Category Archives: Social Media

Posts containing best practices, news, and commentary related to social media.

Pitching Media in the Digital Age: Journalists from Huffington Post & USA Today Weigh In

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Arin Greenwood of Huffington Post talks for a packed lunch crowd while Gwen Flanders of USA Today looks on.

The Independent Public Relations Alliance held a packed house lunchtime program in April called, “Secrets to Getting Ink in Traditional and Digital Media” with journalists from the Huffington Post and USA Today. There was plenty of practical advice on pitching that will ring true for PR pros.Gwen Flanders from USA Today covers breaking news. She said pitches should be succinct and to the point (include the 5Ws and the H – who, what, where, when, why, how) and that pitching multiple people in the newsroom is frowned upon. Arin Greenwood  from Huffington Post’s DC page said that pitching multiple people is fine for them, so there is some wiggle room on this point, based on the outlets  being targeted.

Both Flanders and Greenwood prefer pitches arrive via email. Faxes don’t make it onto news desks, so don’t fax anything unless requested. Both recommend including the topic in the subject line (no teasing or coy headlines, no beating around the bush).

It’s essential that PR pros check their work and avoid type-os if they want for a pitch to be taken seriously by journalists. Flanders noted one public relations firm in particular, is notorious for sending out terrible press releases loaded with errors – she ignores anything the firm sends out.

Researching who covers a topic on the outlet’s website, is critical to making a successful pitch. Thankfully, because of the internet, doing this footwork is easier now than its ever been. “It’s your credibility and you should check your work,” said Flanders. “Do your homework and find out who the right person is.”

It’s important to note the perspective of the outlet when putting together your pitch. USA Today is a national newspaper that wants unreported national trends and does not want stories that have already appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post or other competitors. They love exclusives. USA Today especially likes trends that are popping up here, there and everywhere, but have not quite bubbled to critical mass yet. The Huffington Post DC page where Greenwood works is focused on DC based stories, not national ones (although they are routinely pitched national ones).

Deadlines for editors and reporters are constant now in this space. “If I’m at work, I’m on deadline,” said Flanders. She observed that she has double the duties she used to have and edits twice the number of stories she did a few years ago.

The digital world also means story enhancements – graphs, videos, photos, slide shows and interactive elements are more important – so mention these elemental possibilities when pitching a story. Greenwood noted that trying to call journalists at the end of the day is almost always a bad idea – as they are tired, grumpy, and generally trying to get things wrapped up so they can get out of the office.

The digital and print worlds have been on a collision course for a long time. In addition to ratcheting up the deadline pressure to a feverish and never-ending hum, the online world is also opening up new avenues for readership. Flanders noted that USA Today has 1.3 million print readers each day, but has double that number of readers online for its website.

For Huffington Post, readership is a key factor in decision making about a story. “The ‘clicky-er’ it is, the more likely we will write it up,” says Greenwood. Having a DC angle with a story line that stands out is critical for Huffington Post’s D.C. page. Greenwood said, “If it’s saucy enough, we will go for it. The less work you can make me do to figure out if we want to do a story,  the better.”

When it comes to follow-ups, both journalists expressed frustration with public relations staffers who do multiple follow-ups that intrude on their limited time. “Follow up once, not four times,” said Greenwood. And don’t be pushy, advised Flanders.

“Twitter is one more place to look for good stories,” noted Greenwood, when asked by audience members about how they use social media for news gathering. Stories featuring real and living people still reign supreme, said Greenwood.  Flanders noted that her reporters watch Twitter for story ideas, and that attempting to drum up artificial hype in social media is also noticed  (but not in a positive way).

Greenwood said she appreciates the work public relations professionals do and that she wants to hear from them with relevant story pitches. She also reminded the audience that Huffington Post allows blog posts that focus on issues (don’t be overly self-promotional) and op-ed submissions.

