social media PR tools to watch in 2012

Technology and social media continue to evolve and we admit it…  it can be incredibly hard to keep up sometimes. In 2012, brand presence on variety of social platforms will be absolutely essential for business … but which ones do you choose? We identified the top 3 key platforms that we believe will be most popular for business in the coming year, offering a well-rounded approach to social media PR in 2012.

After you take a read, don’t forget to take our poll at the end of this post!

1. Google

SEO will continue be vital to content marketing – and as google adjusts its algorithm for search, so must business by adjusting their strategy in order to continue to improve page rank and be found online.

More and more business will be taking advantage of Google+ for Business to manage  social media communities for their brand. We have witnessed many individuals experiment with, and embrace, Google+ for personal use, but surprisingly, very few businesses have jumped on board. We believe that will change in the coming year.  As more business people find their comfort level with Google+ on a personal level, they will migrate to Google+ for business.

2. Twitter

Twitter brand pages will be all the rage for business as the integrated geo-targeting and design benefits of improved space for logos, taglines and key messaging are unveiled in the first quarter.  Klout will continue to be known as ‘the online measurement tool’ for 2012, and you can expect to see some changes there too along the way.

3. Facebook for Business

Company Facebook pages for business will continue to play a key role in brand engagement. The year 2011 proved that the demographics for desirable customer profiles exist on Facebook. Does your business? If not, perhaps it should be there for 2012. It will only continue to grow in popularity and be a necessity to grow business next year.

Of course, it’s important to have a strong communications strategy centered around all of these platforms along with a solid plan. That’s why in 2012, we predict that many organizations will move to social media monitoring to keep track of what is being said about their brands and products, (and even their competitors). Can you blame them?

Monitoring will pack a pretty powerful punch to PR in 2012. We talked about the benefits of social media monitoring here.

We suspect more and more companies will use the information they gather in a ‘new kind of research’ to help them engage with target audiences, media and online influencers more directly, which will impact their bottom lines.

So, if you had to pick three – these would be our recommendation.  (And a little media monitoring wouldn’t hurt). How many of these platforms are you currently using and which ones do you plan to use in your marketing strategy this coming year?

Take our Poll…

Follow us on Google+, Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on how these three key platforms offer a well-rounded approach to PR as they evolve in the coming year.

12 PR prizes for the next 12 days – will it be you?

Now that Santa is about to reveal what he’s been working hard on all year, it’s our turn to do the same with our twelve days of Christmas giveaway promotion.

In late October, we announced to  our social media communities that all Facebook fans would be entered into a draw to have an opportunity to win one of 12 fabulous PR prizes.

Starting December 25th, we’ll be announcing the 12 lucky Facebook fans by random draw.  Will it be you? Stay tuned to this blog post!

UPDATE – January 5, 2012

Day 12

Free $100 Google Adwords credit for the Google Adwords ninja who wants to get some extra mileage out of promoting their existing brand campaign on Google.

UPDATE – January 4, 2012

Day 11

Wondering if Google Adwords are a right fit for your business?  Here’s a great way to find out! We’ll help you navigate the world of Google Adwords  by helping build your ads and even throw a $50 Google Adwords credit your way to get you started.  

UPDATE – January 3, 2012

Day 10

Have news to share? Using the information gathered from our phone interview and review of our corporate marketing materials, we’ll draft a professional and accurate release from scratch that will be news ready.

UPDATE – January 2, 2012

Day 9

Release Re-writing.  We’ll fine tune your release by re-writing and adding content for news value, ensuring it’s professionally written to catch the attention of reporters.  

UPDATE – January 1st, 2012 – Happy New Year!

Day 8

Get a targeted list of journalists/ reporters and editors who write about your space. If you have news to share in 2012, we’ll ensure you share it with the right people. 

UPDATE - December 31st, 2011

We look forward to reviewing Sheila Gallant Hallora’s new site and Kareen Aristide’s Facebook Page in the New Year! Congrats ladies! Here is the prize for Day.7.  Day 5 is still also up for grabs….

Day 7

Have press release ready to go but want  a second option before you press send?  We’ll review the newsworthiness of a release you’ve written, suggest changes to improve content and tone as well as ensure your release is formatted correctly for producers, section editors and reporters.

UPDATE – December 29th & 30th, 2011 

Since we will be travelling for the next few days, we thought we would post the next two prizes (one a day earlier than normal).  But before we do, we just want to say ‘Congrats to Michelle Hamelin who has claimed the Day 4 prize of a complimentary PR strategy session’. The next two new prizes up for grabs (all about engagement)…

Day 6

Online social media review of an existing Facebook or Twitter Business Page  - along with tips for ongoing consumer engagement.

Day 5

Need a little boost to get to the next level on social media? Is there something that you always wanted to know how to do ? Get a one hour tutorial session on the social media platform on your choice.  You ask the questions, we’ll walk you through them!

