Tag Archives: digital pr

5 Instagram Tips for PR Pros

Posted on September 14, 2012 by | 5 Comments

Be interesting, be useful …. or be ignored. Image via our own Victoria Harres.

Each week, Dear Gracie answers questions from ProfNet Connect readers with advice from our network of nearly 50,000 ProfNet experts. Has there been a question burning in your mind lately, something you’ve been wondering that none of your colleagues can answer? Please send it to grace.lavigne@prnewswire.com

Dear Gracie,

Instagram has been around for a couple of years, but seems to have exploded in popularity recently. How can PR pros use Instagram to increase publicity for clients?

Improving Images

**********

Dear Improving Images:

Four ProfNet experts provide a snapshot:

Instagram is a social network where users can share photos and comment or like their friends’ photos, explains Jeff Peters, social media specialist at The Halo Group.

It offers users a simple, easy way to take and edit photographs, and then post them across all major social media portals, says Seth Grugle, digital and social media specialist for Much and House Public Relations. It borrows the #hashtag concept from Twitter and aggregates friends like Facebook.

An artsy shot that benefited from tinkering with Instagram filters, by PR Newswire’s Sarah Skerik

“One of the most interesting aspects of Instagram is that it’s not really a ‘site,’ but lives almost purely on mobile,” notes Peters.

“While it’s possible for just about any brand to use Instagram, the platform itself is most appealing to brands and industries that are more visually oriented,” Peters explains. “Instagram helps create a visual connection between a brand and a consumer or potential customer.”

For example, a fashion line could post photos of inspirational clothing patterns, a car manufacturer could post photos of challenging roadways, or a celebrity could post behind-the-scene shots that grant followers access to sights and scenes they’d never get to see otherwise, says Grugle.

PR professionals should seriously consider using the social network to complement client announcements and press releases, just as they do with Twitter and Facebook, says Jennifer DeAngelis, a PR account executive with InkHouse.

“If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, then the visual imagery projected through Instagram translates well beyond a 140-character maximum,” says Grugle.

Tips and Suggestions for PR Pros Using Instagram:

1. Check Out Instagram’s Business Page, suggests Peters. Instagram for Businesses provides information on how to get started, examples of successful approaches, advertising and marketing opportunities, and more.

2. Consider Your Audience. “Are your brand’s fans using Instagram?” asks Kevin Dugan, veteran marketer with The Empower Group. “If your audience isn’t on Instagram, do you need to be?”

“Don’t just use Instagram to use it or because it’s positioned as ‘hot,’” agrees Peters. “Make sure that you’re giving your audience content that they want to see and interact with.”

3. Post Appropriate Content. “Understand why you want to use Instagram, how you’re going to use it, what you want to get out of it and how your audience uses it,” says Peters.

“Don’t forget that, while pictures are great, substance is critical,” stresses Dugan. “What are you trying to convey?”

4. Don’t Just Post — Interact, says Peters. Some of the most popular brands on Instagram use behind-the-scene photos, photo hunts or contests. For example, fashion retailer Free People integrates Instagram directly into their product pages.

5. Get Creative, says Dugan. “Optimize the content for the format and break out of traditional molds.” Here are a few examples of unique approaches:

Instagram is also often mistakenly overlooked for various types of announcements that a company might make, such as a new product, a new hire, an upcoming event or a recent award, says DeAngelis in her post How We Can Use Instagram in Public Relations.

Gracie

Written by Grace Lavigne, senior editor of ProfNet, a service that helps journalists connect with expert sources. Dear Gracie is published weekly on ProfNet Connect, a free social networking site for communicators. To read more from Grace, check out her blog on ProfNet Connect.

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How Social Media Is Changing PR

Posted on August 2, 2012 by | 8 Comments

On the last Tuesday of each month, ProfNet hosts ConnectChat, a monthly series of Twitter chats exploring key communications and media topics. During a recent ConnectChat, Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO of Pure Performance Communications, discussed the changing role of PR in the digital era and how we can adjust our mind and skill sets accordingly.

