Integrating Social Media and Your PR Campaign

In our social media and digital PR blog post, we talked about the power of social media and its effect on public relations, or really on digital PR.  There’s no doubt that social media’s growth and popularity has had a huge effect on PR campaigns.  The ability to utilize social media has become vital for PR professionals, there’s no doubt about it.  Integrating social media into any and all PR campaigns has become a standard amongst PR agencies everywhere.  To successfully integrate social media into your PR campaign, consider the following:

Get to know the landscape

One of the first steps of integrating social media into a PR campaign is fully understanding the landscape. Social media has changed the way consumers think and act.  Social media is used not just to communicate with one another, but it is also one of the prime places to effect purchasing decisions.  To integrate social media into any PR campaign it is crucial that PR professionals fully understand the realm of social media and that the consumer is getting the information they are seeking.  

Understand the social consumer

Incorporating social media into a PR campaign requires that the campaign, and public relations firm creating the campaign, keeps the needs and wants of the consumer in mind at all times. Consumers are looking for assistance in making decisions and are turning to social media to help them make up their minds.  The social consumer is also looking for conversation and dialogue between themselves and a company.  They want to feel like they are a part of the campaign and that their voice counts.  Unique contests and offers are a great way to attract the social consumer and are a good addition to a PR campaign.

Make parts of your campaign focused on social media

One of the best ways to integrate social media into a campaign is to pre-identify what social media's role will be in a PR campaign.  Ask yourself, "What role will social media serve in this campaign?" Having a designated role for social media in a PR campaign is one of the best ways to ensure a solid integration.  Social media should always be a part of the initial discussions for a PR campaign to ensure proper integration.  Adding social media tactics into a campaign last minute, or as an after-thought, will not make it successful.

Social media must tie in with the campaign and stand out

With so many marketing and PR professionals reaching out to consumers via social media, the bar has been set pretty high with great social media campaigns being carried out by some of the biggest brands in the country.  In order for social media integration to be successful in a PR campaign, the social media tactics being done have to be unique and stand out, which can be hard to do with so many company's engaging in social media.  Brainstorm with your PR firm team to come up with some groundbreaking ideas to ensure that integrating social media into your PR campaign will be successful.

Feel free to leave us a comment or contact us for on integrating social media into your PR campaign. 

Trends and Digital PR

As a franchise public relations firm complete with social media consultants, we always keep focused on social media trends to ensure we stay current.  With more and more people logging on to the multitude of social media sites available we, as social media consultants, must make sure we can keep up with the growth and the changes.  With the pressing growth of social media, digital PR is changing rapidly.  The social media growth and overall saturation amongst our culture ultimately means that the way we use social media as a franchise public relations firm will need to reflect that growth and change as well.  What does this growth in social media mean for franchise public relations firms providing social media services like us?  Here are a few things to keep in mind as the growth in social media only continues:

People are getting their information directly from social media

More and more people are reporting that they are getting their information or daily news directly from social media.  This means that they are completely bypassing the news and going straight to social sources to get the late and breaking news of the day.  Can we blame people for that?  No, we really can't.  The minute something amazing or catastrophic happens millions of people jump on their phones, acting as reporters, giving friends and family the rundown on the event.  What does this mean for public relations professionals?  It means we must reach these people where they are seeking their information.  This means if they are turning to LinkedIn, Google+ or the like for their information, we must put ourselves and our clients there right where they can see it.  The growth of social media only means that this trend is only going to continue, so we must as PR professionals, make sure we are taking notes.

Social media and customer service are starting to go hand in hand

As time goes on we are seeing more and more consumers voicing their customer service-related woes directly on social media.  Years back customers would typically contact a company's customer service representative to by phone to complain about a company's products or services, but now people simply take to their social media page and vent for all to see and read.  This can be a reputation killer for a company, there's no doubt about that.  This means public relations firms must become excellent counselors for clients and teach them how to conduct themselves online.  People are voicing their opinions daily on any and all brands, but it is up to the brand to decide how they are going to act on that.  For public relations professionals this has opened up all new services to provide for clients such as online media relations and online reputation.  As more and more people take to social media for venting purposes, public relations professionals will have to keep monitoring and building client's reputations by monitoring and positively utilizing social media.

Marketing coinciding with public relations

While the communications fields such as promotions, advertising, marketing, journalism and public relations typically are all somewhat joined at the hip, the growth of social media has only tied the fields together more so.  This means that public relations firms and public relations professionals must be hip to the marketing game as marketing is bleeding its way into public relations more and more as time goes on.  Digital PR has become its own branch off of marketing these days, which consists of online content creation, conversation monitoring and tracking, and online relations.  Where does marketing come in?  For PR professionals it comes down to recognizing where PR ends and marketing needs to begin.

As a franchise public relations firm we know how vital it is to stay on top of all the trends and without a doubt, we know how crucial it is to ride the digital tidal wave.  For comment or questions regarding trends and digital PR, feel free to leave us a comment below or contact us.