UPDATE – December 28th, 2011

As of this morning at 9:00 am, looks like Day 3 prize is still available.  Here is the next prize up for grabs for Day 4 to Facebook fan winners…

Day 4 Prize

On the fourth day of Christmas, someone will be that much closer to reaching his/her PR goals with a complimentary PR strategy session.

UPDATE – December 27th, 2011

Brenda Hollingsworth will be starting the new year off right, taking advantage of our prize from day two with a  content marketing strategy  review. Congratulations Brenda!  Here is the next prize up for grabs to Facebook fan winners…

Day 3 Prize

On the third day of Christmas, one Facebook fans’ online content will be more SEO friendly with a free keyword evaluation.  We’ll let you know which high volume / low competition keywords to use for your site.

UPDATE – December 26th, 2011

Wow  - The Day 1 prize went almost as fast as it was posted.   Congrats to Traci West Brigham who is taking advantage of the free 1 hr PR consult.

Here is our prize for day two for the lucky FB Fan winners.  If you think this prize is a good fit for your business and want to claim it, leave a comment stating the name of the prize and a way to get in touch with you in the New Year. (There are 10 more days and 10 more prizes to go).

Day 2 Prize

On the second day of Christmas, we are offering one winning Facebook fan a review of their content marketing strategy.

UPDATE – December 25th, 2011

We’ll be posting an update – right here – every day for the next 12 days to announce the prizes we are giving away to enhance PR efforts for these winning Facebook fans in 2012. To ensure that the prize awarded is best suited for each individual business and unique needs, each winner must claim the prize they want by commenting on this blog. Winning Facebook fans claim their desired prize by being the first to leave a comment indicating the prize they want to claim (i.e. day one – 1 Hour PR) as well as a way for us to get in touch (an email, twitter handle, etc…) so the we can send the deets. There are 12 different prizes, each with a unique PR offering – but be sure not to hold off claiming your prize for too long, you may just miss out on getting the prize you wanted most.

Congratulations to the following 12 Facebook fans: Amanda DeGrace, Traci West Brigham, Michelle Hamelin, Brenda Hollingsworth, Barb Stegemann, Kareen ‘Fearless’ Aristide, Jane Darling Moreno, Sheila Gallant-Halloran, Sophie Bifield, Isabelle Haché, Natalie Rea, Jim Dean. Your names have been drawn as winners of the 12 days of Xmas promotion.

Thanks for being a Facebook Fan.

Dear winners: Once the prize is claimed in the comments section, it will no longer be up for grabs. All prizes must be claimed by January 15th and any unclaimed prizes by this date will not be awarded. Enough of the mouse print already… let’s start with day one, shall we?

Day 1 Prize

On the first day of Christmas we are giving away one hour free PR consultation.

Watch for the Day 2 PR prize, which we will post on Dec 26th!

happy holidays

We are officially turning off computers and cell phones and turning on the answering service, our Christmas lights & Christmas spirit.

We’ll turn it all back on, (and off), January 2nd, 2012 when we re-open shop after the holidays.

We want to take this opportunity to extend our warmest wishes to our clients for the valued business and colleagues for the continued support.

May your most cherished moments with friends & family this holiday become your favourite memories.

Deanna

Challenge your PR in 2012

It was interesting to watch how businesses integrated social media into their communications strategy in 2011.  There was an influx of new hires for social media managers whose sole job was to monitor what is being said online and engage audiences.  Although human analysis is certainly an important part of monitoring, it’s just not humanly possible to do it all. Organizations who are serious about reputation management and building brand/consumer loyalty in 2012 are increasingly turning to social tools that plug into business processes to measure online conversations. 

What is the benefit?  With the right tools in place, you’ll understand the landscape, spot trends and find out what is being said about your brand, products and services.  You’ll  be able to identify the people, the issues & trends impacting your business through online conversations.  Not only can you get an in-depth look at volume, demographics, location, tone and emotion of conversations surrounding your brand, but you can even go one step further and aggregate the results with those of your top competitors. Pretty powerful stuff! 

Remember, relationships don’t end just because your PR campaign does. To fully understand the sentiment behind online conversations, social monitoring is a long-term commitment. The key is utilizing those metrics to act on what you learn from editors & reporters, consumers, competitors and online influencers. So, before putting the finishing touches on your your 2012 PR plan, challenge yourself and ask, “How will I cultivate new and existing relationships next year and ensure continued engagement about my brand & story?”

For information on our PR services including social monitoring, send us a quick request!

the past, present and future of PR

Further to my earlier post about infographics, I asked readers if they thought they were a fad or the future. They seem to be growing daily and will only increase with advent of PR3.0.  (And just when you were just getting the hang of PR2.0 .  I was pleasingly surprised when I stumbled across this infographic that gives a brief history of the top PR campaigns over time.  (originally provided by PRWeb). 

Here are some of my favourites.