Breakenridge says that with the rise of social media PR professionals need to:

  • Master information technologies as a “technology tester,” including video, SEO, website analytics, monitoring applications, CMS and more.
  • Start dialogue and build relationships through new channels.
  • Strategize to connect directly with stakeholders, especially customers.

Breakenridge notes that being a technology tester is the most challenging new skill for PR pros to master because it requires constantly paying attention to new apps, resources and platforms. “It’s so important to understand use technology the way stakeholders,” she says.

To excel in these new practices, people in the PR industry need to become hybrid professionals, says Breakenridge. This process includes:

  • Moving the best of traditional practices forward and integrating them with digital and social communications.
  • Working cross-functionally with marketing and moving outside of the PR “silo,” which includes learning and applying marketing tactics.
  • Collaborating with other departments too, like Web/IT, sales, customer service, HR, etc.
  • Being flexible and adaptable in a global communications environment.

Breakenridge provides some new roles popping up in the PR industry:

  • Internal Collaboration Generator: knows good communication starts on the inside with technology sharing
  • Pre-Crisis Doctor: plans for crises through new approaches, processes and recovery steps
  • Relationship Analyzer: takes relationships to deeper levels through technology and visualization
  • Master of the Metrics: understands metrics tracked over time and can track them back to executive goals

To successfully use metrics, PR pros must have objectives and know what they are trying to achieve, adds Breakenridge. “It’s important to know what you’re measuring: leads, sales, registration, awareness (buzz), community growth, etc.”

Listen to conversations and identify influencers to drive discussion and systematically map out audience connections, explains Breakenridge. “Understand the culture, critical issues and passion in the community to make better connections. Use crowdsourcing, contests, and promotions for deeper engagement.” She notes that you can use @mentionmapp and @TouchGraph to visualize connections.

Social media provides incredible intelligence, and, when filtered, can help PR pros plan more strategically, says Breakenridge. For example, social media can help companies react quicker to negative situations and crises. “You can strategically engage for more valuable outcomes: leads, sales, registration, better CS, more productivity.”

Social media should move across an organization, says Breakenridge. PR should work with other departments (marketing, advertising, branding, etc.); it should cover everything from social governance and planning to content curation and the monitoring of programs. PR should spearhead social media, but not own it. “Working with other groups doesn’t mean we lose our core purpose; we have just expanded our opportunity!” she says.

Where is PR headed? Breakenridge says PR will:

  • Continue to integrate with other areas and strategize cross functionally.
  • Start incorporating interactive living rooms, touch experience, augmented reality, etc.
  • Gain influence by telling more meaningful stories through technology and educating others on best practices.

Written by Grace Lavigne, senior editor of ProfNet. Check out her blog on ProfNet Connect.

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How Journalists & Bloggers Use Social Media, and Opportunities for PR

Posted on June 22, 2011 by | 4 Comments

The next installment in the series: Integrating Social Media & Public Relations

Paper.li aggregates Tweets into a user-friendly electronic newspaper. This is the Social PR Daily.

There’s no question that the social layer has changed how people find, share and consume news and information – and as you’d expect, the practice of journalism is also changing as a result.  Understanding how journalists and bloggers are using various social media tools and platforms is critical when planning a digital PR strategy.

The social layer has become society’s central nervous system, capable of telegraphing information from one point to another – and across a whole network – almost instantly.  Just as nerves and synapses relay information from our fingertips to our brains, the social layer enables us to find – and broadcast information.  We’re also able to quickly find trusted sources of information, current reviews, and like-minded people who share our enthusiasms and concerns.    The highly networked nature of our society and information marketplaces means more visibility opportunities for public relations pros than ever.

How journalists & bloggers are using social media

Breaking News & Trends:   Facebook and Twitter in particular have evolved into major sources of news for millions of people worldwide, and the search engines aren’t far behind – they’re now surfacing relevant social results within seconds and are displaying that information front and center within search results.   Like the rest of us, savvy journalists and bloggers are keeping an eye on the social networks for breaking news and information.    For PR pros, the simple fact is that your company’s news needs to be found on these social networks – and it needs to be relevant and interesting to your audience, so they share it.  Visibility is a key benefit of a solid social media presence for brands.