Ethics and Public Relations

As a Chicago franchise public relations firm, we frequently hear critics of the public relations field spew hateful remarks about public relations deeming PR tactics as "ploys," "stunts," "spin" or in our opinion the worst and most untrue, "organized lying." It is unfortunate to hear such hateful remarks associated with our industry when so many public relations firms and experts try so hard to go by the book and integrate ethics into each campaign that they run. When a dilemma arises and ethics are called into question, having guidelines to follow and putting a process in place will ensure that you will stay on track as a public relations professional. Here are a few steps to follow to help integrate ethics into a public relations campaign:

1- Pre-determined ethical principles:  It is key in public relations, and really in business in general, that pre-determined ethical principles and guidelines are identified early on and that those involved follow those guidelines.  Pre-determined ethical principles should be identified before any type of ethical dilemma arises to help determine a course of action should a dilemma crop up.

2- Write it out: When an ethical dilemma arises, do not put it out of sight and out of mind.  Take some time to sort it out by writing it all down. Sometimes putting your thoughts onto paper will help you sort out your thoughts and help you come up with a solid decision on how to approach the situation and solve the issue.

3- Identify all factors: Identify internal and external factors regarding an ethical decision you are trying to make.  These factors may be politically, financially, or socially motivated, but all of these types of factors are important when making an ethical decision and must be taken into consideration.

4- Values: What values are involved in making an ethical decision?  This is something you must determine when an ethical issue arises.  If multiple values are being called into question you may need to rank them in order of importance and decide which values are more important than others.  Values, and awareness of values, is key in making an important ethical decision in the public relations field, and really in business as well.

5- Who is involved?: When making an ethical decision, jot out a list of all the parties who may be affected by the decision.  Also define what the obligation is to each party to help make a solid ethical decision.  Based on what the obligation is to each party, a PR professional may find themselves in a spot where they must speak with the parties regarding the situation and what is being done to rectify the decision in an ethical way.

6- Making the decision:  Once all of the above have been taken into account and steps have been taken to move forward, typically the next step is making the decision.  Following the decision, develop and implement an action plan that coincides with your ethical goals.

7- Reflection: The last step of the process should be an evaluation or reflection of the ethical decision-making process you have created and followed.  During the reflection phase it is important to identify what parts of the process worked and which did not work so that next time you can more carefully plan.

When a dilemma arises, it is always good to have a process in places to help you more effectively deal with it.  Feel free to leave comments or questions below or contact us.

Myths Associated with Public Relations

As a Chicago franchise public relations firm, we hear all sorts of things about the public relations industry everyday. Because we are a member of the public relations industry, we felt it was fitting that we dedicated a blog to the myths associated with public relations and provide a bit of clearing up on things we have been hearing for years.  Here are a some of the most common myths about public relations:

Myth: Publicity is free and pretty easy to obtain.

Let's face it, there are a ton of public relations agencies out there looking to obtain solid publicity for clients, so competition for publicity is pretty high.  That being said, with competition being high, publicity is not always free and easy.  There are many companies out there who are looking to get some press coverage, so if it was easy to get then everyone would have it.  Besides, if getting publicity was free and easy, most organizations would elect to do public relations for themselves and wouldn't call in the PR experts or public relations firms to help get the coverage. We're calling this one a myth.

Myth: Public relations is just about throwing press conferences and writing PR releases.

Lots of people have the notion that the biggest part of public relations is writing and distributing press releases and throwing press conferences, but there is so much more to PR.  Releases and conferences are the two most common tactics used by PR professionals, which is why most people commonly associate public relations with those two tactics.  While PR used to rely quite heavily on the use of releases and conferences, today's PR is evolved and ever-changing.  PR today deals with event planning, all forms of communicating, social media, blogging, viral videos, and tactics most people couldn't believe are all public relations-based.  Franchise public relations, and really public relations in general, is so much more than meets the eye.

Myth: Any and all press is good press.

This has been a very, very popular myth for as long as public relations has been around.  We've all heard this one, probably a million times over and we are calling this one a myth.  No, not all press is necessarily good press.  While getting press is often times the goal for any and all companies, bad press surrounding a company can be quite detrimental to the longevity of a company. The mentality should never really be "any press is good press."  The mentality of a company or public relations firm should always be to present the company or client in the best light.

Myth: Public relations is all about spin.

This is another popular public relations myth that has been around for years and years and is simply not true.  Lumping public relations in with spin or propaganda used to happen frequently, but these days public relations is viewed in a very different light.  Public relations firms and PR pros avoid spin techniques, providing solid, hard-hitting information.  Public relations experts provide a wonderful alternative source for information and really, a lot of public relations experts make life easier for business journalists and clients.

Myth: Public relations cannot be measured.

We've talked about it before, perhaps not in the quantifying manner some people are looking for, but public relations can be measured in a different way.  Earned media time can be the equivalent to paid advertising and can even be more effective.  While that's not completely measurable, the success a business gains from that media time is priceless.

