When Is The Best Time To Post?

When is the right time to post on social media? A question that is constantly asked by most social media users.  At my internship, I'm in charge of everything social media and I'm always hesitant as to when exactly should i post information on the different social media channels. As i continue to partake in social media, I realize more and more how important it is for organizations to be aware of the peak times on social media. So for those of you who are currently doing social media management for a company or even for your personal brand, the infographic below goes in-depth on when are the good and bad times  to post on different social media channels.

When Personal Profiles Should Stop Being So Personal

At what age did you get your first Twitter account? How about Facebook, MySpace, Bebo? Think back to some of your earliest posts, or maybe even a post from last week. Were you quoting the latest rap song or networking with potential employers?

Some students often miss the transition from college kid to aspiring professional when it comes to social media interaction. Gone are the days when we can talk about how much we hate our ex during an alcohol-induced Twitter rant without any consequences…or did those days ever really exist? Now more than ever in this new technology age, we have to be even more diligent about the content we choose to share on social networks.

Not only do employers check social networks during their hiring process, but there has also been an increase of people who have gotten their foot in the door through those networks. Social networks are becoming a great place to network with the exact contact you need for the company you’ve been eyeing. They are also becoming a new hub for employers to post new job openings, internships, or open interviews. However, if you are still exhibiting unprofessional behavior online, chances are these opportunities will pass you by. Make sure to avoid these five habits and you should be just fine.

Are there a few things you should clean out of your social networks? Tell us about your own experience of creating a more professional appearance online.

TV and Social Media

Social media is changing the face of television as we know it. Any time that you sit down to watch your favorite TV show, you are most likely going to have your phone or computer right by your side so that you can post about what is going on. Social media has become a staple in the TV watching process and everyone is contributing.

TV shows and networks are a major part of why social media is playing such a crucial role in the TV watching experience. Many shows and networks encourage their viewers to post on social media while watching their favorite shows. They develop hash tags and social media contests so that viewers can take an interactive role in their favorite shows.

This viewer to show interaction has both positive and negative effects on the TV watching experience. On one hand, it allows the viewer to be a more active participant with their favorite shows. People are able to connect via social media and share their thoughts and opinions about what is going on during the episodes they are watching. They are able to view the tweets and posts of their peers that are also watching, which establishes a more connected fan base for the programming.

On the other hand, these TV show blasts can also ruin the TV watching experience for some viewers. Often times I hear of people complaining about cliffhangers being spoiled because they logged on to Twitter or Facebook before they had a chance to watch the episode. This experience can be frustrating for viewers and could potentially cause a decrease in viewers for future episodes.

Have you had an experience with social media affecting your TV watching? Leave us a comment and let us know!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Lexi Drexler.

The Rebirth of Social Networks

By now I’m sure we are all too familiar with the life cycle of most social networks. Typically, it is short and sweet. While social networks fade into the background everyday, there aren’t as many stories of them making a comeback. Over the past week, however, two social media platforms have announced some big changes that may just create a new narrative when discussing the life span of social networks: the rebirth.

• Instagram - While Instagram has never waned in popularity, the addition of a video sharing feature may prove deadly for another growing platform: Vine. Last Thursday, Instagram launched a new video sharing feature that not only allows users to capture 15 seconds of video (9 seconds more than Vine), but also add on Instagram’s infamous filters. While some have pegged this as the death of Vine early on, others predict an opposite fate. Some believe that this will be Instagram’s downfall. Because users are accustomed to their niche apps (Instagram for photos and Vine for video), they may not be too thrilled with the inclusion of both on one feed. Others appreciate the simplicity that this change will bring to their home screens. This is still a new development. Only time will tell which app will survive in the end, or if there is room for both in our lives.