What was trending on Twitter yesterday, amongst Twitterers based in London.

  •  Trendsmap:   Trendsmap enables you to get a look at what is trending on Twitter from a particular city.  For a reporter or blogger with a local beat, this kind of information is crucial.
  •  Booshaka:   The search function on Booshaka reveals what’s being said publicly on Facebook about specific topics.  You can also see what’s trending on Facebook.

Research:  Social networks offer a plethora of data and information to writer hot on the tail of a story.  From a PR perspective, cultivating credible presences on key networks is a great way to position experts and attract audiences.

Twitter lists:  Active Twitter users create lists of fellow Twitters, often organized around subject matter or expertise, and users can follow each other’s lists.  Following Twitter lists is a great way to stay informed about a particular topic, identify influentials (and get to know their POV), and for newbies, a good way to observe the ebb and flow of conversations.   Obviously, developing a solid following on Twitter and providing value to your audience is a great way to get listed, and to start accruing visibility exponentially.

  • Paper.Li, the Tweeted Times & Flipboard:  A fleet of social content aggregation services are turning Twitter lists, Facebook posts and RSS feeds into up-to-the-minute glossy digital news magazines.   Here’s an example – this is the Social PR Daily, powered by Paper.li, which aggregates information from leading public relations and social media thinkers.  It’s updated twice daily.

Quora, Linkedin, ProfNet Connect:  Follow a topic on Quora, and chances are good that you’ll soon stumble upon some seriously insightful and revealing commentary.  Quora’s community values and encourages sophisticated insight, and provides a treasure trove of information and potential story angles.  For PR pros, sites like Quora, LinkedIn and ProfNet Connect (a free community of tens of thousands of journalists and experts) that attract experts and facilitate interaction are great places to showcase experts.  And building a credible presence on these networks can provide valuable visibility to people seeking information in your brand’s sector – journalists, influentials and prospective customers alike.

Relationships:   Any seasoned media relations pro will tell you that cultivating working relationships with journalists and bloggers is an important aspect to the job.  Establishing mutual trust and credibility is the foundation for a great working relationship between a journalist and a publicist.

Social networks offer a great way to learn about other people before introducing oneself.  The blog posts a person publishes, their Facebook posts and their Twitter account tell a lot about their interests and expertise.

Building relationships in social networks requires the same grace and tact it does in real life.   A reporter may be active on Twitter, but that’s not an open invitation for you to @mention that person with an unsolicited pitch.   To lay the groundwork for a relationship, first identify yourself as someone who’s interested.  Comment on the author’s blog posts.  Tweet their articles. And when the time is right, offer perspective or expertise that is in line with what the journalist writes.

Content publishing & personal visibility:  For several years, PR Newswire and PR Week together produced a survey of journalists, and we learned that the majority of journalists are either blogging for their own purposes (professional or otherwise) and many are required to produce content for online properties and social channels.   Content fuels social presences – it’s the currency of Twitter, and news sharing on Facebook is undoubtedly driving traffic to sites.  Journalists and bloggers are using these channels to both build audience for their content and publications, and to drive readership for the content they produce and publish.

So what’s the opportunity for a PR pro?   Something as simple as a tweet from an influential journalist or blogger can pay real dividends in terms of message visibility, both in social networks and search engines. Creating content that begs to be shared capitalizes on active social media users’ need for content.   Writing headlines and subheads that can be easily tweeted, providing infographics and other sharable multimedia and always providing URLs that can be tweeted/liked/shared are important tactics that should be embedded in your PR department’s habits.

Related reading:  Twitter, Traditional Media & SEO: the Power Triangle for PR

As we think about how journalists and bloggers are using social media, and the opportunity these interactions afford PR pros, it’s also important to note that while this to realize that other constituents use the same tools and platforms.  Communications in the social layer are very, very public – something which should work in a communicator’s favor.  As is always the case in social networks, spending some time listening and learning about your desired audience’s interests and social style is always recommended.

More related reading:

15 Free Ways Journalists Use Social Media Tools to Track Topics

Media Relations, Meet Twitter

Author Sarah Skerik (@sarahskerik) is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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