Category Archives: Guest Post

Feb 14 2012

Which Photo Sharing Social Media Channel is Right for your Brand?

The rise of ‘Brand Media’ creates an opportunity to use the Internet to speed the spread of high quality business intelligence internally, deliver specific and managed photo, video and other content directly to customers, consumers, journalists, lawmakers and other interested parties. It also provides a tool for crisis management, enhance its communications opportunities in the digital community of consumers and bloggers, and, as a by-product, create, manage and provide frictionless internal access to a rich media digital asset repository.

Flickr is but one of those channels. In and of itself, Flickr has little relevance if used carelessly or as a by-product or add-on. You shouldn’t merely dump images or video off and leave them as untitled. You need to program the channel, much like a news outlet programs the different segments. It cannot be your filing cabinet or content graveyard.

How can Flickr work against you?

1. If your brand page is dedicated to showcasing doughy executives conspiring to take each other to a jalapeno popper lunch, cigar smoking at the tailgate, beer pong-Fridays or anyone dressed up like a leprechaun on St. Patty’s Day.

2. If your brand page only consists of screen captures or images of your product placements in the media.

3. If you don’t designate an owner for the channel, who approves, commissions or otherwise takes responsibility for what is publically available. Resist the urge to share that photo of Beyonce at the next table. If it is relevant, give it to the person or team in charge of your social media.

4. Upload images once and let the channel get dusty. That only demonstrates you don’t really care about what is there.

5. If you don’t integrate the platform as part of your overall social media effort and calendar. Flickr is one of a myriad of platforms your brand needs to be utilizing.

These would just be a few ways Flickr (or any other sharing platform) would be not only useless, but also potentially damaging to your reputation, to potential and existing customers and even recruiting efforts. Someone over the age of 25 may not want to go to work at a frat house if they are serious about furthering their career.

How can Flickr be of most use for a brand?

1. It can support a wide variety of business/marketing objectives by showcasing the production process, the people who handle each part of the business and the world-class precision in which your brand conducts itself.

2. Building brand awareness and positioning within the sustainability community. If you are community minded, show your efforts. Help your audience understand your efforts to be considerate to the planet, the neighborhood and those who could most use your brand to do the same.

3. Driving sales consideration. Show new products, the creative process, the packaging or process. Let your audience have access, let them LIKE you.

4. Use the channel to recruit new employees. Show off the office, don’t show off the company clown on his scooter, the hot intern or the forced fun of a mandatory sack race.

5. Changing/improving consumer sentiment. Visually demonstrate what your brand is all about. If all you have to share are photos of people at happy hour, don’t. Your customer doesn’t care.

6. Showcase corporate culture in your sector of business. Do showcase how your organization is different in relevant ways. If you participate in Habitat for Humanity for example, let people know.

Now you might be asking, Why Flickr instead of a Facebook photo album or section of your website or blog? I wouldn’t necessarily say it is an either or proposition. Flickr is great for hi-resolution, keyword tagging, public facing, image embedding on you blog and photo community friendly, whereas Facebook is great for creating albums of content that can be tagged only with actual people and places. Flickr also provides more legal control over the usage of your images via Creative Commons. Simplified: keyword tagging vs names and public vs the option to privatize or selectively share. They are similar, but not alike and for me, the search-ability or Flickr (being discoverable) is of great importance.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the latest hot property on the Internet: Pinterest. Pinterest is another great platform for sharing not only your content, but also content you feel may be of interest to others. So, having said that, the best use for Flickr is to upload your content, appropriately tag it and then perhaps as part of a distribution strategy, ‘pin’ it as a way to share it with your intended community.

Perhaps the most important take away might be to have motivation behind your effort. Use each platform appropriate to the type of content you are creating. Don’t start a Flickr channel because the Jones’s have one. Start using a platform or because you have a story to tell and want to support it, grown the audience, demonstrate quality, skill, fun and passion in your industry. Also bear in mind, you will want to effectively manage the data as well as protect content where appropriate. Make sure you have some sort of distribution strategy in place. After all, it might be great content, but it also has to be discoverable in this ever shifting arena of over sharing and ‘me too’ media.

About the Author
Tracy Shea is a veteran broadcast producer and digital innovator, who was part of the launch team for CNN.com, worked with revolutionaries at Wired Magazine and developed two screen interactive TV content before tablets evolved. He’s worked with brands including Starbucks, General Mills, Unilever, Pepsico and Ebay. Currently, he is Executive Producer in charge of program development for Toni On New York and provides digital/social media council for several agencies. Connect with him via @Broadbandito. 

 

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Feb 8 2012

5 Tips on How to Manage Up in the Workplace

Taking the initiative + building relationships = Managing Up

Pretty easy and fairly simple, but many of us still struggle with this in the workplace. As such, here are some of the best tips I can provide on how to accomplish this feat:

1. Take Initiative- Do not wait to be told do something just do it. Look for ways to improve day-to-day operations. Suggest ideas with outside the box thinking. By taking initiative, you increase visibility within the company. Management will take notice.

