Social Media: LinkedIn

The first blog that I wrote this semester was about gaining control of your social media. I spoke about several different social media channels and ways to be aware of your overall social media presence. Since then, I have gained a better understanding of social media and how it can actually affect your personal brand. One business tool and social media channel that I have grown a certain appreciation for is LinkedIn.

On LinkedIn: important organization or campaign information can be viewed; professional content and updates from colleagues or business friends can be shared; or employers and other business professional can search for you and your personal brand/background, as well. This is why taking complete control of your LinkedIn by understanding and utilizing all of its components can lead to online and social success. To help you on this venture, I have researched and used my own experience to create a list of the top 8 things I think you can do to harness the full power of your personal LinkedIn account.

1. Fill out your LinkedIn account completely.

• This includes updating a photo, adding projects, old jobs, blog pages, links to Twitter or professional profile or portfolio pages, blogs, even courses you took in college. Updating this information allows people to get a better feel for who you are, what you can accomplish, what is important to you, and how you influence the people around you. LinkedIn is a place to share and generate ideas about business and the world, and you only get out what you put in.

2. Do not be afraid to humanize your brand.

• Do not only push out professional content. Update a profile picture, have a headline that attracts attention, blog about things that you're passionate about, prove that you are a leader in the business world and that you are a thought provoker. Show you care.

3. Engage with other professionals, especially people in your field.

• LinkedIn, like Facebook and other types of microblogging sites, give the opportunity for millions of social connections to take place. Use to your advantage the fact that you have hundreds of other like-minded professionals in your field available to you at the touch of a button. Engage with other professionals in your field, join webinars, chats and other conversations. Engagements help get your name out and your thoughts heard. 

4. Post updates regularly.

• Keeping yourself relevant on LinkedIn is important. Like other social media networks, LinkedIn is fast paced and constantly updating. Be a part of this. Post content at least once a day, whether it a blog, work updates, a photo, a funny meme relevant to your business, anything. 

5. Keep your network growing, and maintain relationships.

• When you meet a new professional, add them on your LinkedIn network. Join groups. Follow organizations or pages you are passionate about. Keep up relationships by congratulating people on new jobs or awesome projects. Engage with old colleagues and teammates. You never know what opportunities will arise, or who you might need to contact in the future. 

6. Receive and give recommendations and endorsements.

• One way to show your personal work ethic and standing in the business world is to give and receive recommendations and endorsements to people that you have worked with. The more you give, the more you get. This adds a sense of personality and humanization to your personal brand. More times than not, what people say and think about you means more to employers than your credentials on paper. 

7. Blog on your LinkedIn account.

• Employers are always looking for professionals who not only do good work in the workplace, but also are influencers outside of the workplace. Even if you work in public relations, and your passion is cooking or gardening, or whatever it may be, blog about it! Show people that you are passionate about something, and that you have something to say and interesting thoughts to contribute. This also humanizes your LinkedIn account. 

8. Update your page with new information.

• Finally, continuously update your LinkedIn account with new jobs, opportunities, projects, and information. If you take a new headshot, get a new position or write a new post, share it with the professionals you are connected with. This will also open new doors for you, and help keep your page updated and relevant.

Here are a few of the links for LinkedIn optimization that I liked and that helped me create my personal brand. Good luck on your journey and I hope this helps!

http://www.inc.com/rebekah-iliff/top-10-ways-to-leverage-linkedin-for-pr.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-surefire-ways-to-boost-your-linkedin-profile-when-you-only-have-10-minutes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/12/05/fourteen-steps-to-improve-your-linkedin-presence-in-2014/#55c851cd3966

Picking the Right Communication Channels

PR, communications, marketing, advertising - these professions all rely on one thing: the ability to send an effective and clear message to a selected target market, enticing action and ultimately helping achieve company goals.

The ability to send a clear message, and the effectiveness of that message (did it change anything? did it come across the way it was intended? etc.) depends on several factors. The first factor, the message its self, is arguably the most important. I have already blogged about why only sending clear, non-cluttered, short and sweet messages is the most effective method of communication; however, I only barely touched on the second factor of sending an effective message: choosing the right communication channel.

