Archive: June 2016

OK, so Snapchat has made the grade. This leads us to…the next Snapchat. To celebrate Social Media Day, PR News looked to the future and compiled this list of emerging apps and technologies PR pros should keep an eye on. Then again, maybe nothing on this list will be around for next year’s Social Media Day.

Logos and product design are the fastest form of brand communications. Steve Jobs knew this, and so does Mondelez, apparently. At this moment, news headlines and images are being posted and shared about Mondelez’s $23 billion bid for Hershey Co. A nationwide Pavlovian response surely has followed, as midday workers slink to candy machines, drugstore counters and bodegas for a quick fix.

Once you have the basics of Snapchat down, Geofilters are a next-level tool for reaching your audience. It may not be obvious at first how to use both Community (free) and On-Demand (paid) Geofilters to engage an audience, but once you learn how to think about them from various angles, there are several ways to be smart and strategic about Geofilter use.

The shift in focus to paid social media content is redefining, yet again, the role of the PR professional—a topic that David Kellis, director of PR and social media for the Clorox Co., will dive into in his opening Wake-Up Call session at PR News’ Big 4 Social Media Summit in San Francisco. “In the past, we’ve done PR around advertising in magazines and other media. That’s what we’ve come to with social,” Kellis says.

How many times has this happened to you? You’re watching live television or attending an event with family and friends and a CEO or some other public official says something you, as a PR pro, know could spell trouble for the brand that person is representing? Your friends notice you cringing. Should it be your CEO up there, before your friends even notice it, you’re heading to the office or ducking out to make or receive a phone call about what you just heard. It’s part of the job.

Clients have more media channels than ever, with new ones being added every year. All of these channels represent potential opportunities, but this also means a lot of content creation is needed. Your clients expect access to the latest technologies, to be kept up to date on popular trends and offered efficient solutions for maximizing each dollar spent on all channels.

Even though still images are taking a back seat to video this year by both content producers and the big social media networks, images are still the backbone of great social content. Luckily for communicators the technology required to create amazing still images continues to get cheaper and easier to acquire—everything you need comes built into any of the current flagship smartphones. But it’s not just about having the newest technology or the best tools available. The most important aspect of taking a great picture is the person behind the camera.

With Twitter and Facebook pushing their new live streaming services, it’s easy to forget about planned video content, which still grabs billions of viewers per day. A mini-series focused on authentic, reputational storytelling is a great way to give your brand a content boost without investing in a walloping video budget. It may sound like a challenge, but with a few simple steps it can be accomplished in a reasonable time frame.

Like a custody battle, marketing and PR fight for responsibility for the brand online, with each one handling specific customer interactions and content in a fractured arrangement. On the other hand, many B2B communicators are well positioned to take on responsibilities for digital strategy because they manage a tightly defined media universe where their content must address the entire customer experience. For business communicators, producing and sharing digital content that maximizes sales requires special attention in three areas: data, design and direct access to relationship owners.

Twitter unveiled a mobile app, Twitter Engage, June 21 to ease and encourage posting videos to the platform. U.S. B2C brands barely need the help, according to data provided exclusively to PR News by Shareablee.