Archive: November 2016

While Snapchat’s game-like, whimsical interface may not seem to be the obvious go-to for communicators at b2b companies, the platform has plenty to offer any brand looking to explore a new channel for audience growth. Larissa von Lockner, a social media lead and member of PwC’s creative team—who will be speaking at PR News’ The Social Shake-Up on May 23, 2017, in Atlanta—shares some best practices.

Earlier in the month we were surprised when consumer engagement with B2C brands on Facebook during the 3rd quarter (July 1-Sept. 30) was down year over year ( PRN, Nov. 7). The trend continued with nonprofits, this week’s focus. Consumer engagement with nonprofits’ posts on Facebook declined 42% year over year (B2C brands were off just 20%), according to data provided exclusively to PR News Pro by Shareablee. On the upside, video engagement rose 61% vs. the same quarter in 2015. Engagement, or actions, is defined here as the total of likes, comments and shares.

Perhaps Google’s short explanations of why it has chosen a story for you will make the wall between Google and users less opaque. For the moment, however, neither Google nor any other social media powerhouse has explained exactly how it determines news story recommendations, search results or ad placements. The latter two, search and ads, as well as optimizing site content were among the topics discussed during PR News’ Boot Camp: Google for Communicators last week in NY. As such we asked several PR pros about navigating the frosted-glass barriers surrounding Google searches and AdWords, its online advertising service.

Creative Solution: A tip of the cap for creativity to MyTravelResearch.com (MTR), a firm in Australia that’s taken on the task of publicizing what many in the developed world take for granted: toilets. Nov. 19 was U.N. International Toilet Day, an effort to publicize the need for more toilets, in the developing world especially, and encourage people to use them. The U.N. says 1 in 10 people still defecate without a toilet daily. This, the U.N. says, results in disease, environmental health challenges, increased mortality and lack of productivity at work. It’s also a security issue as sometimes wild animals mistake squatting humans, especially children, for food. The U.N. wants to create adequate toilet provisions globally by 2030. To raise awareness MTR created the Toilet Tourism Awards, whose proceeds will be donated to the U.N.’s effort in the winner’s name.

The Trends: In this age of immediacy, consumers are going digital to find inspiration, tips and answers to all sorts of questions, including preparation of the Thanksgiving turkey. This desire for information to be “on demand” seems paramount in all industries. We’ve observed consumers walking through grocery store aisles not looking at shelves as they consider what to purchase to prepare the perfect meal, but peering down at their phone as their go-to resource. This year, we anticipate a cadre of new holiday chefs—my demographic of older millennials—will be preparing the Thanksgiving turkey for the first time.

The stalwart, indefatigable souls behind the best PR and marketing campaigns of the past tumultuous, media-saturated year will get the glory they deserve at PR News’ Dec. 6 Winter Awards luncheon at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C. At the luncheon PR News will announce the winners of its 2016 PR People Awards.

For a crash course in how not to communicate with millennials, take the time to visit /r/FellowKids, a “subreddit” of gigantic content-aggregation site Reddit. It’s a site dedicated to mocking examples of “advertisements and media that totally appeal to the radical youth of today. Cowabunga!”

Google Analytics is among a PR pro’s most valuable means of proving ROI on a campaign. But for communicators that consider themselves more wordsmiths than STEM experts, it can be challenging to move past “analysis paralysis” when approaching a complex tool like Google Analytics.

Winner: Brownstein Group – IKEA Adult Coloring Book ColorWithIKEA provided IKEA fans with their own set of illustrations that are free and ready to be downloaded, printed and filled in with a personal touch. It tied… Continued

Winners: IBM – 360 Degree Research Labs and J. Walter Thompson MEA – HASSA ELIYA (NOW IS MINE) IBM – 360 Degree Research Labs With Facebook and YouTube now providing the capability for brands to… Continued