lifestyle bloggers (or as some like to call a large subset of this group – “mommy bloggers”), bloggers affiliated with mainstream outlets, bloggers who consider themselves journalists, bloggers who don’t want to be journalists but rather paid advocates and so on. Continue reading →
How are today’s agencies building, or rebuilding, their services? How are they staffing for these new services? Siloed or integrated programs? Standalone teams or cross-practice groups? We’ll examine these questions in a series of upcoming posts and I’d love to hear from those in the trenches, rather cubes, as well as those in the corner offices.
Ten years ago most PR professionals would learn everything they needed to simply by working. There may have been some silos or skills that most people didn’t touch, but those were for specialized areas. Continue reading →
Okay, not really. But even if the Bronx Zoo’s cobra isn’t actually dead, the buzz about her is.
If you work in the NYC area or read the news, chances are you’ve heard about of the escape and capture of the Bronx Zoo’s Cobra. If you have, it’s as likely that you’ve also heard her voice as @BronxZoosCobra when she slithered onto the social networks. Not only did the “snake who tweets” become a hot topic and easy news peg for major news sites such as The Wall Street Journal and NYTimes, but she sparked many a conversation about social media in our own circles, including raising the question of whether the person behind the reptile would make a good communications hire.
But is obtaining 240K Twitter followers in seven days a tell-tale sign of social media prowess? No, it’s not and here’s why: Continue reading →
“AFLAC!” “AFLAC!” “A FLACK!”
We’ve all heard that quack from the TV ads which annoying comedian Gilbert Gottfried made famous. As a PR pro, I cringe whenever I hear it because it sounds like the duck is calling me “A FLACK!”
Personally, I didn’t really care whose voice it was behind “AFLAC!,” but when Gilbert Gottfried inappropriately tweeted offensive jokes about the tragedy in Japan, it got me fired up. Coming from New Jersey and working in New York City for many years including on 9/11, the thought of joking about a tragedy of this magnitude was disturbing. And I think I have a pretty good sense of humor.
What the Aflac PR team did to turn a crisis into a brand win is quite extraordinary. Here are five reasons why: Continue reading →
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a local event sponsored by LaBreche and Twin Cities Business named: Reputations. The keynote? None other than Chris Brogan. The event also featured a solid panel of communicators and leaders from local agencies and organizations like Best Buy and Select Comfort (disclaimer: client).
Leading up to the event, I was both excited and skeptical. Excited to hear how a major brand like Best Buy manages its reputation online. Skeptical because I have heard the same song and dance a few too many times now.
Unfortunately, like a number of other folks at the event, I left a little disappointed. Continue reading →
Kodak, that venerable American photographic film giant of the 20th Century, has gone through a vast transformation in the past decade. Both the brand and the Company’s stock have been in free fall, in stark constrast to the meteoric rise in popularity and use of digital photography and video. To put it simply, you no longer first think of Kodak and its products when someone pulls out a camera (well, unless you’re at least Sherri’s age…).
But one man is taking a proactive approach to change Kodak’s public image as a has-been major American brand, and is actively pursuing a new, digital future — one in which Kodak is rebranding itself with a heavy dose of successful social media outreach and engagement. Continue reading →