PRSA-NCC member and IPRA founding member Ami Neiberger-Miller owns Steppingstone LLC, an independent public relations consultancy working with nonprofit and association clients, with a special focus on supporting organizations assisting trauma survivors. This post originally appeared on her blog.

Message Development: Thinking Inside the Box

To start thinking about message development, consider the following questions:
• Your friend wants to try a new Italian restaurant for dinner. You’re craving sushi. How do you convince her to pick up the chopsticks?

• A CEO doesn’t see the value of starting a company’s twitter feed. What’s the best way for the marketing department to show him that tweeting can bolster the bottom line?

• A government agency wants to reduce the number of teenagers texting while driving. How do they convince “invincible” teens that this behavior is dangerous?
What do these questions have in common? The answer is the need for message development. Whether your goal to enjoy a sushi dinner or promote teen driver safety, the secret to success is developing messages that resonate with the audiences’ values and opinions.
How can you do that? Try using a message box. This tool offers communicators a framework for producing carefully-crafted messages that both respond to a particular audience’s needs and preferences while reinforcing how “the ask,” or desired action, relates to their values.

The messages produced can be used separately or together to achieve a desired outcome. Sometimes, several message boxes need to be created for a particular audience based on themes or ideas that resonate with them. For example, one message box for the CEO could be focused on the business case for twitter while another could focus on how participating in twitter would reinforce company’s commitment to customer service.

The Message Box in Action

Let’s go back to the question about the government agency and their education campaign about texting while driving. The following chart defines each element of the message box and shows messages that could be used for convincing teens that texting while driving as a dangerous activity.

Type of Message Definition Example
The Ask The desired action for the target audience to take. Stop texting while driving.  
The Barrier Message This message counters an audience’s key misconceptions about the particular topic. There should be a message to refute each barrier the target audience(s) may present. Statistics, analogies and quotes are powerful tools for overcoming barriers. Barrier:
I only look at my phone for a few seconds when I text. I can still see what is going on.  Message to Overcome It:
Sending or receiving a text message takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. That is the equivalent of driving the entire length of a football field at 55 miles an hour while blind. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?
The Value Message This message is used to connect with a value the audience has about a topic. Not texting while driving doesn’t just mean you will stay safe. It means you will keep your license and others on the road will be safer.
The Vision Message This message reinforces the value message point. It highlights the benefits audience members reap if they take the action in “the ask.”  If  you stop texting while driving, you can  enjoy the privilege of driving and staying safe at the same time.

Do you think that the message box could help you create compelling more messages for you and your clients? Let me know what you think.

Sarah Vogel is a Senior Account Executive at TMNcorp, a full-service communications company in Silver Spring, MD.  Follow her on Twitter @TMNcorp or connect with her on LinkedIn.

What PR Agencies Must Do to Adjust to the Technology Convergence

Today, 82 percent of B2C companies are using social media to track and/or follow up with customers as opposed to 54 percent of B2B companies. Though it’s natural to expect these numbers to be a bit higher compared to the individual rate of social media adoption, these numbers tell us two things. One, B2B companies really didn’t ignore social networking as much as the PR industry may have initially believed. Two, there’s still room for the industry to readjust their capabilities to help clients make the most of social media, the consumer data it can yield and the unconventional paid media schemes Peter Himler talked about in his Forbes article, “PR Agencies’ Lost Year?”.

But before this can happen, PR agencies must move away from such a heavy focus on media placements and broaden their strategic horizons beyond traditional media to influence public perception.

“Social Media requires a PR person to think less about an intermediary—such as a journalist or blogger—and more about the end user, which results in catering for a broad spectrum of needs,” Pete Goold, managing director at Punch Communications, told London-based media and marketing magazine The Drum. “Rather than targeting a single individual with an idea, PRs that manage social media now need to think about the response of a broad demographic—which arguably forces the thinking to be more robust than ever before.”

“It used to be B2B and B2C but now it’s B2P, with P being people,” said Nigel Ferrier director of Optimise PR. “Social media cuts across channels and is all about engaging with individuals, holding conversations not relying on press releases and launches.”

