Communications professionals spend a lot of time behind the computer. Between writing articles and blogs, pitching stories and curating social ed calendars, screen time can consume a large part of the day. However, despite the predominantly digital nature of their work, there comes a time when PR practitioners must step outside the virtual world. Thanks to smartphones, capturing top-notch visuals is easier than ever. Yet, with so many content opportunities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But fear not! After a recent content-gathering day for a…
Read MoreDrones. They’re everywhere. They can be found filming footage over city skylines, monitoring farmland and delivering packages to doorsteps. You can also find drones in PR strategies. You might remember Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl LI halftime show when she was flanked by LED drones for the performance. Or perhaps you remember the incident at Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres) in 2017 when a drone crashed into the stands during the seventh inning, just missing some nearby fans. While drones may have reached…
Read More“Whenever there’s a new tactic, it’s like there’s a new toy, and everybody’s gotta have one.” Podcasts have become super popular, especially due to Spotify and easy accessibility on smart devices. But many businesses who are interested in podcasts don’t consider what actually goes into making one and maintaining it. For Episode 6 of Teaming Up, Jon Newman and Tony Scida offer their perspective as to what companies should consider when they’re thinking about podcasting. Here are some quick takeaways from their conversation: Consider your…
Read MoreEarlier this month, we released the first in a monthly series of video discussions between pairs of THP staffers recorded from an online meeting. Inspired by the medium and the content of the discussions, we’re calling this new series Teaming Up with The Hodges Partnership. Since we’ll be recording and releasing a new episode each month for a few months, we decided also to release each edition as a podcast episode. While neither a recorded video call nor a podcast is a brand-new idea, both…
Read MoreSoliciting user-generated content has been an arrow in the content quivers of many marketing and PR teams. Previously, user-generated content had been used mainly as an activation tool to get audiences to engage with a brand on social and/or as a way for brands to fill their own content pipelines when creative resources were low. The rise of user-generated content in 2020 With the rise of COVID-19, we’ve seen a resurgence of user-generated content, but the impetus for the ask is much different than it…
Read MoreOne of the neatest things about technology advances is how it lets news organizations connect with sources and experts more quickly. With Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts and other video calling tools, news networks like CNN and MSNBC can get an expert on the air in a matter of minutes. And, right now, TV stations may have no other choice than to book a Zoom interview when trying to air interviews with experts. While we’ve all gotten much more comfortable with video-conferencing tools recently, a video interview via Skype or Zoom is…
Read MoreAs the CEO of a thriving public relations/content marketing agency, I wear a lot of hats — and one of them is business development. Over the years, I’ve seen many trends in our quest to acquire “new business,” the latest being the lengthening of the new business cycle, or the amount of time from the first meeting with a potential client to the “close.” The amount of time is getting longer. In the past when we’ve experienced that, it’s mainly been because the potential client…
Read MoreArguably the most common challenge facing any organization implementing a content marketing strategy is developing enough content to “feed the engine.” Blog posts – like this one – are great content tools to drive traffic to your website. But they aren’t always the easiest to write – whether because of writer’s block or simply not enough hours in the day. Slice the turkey! We’re big believers in getting the most mileage out of your content and finding ways to divide and repurpose larger pieces like…
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 recently had to work with my daughter, who is working on a project, and coaching her through being on television. And, not to say that CEOs or 17-year-old girls meet somewhere, but the premise is pretty much the same. You want to start with a couple of different basic premises, either the old who, what, when, where and why, and how to communicate those things right off the top, or think about what are the three things, no matter what the reporter asks,…
Read MoreSo, the main reason that we find that content strategy fails for clients is because they didn’t take the time to plan out, not only their strategy, but what their goals and audiences are on the front end. So, if you’re seeing and not getting the results that you’re hoping for, take a step back and revisit a) did I set out goals to begin with, b) do I have audiences that we’re really writing for and c) do I have an amplification strategy that…
Read MoreFirst of all, it’s a lot less expensive and time intensive than it used to be. For example, we’re shooting this with about an initial investment of two to three thousand dollars worth of equipment that we don’t have to keep on buying over and over again. Plus, even if you’re looking at an outside videographer, those costs are a lot less expensive than it used to be. I’m shooting this video today, but we’re also shooting three or four other videos that you’ll see…
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