Midway through the second half of 16-seed UMBC’s historic win over No. 1 Virginia, CBS’s Jim Nantz reminded viewers that UMBC was short for University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In becoming the first No. 16 seed to beat a top seed in NCAA Tournament history, the Retrievers were sure to be the talk of the tourney’s opening weekend. But thanks to a Twitter game that was savvy, hilarious and authentic, UMBC went even more viral. Yahoo Sports and others shined a well-deserved light on Zach…
Read MoreWhen we talk to our clients about the best way to interact with customers, the familiar social media platforms often come to mind – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. But we also often advise clients to meet people where they are – and very often, that’s Google. For many of us, it’s the first place we go when we are looking for helpful information about a change in hours, an address or contact information for a business. To make the point, here’s an example of something that…
Read MoreIf you were on Twitter last night, two news stories likely took over your feed — (1) terribly insensitive (and racist remarks) made by some dude with a whole lotta power, and (2) collective panic from publishers and brands over an announcement by Facebook that changes to the algorithm are afoot. This blog post will focus on the latter. Facebook making changes to its algorithm is nothing new, but this announcement has many marketers up in arms in part because of how reliant many organizations…
Read MoreOne of the biggest challenges facing anyone in PR or marketing is figuring out how to break through the noise to reach your customers. That’s why we’re all constantly keeping an eye out for the next big thing that people still find inherently interesting and different, which for the last year on social media has been video. Why the sudden increase? Two main reasons: 1.) it’s getting easier and cheaper to produce high-quality video content, and 2.) social networks like Facebook have made it easier…
Read MoreThe rise in social media has created a new category of targets for public relations practitioners – the social influencer, or influencer for short. These are the folks who have established an online presence with a loyal following, and what they buy or eat or travel to can exert a great deal of, well, influence on particular brands. And so it was inevitable that a conference on influencer marketing would be born, and I found myself immersed in a New York City conference center for…
Read MoreFor many veteran videographers, production quality was (and still is) sacrosanct. Any deviation from this was subject to screaming, projectiles, public ridicule – you get the idea. But part of this belief stemmed from the extreme disparity in cameras and sound equipment. The end product could look and sound horrendous or professionally done, without much for anything in between. Over the last decade though, the average smartphone is now capable of capturing video that rivals the most expensive cameras from a generation ago. Not only…
Read MoreSo, I’m talking to all you fellow PR folks out there when I say, you know and I know that at the heart of it were all storytellers. In the good old days, we told that story through the media. When there were tons of media to pitch, and there were tons of outlets out there. Well, there are fewer media to pitch and much fewer outlets out there, and it’s becoming harder for us. But, technology has enabled us to become our own publishers….
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 MoreEver wanted to create an ad campaign that disappears? No, this isn’t James Bond and your message won’t self-destruct, but with the roll out of Snapchat’s new self-serve ad buying platform, brands of all sizes can create an ad campaign almost as quickly as the campaign’s video or photo will disappear. This blog post isn’t here to help you to decide whether or not your brand/organization should be on Snapchat, or whether you should be dedicating some of your budget to this new tactic (more…
Read MoreHas the Capital of the South become the Capital of the Suds? With more than 30 breweries (and counting!) now open in Richmond, it would sure seem so. And just like rebels of old, breweries are marching to their own drum throughout the Old Dominion. The latest outpost is in Bedford where Beale’s has staked a local claim to the craft beer market. We were proud to be on hand to help Beale’s kickoff its new venture, devising a sort of concentric circle marketing strategy…
Read More#Fakenews… #FakeAd? We are living in a world where 75 percent of consumers don’t accept advertisements as truth. And you know what? I don’t blame them. On the other hand, consumer reports are full of that kind of honesty, and it’s what buyers are looking for. In fact, 70 percent of people believe consumer opinions, which is pretty wild— people are seeking out strangers’ opinions to inform their buying habits—and they trust those strangers more than advertisements. So imagine the potential for success if a…
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…
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