A challenge in moving away from pushing messages to a journalist to initiating and sustaining conversations with the consumer will be the demands of the agency’s current client base. Early in his article, Himler points out that “big global firms certainly have invested in departments focused on brand-building and consumer engagement via the primary social channels (mostly prodded by their forward-thinking, marketing and measurement-driven clients at {consumer packaged goods} companies).” But in the next few paragraphs, he explains that the PR industry may be unable to alter their view of client success when “many clients still define PR success by an appearance on NBC Today, a feature in the Wall Street Journal, a hit in TechCrunch, or a photo layout in People magazine.”

As some clients continue to hold on to one-dimensional perceptions of PR success, while others push for a wider view of consumer data and engagement, does an agency move toward providing higher-level digital solutions or do they continue to give clients the placements they so desperately seek? Perhaps the answer lies in simultaneous change. PR agencies should embrace the pressure from more forward-thinking clients to diversify agency digital offerings. At the same time, the PR agency should educate current and future clients with a deeper dive into the wealth of data and carefully crafted results social media tools can yield.

This blog post is an excerpt from aiellejai’s newest white paper, “Blindsided! Why the rapid pace of social media communication and measurement is leaving PR agencies behind.” Angie Jennings Sanders is the chief content architect at aiellejai, a boutique content creation consultancy specializing in marketing communications project management, social media engagement, writing instruction/tutoring and book writing/publishing strategy. Follow her on Twitter at @pronouncedALJ.

5 Ways to Transform Your Blog Post Into Endless Tweets

Click the presentation above to view the 41 examples below that form the heart of this post. 

You just finished a killer blog post. Reliving the process: first you had to pitch the idea to your editor. Then you reworked the angle to satisfy his feedback. Then it was research time, wherein you bumped up against facts that challenged your hypothesis. Finally, you penned the piece, sweating over decisions as light as commas, as lofty as conclusions.

Now, the post has been published. And you, like a wide-eyed kitten mesmerized by a shiny new object, sit in thrall to the whimsies of the web—watching, waiting, wishing for the big payoff.

Slowly, the clicks come trickling in. But why settle for a trickle when these numbers could be a raging torrent? As soon as your article goes live, it behooves you to SHOUT IT from the rafters. You labored so long and hard on the writing, shouldn’t you reward your efforts with a little promotion?

Indeed you should. In fact, every hack must now be his own flack.

Contrary to custom, a blogger’s job doesn’t end once you click “publish.” Far from it. In this Age of Big Data, where every blog, vlog, and broadcast lives and dies by metrics, your success depends on your page views. (At least if you’re writing for Forbes, Gawker, or Business Insider; if your pub is Mashable, the Times, or New York, you’re ranked on the number of times your story is shared, emailed, or commented on, respectively. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.)

And when eyeballs count, Twitter is your best friend. Quicker than placing a phone call, easier than drafting an email, and more trackable than Linking In, tweeting facilitates the Holy Grail of PR: one-on-one outreach en masse.

To wit: Twitter lets you repackage and repurpose your content. This is crucial: you can’t just tweet once, kitten, and expect to snag that ball of string. You must tweet and tweet again, baiting your tweet with various angles and hooks, casting it to segmented audiences.

Equally crucial: instead of publishing your tweets all at once, you need to unloose them over the next few days. (Since the first 24 hours are the most important, it’s best to frontload your tweets for the day of publication, then dribble the rest out over the next day or two.)

This is the playbook I followed for a post I wrote last year for Mashable, which has been shared more than 3,100 times. Here’s how you can achieve similar results for your next piece:

1. Tweet Summaries, Excerpts, and Teasers

Every digital native knows how to tweet the obvious “Check out my new post.” But when the half-life of a tweet is less than three hours, you must keep pushing. Like a politico on the campaign trail, you must say the same thing over and over, drawing on different words for different audiences.

