Social media managers wear many hats. They serve as community managers, customer service support, marketers, data scientists and content creators, among many other roles. But it is perhaps that last role—content creator--that can be the toughest of all. Anyone who has put together an editorial content calendar for social media knows just how time-consuming and daunting it can be. “Is this post funny? Is it relevant? On brand? Is this image compelling enough to get someone to pause mid-scroll?” These...
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Before I saddle up my high horse, let me say for the record that I’ve got a pretty good sense of humor. In fact, when I was interviewed a few years ago for podcast on PR, I was asked which company’s public relations work I admired. I immediately cited WestJet, a Canadian airline on which I have never actually flown. But what I liked about the company was its irreverence and ability to have a bit of fun in an...
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Chances are, if you’ve been reading any industry news in the last couple of months, you are aware that data privacy is getting tighter – here in Virginia and around the world. On the heels of a recent AMA Richmond conversation, we wanted to share a couple of data privacy and marketing-related items that have us shaking in our cleats. Virginia adds data privacy law Surely GDPR is something you’ve heard about, and you’re probably popping aspirin daily for the...
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I used to be Hodges’ only resident TikTok expert – that is, until they hired someone younger than me. *sighs sadly* In January of 2019, I downloaded TikTok – for research purposes, of course. My work at Hodges demanded it, and it had really started to take off in the U.S. Early TikTok adapters will know that the platform has changed quite a bit. Writing this, I am floored that I’ve surpassed my two-year anniversary with the addictive app. The...
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In our industry, we don’t have to go far to hear how bad we are at our jobs. We have our own hashtag (#prfail), and journalists routinely skewer our pitches or methods on Twitter or Instagram. And many times, we deserve it. A couple of weeks ago, Chris Stokel-Walker, a journalist who writes for the BBC and New York Times, screen-grabbed a request from a PR professional requesting a response back to his pitch as a “professional courtesy.” He...
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The culture at The Hodges Partnership is our secret sauce that keeps retention – and spirits – high. For many of us, our roles at Hodges take up the largest chunk of our resumes. And if you were to ask those of us who have a splattering of other positions elsewhere, I bet we would tell you that cultural issues were a big reason for us not being there anymore. March 16, 2020 was Hannah’s first day at Hodges. We...
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At The Hodges Partnership, we have a great group of community-minded individuals who quietly (sure, call us modest) serve the Richmond community through a variety of board positions and other community-related activities. It’s something that drew me to Hodges because community involvement is something I’m passionate about. I take pride in the fact that I’m able to work with a group who shares that enthusiasm. Fortunately, it’s not just outside of the office that we’re able to make an impact...
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As fully public social networks have become more hostile to everyday users, from a surfeit of ads to political and conspiracy posts crowding our timelines, more people are moving activity and interactions that used to happen on Facebook or Twitter to semi-public networks on Slack or Discord, private group chats on WhatsApp, signal or Facebook’s Messenger, and transient communication like Clubhouse and Snapchat or Instagram Stories. According to this 2019 study from eMarketer, use of mobile messaging apps is expected...
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Back in 2002, when Jon Newman and Josh Dare struck out to start their own communications firm, they were guided by the notion of doing good work for good people. They also wanted to lose some of the pretenses that can come with the client/agency partnership. From the beginning, Hodges focused on the human side of its clients, each with their own challenges, expectations, ambitions and personal lives. The approach evolved into what we now call the “Hodges Way,” a...
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At some point, any good public relations professional has forced themselves to become a padawan, dare I say, a Jedi in the art of patience. It’s a virtue my parents would happily tell you was never my strong suit. But just like anything in life, practice makes perfect. Media relations is more of an art than a science, and now, a few years and a ton of press releases later, I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. The...
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