Viral videos, they are the bane of the PR firm’s (yes and/or ad agencies, I admit it) existence. In this age of YouTube, Upstream, Justin.tv, etc. everyone wants to create an online video and send it into the vast viral universe. They dream that it will magically be blessed by the viral/social media gods and gain favor. They dream that each time they hit the “refresh” button the viewer numbers will be higher than the last. Then they wake up. Because the truth is for…
Read MoreMy dad died a little over a year ago, and to this day he really didn't know exactly what I did for a living. It's not that my dad wasn't smart, in fact as a small businessman he was one of the best marketers I ever met. It's just that it is very difficult to explain exactly what public relations is, especially to people who aren't marketers. Bottom line, is I'd love to have a dime for every person who after I explained to them…
Read MoreSaw this interesting article today as I trolled for the THP "PR story of the day" for our Facebook page. The story on Forbes.com point to the general increase of ad buys on social media platforms and specifically the increase in ad spending by major brands on Facebook. So the question is can you buy your way to "community?" It's tempting. The ability to REALLY target your audience given all of Facebook's targeting tools (age, education, keywords, etc.) is very effective. One of our clients…
Read MoreFrom time to time people ask me who I follow or read to learn more about the intersection of PR and social media. My answer always includes Jay Baer. Jay's "Convince and Convert" blog always has something of interest to me because he views social media through a public relations focus and always seems to be asking the same questions that I'm asking myself. The difference is Jay answers back. 🙂 Jay's latest post covers "The 8 wrong questions PR firms are asking about social…
Read More