To this end, go beyond the headline and review your text line by line. Identify the juiciest parts, then carve each one into 140 characters of catnip. If your post is meaty, you’ll be able to extract a plethora of summaries, excerpts, and teasers (facts and stats are invariably appetite-whetting). Here are the tweets I crafted to promote my post:

  1. My new post for @Mashable: How to Optimize Your Headlines for Google and Humans –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  2. Done right, a #headline will stop a mouse-moving, page-scrolling, attention-deprived user in his pixels –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  3. In addition to writing for eternity, or for one’s mother, today’s writer must also write for Google –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  4. With this foundation, you’ll be able to pull off one of the web’s hardest acts: you’ll be able to make Google laugh –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  5. New Blog Post: How to Make Google Laugh: SEO Your Headlines –
    http://j.mp/K9HGOK
  6. RT @Mashable: How to Optimize Your #Headlines for Google and Humans –
    http://j.mp/Jes1ZZ
     #SEO
  7. Algorithms don’t appreciate wit, irony, humor, or style –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  8. The secret of stellar #SEO is that you can have your cake and eat it, too –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  9. Why bother with a meta description? –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  10. Google, SEO and Writing a Great Headline –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  11. How the Mainstream Media Are Optimizing Their Headlines for Google –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  12. 3 Ways to Make Your Headlines Catnip for Search Engines –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
     #SEO

2. Send Shout-Outs (aka Kiss-Ups)

No doubt, you quoted, mentioned, or linked to others in your post. Be sure to recognize them. Play on their vanity—flattery will get you everywhere. Your unspoken goal: get them to share your post with their network. Here are the shout-outs I circulated:

  1. @DeadlineDiaries Your post, “Google Doesn’t Laugh,” inspired me to write this for @Mashable –
    http://j.mp/K9HGOK
  2. @SteveLohr Remember when you wrote, “This Boring Headline Is Written for Google”? At @Mashable, I offer a solution –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  3. @yoast Today on @Mashable, I link to and praise your WordPress plug-in for SEO –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  4. @SEOmoz @RandFish In a just-published post for Mashable, I quote heavily from your guidance on meta descriptions –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  5. @GeneWeingarten Remember “Gene Weingarten Column Mentions Lady Gaga”? In fact, you can have your cake and eat it too –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv

3. Give Thanks

If anyone helped you along the way, remember what your mother taught you: thank them. Here are my acknowledgments:

  1. @PardonMyFrench Thanks for helping me take this from an idea in an email to a 1,000-word post for @Mashable –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  2. @lyontef Thanks for helping me take this from an idea in an email to a 1,000-word post for @Mashable –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  3. @ChuckDefeo Thanks for helping me take this from an idea in an email to a 1,000-word post for @Mashable –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv

4. Push FYIs

Certainly, you can think of people whom your post will interest. Instead of guessing their email address, find their Twitter handle, which is publicly available even if their tweets are private, and tweet them your link.

The caveat: Be careful not to be seen as self-serving. Instead, ask for feedback, or tie your tweet to a subject near and dear to your acquaintance’s heart. Feel free to adapt the headline of your post as needed. Here are the FYI tweets I sent forth:

To the Media

  1. @JackShafer Some news organizations are optimizing their headlines for Google. Others are not. Curious? –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  2. @HowardKurtz This may interest you: How News Outlets Are Optimizing Their Headlines for Both Google and Humans –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  3. @poynter @abeaujon @juliemmoos Here’s an easy way that editors of news websites can SEO their headlines –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  4. @NiemanLab Which news organizations are optimizing their headlines for Google? The results may surprise you –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  5. @zseward If you have a few minutes, I’d love your thoughts on this: How News Outlets Are SEO-ing Their Headlines –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  6. @JeremyStahl @KGeee This may interest you: How News Outlets Are Optimizing Their Headlines for Both Google and Humans –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  7. @AntDeRosa Any thoughts on this? How News Outlets Are Optimizing Their Headlines for Both Google and Humans –
    http://on.mash.to/JdigwG
  8. @nxthompson Over at @Mashable, I offer some ideas on how the @NewYorker can better SEO its headlines –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  9. @lheron Over at @Mashable, I offer some ideas on how @WSJ and @NYTimes can better SEO their headlines. Whaddya think? –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  10. @pilhofer @sashak @lexinyt Over at @Mashable, I laud the @NYTimes’s SEO strategy –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  11. @rajunarisetti Over at @Mashable, I commend the @WSJ’s SEO strategy –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  12. @Ckanal The @HuffingtonPost’s SEO program was recently featured on Mashable –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  13. @ethanklapper No doubt, you could have written this in your sleep: How News Outlets Are SEO-ing Their Headlines –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  14. @JenNedeau I recently knocked @TIME’s SEO strategy—or lack thereof. Any thoughts? –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv

To the SEOers

  1. @JaredBKeller Do your @TheAtlanticWire responsibilities include SEO? If so, here’s some unsolicited advice –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  2. @MattCutts I’d love to know what you think of this: How to Optimize Your Headlines for Google and Humans –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  3. Hey @SEOSteve Is this Mashable post on SEO accurate? –
    http://on.mash.to/JdigwG

To the Wordsmiths

  1. @Plain_Language Where do plain languagers come down on the issue of writing for Google vs. writing for humans? –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  2. @JesseSheidlower Are you as troubled as others by the need today to write for Google rather than humans? –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv

5. Drop ICYMIs

In your regular use of Twitter, you’ll likely come across people discussing a subject that pertains to your post. If so, chime in and contribute to the conversation.

The caveat: Make sure the connection is significant. Just because someone links to a post about search engine optimization doesn’t make your post on this subject germane. Relevance requires more than scanning for hash tags. Again, tailor your tweet so that it flows into the dialogue, rather than intrudes on it.

Here are the in-case-you-missed-it opportunities I harnessed:

  1. @laureni @1bobcohn Here’s the counterargument on why writing to attract Google’s algorithms still matters –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv
  2. @cmoffett Why they should –
    http://j.mp/JWfPAv

Really?

Of course, the above tweets constitute an aggressive thrust. At this rate, you’re tweeting once every 25 words. Isn’t that excessive? Isn’t this all just a cover for shameless self-promotion?

On one hand, it is. As such, consider warning your followers that over the next day or so, a spammer will be hijacking your Twitter feed.

On the other hand, in a digiverse that grows more crowded by the second, you owe it to yourself to wring every tweet, like, plus, pin, digg, comment, view, and email out of everything you create. Whether you’re a guest contributor or a staff writer, self-promotion is an inescapable part of today’s creative process. The more opportunities you can create and maximize, the more your hard work will receive the recognition it deserves.

Jonathan Rick is the president of the Jonathan Rick Group, a digital communications firm that helps brands use social media to shape and tell their story. Follow him on Twitter, circle him on Google+, and connect with him on LinkedIn.

A version of this blog post appeared in PR Daily.

Facebook is Still Sexy Like the Electric Company

On CNN’s Reliable Sources Feb. 10th edition, HLN’s Digital Lifestyle Editor Mario Armstrong and PandoDaily’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief Sarah Lacy joined Howard Kurtz to discuss whether or not Facebook has lost its allure. According to a study by the The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 61 percent of Facebook users have taken a break from the platform while 20 percent of adults online say they’ve left Facebook indefinitely.

Around the esolutions360/aiellejai office, we’ve said for some time now that although Facebook is no longer the darling of the tween and teen set, it’s become a utility—a part of our lives that we don’t think twice about it. Much like the electric company or our mobile phone carriers, we don’t think much about their existence. We just take for granted that they exist and that our use of their services will endure. It’s ingrained in our daily behavior.

Also, with the new Facebook Graph Search—which we’ll examine in a later post—the social network has become the marketer’s dream. No other entity holds more demographic information on a sixth of the planet. It helped to elect our president and marketers are hoping that magic will rub off on them when it comes to selling products and services to their customers.

