World Cup Update: No Belgium Waffles for Breakfast

Team USA continues to play game after game, and fans continue to post tweet after tweet. PRowl has already emphasized how social the World Cup is, and what more could us PR folk want other than to be trending worldwide! All of the games scheduled in the World Cup have found their own little corner of the internet with their own hashtag. The hashtags are composed of the 3 letters representing the country connected with "vs."

Today at 4:00pm, USA will play Belgium and millions of passionate fans will be using the hashtag #USAvsBEL. Many fans and organizations have already begun using the hashtag to express their interest and support in the games, but for some, the hashtag isn't even needed. Yesterday morning, the official Waffle House account tweeted:

 

Twitter users from all parts of the United States had this one tweet buzzing. Chances are you saw it on your own personal feed at least once, if not twice - thanks to the retweet of your World Cup-addicted peer. Waffle House continued to support the USA team on their Twitter by retweeting a bunch of replies from excited fans, claiming they are only eating American waffles on a day like today. 

Waffle House made the right move. They knew what their audience had been talking about for the last two weeks, and put themselves out there supporting the one thing we should all agree to support - our country! This morning, Waffle House posted more World Cup-themed content:

Additionally, many social media users have found a great use for the flag emojis hidden in the depths of the smartphone emoji collections. Waffle House, fans, and even sports publications have been posting content with the flag emojis of the teams playing. The images are an alternate way to update those looking to check the score and plays of the game quickly.

What do you think about what Waffle House has been posting? Do you think it's okay that they support USA by going against Belgium, or that we should be a big happy family on social media? Let us know!

#LeadThemOn with Leading Hashtags

Hashtags, or key phrases that identify a topic on social media, are incredibly popular on various platforms and sites. As PR professionals, we should be constantly thinking of new ways to revamp what's already out there to increase visibility and up engagement . We must find creative ways to give users something they can engage with, rather than just respond to. In a sense, you have to lead them to your brand or idea instead of just stating facts and hoping people got the message.

Leading hashtags, also called Mad Lib hashtags are ones placed at the beginning of a post to start a sentence that the user can finish. It gives them the chance to go beyond the message and truly engage your content. As with normal hashtags, leading hashtags should still be well thought out and catchy so that users remember to include them in their posts. Remember, instead of the user creating a post that includes your hasgtag, they now have to create a sentence that flows with it, using your hasgtag as a springboard of sorts. Because the user has to put a little more work in, you have to make it worth their while.

There are so many advantages to creating a leading hashtag for your next social media endeavor. Not only do leading hashtags introduce a topic, they start a conversation. Users have the chance to share their personality and opinions while engaging your content. Because the hashtag comes at the start of the post, it receives more visibility. Before you know it, you'll be trending!

While leading hashtags can be great conversation starters, it is up to you to keep the conversation going. As users participate, take feedback, analyze how your audience is responding, and decide the next topic of conversation from there.

Have you ever used or generated a leading hashtag? Share your experience with us!

Making 140 Count

Getting a clear and concise Tweet out with only 140 character at your disposal can be a tricky craft. As public relations professionals, we often have to make a lot happen within that small text box. In all honesty, that small amount of text is usually the amount of engagement readers have with full length pieces. You want your message to be read, understood, and engaged with. Using a dull choice of words, or having to continue your message into another tweet increases the chances followers choosing to scroll on by. 

As challenging as navigating the Twitter world can be, these tips for making your 140 characters pop should help you out for future social media planning:

• Use verbs and show action. People respond to to calls to action more so than general statements. Use enticing verbs that draw people in, and make them wonder what the next steps will be. Big market words such as "drive" or "highlight" are always great to tap into. And don't forget to consider your audience when selecting choice verbs. If you know your following is fond of videos, instead of tweeting "new video," say "Watch this!" The instruction in the later makes followers more likely to engage.
• Add images wisely. As great as images are to add flare to content, they can often take up unnecessary characters. Plan ahead when your tweets will contain images, and then generate short, catchy captions that will trigger the follower's curiosity. Let the photo tell the story, and rely on short, witty, and concise wording to draw follower's in.
• Don't overload on hashtags. As catchy as they may be, using too many hashatgs can take up characters that could have been used to better get your message across. All hashtag usage should be done strategically. What will your message gain from having the hashtag there? Does your message really need it to be effective?
• Review before you tweet. PR professionals pride ourselves on our writing abilities. As eloquent as your tweet may sound, it's likely that you can cut down the wordiness and make it equally as attention grabbing. Read the tweet aloud; what is the gist of your message? Can you say this in fewer words or characters? Are all of your punctuation choices necessary? 