• Ivy Lee wrote the first press release in 1906 which was printed verbatim in the New York Times  – and thus – crisis PR was born.
• US egg production has increased from to 6.5 billion today from the clever endorsements from the medical industry. The Egg Farmers of Canada continues to do a fabulous job of promoting the health benefits of including eggs in our diet with their “Get Cracking Campaign”.
• The Coca-Cola PR example is a classic, (no pun intended).  I remember writing my first PR paper in college on this very subject. World War II saw Coke sales plummet along with spirits and optimism for the future. Coca-Cola managed to persuade the US War Department that Coke was crucial to the war effort and announced that “every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coke for just 5 cents, no matter where they are and at whatever cost [to the company]”.  Number of bottles of Coca-Cola consumed during the war by troops? A whopping $5 Billion!

The PR tactics used in these few examples are so simple, yet so effective. What other PR campaigns can you think of, from past or present, that have resulted in these kinds of sales growth over time? Can’t wait to see what PR3.0 has in store!

the countdown has started

Like our Facebook Page between now and December 25th, 2011 and be automatically entered to win one of 12 fabulous PR prizes to help boost your PR profile in 2012.

With Thanksgiving and Halloween out of the way and as the cooler weather approaches, were gearing up for the holiday season and our first annual “12 days of Christmas Promotion”

Starting December 25th 2011 through January 5th 2012, we’ll be giving away 12 fabulous PR prizes to 12 lucky Facebook Fans to help boost PR profiles in 2012.

If you own an Ottawa-based business and are looking for some great PR value in 2012, all you have to do to have a chance at winning is ‘Like’ our storylinePR Facebook page between now and December 25th. Don’t worry if you have already ‘liked’ our page, you’ll automatically be entered.

What are the prizes you ask? Just as Santa doesn’t reveal what he has in store for under the Christmas tree until Christmas morning, we can’t either. But we can tell you that we’ve been busy in our own workshop to ensure all 12 gifts are designed to enhance your PR efforts next year.

To be eligible, you must own your own business in the National Capital Region, (NCR), being defined as a 55 kilometre radius from Ottawa downtown (City Hall) as the crow flies. Specifically, this includes Kemptville, Arnprior, Rockland, Russell, Embrun, Carleton Place, Almonte, Gatineau, Chelsea and Wakefield and excludes Perth, Renfrew and Smiths Falls.

We’ll be randomly drawing one lucky winner each day for 12 days starting December 25th.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and ‘like us’ on Facebook!   

And if you’re one of the 12 lucky winners, you’ll love us for it in the New Year.

social media PR love

Integrating social media into your public relations strategy provides an integrated approach to help you listen, engage and build loyalty. I’ve witnessed many businesses use social media independently as a vehicle to deliver their information, rather than an engagement tool. While this approach may satisfy immediate business objectives, it’s not a long-term communication strategy, often leaving CEO’s disappointed when it doesn’t evoke the desired result.

Your PR strategy should support your business and communications objectives and it’s important to know in advance what you are trying to achieve. Social media, when used effectively, can meet both the strategic and more down-to-earth needs of your business such as product launches, customer support, public outreach, lead generation and/or market research.

After you have identified your business objectives, the part most companies struggle with is… how to translate them into social media to achieve their communication objectives.  A simple way to look at this is to draw three columns on a piece of paper.  On the left, write each of your business objectives. In the right hand column, write down your communications objective and target audiences for each one you’ve identified the left hand column.  That is, who is the message intended for and what is the desired outcome?  In the middle column, outline how you will satisfy both using social media.  What tools will best meet your combined objectives and how will you use them?

Social media PR is a powerful tool that can be used to monitor what is being said about your brand products and services.  Social media PR love is conditional, given freely as long as certain needs are met.  It involves engagement, metrics and acting on what you learn from editors & reporters, consumers, competitors and online influencers. Whether you are using social media for soliciting a response, providing information, encouraging an action, increasing awareness, building consensus or changing behaviour… social media PR love requires a concentrated focus on what is truly important, to both your organization and your audience.

social media PR – making the leap!

We just finished our presentation at the IEA, (International Executives Association) Leadership Conference at the National Convention Centre earlier today. Some great questions from attendees about making the leap from traditional PR to social media PR!  It was great to share information on connecting to journalists through social media, see some familiar faces in the crowd & have the opportunity to connect, (live and in person), with members of my online community.

How to use social media to enhance your PR efforts

View more presentations from Deanna White

infographics – fad or future?

Infographics seems to be all the rage in social media. Companies are quick to recognize the benefits to communicate ideas and present complex concepts quickly in an easily understandable fashion.  With imbedded links, it is said that using infographics in your social media communications will dramatically increase our readership when intelligent SEO is built in. (We’ll let the stats on this blog post determine that), but it’s hard to deny that infographics are a great way to portray your message and brand.

beyond 140 characters

The majority of small and medium-sized business have well established brands on social media networks, (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook), however, expanding communication channels in social media can be easily incorporated with intensifying results.