Archive: March 2016

The official account of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, using the hashtag #springbreakingbadly to warn travelers about scams they might encounter, reminded readers that they’re “not a 10” and therefore to use caution when someone shows interest in them abroad. As is often the case in these matters, the advice may be solid, but the delivery is suspect.

Once you’ve developed a program and set your KPIs, how exactly do you go about doing the work of measuring? The communications space is now inundated with a motley collection of tools ranging from free to prohibitively expensive. And they all promise to be the alpha and omega of your measurement needs. But PR pros looking for a little guidance on some of the tools available to communicators needn’t worry.

PR pros no longer have to try and stuff their messages into a confining 15-second window. With its decision to sort posts in a user’s feed algorithmically instead of showing them in reverse chronological order, the extension of Instagram’s video limit will give communicators more room to create content that users are sure to engage with, which will help brands secure a top spot in users’ feeds.

Are these signs of the times? Last week a sports announcer was pilloried for what some felt was an inappropriate remark. The University of Virginia men’s basketball team in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament had what seemed to be a comfortable 15-point lead over Syracuse with fewer than 10 minutes to play. When… Continued

The post A Lack of Crisis Planning is Trouble Waiting to Happen appeared first on PR News Blog.

While superheroes are fantasy, trying to be a Super Brand is not. It’s totally achievable. A Super Brand must have four characteristics similar to superheroes: show the end users your extraordinary abilities, demonstrate a strong moral code, exhibit the courage to stand up for something, and be resourceful and innovative with your approach. The parallels are (dare we say it?) uncanny.

How easy would it be to do your job if you could read minds? You’d know exactly what kind of pitch would catch that reporter’s eye, what tweet would be retweeted by Taylor Swift, what video you could make that would go viral.

It would be unwise for us to hold our breath hoping to develop mutant powers, but the good news is that by studying cognitive science, we’re halfway to telepathy.

Doing corporate responsibility well is not as easy as it appears. Facebook has learned that lesson more than once with its Safety Check feature, which hit another snag in Pakistan last weekend when the inquiring message that was supposed to be sent to those in and around Lahore, Pakistan, went to Facebook users as far away as the U.S.

PR needs to be more than just a one-trick pony. Integrating the three main components of the public relations mix—media relations, social media and content marketing—will amplify your brand’s goals, getting your message in front of consumers across several platforms and solidifying a call to action.

As a PR pro your job is to garner attention for a client or brand. A well-executed Instagram contest can be a great tactic to achieve increased visibility.

In a world focused on shareable content, we struggle to find ways to make our stories stand out. What makes someone read what we write, watch our video and more important, remember it and engage others by retelling it?