2014 PR News Social Media Summit with Taste of Tech Executive Summary

Executive Summary
PR News Social Media Summit with Taste of Tech
June 3, 2014 — The Grand Hyatt, New York City

8:45 a.m. — The Wake-Up Call for Social Media Leaders: Tech Trends That Will Transform Your Social Media Strategies

Joie Healy, Senior Manager of Social Media Communications, Cisco

Every individual has a media outlet in his/her pocket.
A picture is worth a thousand words—how can your team continue the conversation when communicating visually?
The next wave of new technology will be in wearable devices.
Direct messaging apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat are changing the landscape for digital marketers.
Each platform has its own strategy. Tailor language and content needs to each specific platform.
Keep pace with emerging technology, but don’t feel like you need to be on every platform.

Susan Emerick, Manager of Enterprise Social Strategy & Programs, IBM

You’ve always been connecting with influencers—what’s changed because of social media is that now anyone can be influential.
Your own employees can be your influencers, and there is no one who can advocate for your company better than someone whose livelihood depends on the success of the company.
Your employees are your biggest assets in discovering and connecting with people who are important.
The ability to mine publicly available information and content has made knowing how your brand is being talked about and who is talking about your company much easier.

9:30 a.m. — How to Find Your Brand’s True Voice on Facebook

Kevin Dando, Senior Director, Digital Marketing & Communications, PBS

Experiment with different post types—status updates, photos and videos.
Facebook is starting to punish third-party publishers again.
Think about what people want to see in their Facebook feeds in the morning as opposed to the evening. For example, video doesn’t work well in the morning because people are more rushed at that time.
Ask your Facebook followers what they like on your Facebook page, and ask about their morning media routine.
Be human. Admit your mistakes, including typos.
Use Facebook Power Editor for finely tuned posts—don’t “Boost” posts. Place ads in the News Feed, not in the right rail.

Lauren Friedman, Head of Global Social Business Enablement, Adobe

When developing your brand voice, think about (1) why your company was set up in the first place, (2) what your company has to offer and (3) what sets you apart.
On Facebook, write like you talk. Ask questions and tell stories—don’t be someone who you’re not.
Think about what people can get from your Facebook page that they can’t get anywhere else.
Your brand voice puts your customers in the right frame of mind, helps create meaningful connections, and sets you apart from your competitors.
Your voice should be consistent across all social platforms.

Moderator: Robb Henshaw, Head of Communications, inPowered

Credible, third-party articles have a strong lift in the consumer decision making process.
93% of article reads occur within the first 3 days of publication.

10:00 a.m. — Are You ‘LPC’ on Twitter? How to Make Your Brand Live, Public and Conversational

Katie Creaser, Vice President, Affect

Twitter isn’t a place to stop your audience. It’s a pass-through to some other content or goal.
If you don’t already have a social media usage policy, IBM’s Social Computing Guidelines is a great place to start.
Tweets under 100 characters get 17% more shares than Tweets that are longer than 100 characters.
When you start on Twitter, post 3-5 times per day. Adjust your frequency from there.
Twitter followers like discounts and promotions, free stuff, fun and entertainment, and updates on upcoming sales best.

Paul Dickard, Vice President, Corporate/External Communications, AECOM

Invest in content creation. Your front end, Twitter, is only as good as the back end, which is your content creation.
On Twitter, bring your brand to life, participate in and lead public discourse on issues related to your company, and be human.
Think about taking an internal campaign and delivering it externally, using Twitter as the medium.
Congratulating and thanking people on Twitter is the easiest way to be recognized as a person, not just a handle.
Serializing tweets around the same content will generate substantially more traffic than tweeting about something just once.

11:00 a.m. — Tech You Need: Trends in Social Media Monitoring and Measuring Tools You Need to Know About Now

Brandon Andersen, Director of Marketing, Cision

Data suggests that, over the next few years, CMOs will be spending more money on technology than CTOs.
Every campaign you plan should start by thinking about the outcome.
Think like a marketer. Move away from cost-center metrics like Advertising Value Equivalents and towards profit-center, action metrics like sales leads and revenue.
Google Analytics is your best friend.

