In one of my other lives, I’ve been co-hosting a podcast on Rutgers Athletics for almost four years. It’s been a blast, and we’re about to hit our 100,000th download mark. We’ve also learned a great deal, and I’ve tried to apply those lessons to conversations with clients who are interested in starting their own podcast efforts. I’ve boiled it down to the four P’s: planning, preparation, production and promotion. Planning A lot of questions need to be answered during...
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Let’s start with a conversation I have more often than not with folks calling us about helping them raise their profile and enhance their expertise position in their industry. Caller: I want to raise my profile and enhance my expertise position in the industry [or something like that].Josh: Well, that's what we do, so let's see if we can help. Let me ask you some questions. What kind of content marketing are you doing?Caller: Content marketing? You mean like using...
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Whenever a new social platform is launched, every marketer is inevitably asked the question, “Have you heard of [insert buzzy new social media tool]? Should we be on that?” With new tools and platforms launching and sputtering all the time (hello Fleets, Vine, Google+, Meerkat, etc., etc.), it can be hard for marketers to answer that question before it’s even clear if the platform is going to stick around. TikTok seems to be here to stay. With more and more...
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If you’re creating content for an editorial calendar in 15 minutes or less, you’re not doing it right. Full stop. The fact is, when you’re curating third-party stories, crafting posts to support your key messages and value propositions and finding ways to transform long-form content into smaller, digestible chunks – that takes time. We’re incredibly lucky to have a melting pot of talent at Hodges when it comes to content creation – whether it’s crafting craft quippy social media content...
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One of the things I love about working at Hodges is the opportunity we have for ongoing professional development. In pre-COVID times, this meant attending conferences and various in-person trainings, but like many other things, a lot of our professional development has taken a virtual turn in the last year and a half. Earlier this year with the support of Hodges, I joined media relations and writing coach Michael Smart’s Inner Circle, and I’ve found great value in the sessions...
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Brands are multifaceted. Communicating their stories requires attention to detail and often an intrepid willingness to implement nifty marketing techniques in the hope of attracting consumers. More and more, PR professionals are using social media campaigns as an essential element of a marketing strategy. Also trending is integrating an influencer into your campaigns, a tactic that can reap big time dividends. Influencer marketing is a $6 billion industry. A trend in online marketing is to partner with local influencers rather...
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It’s no secret that the last year and a half has brought about a tremendous amount of change, both in our daily lives and in the way we do business. In the public relations world, we’re seeing some common themes as we engage with media contacts. We’re sharing five examples on how those practicing PR can keep up with changing best practices. There are more busy news days. In October, I wrote a blog post on this very topic – no...
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Hello, my name is Cameron and I use he/him pronouns. Our roles as media relations professionals are important as we make connections between journalists and spokespersons. Here are a few ways you can make your media relations more affirming by sharing pronouns. List pronouns of media contacts List the media contacts’ pronouns in your press releases. Easy. For example, I list: MEDIA CONTACTCameron McPherson (he/him)Email AddressPhone number Include pronouns in quotes In general, you don’t need to specifically point out...
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Two years ago when I spent 30 minutes writing an article about the Skarsgård family being the Swedish Kardashians, I would have never dreamed it would still be getting website traffic. And not just single views, I’m talking multiple thousands of views with ZERO promotion. But that’s the long game – and payoff – of a solid content marketing strategy. Back in 2015, we helped our client at Swedish Match North America launch a storytelling platform to help share Swedish-American...
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Did you know Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app? That’s what its CEO declared in a move to push Instagram into a land that more resembles TikTok. Today, the social media platform has a whopping 1 billion active monthly users, a base that is second only to Facebook and about twice as large as LinkedIn and more than three times bigger than Twitter. And like TikTok, it tends to be a platform generally fueled by young people. Three in five...
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Every successful PR and marketing program has a variety of ways to routinely get insightful feedback from the stakeholders that matter most to their organizations. Online surveys are one of the most common and effective great ways to do this. We often incorporate them into our Research and Insights projects for this very reason. But there’s a lot more to them than simply typing up a list of questions and sending out a survey. Here are seven helpful tips for...
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There’s a lot that goes into content creation: writing, sourcing visuals, assembling graphics and videos and so much more. And all while keeping in mind best practices to ensure your blog posts make it to the top of a Google search and your social media posts are seen in users’ feeds. But even with best practices and an ever-flowing stream of content in play, if your content lacks accessibility, you could be excluding key audiences. The fact is, at least...
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