Social Media & SEO

PR pros now spend a lot of their time navigating the social media terrain. They post tweets, distribute pictures on Instagram and create six-second video clips for Vine. Whew. While those skills certainly hold value for communicators, they may not be the essential element for career advancement.

Foursquare is undergoing a transformation from a social gamification network to a hyper-local information hub. And its new strategy to integrate crowdsourcing should make the transition much easier for the company.

If you were to Google “social media and public relations strategy,” millions of articles, blog posts, videos and other resources would pop up on this popular subject. Journalists, new influencers and well-known authors continue to write on this topic.

The great mystery writer Elmore Leonard passed away yesterday. The Internet lit up. And interestingly, it was as much about his tips for great writing as it was for his brilliant work.

In yet another new discipline to add to their wheelhouse, PR agencies are starting to get into the media buying space. PR News spoke with Matthew Browher,
 senior VP, digital strategist at Ketchum, who provided the following three tips for PR pros looking to adapt media buying practices.

Pinterest is a social media platform that can be difficult for brands to penetrate. Dominated by “DIY” and digital dream house wish lists, companies trying to break into the space need to be innovative. You can’t just pin a snapshot of your latest product and call it a day.

With social media demographics beginning to skew older, LinkedIn is bucking the trend by targeting two new demographics–teenagers and college students. Beginning September 12, LinkedIn will be available globally to users 13 and up. Not only that, but University Pages have been rolled out.

Crises can happen when you least expect it, and it can be tempting to run around panicking, shouting “Danger, Will Robinson!” and eventually collapsing into a heap. Don’t do that.

The rapid growth of social channels, blogs and LinkedIn has grabbed the attention of professionals throughout most every organization. And public relations departments, of course, have been among the earliest adopters of social media.

I was at a PR News Conference a couple of weeks ago, and during a Q&A with a panel critiquing press inquiries, the question came up of when and how to follow-up with a non-responsive… Continued