Erica Campbell Byrum, Director of Social Media, Homes.com & ForRent.com

Traffic, revenue and conversion are most important to your clients and executives.
Facebook post engagement rate = number of likes + number of comments + number of shares divided by total number fans multiplied by 100
Twitter post engagement rate = number of replies + number of retweets divided by total number followers multiplied by 100
Analyze your current social media, research multiple tools and decide how much time you can devote to it.
Map our your social media plan by scope, goals, objectives and budget.

Emily Yu, VP, Marketing & Partnerships, The Case Foundation

You cannot Google an insight.
It’s estimated that Google changes it search algorithm 500-600 times per year.
Engagement means moving your audience to action.
Picking the right monitoring tool is just half the battle. Turning that data into something you can share is equally as important.
Your data is important, but don’t discount the importance of talking about how you got the numbers that you’re sharing.
If you’re not around when your executives see your report, they should still be able to understand it.

12:30 p.m. — Taste of Tech Tour: PR + Technology, Where Are We Going?

Dave Armon, President, Critical Mention

Critical Mention makes TV searchable, monitoring for names and keywords and delivering notifications within a seconds of them of airing on live TV.
Twitter is banking a lot of its future on second screen strategies.
Licensable earned media can help fill in the blanks in your content strategy.

Robb Henshaw, Head of Communications, inPowered

inPowered discovers and amplifies expert content being written about your brand.
Tying social media to concrete, important things like sales is possible.
If you don’t have people who can crank out content, curate user generated content that’s already being written about you.

Trace Cohen, Co-Founder, Launch.It

Launch.It is a free publishing platform for PR companies.
PR people can be like journalists through the content they create, such as news releases and blog posts.
Always try to help your clients. Don’t over-promise—over-deliver instead.
A hug is more friendly than a handshake.

Serena Ehrlich, Director of Social & Evolving Media, Business Wire

Business Wire is a premiere commercial newswire service.
Executives don’t expect PR to drive sales, but they expect it to deliver information about where business needs to be going.
Publicity is only as good as how you translate it.
Most of us assume that our clients know things that they actually don’t.

Brandon Andersen, Director of Marketing, Cision

Cision is a provider of PR software and services including content marketing, media monitoring, media list building, distribution and analysis.
Social media isn’t just about engagement. It needs to lead to something.
Look for internal people who are your hidden thought leaders.
Feedback makes us all better.

1:00 p.m. — Luncheon Keynote: How to Connect With the Social Media Audiences That Matter to You Most

Ian Greenleigh, Author, “The Social Media Side Door: How to Bypass the Gatekeepers to Gain Greater Access and Influence”

A social media side door is a way to talk to important people you want to reach but can't because of obstacles and gatekeepers.
Disagree with and challenge leaders, as they are constantly surrounded by yes-people.
Reach does not equal influence.
Social media is making the playing field flatter and wider.
A message doesn’t degrade as it gets passed from network to network and person to person. Instead, it gets stronger.
Data literacy is the ability to understand and use data. Today, the average marketing and PR team doesn’t have the level of data literacy needed to excel.
Be three-dimensional. You’re starting from scratch, so be authentic in building out your image to your audience.

1:45 p.m. — The Digital Life Preserver: Using Social Media During a Crisis

Mary Grady, Managing Director, Media and Public Relations, Los Angeles World Airports

News media gets to the scene of a crisis before police, fire department and other first responders do. But bystanders get there first, and they start posting to social media right away.
If you’re using social media, be prepared with planned-out emergency tweets and hashtags.
Set up Wireless Emergency Alerts—automated emergency messages—to go out in the event of a crisis.
Not everyone is on Twitter. In the event of an emergency, make sure you're sending alerts out via traditional means as well, and quickly.
Stress-test your website to handle the kind of traffic you might receive during a crisis.
Make sure your boss comes across as being in control of a crisis situation.
Social media is not the end all, be all. It’s just one tool in your toolbelt.