2. Keep the Boss Informed- Communication is the key. Make sure they know everything there is to know about an assignment or project. This helps build a solid relationship with your boss.

3. Leave Personal Opinions to Yourself- Like mom always said, “If you don’t have nothing nice to say, don’t say nothing at all.” Despite how you personally feel about your boss, it should not deter you from giving maximum effort. This is tough because you’re not always going to agree with them. Plain and simple: Be professional at all times.

4. Stay Away from Office Politics- Beware of the internal struggles and daily gossip. Stay safe from being involved in any name calling accusations by not participating in any conversations degrading a co-worker. If you can’t say it directly to the person being mentioned don’t bother talking behind their back.

5. Build Relationships- There is no “I” in team. Make it a point to work well with others. Know their name and get to know them personally. People like to work with someone who treats them as equals. Everyone cheers for the team player that gets the promotion.

Managing up helps you add an irreplaceable value to the company. Do not restrict going above and beyond for just your boss. Do it for the team as well and all else will follow. Create a winning work environment where success is achievable through hard work.

About the Author
Kaleef M. Lloyd is an Indpendent Public Relations Practitioner & Social Media Strategist. He embraces the art of storytelling and feels everything has a story to tell. Find Kaleef on Twitter via @kaleefmlloyd.

 

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Jan 24 2012

How to Find and Secure a Part-Time Teaching Position in Public Relations

Opportunities abound for public relations professionals willing to share their expertise and passion through teaching. Here’s an overview of how to find these part-time teaching jobs at higher education institutions, based on techniques I’ve employed during fourteen years of teaching such classes.

- Check out regional listings under Yahoo by visiting here to identify universities where you’d like to teach. Next, visit a university’s website, identify academic programs that offer relevant classes, then move on to other university departments that may offer degree and non-degree granting programs. You also might search a university’s course listings using key words “public relations” and “marketing” to unearth courses.

- Visit websites that list part-time positions in higher education, such as: 1) The Chronicle of Higher Education; 2) Online Faculty Careers; 3) Inside Higher Ed; 4) HigherEdJobs; 5) The National Higher Education Recruitment Consortium; 6) AdjunctWorld Resources. These encompass opportunities in traditional classroom settings as well as online. I’ve found that using keywords “adjunct” or “part-time” combined with “teaching” or “instruction” (along with a geographic focus, if your goal is to teach in traditional classroom settings) will generate results.  Also explore general job search sites (e.g. Craigslist) as they often post announcements for adjunct teaching positions. On Twitter, follow @onlinefaccareer and search using the keyword “adjunct.”

- Once I identify programs that interest me, I secure the name of the person who screens and/or hires part-time instructors. I’ll then send that person a short e-mail (or leave a brief voicemail message), introducing myself, providing an overview of my experience, and stating an interest in adjunct teaching. I identify a class that’s already listed in the school’s catalog or on its Web site as one I’d like to teach in this initial query. The school might respond affirmatively to this inquiry, as they need someone immediately to take over teaching duties for the class. Alternatively, they may need someone on standby for the time when a faculty member is no longer available to teach. Should you receive a “no” or no response at all, don’t give up. Be persistent, and recognize that the lead-time for decision-making can vary from weeks to years.  I taught several classes at one university because I e-mailed the academic coordinator more than a year after my initial query, highlighting my availability and interest in teaching. The class I’d targeted eventually needed a new instructor, and that quickly evolved into a second class on a different topic (but one related to public relations).  My persistence paid off.

- You also can volunteer to be a guest speaker in an existing class by contacting the instructor. I’ve found highlighting a specialized area of knowledge (e.g., social media) as well as specific industry (e.g. education), sector (e.g. non-profit), and/or setting (e.g. agency, independent consultant) experience as the best approach to fit in to an existing course syllabus. A positive impression as a guest speaker can turn into an opportunity to teach an entire class. In addition to the techniques I’ve outlined above, it’s also important to let everyone know you want to teach part-time—particularly fellow members of professional organizations such as PRSA and IABC as well as friends and colleagues who work at educational institutions. Adjunct openings often are not advertised.

In short, teaching opportunities await public relations practitioners who spend the time to seek them out.  The techniques outlined here should give you a great start on that process.

About the Author
Dr. Mitchell Friedman (@mitchellfriedmn) has taught management communication and related topics to graduate students at the University of San Francisco, the University of California, Davis, and West Virginia University. He also provides professional development and education to public relations agencies. He recently completed doctoral dissertation explored leadership development in public relations. 

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Jan 18 2012

3 Ways to Get the Brand Awareness Your Company Deserves

You want people to know you and your company. But that’s not enough.

You have to keep people excited, informed and hungry for more of what you offer. And that starts with omnipresent – or as close to it as you can get!

So how do you get your brand the attention it deserves?

Find out what your audience cares about by leveraging social media platforms
There are powerful tools that can help you understand what your audience wants. So what can you do with them?

-Ask followers what they’d like to see more of
-Conduct polls about your products or services
-Take note of which posts people respond to most
-Try giveaways: This can range from providing useful how-to content for free to offering a free product or webinar. Money is often a barrier to entry—give people the opportunity to try your product or service, love it, and come back for more.