A message can contain several key communication practices (attention grabbing content, interesting data, easy-to-understand message, concise but complete info) but if it's received by the wrong audience or misinterpreted by the receiver, it is not truly considered an effective message. This is why it is so important to choose the right channel of communication. 

Internal and external communications, the two types of communications, call for different messages and messaging channels.

With internal communication, keeping stakeholders, employees and a board of directors engaged with one another and on the same page is imperative to running a successful business, but can provide several challenges. One of these challeneges is picking the best communication channel.

There are several types of internal communication channels, including (but not limited to) open forums, message boards, email or team meetings.

Knowing the best way for your specific content to be presented and received (visually, verbally, written, etc.) is important when deciding what channel of communication to choose; just as imperative to the decision though is understanding the way the audience prefers to receive content and are most likely to respond. Here is a comprehensive list of internal communication channels and considerations, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

When considering external communication, there are also several types (some of them are outlined here). Again, understanding your message and target audience is key. Not every communication type needs to be used, and some companies may only call for one or two. That is okay! If you choose the right channels, and target your messages, they should be effective every time.

Finally, the most misunderstood external communication practice, social media, is a very important tool that has the power to either make or break a company. Again, here is a list for some social media channels and when or why your business should use them. Every social media channel is different, attracting different types of attention and sending different types of messages. Consider if the content you want to share would be best in words, on your website as a long release, as a short Facebook post, or as a sentence and link on Twitter. Will your content be received better if it is represented visually (using charts or pictographs) and where should you share that visual message; or would a photo or video do better?

There are so many ways to communicate with todays instant access information and socially integrated society; don't let your company or personal brand can go unnoticed or misinterpreted because you didn't choose the communication channel that is right for you.

PR With No Budget

Often times, when people think about Public Relations they think about the flashy, huge productions or events that attract a ton of attention with an unrestricted or at least huge budget.

Well, the same goes for PR planners. When planning events or campaigns we want our campaigns to be huge and attract attention, or spark a large conversation or action. With a large budget and a supportive administrative board anything is possible, making PR one of the most exciting careers! (I'm not biased or anything.)

But, what happens when we don't have a big budget or a team thats ready to host huge events? This is a problem that I have been faced with a lot this semester in classes, with class clients, and at my internship. 

This week, during a Twitter chat I was involved in (see my Storify about it here) the moderator asked about PR on a low budget. 

Here was my response:

@CommsChat T5 partner w/ similar campaigns & events, utilize social media (shares, likes, reposts, contests) #Commschat

— Rachel Thomas (@rachrt) March 7, 2016

After seeing very few responses, I realized that this might be something that many other PR students or professionals struggle with, and wanted to elaborate. While I am still learning, I thought that I might share my insight and what has been successful so far this semester when working on low-budget promotions.

1. Word-of-Mouth Promotions - Some companies and professionals grossly underestimate the power of word-of-mouth promotions and information. Understand that what the public thinks about your company and brand associated with it is just as important as the service, product, etc. that it actually provides. Find ways to get people talking positively about your company or cause and you will find that you get more support and success.

2. Social Media - Social Media is a huge advantage and tool for companies, especially ones starting up or trying to gain more attention/ a stronger business presence. Some of the ways you can utilize social media is:

• Pages - Have an interactive Facebook "like" page people can like, follow, and receive/share information from; a twitter page people can interact and engage with, also allowing your brand to benefit from important social trends (like hashtags or tweet chats); a youtube or blog page depending on which platform fits your content and message/target audience best; and several other social media platforms.
• Host Contests - This is a great way to get people involved in your cause
• Likes - Likes can monitor what people are interested in, and what they respond to. This is a good way to gauge if people are reading and getting involved with your content.
• Shares - Creating media that can be shared, and is likely to get shared, is a great way to get a message to a lot of people. We saw it with the "ice bucket challenge" and other competitions or giveaways. It really works! 
• Videos and Blogs - Depending on your platform, informational videos or blogs might be a good way to get people interested in your topic or campaign. Do not do these if they aren't needed. Understanding your target market is important when considering these.
• Website - Finally, make sure that you have a website or some sort of informational home where people can easily find your content, messages, goals, organizational information, contact, etc. Without a central page, often times credibility is taken away and causes aren't seen as legitimate. 
• DISCLAIMER: You must understand how to use social media correctly. Corporate accounts have messed up big time when creating a controversial social media message, or opening up a conversation that anyone can reply poorly to. See some of the mistakes here, and make sure you avoid them..

