Do You Disclose?

When it comes to making a purchase, consumers will almost always attempt to get an honest review from someone they trust. Word of mouth carries more weight than any infomercial or glossy magazine advertisement. Consumers already feel that brands are often more concerned with their bottom line than the actual consumer experience, so they hope that an unbiased third party will stand on their side. YouTube vloggers and blogs of all sizes have found ways to capitalize on this need. Conversely, brands have found ways to capitalize on these bloggers and vloggers.

A blogger may agree to post a product review or host a giveaway on behalf of a brand in exchange for free product or financial compensation. The blogger gets to entertain his or her readers and make some side cash, and the brand gets cheaper publicity delivered straight to their target audience. Consumers are much more likely to trust a blogger's honest review, because they feel that it is someone they can connect with. However, when there is money involved, the honesty and integrity of many bloggers may be questioned. This is why it is important to draft a disclosure policy.

What is a disclosure policy? A disclosure policy basically serves as the "fine print." It lets your readers, followers, or viewers know that some content you put out may be sponsored, or that you somehow receive compensation from it. Disclosing does not indicate that everything you post is sponsored content, but it allows the reader to be aware of what goes on behind the scenes.

Why should you disclose? Well first and foremost, because the FTC says you have to. In order to insure the protection of the consumer, the FTC requires bloggers to clearly and conspicuously disclose when they've received products (solicited or unsolicited) to review on their blogs. Despite that, you should want to come off as honest and sincere to your readers and followers.

What should be included in your disclosure policy? Websites like DisclosurePolicy.org will help you draft a disclosure policy based on the content you put out. The policy should always mention who writes and contributes content and the forms of advertising accepted (or not accepted).

Where should you disclose? A full, clear and concise policy should be available in full on your blog or website. Consumers shouldn't have to dig for this, it should always be visible and available. In addition to this, adding a small disclosure line at the bottom of a post is also helpful. 

Example : This post was sponsored by Brand X for review. These are my honest views on Brand X.

On social media, using hashtags like #ad or #spon (short for sponsored) is also an easy way to disclose.

Are you disclosing? Do you think it's necessary to disclose on social media? Let us know!

The Problem with Pop-Ups

As public relations professionals, we often become so passionate about our clients and work that we can’t wait to find some way to share it with the masses. From television to the blogosphere, we are always looking for a new medium to share information. Unfortunately, our goal to gain readership and increase awareness can often cause us to place our content in the wrong areas. The case in point: pop-ups.

We are all familiar with websites that, upon visiting their homepage, load a pop-up asking us to join an email subscription list or like an external Facebook page. We are even more familiar with, after scoffing and feeling annoyed, clicking ‘no thank-you’ or leaving the site all together. While the point of having the content appear in this fashion is to drive consumers to content, it often goes too far, making the consumer less inclined to interact. Here are a few issues I have with pop-up content:

• Pop-ups force the user to commit, via an email subscription or Facebook like, before they are even able to engage in the content. Let the user see what you have to offer before shoving a commitment at them.
• When users are greeted with a pop-up, it makes them more likely to leave the site before reading anything. While your goal was to commit them to receiving more content, you push them away from your brand completely.
• Pop-ups are normally associated with things like spam and computer viruses. You never want your brand to be associated with things that can bring harm to consumers – even their computers!

In a social media savvy world, of course we want users to sign up for email subscriptions and follow our social media accounts, but there are other ways to achieve this goal:

• Include links to social media profiles in a sidebar or after a post. Including clickable images after content allows the user to make an informed decision instead of being coerced.
• If you posts contain a lot of images, consider adding a ‘Pin It” button feature so that users can easily share your content to Pinterest. If you have one, be sure to add a link to your Pinterest account as well!

How do you feel about pop-up content on websites? Share your thoughts!

Inspire to Share

No matter what new technologies surface, word of mouth has been and always will be one of the greatest forms of endorsements. While that does not mean you shouldn't take pride in your 1,000+ Twitter or Instagram followers, you must consider how engaged your followers, friends, and connections really are. Your brand must not only be likeable in today's world, it must also be shareable. Yes, you know you are producing the content your audience wants when they feel it is so good, they have to tell their friends about it! If you're finding that more of your content is being passed up than passed on, here are a few tips to inspire sharing:

• Make it easy: If you think for one second someone is going to take the time to copy and paste a link to an online post, think again. These days, users like when the road map is placed right in front of them. Be sure that your posts contain easy viewed share buttons that let users post your content to any of their various social media platforms.
• Utilize your resources: There are a lot of great websites that allow you to add share links in very creative ways. Click to Tweet is a service that allows you to generate a Tweet ahead of time, so all the user has to do is click to share your content with all of their followers. This allows you to share very specific content, without the hassle of incorporating extra share buttons.
• Require it: Have you ever entered an online giveaway or contest to win freebies? Not only are giveaways a great way to engage your audience, they can help you tap into the people influenced by your audience. Next time you host a giveaway on your blog, be sure that sharing some of your content is a requirement for entry.
• Inspire to share: The saying holds true, content is KING! If you feel your users are missing something, as them the types of content they would like to see. Ask them what will cause them to share your content. Let your analytics come straight from the horses mouth. Users will always want to pass along quality content.

Have you found any tips or tricks that helped make your content more shareable? Let us know!

Out With the New, In With the Old

Okay, so traditionally the saying goes, "Out with the old, in with the new." But for all intensive purposes, old content can sometimes outweigh the new. Think about how excited you get when a 90s song comes onto your Pandora, or when your favorite movie comes on tv and you have to watch it, even if you own it on DVD. We love to think back to our past and reminisce, and the same thing goes with content. Below are a few ways to pull from old content:

You don't always have to create something new: If you're in charge of creating content for a company that specializes in snow boots, then your peak season will probably be in the winter. There are only so many times you can create content around snow. Still talk about snow, but find new ways to approach it. Instead of talking about only snow, mention how the boots are also perfect for rain, thanks to their waterproof exterior.

Share archived content: With most companies taking to Facebook and Twitter to post content, stuff is getting pushed back through feeds at breakneck speeds. It's okay to use content from the past, in fact, using old content will show the reader that even though a certain statistic or fact is from 5 years ago, it's still relevant and useful.

Play on nostalgia: Think about the cell phone. Less than 20 years ago it was bigger than the average person's head. Now, cell phones can fit in the palm of your hand and will even talk to you. Seeing such a significant difference within such a small space in time consistently amazes people. The same strategy can be used with content. If you have coverage from a product that previously failed, bring it back! It's fun to show your audience where you once were, and where you stand now.

Have you ever brought life back to old content? How did it work for you? Let us know!