If you’ve lined up a media interview for your boss or an expert in your organization, nice work. Earned media is a great way to generate awareness and credibility about your company or organization. But now it’s up to a reporter to actually tell the story, making it all the more important that you help prepare your boss as much as possible. When prepping for an interview with the media, we’ve mentioned the importance of homing in on key messages and practicing anticipated questions. But…
Read MoreEach issue of our monthly e-newsletter, The Press Box, includes the latest industry-related news and trends we’re talking about around the Hodges office. Think of this aptly named section, The Rundown, as your monthly recap of all things PR, social and content. Here is this month’s The Rundown and a sneak peak of the October Press Box. Facebook is coming to Richmond Earlier this month, Facebook announced its plans to build a $1 billion dollar data center in Richmond, according to Richmond BizSense. Custom audience targeting is…
Read MoreIn a recent blog post, we made the case for why businesses should take advantage of Facebook Live. It’s time and cost-effective compared to webinars and other forms of video. Plus, the demand for video in marketing is on the rise, and research tells us it’s a great way to really engage with a target audience. News outlets are now not the only ones able to report on current events in real time. Influencers and celebrities are using Facebook Live to promote product launches or…
Read MoreIf you’re not already using Facebook Live in your content marketing strategy, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. Video consumption will continue to grow, accounting for nearly 80% of all internet traffic by 2019, according to a recent study from Cisco. And despite Instagram’s consistent, rapid growth in users, Facebook remains the most popular social network on the globe. Facebook Live combines these two digital trends and has the added bonus of delivering key messages to a targeted audience immediately. Marketers should be taking…
Read MoreErrors in the media are bound to happen: incorrect facts, misspellings or mispronunciations, tagging the wrong accounts on social media, you name it. Poynter does a rounds up (“Best of media corrections”) each year some of the funniest slip-ups that caught their eye, errors we might all learn a lesson or two from. But let’s face it, when we’re on the other side of those media miscues, especially when it involves your client, there’s not a whole lot that’s funny. Most of the time, these…
Read MoreEarlier this year we revamped our monthly newsletter, The Press Box, to include some of the industry-related news and trends we’re talking about around the Hodges office. Think of this aptly named section, The Rundown, as your monthly recap of all things PR, social and content. Like what you read below? Subscribe to receive the next issue of the Press Box. VR Giving Employees R&R at Work The New Yorker highlighted Mure VR, an Icelandic startup that’s hoping to cure ho-hum office environments into “Oh wow!” ones…
Read MoreWe recently had the opportunity to meet with channel 8’s new Vice President and General Manager, Larry Cottrill. We welcomed him in Hodges fashion (with food) during our monthly “pizza storm” where we brainstorm topics over a pizza lunch. Since arriving to Richmond, Larry has really taken the time to get to know the city and local industry, meeting with other agencies, executives, nonprofits and more. Hodges had the honor of being his 78th meeting. Larry and the Hodges team got to know each other…
Read MoreMedia relations is just one of the many of the core competencies at Hodges and, on a personal level, an area I’ve really grown to enjoy. One of the clients I’ve had a chance to help earn media placements for recently is Motorcycle Law Group (MLG), a personal injury law firm specializing in motorcycle accident cases. The firm’s partners and attorneys are licensed to practice along the east coast in Va., W.Va., N.C., S.C. and Ga. From local, regional and trade media relations (read: A…
Read MoreBy now, you get it. Raising awareness, boosting engagement and reaching the right target audience on social media demands a “pay-for-play” strategy. The way the algorithms work, it’s wasted effort unless you put some dollars behind your posts. Even so, that doesn’t mean you should completely abandon organic efforts, especially on the White House’s favorite social platform. Over the last two years, customer service conversations on Twitter have more than doubled, and companies are especially tuned in when negative tweets about them start to crescendo….
Read MoreContent creation goes beyond sharing your own personal insights and expertise. When blogging for your business, it’s not all about you. Sharing industry-wide news, tips and trends and taking advantage of your company’s subject-matter experts (read: Owning Your Story) are essential elements to build your blog’s credibility and brand. After all, whatever your expertise, there is always more to learn beyond your own insights and experiences. And so, aggregating relevant content can go a long way toward building your blog’s readership. Another vital resource, of…
Read MoreFor most organizations, having a crisis communications plan in place is a lot like having flood or fire insurance. You’re not sure when or even if you will ever need it, but knowing it’s there during a time of need can give you peace of mind, not to mention give you a leg up as you start to recover. The best crisis plans have soup-to-nuts checklists that cover putting the necessary preparations in place before, during and after a crisis. It may present various scenarios…
Read MoreAt the most recent American Marketing Association Speaker Series luncheon, we had the privilege of learning a thing or two about content marketing the open source way from Jason Hibbets, senior community evangelist in corporate marketing at Red Hat. Creating content this open source way is a strategy that focuses on collaboration and community building: a concept that helped opensource.com surpass 1 million views in March 2016 alone. Readers find the site primarily though organic search and although it’s sponsored by Red Hat, there are…
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