3. Grassroots Events - Grassroots campaigns are expected to get people, the community, a target audience, etc. involved, similar to other types of campaigns. What makes grassroots campaigns different, however, is that the people are the important part rather than the event.

• Door-to-Door - Going door-to-door or street teaming is one way to do grassroots promotions, but often time grassroots campaigns can be planned around already existing groups of people, events, classes, etc. 
• Street Teaming - Handing out promotional items that get people interested, hanging posters or handing pamphlets that entice people to search for more information.
• Community Events - Knowing what is going on in the community, and finding ways to get involved with the already existing events and community outreach programs.
• Business/Group Partnering - partnering with other organizations or businesses, is a good way to get started in low-cost promotions. This is easy to do with organizations that have a similar message, mission, or goal in mind. 

There are plenty of other ways that you can low-cost promote! I found one article that I really liked here, outlining 32 low-cost ways to market.

Feel free to comment any ways that you can think of or that have been successful for you in the past! I'd love to hear them, and thanks for reading! 

Visual PR

My "pet peeve" in public relations/marketing/advertising (okay, pretty much in any type of strategic communications) is when the message is unclear because information overload happens.

Information overload happens in strategic communications when:

• There is too much text on one page, about one topic, or information is organized poorly

• The pictures or images associated with the message are confusing or misleading

• There are too many pictures, links, videos, images, etc

Advertising is the number one reason that people purchase things, according to studies. What people fail to understand, however, is that even website content and the way that external content and messages are constructed has a huge affect on the way consumers see, and respond do, a company.
A company that does no "advertising" at all through normal media channels (TV, radio, and print) still might have a website, with infographics, occasional press releases and other media content, etc.
The truth of the matter is, customers will respond better to companies that have a website which pulls up quickly on search engines (search engine optimization, or SEO) and has information that is easy to understand.

The visual aspect of PR is so important because it affects the way people receive messages. It is important in PR that your logo and images be easily recognizable; your content short, sweet and to the point; your info easy to sort through and understand; and finally, it has to draw the reader in.


I found a good article about Visual PR here if you would like to hear more about it.

Honesty & Transparency in PR

Honesty & Transparency in PR is something that I touched on last blog post. I said that when considering crisis communication, all PR should aim to reach company goals while also being honest and transparent, because consumers trust companies that are straight forward and take responsibility.
From what we know about consumers, attitude towards and likability of a product or company is more important than most other selling points (like accessibility, reliability, safety, etc.)

Over the past week I saw such great honesty and transparency in PR communication, responding to and trying to prevent a company crisis, that I couldn't help but use them as an example in this weeks blog post.

Apple denied the FBI's request to create a skeleton key for all iPhone devices.

The people did not hear about this from the news, the FBI, the internet, a mole, or a liar who wanted attention. Consumers heard this straight from Apple in an open letter to all Apple customers, right on their home page.

First off, this letter in general is sort of unusual. Usually we hear from companies in general through their website or spokespeople, PR firms handling a situation, or we see a general press release. Apple decided to send this communication through a personal type letter written by none other than Tim Cook, the Chief Executive Officer at Apple.

This letter means everything, and I will explain why.

http://www.apple.com/

The letter started off with:

"A Message to Our Customers

The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.

This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake."

After reading the entire letter, Apple's stance was clear, if we let the FBI have their technology, all consumers phones could be hacked and that is not something that Apple was willing to do.

It was the beginning though, the call for public discussion and truth about the implications of future dangers, proved that we were hearing from a company that cares about its product and users. The details helping customers understand the importance of this proves that Apple doesn't want to hurt or lie to its users. These things are what makes customers trust a company, and loyal to a brand.