• Myspace - Myspace was probably the social network that took the hardest hit when Facebook began rising in popularity. It went down as the site that tried to do everything. As stated before, people have said that they prefer their niche platforms: networks that do only a few things, but very well. Ironically, Facebook’s popularity is beginning to decline for that very reason, trying to do it all. Myspace, however, seems to have learned from its mistakes. Earlier this month, Myspace aired its new commercial that features popular music artists such as Pharrell, Sky Ferreia, and Mac Miller. The purpose is to completely rebrand Myspace by going back to what originally made them successful: a place to discover and share new music. With a beautiful and simplistic new design and celebrity endorsements, I think it’s safe to say that Myspace may be experiencing that rebirth phase. 

What do these changes mean for us? It means we need to be even more diligent to keep up not only with the birth of new networks, but the rebirth of old ones as well. Don’t be so quick to delete those apps off your phone. Give it a month and a great rebranding team and you may find yourself signing back in. 

Social Media Overload?

I recently stumbled upon a fascinating article on PR Daily. It is called, “A tweet of a Vine of an Instagram of a Tumblr post of a Facebook post of a tweet.” Confused? So was I for about a minute. You can take a look at the article yourself here.

While I found this post interesting, it also made me think. All of these new and innovative social media platforms have definitely improved the quality of life, and business. However, a new social network is introduced nearly everyday. Is there such a thing as social media overload? 

Less than 10 years ago, platforms like Facebook and Twitter were unheard of. Today, they are almost a necessity for businesses of all professions. While they have become genuine assets, much like Instagram, Tumblr, and Vine, where do we draw the line? We cannot stop the rapid development of new social media platforms, but we can be diligent in which ones we choose to utilize. Now that we have so many options available to us, your job is to learn how to filter which platforms will best serve the needs of your company, or even your personal branding. Here are a few simple tips on how to narrow down your social media search.

• Who uses each platform: This is probably this most basic question to address first. Once you pinpoint the audience of each social network, you can figure out which network will cater to your audience.
• Who is your audience: Do you want to cater to teenagers, homemakers, or photographers? You have to determine your audience in order to determine which platform will cater to them best. 
• What is your goal: Does your business need to attract a new audience? Do you want to showcase your product or services using video instead of just photography? This also tailors which platforms will be necessary in order to achieve those goals. 

It’s easy to get lost in a sea of social networks. Not all platforms are equal and not all platforms are necessary for every business. Do not get overwhelmed. Take your time to develop how you want your social media to work for you. 

Which social networks do you utilize already? We want to know!

Twitter + Video = PR Pro Heaven

For years now, Twitter has been a go to platform and service for PR professionals. It took a while, but we managed to master the 140 character press release, the Twitter media list, and making all of our tweets retweetable. But now, Twitter has upped the ante once again and this time it seems they have PR pros in mind!

Last Thursday, January 24th, Twitter released a new mobile app service called The Vine. Available for both iPhone and iPod touch, The Vine allows users to record 6 second videos to share on Twitter, Facebook, and The Vine platform. Imagine, a timeline that will now be filled with text, photos, and video! Gone are the days where you would have to link to a video in hopes that your follower's curiosity would be sparked enough to click. Now, you can share your video messages easily and conveniently. To see The Vine app in action, visit Twitter's Official Blog here.

The integration of The Vine into Twitter is definitely a point in favor of PR, but can also present some challenges and struggles in the beginning. However, like the 140 character press release, we PR pros will also master the 6 second shared video. Here are a few ways you can create 6 seconds of video genius:

• Promotional Videos: If your client is launching a new product, website, or other service, send your followers a teaser of things to come by posting a short promo video.
• Sneak Peaks: Everyone loves to find out what's going on behind the scenes. Take some quick footage of the production process of your client's latest project and share it with your fans!
• Recaps: Instead of posting quotes from a speaker, why not share the actual video of them speaking? This is bound to be much more interactive and gain a higher response.

These are just a few ways to implement The Vine's services, of course the possibilites are endless. Have you heard of The Vine, and will you use it? Let us know, and share your creations on Twitter with @PRowlPR!

Who “Owns” Social Media?