Twitter has definitely proven itself as a social media platform that is here to stay. Learning how to best navigate through it is the key.

What do you do to make your tweets stand out in 140 characters or less? Share with us in the comments!

How to #Hashtag on Facebook

It has been a little over two months since Facebook rolled out it's hashtag feature and some brands have been utilizing as a potential tool to drive engagement. Although it hasn't gained much traction yet, Simply Measured's recent study found that brand adoption of Facebook hashtags had increased by 20% by the end of July. 

Five major brands have demonstrated strategic and effective hashtag tactics and, in turn, have been seeing major results:

1. American Express - Cross-Channel Campaign Promotion 
#PassionProject
Average Brand Engagement: 1,689
Post Engagement: 10,362
Engagement Factor: 6.1 x AVG
By creating awareness for its #PassionProject campaign using the same hashtag on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, American Express is making the campaign content discoverable across networks. 

2. Moet & Chandon - Seasonal Hashtags for Seasonal Products
#Summer 
Average Brand Engagement: 1,571
Post Engagement: 9,083
Engagement Factor: 5.7 x AVG
Seasonal hashtags allow seasonal brands like Moet & Chandon to promote #Summer products by tapping into a broad topic. 

3. Credit Suisse - News Jacking
#Wimbeldon 
Average Brand Engagement: 168
Post Engagement: 1,088
Engagement Factor: 6.4 x AVG
Credit Suisse, a multinational financial services holding company, used #Wimbeldon to highlight it's player sponsorship. Brands can use Facebook hashtags to create awareness for their pages by tapping into event discussion and providing valuable content. 

4. Loreal Paris - Already Popular Hashtags 
#ManiMonday
Average Brand Engagement: 1,012
Post Engagement: 3,387
Engagement Factor: 3.3 x AVG
Popular hashtags on other networks can be extended to Facebook. Cosmetic brands' use of #ManiMonday exemplifies that using context that has already been created for many popular tags on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram is effective. 

5. MTV - Leverage Your Largest Audience 
#BeyInspired 
Average Brand Engagement: 4,924
Post Engagement: 8,171
Engagement Factor: 1.7 x AVG
MTV has shown how brands can use Facebook hashtags to run integrated contests and promotions to encourage fans, their largest social audience, to participate on other networks. 

Revamp Your Facebook Posts

Many aspiring PR pros begin their careers with college internships. More recently, there have become an abundance of social media internships available across the nation. If you are a social media intern you are most likely in charge of the company’s Facebook page and, in recent years, getting people to engage with a brand through Facebook has been quite difficult.

Has the fan activity on your company’s Facebook page stalled? Is your “People talking about this” number shrinking instead of growing?

The solution could be as simple as posting better status updates. Here are a few examples from a Ragan article written by Kristin Piombino:

1.       Endorse something – when you share someone else’s content, offer your opinion. Perhaps adding “great tips” or “helpful piece” will change how people react to the post.

2.       Inspire action – if you post a cool picture, ask fans to pin it on Pinterest or share it on Instagram.

3.       Use images with text – Overlay text on an image to make it stand out on a newsfeed.

4.       Add a P.S. – it will grab the fans’ attention.

5.       Tell people what to expect – if you are linking to a video or article, tell fans how long it is. They’ll appreciate it. 

How do you engage your Facebook fans? We want to know!

Social Media Savvy for the Summer

The time has finally come! Finals are over and all of your grades are almost in. You're ready to hit the beach and begin your summer vacation but before you start packing your suit, step back and think about how you are going to stay relevant in the public relations realm this summer break.

