From email to an iPhone, PR and content marketing pros have dozens of tools they can’t live without. If you’re like me, you regularly survey the landscape of tools you use and consider whether it may be time to retire or replace something. In that vein, here are three tools I currently can’t live without. Trello — Organize basically anything Yes, I’m the person in the office always pushing some new collaborative task application of some sort, but since we adopted Trello a couple years…
Read More“’Cause we are living in an ephemeral world, and I am an ephemeral…” OK, maybe we stop there. But in all seriousness, ephemeral communication – meaning communication lasting for a short time (e.g., Snapchat, Instagram Stories) – is becoming more and more common. People, particularly younger demographics, love the idea of sending messages and content that disappears after a day or less. In fact, teenagers prefer Snapchat over Facebook, Instagram and Twitter combined. If you’re a brand targeting teenagers, such as a university perhaps, you…
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 MoreYes, that’s a picture of two of my prized possessions — a Rutgers helmet and football signed by Greg Schiano for my 50th birthday. They are proudly displayed in my office. I have a great deal of respect for the man and what he did for my alma mater’s football program. I could write about how he got a raw deal the last few days, and how I hope he gets a shot to prove that he’s a great college head coach. But this is not…
Read MoreGone are the days where customer questions, complaints and commentary reach businesses via phone, email or even Twitter. Facebook Messenger for business has been around since 2015, but this year, both customers and brands have really started adopting the service in a big way. And who can blame them? We all have these little devices in our pockets that keep us connected 24/7. We might as well use them to make our lives a little easier, right? Messaging with businesses is not a passing trend…
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 MoreYou might say that I’m an old news guy. I get my news from traditional sources. There’s a Richmond Times-Dispatch in my driveway every morning, and my bathroom and car radios are both set to 88.9, the local NPR station. At work, a copy of The Washington Post waits for me when I get in. And so, by the time I start my day, I’m fairly up-to-speed on what is happening in my hometown and the world in general. That’s pretty much been the history…
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 MoreThis is a really big thing for us and for our clients. And, what we say to our clients is, first of all, there needs to be an overarching strategy. And employees need to understand that they can’t go off willy-nilly and be tweeting or posting stuff on Facebook without going back to the main communications head and saying, “hey this is what I want to do,” and making sure it fits into the strategy. The second thing, and the most important thing, is use…
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 MoreSo as a sports fan, this is a topic near and dear to my heart, because folks are very concerned about the future of ESPN given the fact that folks are leaving cable and satellite and going for over-the-top broadcasts. It’s natural that communities like Facebook, Twitter, I’m surprised LinkedIn hasn’t gotten involved yet, are getting into video in a number of different ways. But they have built communities. They have built in audiences, so it’s natural that content providers of all types, as well…
Read MoreYour social strategy should be rooted in your communication strategy. Go back to those three to five messages that you decided to communicate to everybody, and go back to the persona so you know who you’re communicating to. That’s your safe place. If you feel like you’re being asked to post things that don’t fit into those communication strategies and personas, then you’re probably not on the right track and you should take a step back, look at everything, and then decide, okay are we…
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