Two words in the English language are sometimes very hard to say. That would be: Thank You. Now, before you click off to another site because you think I’m going all Emily Post, let me explain.
You see, as we become more social, we are becoming more impersonal. It shouldn’t be that way. Just because we interact on Twitter, Facebook, etc., it doesn’t mean we should forget what it means to actually talk to someone. Quick texts from an iPhone or brief emails from your office desk may say, “Thx” or “:-),” but is it really a thanks? Continue reading →
It is summer and hopefully PR professionals are hitting up the beaches and enjoying some travel. I am sure that the cell phone is not far and the laptop is in tow but hey it’s an effort to relax and unplug.
Social media has changed the way that people are traveling and documenting their summer vacations. No longer are tourists spotted only by the cameras hanging around their necks and the maps in hand. They are now using their iPhone for a camera and documenting their entire trip through live tweeting or Facebook check-ins. Facebook recently released a list of the Most Social Landmarks based on this trend. Continue reading →
So your brand has a growing following on Twitter, your Facebook page has been up and running for a few years now, and you recently launched a Google+ brand page – but now what? While you can access certain analytics for each platform, there’s often a desire to answer the question “What can we do next?” and “Which platform is reaching my best customers?” Continue reading →
“Bring out your dead!” “I’m not dead.” “’Ere, he says he’s not dead.” “Yes he is.”
”I’m not.”
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
How many times have we read about the end of times for Twitter and Facebook? Hundreds? Thousands? What ever the number has been, it’s getting a little exhausting.
The latest version of “social media Taps” was an analyst saying that Facebook would “disappear” in five to eight years. Eric Jackson, the founder of Ironfire Capital said, “…(t)hey are going to disappear in the way that Yahoo has disappeared. Yahoo is still making money. It’s still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it. But it’s 10% of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it’s disappeared.” 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 →
For years, public relations professionals have known of the power of brand advocacy. But in the digital age brand advocacy is evolving into the realm and responsibility of nearly every type of digital marketer. Whether you’re working on a search marketing campaign or overseeing a client’s display strategy, every marketer needs to understand and believe in brand advocacy. Continue reading →
Over the last year, chatter between brands and agencies continues to circle around the top of the defining and understanding the value of a Facebook fan. There is no direct answer given the multiple of impacts that go into a Facebook brand strategy. Many fans are gained through a combination of organic growth and paid acquisition – in light of GM’s announcement that it will no longer use Facebook ads, will other brands follow suit and change the conversation again on the value of a Facebook fan? Continue reading →
Ever since Howdy Doody showed up in the 1950’s, PR and marketing folks have wanted to know how many people are watching a particular TV show. This sets advertising rates, actor salaries, and a million other things. Most of this is based on the Nielsen ratings, which is possibly the most laughable measurement tool in the history of everything. Nielsen selects a certain amount of people to wire a box to their TV that sends data OVER A PHONE LINE or to keep a journal about what they’ve been watching. Seriously. Starting to understand why CBS cleans up in the ratings? They target older demographics since older demographics are the ones most likely to use a systems like Nielsen. Enter Viggle. Continue reading →
There are many articles out there on how PR professionals should seek, contact and engage with bloggers. We are focused on building a relationship with bloggers and converting them into brand ambassadors for our client. We hope that they will write amazing posts about our clients and it will spread through the blogger world like wildfire.
But as PR pros have we stopped to think about what the bloggers want from us?
I am a mom blogger, crawfishtales.com, and I have had the opportunity to be on both sides of the pitch. This has given me insight that I have used to mold the way that I, as a PR pro, engage bloggers. I constantly remind myself that bloggers are receiving multiple pitches just like a reporter and that I need to make my pitch stand out from the others. The best pitches are the ones that are thorough and have thought through the pitch from the bloggers prospective. Continue reading →
For the most part, I find the PR industry’s trade publications — PRWeek, PRNewser, PRNews, etc. — to be good standard-bearers for effectively covering the ins-and-outs of this diverse and growing industry. Sure, they tend to focus too much on AOR announcements — the old-time stock ticker-tape reports of PR — but they do the job.
So I try to do my best not to critique. Look, reporters and editors have a tough job at those publications. They are reporting on the very people — PR pros — who know how to promote a cause or a person better than anyone. So I imagine there is quite a lot of pushback and calls for fluffier fluff pieces than at your standard trade reporter’s job. 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.
