Yes, Virginia, video is very much still a thing. As a matter of fact it’s probably the thing right now. But, the key thing is to balance yourself. You don’t want to go all video and blog all the time. People are used to the written word, but, by the same token, they may be too used to the written word. The reason why we’re doing this vlog is to sprinkle in a good, solid, short video snippets into our blogging. We have gotten more…
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Influencer marketing is sort of the cool shiny object these days. We liken it to traditional media relations. The only difference is, in a lot of cases instead of pitching it to a traditional media outlet, you’re pitching your idea, your product, your thing, to someone who’s developed their own audiences, primarily through social media.
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By 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….
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If there were coupons for social media advertising, I’d be sharpening my scissors ready to clip away. Unfortunately, the world of online advertising doesn’t have the same perks as other sectors of commerce, so being a good steward of your organization’s ad budget is important. That means designing a plan that balances your organization’s budget and goals. To give yourself the best chance at achieving your objectives, lay your advertising plan over your editorial strategy. Doing so will ensure that you’re spending your dollars at…
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If you host a large event, whether with customers, partners, prospects or the public, you know the joys and struggles of producing and distributing meeting materials. Even if, like me, you feel a beautifully designed printed piece is a thing of joy, you may just be ready to move away from a printed program guide to something more interactive. That’s the situation we were in recently as we helped a B2B technology client prepare for its bi-annual developer and user meeting. I’d had the good…
Read MoreWe’re a couple weeks out from Hodges’ first-ever Facebook live event and still I find it hard to watch the archived video. Don’t get me wrong, the event exceeded our expectations and the feedback from viewers was amazing. In fact, someone even recognized Jon at a downtown restaurant and asked him if he was the guy from the Facebook live event…in our minds, we’re stars! The reality, however, is that it’s hard to watch and listen to recorded versions of ourselves – we’re our own worst…
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Measurement and public relations haven’t always been the best bedfellows. Advertising value equivalency was long heralded as the go-to metric for media relations, only to be debunked later by PR scholars. Even when the impact of a positive news story could be measured, in terms of reputation building, for example, it always was difficult not to be outshone by marketing, who could more clearly make the connection between their efforts and sales – the ultimate objective for many executives and managers. We knew our work…
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A potential new client was referred to us recently, and after an initial phone call, we agreed to a meeting. He was a thoughtful guy with terrific credentials – an MBA, some Wall Street experience and a track record of success in following his dream: creating new manufacturing opportunities in communities where plants had been shuttered and ghosts of bygone days lingered. He was likeable and inquisitive, curious to learn as much about public relations as he could, measuring against what he thought he needed…
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We zoomed through the inaugural year of Who’s Your Driver, a racing season-long driver education program sponsored by DRIVE SMART Virginia. Let’s take a pit stop to reflect on where we’ve been and, like all good drivers, take a look at where we’re heading. According to recent statistics, there is one group in particular that makes up most of the DUI convictions in the Commonwealth – 21-35 year-old men. To better educate this demographic about the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as the…
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Today’s a pretty big day here at THP. We actually just celebrated with cheap champagne and Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches (OMG, they are so good). Today we launched our first eBook, the EOP (earned, owned and paid) Playbook. It’s a culmination of two years of trial and error as we changed the main focus of our agency from “traditional PR” to one based on the evolution of media relations, social media and content marketing. If any or all of those practices interests you then you should download…
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While there is, and likely will always be, a place for media relations and traditional news delivery, the audience for this type of information is shrinking. According to Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media Report, 2015 circulation numbers in the newspaper industry alone were down 7 percent from the prior year. Compounding that, advertising – in both print and digital – was down 8 percent. The implications for individual publications is staggering with staff being slashed, the elimination of entire sections, and in…
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Building community online is one thing–most organizations have spent years amassing followers and fans on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with communities amounting into the tens or hundreds of thousands. And those communities can spur hundreds of likes, comments and shares a day on these platforms. But translating all that online activity into real-life excitement and engagement is a different story…and an important one. For many marketers, hosting tradeshows, conferences and events are ubiquitous elements of their annual marketing strategies, and yet while planning those events,…
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