What myths have you encountered in regard to public relations?  Feel free to leave us a comment below or contact us.

Becoming a Successful PR Agency

Everyone's definition of successful really is different.  For some people, running a successful PR agency means having the most clients.  For others, running a successful PR agency means that you are able to satisfy all clients.  As a Chicago PR firm ourselves, we work hard to create and meet our own definition of success.  No matter what your definition of success is, we can probably all agree that a majority of the tactics that make a PR firm successful are just about the same.  Here is our list of things we feel make a PR firm successful:

1- Outstanding leadership: Undoubtedly one of the most important factors that makes a PR agency successful is having outstanding leadership.  The leadership of the PR agency dictates a majority of the business practices.  If an agency is known as "corrupt" then odds are the leadership is also "corrupt".  Good leadership helps the rest of the PR firm make solid decisions and propels the rest of the agency forward at all times.

2- What your agency offers: What a PR agency can offer to clients is essential to the success factor of your agency.  A successful PR agency has a clear, defined and unique offer that draws clients in.  A successful agency has clear core values and ethics and is able to stand out from the crowd.  If your agency's current mission statement isn't what you want it to be, consider a rewrite.

3- Builds relationships with clients:  A good PR firm will successfully build solid business relationships with clients to gain trust and a better understanding of all clients.  Good PR firms understand that establishing relationships with clients is the key to success.

4- Solid business structures:  Both people and projects can be difficult to manage without a solid business structure in place.  A successful PR firm knows how important it is to put structure in place in order to get the job done and get it done right.  With a solid structure in place, people and projects are much easier to manage and those daily tasks are done in no time.

5- Positive attitude:  A successful PR agency has a can-do, go-getter attitude that helps them succeed.  A positive attitude starts with confidence.  A healthy dose of confidence helps set the foundation for a positive attitude, ushering in success.  As a PR firm, having the right attitude is exactly what your firm needs to put its best foot forward and attract the right kind of attention.

Looking for more tips and tricks on becoming a successful PR agency?  Feel free to comment below or contact us.

Social Media: Protecting Your Online Reputation

As a franchise public relations firm, we know how vital it is for ourselves, and our clients, to protect their online reputation at all times.  Public relations is largely about creating and protecting a brand image and reputation for your company.  In a world where we rely on the Internet and social media, how does a company protect their online reputation?  As a franchise public relations firm, this is something we take into account daily.  When it comes to reputation management and crisis control, we advise all of our clients to always be on protection mode in the form of the following tips:

1- Search Engine Optimization:  We've talked about search engine optimization (SEO) before and we're going to talk about it again.  SEO is the process of boosting a website's visibility to search engines for ranking capabilities.  Perhaps you are a franchise consultant located in Chicago hoping to rank for the keyword phrase, "Chicago franchise consultant," then you must pump up the use of that phrase on your website and other external sites (i.e.: social media, optimized press releases, blog) to show that your website is associated with that phrase.  This is a great way to help build the image for your brand that you wish to build.  This is essentially like telling search engine's what they should think about your company and your company's website.  With SEO, you are telling the search engine what your company is all about.  Use it to your advantage to pump up a positive brand image from your company.

2- Diversify your presence online: Make it your goal to rank for as many Google top 10 search results for your keywords as you can.  This will help show that your company is the "authority" on your subject.  There's no better way to boost your reputation then to flex your muscles a bit and show what you know.  If there are negative comments floating around out on the Internet about your company, your rankings will help keep those negative comments at bay.  This one really makes for a win win.

3- Get proactive:  No matter how great your company truly is, it is inevitable that you will one day encounter a negative review or commentary directed at your company.  It is all about how you handle it that matters.  If you find bad comments directed at your company floating around out on the Internet, get proactive.  When it happens, contact the blogger, reviewer, customer, or other person responsible for the comment.  Put on your customer service hat and see what you can do to change their opinion.  You'd be surprised.  Sometimes a small gesture will do the trick.

4- Burying what is bad: Bad things are going to happen.  They don't call it "crisis management" for nothing!  While bad things happen, do whatever you can to mask the bad with the good.  Think about it this way: The more good things you put out into the world, the more good things you get back.  For every bad thing you see about your company, counter it with something good.  Build up a positive force field around your company, so that if bad things do happen, the good will overpower or bury it.

5- Offline reputation:  In the process of protecting your online reputation, don't forget to protect your offline reputation too! Equally as important as your online reputation is your offline reputation.  Your offline reputation (face-to-face interactions, offline interactions with customers, etc.) all affects your online reputation.  Treat customers well and encourage those that are happy with your company, products, or services to leave reviews on review sites (i.e. Yelp, Yellowpages, Angie's List, etc.).  Keep your focus on your image and reputation offline and your online reputation should be a positive one.

Comments or questions regarding protecting your online reputation?  Feel free to leave us a comment or contact us.