Understanding which umbrella social media falls under in an organization is often debated between marketing, PR and customer service teams. There are companies with excellent customer service social media accounts, such as Comcast and Verizon, and there are even more companies with great social media accounts run by marketing and PR teams. 

So, what is the right department to hold responsibility for social media? PR people will likely say it’s them. Marketers will likely say the marketing department. But, other departments such as Customer Service, Business Development, and Human Resources can also rightfully claim a stake in social media.

Dell and Zappos are among many large organizations that have created cross-departmental social media teams that manage social media interaction and allow the correct department to handle the correct inquiry.

All departments have something to bring to the table with social media. Even if the marketing and PR teams are the best trained for the job, it can be helpful to bring others with different roles together to provide the best experience for customers while networking online.

Brian Solis recently wrote on an eConsultancy blog, “The customer doesn’t see, nor do they care about, who owns social media. They see one company and they simply need an informed and empathetic response.” 

Social media is not best suited to just one department. While it may fall into just one department, that department should look to get a variety of workers from the business involved. Customers can get more out of social media accounts if they are able to network with the entire business – not just one small team attempting to represent the business. 

 This guest blog post was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Kyra Mazurek.

SMS, A Twenty Year Relationship

On December 3, 1992, Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old software engineer, was the first person to send an SMS text. Papworth used a computer to send the text message to his boss. The text message read, "Merry Christmas". Twenty years later, the number of SMS sent has risen at an astronomic rate. The form of communication even surpasses the more traditional phone call.

SMS texting transcends age groups and cultures because of its simplicity, conciseness, and compatibility with all types of mobile phones. We even have SMS texting to thank for Twitter. Twitter was originally intended be used via SMS texting, hence the 160 character limit (including handle). 

I believe SMS text messaging, unlike many other forms of communication and social interaction will be around and relevant for at least another 20 years. What do you think?

Microsoft Gets Socl

Last Tuesday, Microsoft launched a new social media platform called 'Socl.' Similar to Pinterest, Socl (pronounced "social") allows users to create custom collages to share their thoughts and ideas. The project began as a research experiment on social search targeted at students. According to the Socl website, Socl is "...a service where people connect over shared interests expressed through beautiful posts that take only seconds to create."

Unlike Pinterest, Socl allows users to create their collages through searching things that are of interest to them. The photos are collected from Bing, Microsoft's search engine, and then users can select which photos they would like to have featured in their post. Each post made on Socl can be comprised of images, videos, or links found through the Bing searches.

Socl also gives users a chance to interact with each other. Users have the option to "follow" other users and can also send private messages. Socl also has a creative feature called "riffs." Through "riffs," users can create visual responses to other users posts. For example, if I made a collage on the color purple and that inspired another user, they could create a riff of my post, extending the conversation past my own collage. This interesting feature along with Socls ability to translate posts into other languages, allows people from all over the globe to connect through their common interest.

As of now, I'm sure users and developers alike are trying to figure out exactly where Socl fits in the world of social networking. While different in many ways, Socl does have many similarities to popular social sites, mainly Pinterst and Tumblr, which make it hard to distinguish what exactly Socl has to offer that the others don't. Nevertheless, as public relations professionals, it's our job to know this new social site like the inside of our Twitter feeds. You never know when a client or superior is going to want you to utilize it. It is always better to be in the know!

Have you tried Socl yet or do you plan to try it in the future? Let us know!

Gaming for Good

Do you challenge your friends' vocabulary mastery in Words With Friends,  or showcase your artistic finesse in Draw Something? If so, you can use your skills to game for good. Recently, Mashable.com reported on Zynga's first holiday philanthropy campaign. Zynga is a Web 2.0-based social network game developper . The newly launched campaign allows users to turn virtual goods into real-world gifts. Gifts can be purchased for as little as $1 and will benefit Toys for Tots. The social-gaming company has already gained $13 million to date and will continue their campaign through the end of the year.

Zynga's campaign is the perfect example of how to successful utilize social channels for social good. The question remains, have you gamed for good yet? If not, you have until December 31st. Will you take up the challenge? Tell us all about it!

