Early in its development, Snapchat was barely a thorn in Facebook’s side, dismissed by big brands as too frivolous ever to be used as a serious marketing tool. How the tables have turned: With even The Times admitting Snapchat’s viability as an advertising publisher, Snapchat’s status has moved it into direct competition with the preeminent social media giant. Here’s what the PR News community is saying about Instagram’s Snapchatesque update.
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9 Tips for Effectively Using Social Media During a Health Crisis
August 3rd, 2016 by Ian James WrightWith the 2016 Olympics just around the corner, bringing with it concerns about Zika as well as the water and air quality in Rio de Janeiro, it’s a good time to refresh our awareness for handling health crises. When you think about it, there are countless organizations that could be damaged by associations with a health crisis at any moment.
Singing Together: 4 Tips to Develop an Overarching Message for Your Brand
August 3rd, 2016 by Seth ArensteinThrough coordinated messaging and content efforts, PR pros can develop a unified voice for a brand, even if there are multiple departments in the organization. To do this successfully, media relations, PR and marketing activities should be developed and executed in tandem. Coordinating these efforts, steered by a messaging framework that maps the organization’s brand story, will help bring cohesion and direction to a multi-department organization internally and in the marketplace.
10 Overused Words and Phrases for PR Pros to Avoid
August 3rd, 2016 by Sophie MaerowitzTop PR professionals know how to draft well worded material that lends an authoritative voice to their brand. When pressed for time, however, even the most talented communicators can be forced to sacrifice quality for quantity, using tired tropes where they might be better off expressing their brand’s voice in a simpler and more meaningful way. PR News shares its list of the 10 most overused terms in communications today.
Instagram ‘Stories’ Brings Snapchat’s Style to the Platform
August 2nd, 2016 by Mark RenfreeIf you or your brand has been wary of jumping on the Snapchat bandwagon, Instagram is rolling out its own take on social evanescence in the next few weeks that’s likely to be a much more brand friendly way to use disappearing content. Facebook’s photo-heavy app announced that it’s launching a new Snapchat-esque feature called “Stories.” The company hopes the move will encourage users to post more of their everyday moments to the platform, whereas only the best, most visually stunning parts of life made it onto Instagram in the past.
3 Challenges to Snapchat Measurement—and What to Do About Them
August 1st, 2016 by Steve GoldsteinSnapchat usage statistics are tempting for even the most risk-averse brand communicator. But can a brand communicator measure her success on Snapchat? The lack of a good answer to that question may be keeping many brands away from the app. Leslie Douglas, senior social media manager for PwC, has faced this tough question head-on as she has led her intrepid company onto Snapchat.
Why You Shouldn’t Worship the False Idol of PR Tactics
August 1st, 2016 by Jeremy JamesThe best client-agency relationships are those that thrive on building and executing programs that start with a firm foundation in positioning and messaging, and are designed from the top down with clear business objectives. And then: PR strategies that are clearly designed to achieve these objectives. And tactics also, of course (plenty of them, actually). But tactics that are only in the plan because they clearly tie into agreed-upon strategies.
The Week in PR
August 1st, 2016 by Seth ArensteinThe tit-for-tat between social brands continues, with the battlefield moving to live streaming. For a time pundits enjoyed contrasting Facebook’s financials with those of Twitter. No more. Due to Facebook’s historic financial prowess, it’s no longer a fair fight. At least with live video, it’s still a contest. In July, CNBC International signed an agreement with Face- book to put its morning show Street Signs on Facebook Live for a trial following the Brexit vote. Meanwhile Twitter tapped Bloomberg Media, which will live stream several of its shows on the bird platform, including election monitor With All Due Respect. July 20 Twitter said it hooked the NBA to live stream a pair of new, weekly pre-game shows on the platform. This adds to Twitter’s sports stable: it signed the NFL ear- lier this year to live stream Thursday Night Football games. Twitter also live streamed Wimbledon in July. Facebook returned serve: it signed a bevy of people who made their reps on Vine and YouTube to create video for Facebook Live. That’s in addition to media companies like BuzzFeed and The NY Times, announced earlier (PRN, June 27). From July 25-July 28 Twitter carried live coverage from CBSN of the Democrats’ convention from Philadelphia.
Reverse SEO: 5 Ways Communicators Can Erase Negative Citations
August 1st, 2016 by MAREK BIERNACINSKIThe internet doesn’t forget. Or does it? Through the miracles of science (and some clever PR professionals), online reputations are no longer as cemented in history as perhaps once thought. Enter the advent of reverse SEO. Think of it as SEO but, well, in reverse. The concept has been around for about a decade, and elements have seeped into the lexicon of public relations professionals. Namely, reputation management has caught on. But while reverse SEO shares characteristics of reputation management, reverse SEO is more specific to search results that pop up for clients when specific keywords or phrases are used.
Six Communications Takeaways From the 2016 Summer Olympics so Far
August 1st, 2016 by Juliana TrammelOn August 5 Brazil is set to become the first South American country to host the Olympics. Some half million people are expected to join a city of 6 million inhabitants. While it has been well documented globally that Rio faces extreme challenges ( PRN, May 16), you’d not know it looking at the communications the Rio Olympics’ organizing committee is producing. The committee has a user-friendly, visually attractive website with stunning photos, press kits, news updates and social media links, among other PR tactics. Similar to many other sporting events, there is a festive and triumphant tone to the committee’s storytelling. While it’s understood that PR pros are expected to stress the positive aspects of stories, this must be balanced with at least some level of transparency. The committee’s lack of honest communications about the economic, social and health challenges facing Rio could become a negative story and perhaps reflect poorly on brands taking sponsorship roles at the games. At the least, the social and economic problems represent opportunities missed for brands on the CSR front.