If you are an aspiring PR pro, the summer is a great time to build up your social media presence. Most likely you will have more time to think and plan out posts. You'll have more time to catch up on those PR blogs and find out what's going on in the PR industry to get in on the discussion.

Here are some things to keep in mind while posting on your social media networks this summer:

Find a voice & stick to it: Creating a "voice" for how you want to be portrayed on your social media is key for any brand but it's importance is often forgotten when it comes to personal social media accounts. Being able to be consistent with the way in which you craft posts gives you a voice. The most vital aspect of creating a certain social media personna is to stick to it so your followers don't get confused.

Post about recent news: This is a no brainer. Keep everything you post about relevant and use hashtags that relate to recent news and current events.

Incorporate your real life events: Summer is a time to have fun and relax. If you are on vacation and your vacation city's tourism, find their Twitter handle and tweet to them or find their Facebook page and post on their wall. Be sure to also post photos whenever you see fit because visuals are very powerful on social media outlets.

How will you stay relevant this summer through social media? We want to know!

Typo Tips

It happens to all of us. You think you just crafted the perfect tweet or status, you send it off into the vast space called the Internet and then you re-read it; you made a typo! 

My last major typo was about a month ago, while sharing a blog post on Facebook about a controversial topic - and my mistake was caught by a Facebook user. 

Naturally, I deleted the post entirely within minutes of the initial posting, which also removed the rude comment calling out my mistake. 

I have tried to be typo-free ever since, however, with the hastiness in which we all use social media ,I am bound to make more mistakes.

My example is on a small scale when it comes to typos but what if I were the PR social media manager for a national organization and made the same mistake? Would there be severe consequences? Would I be fired? 

There is a lot to think about as budding PR pros when it comes to typos and grammatical errors. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, grammar mistakes are my biggest pet peeves and clearly do not fly in this industry.  Typos, because they are so easily avoidable, are even worse than grammatical errors. All it takes is some proofreading. 

If you didn't remember to proofread however and find your self in a typo catastrophe, here are three ways to recover from a typo on social media provided by PR Daily: 

1. Own it, quickly: Respond directly, rather than deleting the post. Though a user’s comment can be rude or ugly, a simple “thank you for pointing that out” would have sufficed. Addressed the comment right away, will help to build credibility for the organization.

2. Keep it short and keep it sweet: Though an answer is most certainly warranted, less is more. A big explanation can leave you equally vulnerable. Trying to justify a typo will only lead even more conversation in the public eye. Not a good idea. 

3. Accept it: Even if you didn’t make a mistake, what’s published on social media is fair game and everyone has different tolerance levels (especially when it comes to hot topics like religion and politics). Although you invite people to comment, “like,” and tweet, you take the risk of getting an answer you might not like. Don't take things personally; keep your head held high. 


Have you made a mistake on social media? How did you handle it? Let us know!

Twitter Tips: #FollowFriday

#FF is short for #FollowFriday. It’s a Twitter trend created way back in 2009 and has become a customary Friday activity ever since.

An #FF is a shout out, a show of appreciation, a nice recommendation. Each Friday you suggest Twitter profiles to all of your followers that you appreciate and enjoy. The idea being that your #FF suggestion will encourage others to check out that profile, generating more followers for them. It’s a really nice thing to do within the Twitterverse.

The hashtag (#) is added to create a clickable link and group all the #FF messages on Twitter together making them easily searchable.

Here is an example:

Do you partake in #FF? Make sure to follow us! @PRowlPR

The Super Bowl and Social Media

If you haven't realized that Superbowl XLVII is just a few days away than I am not sure you are a true American! This year's game is a face off between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.

Like most people, I still have a few more things to do in preparation for game day. As I was searching the social media world for new information regarding Sunday's showdown, I stumbled upon this lovely infographic posted on Mashable a few days ago.

If you are an aspiring PR pro and as social media obsessed as I am, be sure to use this information to know which reporters and players to follow, which hastags to use and how to find each team's website. You never know when it'll come in handy!

Even if 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh thinks "Facebooking and the Tweeter" are a waste of time, if you want to become a future public relations professional, it is best to brand yourself and get your social media imprint out there now!