The Grinch Who Stole Social Media

'Twas the night before Grinchmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, especially not the social media manager! Yes, for someone who manages multiple social media accounts, the holidays can often become more hectic than festive. If you're wondering why the social media manager in your life, whether that be a co-worker or spouse, would rather talk Twitter followers than deck the halls, check out the top 4 reasons social media managers go Grinch during the holidays:

1. Remaining all inclusive - Keeping up with a bunch of social media accounts during the holidays means trying to acknowledge everyone without offending anyone. This can be a tough balance to find with so many consumers celebrating and practicing so many different things. As a social media manager, it's your job to stick to the task at hand, send the necessary messages, and remain as respectful as you would apart from the holiday season.

2. Too much cheer - Being the savvy social media manager that you are, you're probably always watching your use, or overuse, of exclamation points. Not to mention, being extremely wary of when to implement online emoticons. The holidays make this extremely difficult. With a timeline full of holiday wishes of good cheer, no one wants to be the Scrooge that posts an dull message.

3. When to post - Social media managers struggle enough with picking the perfect time to send a Tweet, upload a photo, or update a Facebook status. When everyone's newsfeed and timeline is full of Peanuts cartoons and Santa memes, finding that perfect posting window becomes even harder.

4. When social media sites "get into the spirit" - This Thanksgiving Facebook decided to knock their classic "what's on your mind," and changed the message inside the status update box to "what are you thankful for?" Millions of Facebook users took this change to post all of the many things they were thankful for. Social media managers have to find creative ways through these situations to still get their messages across while playing into the themes of the season.

To all of the social media managers out there, please, be of good cheer. Soon Spring will come, and there will be a whole new social media strategy to conquer!

How do you handle social media during the holidays? Let us know!

The Social Media High School Yearbook

For most college students, high school seems like it was just yesterday. We all remember the cliques that made up the student body like the nerds, the athletes and the band geeks. Each group had their own interests and similar personalities that set them apart from the rest.

In the dawn of the social media age, I guess you could say that social media sites are the high school of the Internet.

Wix, a popular web desgin company, took a look at social networks and found out which site fit each cliche high school stereotype. Based on what we all are sharing, Wix developed this inforgraphic comparing each social network to a high school stereotype.

For example, YouTube is the drama enthusiast. Twitter is the Chatty Cathy. Instagram, naturally, is the flirt of the bunch.

Check out the rest of the social media yearbook to see where you fit in:

Can you think of any other social media stereotypes? Let us know!

The Knot’s Smart Use of Sandy

Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc and put life on hold for millions of residents on the East Coast this past week, destroying homes, flooding cities and causing millions to lose power. As I was sitting at work discussing the disaster and its repercussions with a fellow co-worker she mentioned something that really struck a chord; Sandy had completely destroyed her friend’s wedding venue. That made me think – there must have been thousands and thousands of fall weddings cancelled, venues ruined and churches flooded all due to Sandy’s destruction.

As I was on Twitter, I came across an article discussing how the most-trafficked wedding website called The Knot helped to salvage over 2,000 weddings disrupted by Sandy. The online company estimates nearly 2,300 brides-to-be had to put a halt to their wedding plans this week due to the inclement weather. 

The Knot created a Facebook page as an online forum to connect brides with venues and vendors to reschedule this week’s weddings and to keep the more than 4,000 November ceremonies intact.

“Helping Brides in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy” is the name of the Facebook page where East Coast couples can share tips, find available venues and talk to local experts. Helping couples “tie the knot” as scheduled is the main goal for The Knot.

From Nov. 1 to Nov. 25, vendors are asked to list their businesses, addresses, availability and contact information. Many venues in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut lost power and sustained damage from flood waters, forcing brides to make major adjustments.
This is a great example of taking a current event and using it to your company’s advantage. The Knot saw its opportunity and clearly took it. I believe this is a great lesson in marketing as well as public relations.