However, for Facebook to continue to be beneficial to marketers and the rest of the business world, it needs the general population of users to continue to engage and share their interests with their family and friends within the platform. Without this level of engagement, marketers can’t gather timely information on customer habits and they’ll be sharing content with droves of people who won’t be listening.

We can’t realistically expect every last one of Facebook’s one billion account holders to be faithful and enthusiastic users. We can only hope that we can strike a balance between meaningful and genuine engagement and pure targeted marketing based on users’ interest.

And we can also hope that Facebook works on their mobile app. “Facebook has an absolutely horrible app,” Lacy said. “That’s why I haven’t been to Facebook in weeks. It crashes every time I open it.”

Angie Jennings Sanders is chief content architect at aiellejai, a boutique content creation consultancy specializing in marketing communications project management, social media engagement, writing instruction/tutoring and book writing/publishing strategy. aiellejai is a subsidiary of esolutions360, a digital solutions agency that marries the creativity of content creation with the fundamentals of software engineering. Follow her on Twitter at @pronouncedALJ.

Recap of October 25 Workshop: Driving Your Social Media Strategy

To summarize the event in one sentence: when in doubt with your social media strategy, create a pyramid and canvas. You’re probably thinking, what does the nutrition chart have to do with social media? You need to talk to Social Driver. Why? Because sometimes drawing your work is fun. And even if it’s not, it helps us to visually conceptualize our approach to social media.

Social Driver, a D.C. digital agency, presented Driving Your Social Media Strategy, the first event of the Social Media Boot Camp Series on developing an “owned media” strategy. The event included two visuals that helped attendees plot their social media roadmap. The first visual represents a pyramid, ranging from inner circle to unconnected, and unconnected being the largest audience.

The visual is good to help serve as a guide, since often times we really miss out on conversations with people that we should be talking with. Using this approach, we will be able to cut down the number of contacts we’re monitoring and add value in additional conversations with those people.

Along with the pyramid, attendees explored the social strategy canvas. It has four recurrent areas, listening, talking, sharing, and engaging. The canvas areas,when used simultaneously, help expand and assess your current digital strategy. The listening and talking approach builds an organization-centric roadmap. What else you ask? The talking and sharing areas help segment communication to empower and grow your audience. In the engaging and listening areas, plan how to strengthen relationships and nurture your dedicated audience. Then lather, rinse and repeat.

More importantly talk to people, people. If you solely send out links to your website and do not engage; it’s like walking into a networking event, silently passing out your business cards and walking out. This was among Social Driver’s many insightful analogies.

Recognizably, we had an action-packed agenda for the first event, and what came from Social Drivers’ Managing Director Anthony Shop (@afshop) and CTO Thomas Sanchez (@thomassanchez) was amazing. The moderator and PRSA-NCC Past President, Jeff Ghannam (@Ghannam4) of Crystal Communications & Marketing, LLC did a great job driving the discussion.

Stay tuned for more social media goodness over the next few events. Better yet, join the action and register.

By Lauren Schultz, PRONet Committee. Co-Chair. Lauren is a Buckeye transplant in DC. She loves books, dogs, yoga & all things digital. For work, she is a Project Coordinator at the Association for Career and Technical Education. Say Hello at @lashleyschultz

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment in Social Media

By Debbie Friez

BurrellsLuce and Capitol Communicator

The only way to succeed in social media is to experiment a LOT! One out of 10 tries will be successful and two-three will be somewhat successful says Garrett Graff, Editor-in-Chief, Washingtonian. A panel speaking at the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America at the Hamilton, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18 confirmed his statement. All the panelists look for ways to communicate the experience, especially in relation to food.
Carlisle Campbell, Vice President, Ketchum, speaking about the Thoth Award winning Double Tree by Hilton Cookie CAREavan Across America campaign, said they focused on three key ways to connect to the public: a cookie confessional (video of consumers discussing cookie or Double Tree experiences), swarm car (a Twitter contest for an office cookie party) and an online sweepstakes. The swarm car originally left executives nervous, but eventually showed to provide additional opportunities – like when the Atlanta Associated Press office won, and tweeted their happiness.