Take a look and let us know what you think:

How To Craft The Perfect Tweet

As any aspiring PR professional knows, Twitter is an important platform to engage an audience. Social media managers are always looking to craft the perfect tweet. After all, aren't we all looking to get a retweet or a follow?

Here are some important tips in order to craft the perfect tweet for your company or your personal brand:

1. Links: Including links in your tweets is one easy way to get a retweet. Don't just tell people about something; show them!

2. Timeliness: Always make sure the tweets you are crafting deal with timely news. Tweets mentioning news are usually the most shared.

3. Technology News: If you are looking to gain more mentions and retweets, try tweeting about tech news.

4.  "You": Using "you" instead of "I" spark more retweets because it makes the tweet more universal and less personal.

5. Punctuation: Make sure to always use correct punctuation in your tweets. No one will retweet something with improper grammar!

Do you have any other tips to crafting the perfect tweet? Let us know!

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!

Live Tweeting: The "Active Audience" Has Taken On A Whole New Meaning

I'll admit it; I have become competely obssessed with Twitter, and I am not the only one. Recently, Twitter has been blowing up the social media scene. More social media users are turning away from other popular forms, notably Facebook, and dedicating themselves to Twitter. Ever since Twitter blew up the social media scene in 2006, tweeting has become more socially acceptable in formal settings.

"Live tweeting" has become a new term in recent years. Maybe it is because the new generation has an addiction to knowing what is happening at every second of every day or perhaps it is the thrill of updating the world on the latest gossip. I see this "live tweeting" trend in its full form every week at our PRSSA meetings. It started becoming a trend at our meetings sometime last school year and has gotten even bigger now that more of our members are Twitter fiends (a.k.a. me).

 Our Temple University chapter meetings usually last about an hour. After a full day of classes, it seems like a long time to dedicate your full attention to. To keep members interested, engaged and active, encourage live tweeting!

Here are three tips on how you can incorporate live tweeting into your any type of programming or presentation:

1. Choose a hashtag that relates to your event specifically. For Temple University PRSSA meetings, we use #TemplePRSSA. If attendees consistently use the hastag, it will make it easier for others to recognize your organization or event.

2. If you have a speaker or presenter who is on Twitter, encourage your members or attendees to tag them in their live tweets.

4. Track the hashtag. See what your members or attendees are saying, and retweet them as encouragement, too.

With live tweeting, you never know the conversations that could be started. It is a great tool for getting an audience involved and egaged.

How do you use live tweetting? Let us know!

Shifting Your Social Media Strategy When No One Seems to be Noticing You

Social media strategy should not be something new to savvy PR professionals. But what do you do when you have been tweeting, posting and pinning and there seems to be no result?  

Here are a few steps to shift your strategy to make sure you are getting the most out of the enormous world of social media.

1. Make sure your information is correctly targeted: Many may think posting event, information or links is enough to get yourself noticed, but you have to make sure that you still know who your audience is.  There is a lot of content out there, and it is easy to get lost in the sea of information. Know who you were originally looking to engage with and make sure your language and approach is properly aimed towards those groups. 
2. Learn to continue the conversation: Not only does your information need to stay targeted, but also you need to follow-up and continue to engage and communicate just like you would in more traditional media types.  Don’t expect consumers or journalist to automatically come to you for more information. Stay on top of details and send out updates when needed to make sure you gain as much exposure as possible. 
3. Don’t ignore negativity: There will always be people opposed to whatever you are posting. Learn how to react to these situations without diverging from the problem. Ignoring negative feedback will never help, and deleting the conversation makes it seem like their arguments may hold some form of weight against your client or brand. 
4. Take baby steps: You cannot wake up one day and decide “I want to switch how I engage in social media!” You need to start with your basics and figure out what works for you and your client. Social media is not a math equation where if you do x and y, you will always produce z. First learn to crawl, then walk, then run. It is the only way to guarantee your improvements and shifts will be noticed. 

Have you ever had to shift your social media strategy? How did it work for you? Let us know.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations Staff member Jessica Ross.