Social Media & SEO

You have to hand it to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella. When he goes shopping, he comes heavy. Nadella plunked down $26 billion June 13 to acquire LinkedIn as a way to energize both companies. His hope, of course, is that the deal will be a win-win, with LinkedIn gaining cachet, scale and technology and Microsoft obtaining access to information about the mostly white-collar businesspeople who are LinkedIn’s stock and trade. Arriving at a stagnant Microsoft two years ago, Nadella has been pushing the brand to become friendlier to corporate customers. In this respect, LinkedIn and its 105 million monthly active users seems a good match. In all, LinkedIn claims 433 million members, or 433 million resumes, a juicy target for brand communicators.

If you’re anxious to find out how best to reach your target demographic on Snapchat, you’re not alone in wondering where to start. Snapchat’s users expect authenticity and creativity, and the platform’s ephemeral content isn’t as associated with polished photos and videos as Instagram and Facebook. “Snapchat is the cool new kid on the social media block,” says Hannah Law, VP of strategy, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. “But don’t let that stop you from jumping in without a strategy.”

President Obama’s decision to announce his endorsement of Hillary Clinton on YouTube falls perfectly in line with how he’s conducted himself throughout his presidency. The president routinely speaks to the people on popular social channels like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It’s all part of a carefully crafted strategy to increase government accessibility and transparency thought up by Obama, but orchestrated by a powerful digital team operating from the White House.

SHIFT Communications social media policy template (click to view)

Mayo Clinic social media policy template (click to view)

Snapchat continues to do well because it acts as a private portal into the lives of our friends—lives that are distinctively unfiltered, raw and often utterly mundane. It’s this window of authenticity that keeps users flocking to the app. And at this point, it’s the only way for organizations to have any kind of success on Snapchat. Brands like Taco Bell continue to post creative and compelling content on the platform, but there’s perhaps only one personality on the social network that truly embodies the philosophy of Snapchat: DJ Khaled.

Microsoft has finally become a player in the social media arena: It has entered into an agreement to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, the software giant announced on June 13. LinkedIn is to keep its branding, and its CEO, Jeff Weiner. Aside from intra-organization network Yammer (acquired in 2012), this will be Microsoft’s first widely used social media platform.

Several themes bubbled to the surface of the PR News Digital PR & Marketing Conference, attended by hundreds of PR and marketing professionals. Among them were: storytelling should be shared by all employees; ignore video at your own peril; influencers and peer networks are critical to reputation management, social media is a top way to build brand awareness but the jury’s still out on its ability to drive revenue. And I’ve bent over backwards and compiled for you a list of 21 insights and ideas from our esteemed speakers because great ideas should be shared.

Social media is a green field for PR pros. Virtually every person you want to market to spends time online engaging with a social media platform. The catch is you must stand out. In a world where everyone wants just a minute of your time, asking for the mere seconds it takes to read and like a post is a tall order. The nonprofit association CompTIA faced this challenge. To get results it failed to attain previously, the association had to do things it hadn’t done before. By going back to journalism basics it rebooted its approach to social media, and increased engagement by as much as 180%. Thinking like a journalist will not only help you achieve your goals, it will make you indispensable as this niche grows in professional relevance.

There was a time, not too long ago, when PR and digital were acutely divided disciplines, often competing with one another for budgets. While that still may be the case for some, more and more PR and digital strategies such as SEO are integrating, working together to reach target audiences, improve user experience and garner a greater ROI. As a PR pro in this ever-changing landscape, it can be tough to navigate. The rules of SEO change almost daily thanks to Google.