With the implementation of the Facebook timeline, Vanessa French, Co-Founder, Pivot Point Communications, advocates using a lot of pictures. She also said Facebook users do not like shortened links, unless they are coming from an established media company. Speaking of pictures, everyone agreed “food porn” is irresistible to the consumer. People love to post food pictures, so organizations should take the lead and post photos to their media properties.

French advocated outreach to local bloggers about events, which she finds can often lead to their blogs becoming testimonials. But, as with all campaigns, the key is to knowing what platforms your audience is using. In reviewing Facebook and Twitter, Graff commented Facebook is for following friends who are strangers and Twitter is for following strangers who are friends.

Amy McKeever, Editor, EaterDC says she stays in-touch with many smaller restaurants through Facebook and Twitter, and she finds Twitter to be a good way to gather news. She doesn’t post news to social media until it is posted to Eater, because her goal is to drive traffic to her site.
Campbell says the debate over creating a website versus a Facebook page is often discussed in their office. Many of his younger colleagues advocate for the Facebook page. French says if you do choose a website, be sure to advocate for a blog, which will help with SEO.

The panel considers Pinterest the new bright shiny tool, and brands need to evaluate it for usefulness for their campaigns. Graff says it is especially useful if you are targeting young women looking to get married, even if the wedding is not imminent. French commented on several non-profits, like the World Wildlife Federation, using it successfully. She also said many men are on Pinterest talking about technology.

An audience member wanted to know if the panelists are using QR codes? French said she pitches them to clients, but they are often not included in the final campaign. Graff feels we are at a low point for QR codes, right now. They are not easy to use, so he says a simple link works just as well. But, he thinks a more advanced universal QR code might be on the horizon?

Debbie Friez can be reached at dfriez@BurrellesLuce.com.

Goodwill and Social Media: Their Strategy for Success

Social media is one of today’s hottest topics, and while there is no single magic formula for success, it can be a good idea to look at how others use social media to both engage and inspire audiences. Beth Perell, Vice President of Communication and Information Management at Goodwill International treated members ofthe Independent Public Relations Alliance (IPRA) to an insider’s view of her company’s social media workings at a recent professional developmental and networking luncheon. She offered the following insights.

Keep it fresh: Remember to keep your content up to date and relevant. Stale content is a surefire way to lose valuable followers and you run the risk of appearing uninformed. Goodwill uses a one tweet and one Facebook post a day approach – keeping their content active but not shoving it into people’s faces (or timelines!)

Engage followers: Build a community around your brand. Ask questions and get conversations flowing. For Goodwill, this means creating Facebook pages for each store and tailoring these pages to the community’s specific needs.

Be a storyteller: Or in Goodwill’s case, let others tell their story. Goodwill launched its weekly “My Story” feature as way to showcase individuals who have improved their life with the help of Goodwill. They then post this feature on all of their social media sites to maintain consistency in their company’s message.

Quality vs. quantity: Many of us get wrapped up in the numbers game. While numbers are important, they’re not everything. Attracting engaged followers is a much better strategy. As Goodwill has found, engaged followers are more likely to tell others about your brand as well as act as self appointed “brand advocates”. Beth recounted times where some people have left negative comments on Goodwill’s Facebook page and other followers were quick to defend Goodwill. These loyal followers enabled Goodwill to sit back and let their followers do the talking. If your followers have your back, you’re in pretty good shape.

Get your CEO involved: Goodwill CEO Jim Gibbons joined twitter at the urging at of Beth and according to her, he’s glad he did. Twitter enables him to connect with the Goodwill community quickly and efficiently in real time. CEOs are able to form and build relationships as well as directly see what people are saying about their brand, which in turn enables them to become better leaders.

