The Corporate Social Media Surge.

It is absolutely true that social media has become a crucial tool in customer-company relations. However, if done wrong in the corporate world, a social media melt down will occur. So when your boss tells you it is time to jump on the social media bandwagon, there are a few things you as the PR professional should consider before opening up a social channel between your corporation and its audience. 

Jessica Sharp of Maven Communications, LLC. lists 3 crucial mistakes to avoid as your company becomes active in social media, inspired by journalist Shara Tibken.

No. 1: Failing to have a plan before rolling out the campaign- Too many companies jump on the social media bandwagon without first having a clear plan of action or strategy. Doing it because everyone else is doing it is not a good enough reason. A social media strategy should be just as well thought out as a marketing strategy - and in fact, they should tie into one another. Clearly defined objectives, tactics for achieving them and measurement methods should all be determined before creating a social media presence.

No. 2: Not understanding what social media is - and is not - good for- Social media is a great way to connect and engage with target audiences. But it’s not a total replacement for tried and true relationship building methods. Social Media is a wonderful new way to show another side of a company’s personality, but it cannot successfully be the only way that a company communicates with target audiences.

No. 3: Thinking social media is cheap or (free)- Social media is not free, or even cheap, it’s just a different kind of expensive. Just like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in. So to really make a social media campaign work, it takes time, a lot of it. And as we all know - time is money. 

Simply put, when your company plans to “get with it” in terms of social media think of these three objectives. Is social media relevant to your corporation? Do you understand the positives and negatives that can arise from your use of social media channels? Do you have the ability to successfully maintain social media? If you plan your approach to social media, your company can benefit greatly from the interaction and feedback from your target audience and/or customers. 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Emily Storz.

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.

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! 

Surgery and Social Media

The Swedish Medical Center has begun a new campaign to raise awareness around treatment options for those with hearing loss. The campaign consists of a video series developed by Dr. Douglas Backous, medical director of the Center for Hearing and Skull Base Surgery at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, Washington and the use of Twitter and Instagram.

The series began in September and will end October with a live chat. Each week, a short video was released discussing topics such as what a cochlear implant is, how to prepare for the surgery and answers to frequently asked questions. What differentiates the series is the culimination of the campaign, set to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7:40 am, which will include live-tweets and Instagram photos taken during a surgery. The use of social media during surgery is the first of its kind  and may set a new standard in the medical industry.

The live-tweeted and Instagrammed surgery will comprise of a live feed of still images during the surgery taken from inside the operating room. In order to view the stream, viewers simply need to follow @swedish and #swedishhear. To date, the hospital has already acquired almost 10,000 followers.

As an advocator of the deaf community I will definitely be tuning in, will you?

For more information about the series and to tune in visit www.swedish.org/SwedishHear and follow them on twitter @swedish and #swedishhear.

Looking to Start Your Own Business? Just Ask Google

Google is giving you the power of knowledge to start your own business with their new program, “Google for Entrepreneurs.” Celebrating their 14^th year anniversary, Google is motivating entrepreneurs by providing several dozen programs including the, “Annual Journey of Entrepreneurship”, and partnerships with international accelerator and incubator programs such as Le Camping in France and iHub out if Kenya. Google’s focus is threefold:

1. Partnerships with strong organizations that serve entrepreneurs in local communities
2. Google-led programs to bring our teams and our tools directly to entrepreneurs
3. Placing relevant Google tools in the hands of startups as they are getting off the ground and ready to scale

Clinton Spokesperson Vs. BuzzFeed Journalist

Emotions tend to run high when hard hitting events happen that are of public interest. It is important that PR reps and spokespeople maintain positive relationships with members of the media. After the unfortunate shooting of Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ in Benghazi, Libya, the public wanted answers and the media wanted to give them to them.

Shortly after the fatal attacks, CNN found the Ambassador's journal. After returning the journal to the family, CNN displayed excerpts on its network which indicated that there may have been a security risks detected, contrary to reports by the State Department that claimed they had no prior knowledge of a security risk. BuzzFeed reporter Michael Hastings fully supported the showing of these excerpts, but Clinton spokesman, Philippe Reines, did not.

Hastings and Reines exchanged a thread of heated emails, which ended in Reines telling hastings to "[Censored] off" and Hastings making claims about Reines' relationships with women. The two men have since settled into their corners, keeping any other remarks out of the public's ear. Read more excerpts from the email exchange here.

This serves as the perfect example of how to mismanage media relations. Both sides clearly felt passionately about his position on the topic, but forgot these simple media relation tips when it came down to expressing sentiments:

• Don't burn bridges: Not only has Michael Hastings lost a credible source for future stories, Philippe Reines has lost a media outlet. This will not help either side in future endeavors.
• Remain polite: The use of profanities by both men is unacceptable. They may have thought their words would remain trapped inside the safe boundaries of an email chain, but that is no excuse for fowl language. They should have remembered that ANYTHING can go public.
• Keep your emotions in check: Both Hastings and Reines were looking out for the best interests of their industries. It is easy to be pulled out of your element when dealing with topics you're passionate about, but you should never let your emotions get the best of you.

How do you think the men should handle themselves moving forward?

College Football and the PR Pro

On Saturday, Temple lost to one of it's biggest rivals in football, Penn State. While this was definitely a blow for us, there are a couple lessons we can take from the college football game, thanks to "What college football teaches us about PR":

• The coach/CEO sets the tone: think of all of your favorite teams, and then think of their coaches. You can probably name all of them. The coach is the heart of the team in a lot of ways, he motivates and disciplines and can often serve as a father figure to some of the players. The dynamic of the team depends on first the coach, which also effects performance. The same goes for companies. The CEO is the figurehead of the company and communicates the company's purpose and goals to the rest of the public. The rest of the employees depend on him or her to represent the company well and to their best advantage.
• Preparation is key: teams are always watching footage of past games. This is to strategize what they did wrong, or right, and devise a plan for next time, to do better. PR teams must do this as well, to prepare adequately for any kind of crisis. The more you prepare in advance, the less amount of running around you will have to do. Granted, things will always go wrong, but you can never be too prepared.
• Never underestimate an opponent (or reporter): The biggest mistake teams make is to be overconfident. Overconfidence clouds the mind and prevents players from really committing to the game and executing. PR pros must also be vigilant in trusting a reporter. Regardless of the situation, always be prepared for a reporter to ask your client tough, involved questions. Letting your guard down will leave an open window of opportunity for a reporter to get to your client.
• It's all about the team: no football team would be successful without the entire team. Every player is given a role in the team and without that one person, productivity would suffer. In the workplace, whether you are an intern or an executive, you are needed. Just giving someone a pat on the back or a "good job" may do wonders and will ultimately promote a team atmosphere.