Show people you’re human
Imagine you’re a PR pro for a celebrity. Would you pitch a piece on how many tweets Kim Kardashian gets per month? No. You would cater to what people want to know, like her workout plan, what she eats for breakfast and who she hangs out with. Surprisingly, people do actually want to know these things about Kim K.

The same rule applies to your brand. Yes, you want to provide useful information, but there’s a great benefit to creating and showcasing the culture around your brand. Share YouTube videos of co-workers joking around, encourage your team to mingle at events, create a blog with personality that highlights fund tidbits about employees. People are far more likely to remember you if you let them get to know you.

Find opportunities to share your work
Find speaking opportunities, reach out to bloggers, and submit your publications to magazines. Be creative!

Have you tried submitting your work to awards programs? Ragan Communications’ PR Daily Awards program, for example, (Disclaimer: I work for Ragan) is a great way to get your work in front of prestigious judges (from CNN to The Los Angeles Times) and boost brand awareness.

Winners are awarded a free registration to a Ragan conference of their choice. And, as our conferences feature companies like Southwest Airlines, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, and Mashable, it’s an opportunity to learn from and connect with the best and brightest in PR and social media.

Learn more about the PR Daily Awards and submit your entry.

What creative strategies do you use to build awareness of your brand? Please share this with your network and leave a comment on this post!

About the Author
Sam Hosenkamp is Ragan’s social media director. She grew up in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and San Diego, and graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in English and Psychology. Connect with her on Twitter via @SamHosenkamp.


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				Jan
				12
				2012
			
		

		
To Stick with your Social Media Program or to Abandon It, That is the Question

	


		

		
Getting yourself into social media is a breeze. Membership is free and setting up shop on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn takes all of about an hour.


Getting yourself out of social media is another question altogether. How do you judge program performance? How do you know if the ends justify the means? How can you tell whether you’re one Tweet away from roaring success or only throwing good money after bad?


Here are factors to consider when determining whether it’s time to make a strategic withdrawal from social media.


Decide with Metrics


One of the silliest ideas floating around is that social media is somehow above or beyond statistical analysis. Don’t buy into this thinking. If your social media program does not have metrics in place, you’ll need to put them in place and track performance for several months in order to make an informed decision on whether to continue or terminate your effort. Whatever your program’s goal, there are performance metrics that can be associated with it.  For instance, retweets and mentions are measures of brand awareness. Blog and Facebook comments are measures of engagement. Referred traffic and form fills are measures of conversion.


For a plug-pulling discussion, the key consideration is not magnitude, but the trend. If numbers are going up, keep going. If numbers are flat or declining – and you can’t think of ideas for improving – consider other marketing options.


Decide with Business Sense


Even though social media metrics exist, they are far from perfect and should always be considered in the context of your general business sense of what’s going on. Contextual issues to consider include:


Anecdotal evidence. Managing social media from an ivory tower can be deceiving. When you’re in the trenches, reading comments, responding to tweets, etc., you may find success stories that don’t show up in the analysis:  For example, if you secure one new customer with a lifetime value of $100,000, this alone may justify your social media program. On the flip side, the numbers might show tons of retweets, but if they all involve strategically unimportant tweets, they may have little or no value.


Competitive evidence. How are your competitors doing in social media? If some of them are doing well, it indicates your program has the potential to succeed. However, if few (or none) of your competitors are thriving, it could mean that social media is not a good option in your niche.


Decide with Every Option in Mind


Withdrawing from social media to save money is risky; withdrawing to devote resources to another, more promising program is smart. The problem with eliminating social as a cost cutting maneuver is the difficulty of starting up again when your business returns to expansion mode. Certain Internet marketing activities, such as pay-per-click advertising, can be turned off and on like a faucet. In the social space, however, consistent presence is critical. A sudden withdrawal may inspire conversations that negatively impact your brand, and you’ll have a hard time winning people back if you return.


Decide by Process of Elimination


If you decide to abandon social, you won’t want to look back and wonder, “What if?” To avoid abandoner’s remorse, ask yourself and your organization the following questions before taking the step.


    

  • Have we given social media our best effort?
    • 

  • Were our goals clearly defined?
    • 

  • If we lack internal resources, would it help to outsource some or all of the work?
    • 

  • If we are outsourcing, would it help to bring some or all of the work in house?
    • 

  • Are there any bold ideas that we can try?
    • 

  • Would it make sense to scale back rather than eliminate social media, and give our customers time to catch up with us?
    • 



It is not smart to abandon social media because you are so repelled by the idea of social media that you are blinded to its high potential in your business. Neither is it wise to give up because of a negative comment or two, or even several. People are going to talk about your brand whether you have a social media presence or not … which, come to think of it, is a really good reason to have one.


About the Author

Brad Shorr is Director of Content and Social Media for Straight North, a Chicago marketing agency.  They specialize in B2B, with clients in niche industries such as credit card processing and GPS vehicle tracking. A blogger since 2005, Brad writes frequently on social media and copywriting topics. Contact Brad on Twitter via @BradShorr.


 


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