Richard Huff, Executive Director of Communications, CBS News

Appoint someone as your social chief and have a framework before you find yourself in a crisis situation.
Prepare for the worst.
Develop a core message by asking yourself what people want and need to know.
Think about how you want the community to react during a crisis situation.
Your constituents want timely, actionable information. They want confidence and they want to know how they can help.
Triage negative responses on social media, but don't feel like you have to respond to every one of them.

2:30 p.m. — Visual Storytelling with Pinterest & Instagram

Danny Olson, Director, Digital, Weber Shandwick

The 1% rule—the idea that only 1% of people are content creators—is dead.
There are as many cell phone subscriptions as people in the world.
When designing your content, consider what device people will view it on.
Build a bank of approved images that everyone on your team can use, and use a shareable platform that makes them easily accessible.
Pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com will show you every instance of someone pinning your content to a Pinterest board.
On Instagram, try to find a way to get your fans do the talking.

Kathryn Sheaffer, Senior Associate Brand Manager, RITZ, Mondelēz International

Social media is not free—channel development and content strategy costs money.
Be choosy with which platforms you use and what you do with them.
Don’t be a friend. Use social media to amplify content, not to become friends with consumers.
Be bold and definitive in defining your Instagram personality.
Consumers are open to hearing a brand message on Pinterest, and they often go shopping after using Pinterest.

3:15 p.m. — How Your Brand Can Leverage Direct Messaging Apps Like Snapchat & Instagram Direct

KC Geen, Senior Manager, Social Media, GrubHub Inc.

If you want to reach college students, use Snapchat.
People are going to Snapchat because they want two-way communication with their friends. They’re using it instead of texts and calls.
Snapchat can be used for cross-promotion of other platforms like Facebook or Twitter.
Two-way communication builds loyalty. Don’t forget to engage with your fans when they send a snap back to you. Try to make them feel special.
Create content similar to what your users are posting.

Jeff Petriello, Producer/Creative, Mashable

Snapchat shifts the object of what you’re consuming. As opposed to a Facebook or Twitter post which accrues likes and comments, Snapchat offers consumers only one thing—a way to have a conversation.
77% of college students use Snapchat everyday.
Snapchat is a very labor-intensive platform. It’s not for everyone.
Be a friend to whomever you are snapping with.
ProCreate is program that will help you do your Snapchat finger drawings better.

3:45 p.m. — What You Don’t Know—But Should—About LinkedIn, Google+, Reddit & Tumblr

Lori Russo, Managing Director, Mid-Atlantic, Stanton Communications

LinkedIn isn’t an online Rolodex or résumé. It’s a way to connect with people.
Journalists use LinkedIn to find things that may not be broadcasted by a company, such as a departure or leadership change.
Use a professional photo on your LinkedIn profile. No beach shots or car selfies.
If you don’t know who manages your LinkedIn company page, find out and take over if you have to.
Users who share updates on LinkedIn at least once a week are 10 times more likely to be approached with new business opportunities.

Serena Ehrlich, Director of Social & Evolving Media, Business Wire

News is the No. 1 thing shared on social media.
The best time of day (all times EST) to post for Google+ is 9-11 a.m.; for Reddit, 7-8 a.m. and 7 p.m.; and for tumblr, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
+1s on Google+ boosts your SEO and reputation as a content creator.
Don’t get on Reddit without a strategy. Don’t use your own name on the platform, and don’t call anyone out personally while using it. Read the rules before posting.
If you’re in charge of identifying trends in your industry, Reddit is a great place to find them.
Tumblr is a good alternative to a blog if you don’t have one set up already. To grow your audience, use hashtags and reblog what other people are posting.
Every audience for every social platform is incredibly different. Share the right information in each place and think long term.