Can you think of other companies like The Knot that could benefit from a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy? Let us know!

How To Host A Contest On Instagram

I have a confession to make; I am completely addicted to Instagram. Over the past 6 months, the free photo-sharing social network app has become bigger and better than ever. After being acquired by Facebook in early September, Instagram now has over 80 million registered users. Free photo-sharing social networks apps are growing in popularity and powerful corporations are looking to get involved with them. Instagram’s rival, Snapseed, was just bought by Google last week.

Instagram allows anyone with a smart phone to create content and engage with followers and fans through their mobile device. It is the ultimate haven for brands to connect with customers. Since the app is fairly new, brands are still trying to figure out the best way to integrate Instagram into their marketing efforts. However, I have seen quite a few unique ways in which brands are trying to get involved.

In my opinion, hosting an Instagram contest is the most efficient way to reach an audience. It is a quick and easy way to generate visual content with existing followers as well as attract new ones.  Here are four tips on how to host a successful Instagram contest adapted from Bill Miltenberg’s PR News article:

1.       Offer a Prize: Everyone likes an incentive. Many brands host special giveaways that are exclusive to their Instagram followers, which in turn acquires new followers in the process. Get creative!

2.       Use a Specific Hashtag: To make sure you can measure the success of the contest, make a special hashtag that contest participants have to use in order to win. Temple University has recently launched the Temple Made campaign in which one aspect prompts students and alumni to tag their Instagram photos with the hashtag #TempleMade for the chance to be featured at a university event.

3.       Utilize Other Social Media Sites: To help extend your contest’s reach why not feature the Instagram content on your brand’s Pinterest board. Or better yet link the photos to you brand’s Facebook account, make a YouTube slideshow or even tweet the best ones!

4.       Make It Easy: Eliminate entry barriers. Not every campaign needs to be focused on the specific product the brand is trying to sell. Red Bull held successful weekly contest this past summer. Each Monday Red Bull came up with a chose a new theme for participants to use as a hashtag in their photos. The accounts with the most submitted photos had a better chance at winning each week. The company required users to photograph its products, but rather asked for the photos to be tagged with that week’s theme and @Redbull.

What brand do you follow that hosted a successful contest? How did they do it? Let us know! 

Know Your Digital Identity

It's very comforting to hide behind clever Twitter handles and privacy settings, but how comfortable can you be online? Potential employers want to know more about you than a few well written paragraphs in a cover letter and a distinguished resume. They want to know more about the recreational you. While it can be argued that some employers take the practice of digging into our online profiles too far, one has to consider the fact that with every new hire, a company risks its image and reputation. So before you send off your resume in hopes of landing the perfect job, be sure to know these facts about your digital identity:

1. If they want it, they can get it: Companies budget to have third parties gain access to your online profiles. While you may think you have the Fort Knox of Facebook privacy settings, there will always be someone who can hack their way through. Do not fall victim to the false security of social media privacy settings.

2. Once you post it, they own it: When we all signed up for the many social media sites we network on, I'm sure we all ignored (but agreed) to the terms of service. One thing we neglected to mull over in those terms was that once we post something to a social networking site, like Facebook, we agree to give them control over that content. That means that even after you delete those embarrassing frat party pictures from freshman year, it is still sitting on a Facebook server somewhere. You can write to Facebook (and other networking sites) and ask that content be permanently removed, but that is a process and does not guarantee positive results. Remember this the next time you update your online profile.

3. Think before you post: Anything a potential employer finds online can be used against you. It's perfectly find to take photos that capture memories, but be careful about which memories you decide to make public. Create online profiles that you would be comfortable viewing if you were looking to employ someone, place yourself in their shoes before you post.

It is never too late to alter your digital identity. Take the time to go through your profiles and updates, remove things that you think were posted out of haste and bad judgement. After you clean up your act, be sure to push positive content - because at the end of the day, it is better to have good out weighing bad than just a profile full of bad decisions.