Beth believes the success of Goodwill’s social media strategy is due to their ability to maintain a consistent image while focusing on the needs of the different communities they serve via their social media sites. Their professional yet personalized social media approach has allowed the company to be flexible while engaging their followers.

Social Media in 2012: It’s All About Social Analytics

“In today’s highly connected global business environment, the way people communicate, find and share information – and work together – has changed dramatically.  In 2012, social analytics tools will become the must-have to gain insight; make better, faster business decisions; and improve customer satisfaction.  Whether it’s [the] analytics of an internal social network, or gaining customer insight through analysis of external social networks, organizations will increasingly rely on social technologies to listen, examine and connect to act.” – Alistair Rennie, general manager of social business at IBM

A recent post from GigaOM noted that many are facing the challenge of measuring social media ROI – but offers help in identifying metrics to evaluate the success of social media campaigns.  As the blogger has made this post a two-parter, we can only mull over the first three metrics for now…

Below, we provide the main point of each suggested metric – check out the full article for more details on challenges/best practices for each here.

1. Social media revenue conversion measures how many people become customers through social media referral channels

2. Facebook engagement measures a brand’s ability to communicate successfully with their customers on the social network

3. Social customer support metrics measure the impact of customer support on brand health and the cost of staffing a social support program

We will keep an eye out for the last two metrics to be posted and share – so stay tuned!

Let us know if/how you are measuring social media…IPRA is hosting a luncheon on March 1 that will discuss this topic.  Learn more and register to attend the event, “Social Media Strategy and Measurement for Success,” here.

Communicators, It’s Time to Board the Twitter Train

Twitter LogoOne of the most frequently asked questions at PRSA and other professional networking events these days is, “Do you use Twitter?”

Granted, social media is a hot topic.  Companies are using social media to market products, manage their public image, and build customer loyalty via YouTube channels and Facebook pages. 

Local TV newsrooms urge viewers to become fans on Facebook and upload images of breaking news and current events to the station’s Flickr page. 

Celebrities and politicians alike have embraced Twitter as a way to manage their visibility and raise awareness of their activities.

But not everyone is on board.

In fact, when I answer that yes, I do use Twitter on a daily basis, most PR and HR professionals alike are quick to dismiss it as a fad and something that has little relevance to the “business” of communications.

I disagree.

Look, I know all the arguments against using Twitter as an employee communications tool:  

  • “It’s a time-waster.”
  • “My employees are on the shop floor/at the service counter and don’t sit at a computer all day.”
  • “What if someone Tweets a profanity?”
  • “Who cares what Ashton Kutcher is doing?”  (OK, that one is mine.)
  • “Where is the ROI?”

All of these are valid arguments against adopting Twitter as an employee communications tool.  Sure, I can cite you companies that are using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Yammer and a myriad of other social media tools as part of their comprehensive employee communications tool kit.  But you’ve heard those arguments before and you still aren’t convinced.

So let me tell you how I use Twitter:  as a professional development and research tool. 

There are some great resources out there that Tweet the latest workplace statistics and communication research findings.  I follow them and scan their Tweets to see if there is anything I can use to help one of my clients or even prepare me for a pitch to a new client.

There are professional and educational organizations, as well as industry experts, who offer free training, either via informational blogs or webinars and live chats.  I participate in as many as I can and apply that knowledge to the projects I’m supporting.

And there are recruiters and professional organizations that Tweet job openings and tips for effective resume development and interviewing.  I share those leads with friends and clients who are actively (or passively!) looking for work.

Communicators, it’s time to stop dithering and board the Twitter Express, if for no other reason than to prepare you for the day when you are out on the job market again.  After all, when was the last time you saw a PR or communications job posting that didn’t require expertise in social media?

Susan C. Rink is principal of Rink Strategic Communications, which helps clients take their employee communications to the next level.  Email her at rinkcomms@verizon.net or follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RinkComms