Second, the public response back to Apple was incredible. While there were some people who think that Apple could simply help the FBI, most people agreed with the decision to keep all customers safe rather than put them in danger to help take one person down.

This is because, most people just don't want to be lied to. At some point, the FBI and the law might force Apple to make this product, or Apple might cave, but because they are talking about it, being honest, and communicating, people do not feel like there is anything to worry about. People feel taken care of by Apple, simply because Apple got ahead of the game and was transparent, ultimately avoiding a crisis situation had any news broken any other way.

The point is, while Apple could never make every single person happy at once, they made a decision that they thought was best, addressed their customers and explained their position, stood up against one of the scariest organizations to have angry at you, and has not budged on their position since.

You go Apple. You go Tim.

Cook, T. (2016, February 16). Customer Letter - Apple. Retrieved February 19, 2016, from http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/

Crisis Communication

As Public Relations becomes more of a “need” than a “want” in large companies, and large companies have huge amounts at stake, knowing how to handle a communication or company crisis is becoming an important asset (and stand-out point) for PR professionals.

Crisis Communication is when something goes wrong in a company and there is someone there, with a plan, ready to communicate all information effectively and with company goals in mind; in a crisis these goals can be as simple as keeping customers or share holders happy.

So what do you do? There are several things to consider with each case, but most importantly you need to start with a plan of action. If you want someone else’s advice, who has worked in the crisis communication field, I have attached an outline of a 10 Step communication process, written by Johnathon Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management. 

However, it is no surprise to me that the instruction I have received about crisis communication, the Bernstein claims to have been teaching for a long time.

http://www.sheroian.com/story/crisis-communication-process/

The first step is being prepared. Know your company, your competition, and your market. Try to stay on top of what issues could go wrong, how you could address those issues, and to whom you could address the issues.
The second step is, when crisis hits answer immediately and honestly, with the goal of keeping up or positively influencing the companies reputation. To do this, you must know who to get in contact with.
The third step is preparing different communications for each group in your communications plan (company board, general staff, stakeholders, customers, social media followers, etc.). Knowing how to communicate with each group individually, on the current situation and future preparations, while not screwing up the company’s rep. in the meantime is no easy task. This is why it is important to be prepared.
My fourth and final step is to continue to stay on top of any investigation, media information or news, consumer opinions on social media, etc.  Continue to be putting out updates, making sure they have all of the information that you can give (people trust a company that is honest, transparent and apologetic rather than one who denies or projects blame.

Setting the Right Goals

In my PR communications course early this week we refreshed on setting the right goals and objectives, and following through with the corresponding strategies and tactics. It was a good thing that we did, because the main focus of my attention during my internship this week was setting and achieving promotional goals.

First, it is important to know the objectives of the company, the history, and the future goals that the company wants to reach. From the company's goals, the PR goals can be achieved.

I spent a little time searching for articles on ways to set the best goals for PR, and one article I found that I really liked, by Mark Renfree, gave "4 Social Listening Tips To Make Sure You Set the Right Goals."

His main points are:

1. Data becomes outdated quickly, and has no value if you do not gain something from it. When collecting data, have a plan for it and do something with it!

2. Listen to social media channels. Don't just listen, but KNOW which outlets to be listening to, and which targets on those outlets. Know how to reach these targets. Each specific target audience and network may call for different things.

3. Have the right people, doing the right things for your company. Know what kind of research you need to be doing, know the right way to interpret it, and finally, know how to and have the best people execute a plan based off of the data.

4. Finally, he warned to make sure you have the appropriate budget, tools, and people to make your operation successful.

I feel that all of these things are important, but there is one thing that I found myself constantly coming back to when trying to make my own PR goals; I needed to make sure I could prove there was concrete evidence that my goals would being reached.

While PR goals should be based off of current and sound research, and should ultimately help the company reach its goals. PR goals should be attainable and measurable.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-measuring-goals-close-up-shot-caliper-word-image35586659

If I could give one tip that Renfree didn’t, it would be to make sure that every single goal has a way to be measured, tangibly. This way, you know if your efforts are truly working and you have concrete knowledge leading your future campaigns.

If you do not know how to make your goals measurable, I found an awesome article here that might help. 

Goodluck!