Social Media

Not long ago, one of the pleasures of taking vacation was being completely out of touch with the daily grind. Today, though, too many PR pros check in with the office during vacation. Worse, we chronicle our trip. While it sounds radical, try unplugging your phone before vacation begins. You might be surprised how much it boosts your creativity. Tips in this post will help you disconnect.

We are in an age when many artists and creators complain of their narrative intentions being twisted in the interest of pandering to algorithms, demographics, or stilted rollout strategies around marketing their new release. Still, one of the foundational services offered by full-service PR firms includes an client bio and one-sheet for the new release or product. How does our profession make peace with this disconnect?

We can speculate about why Wells Fargo created bogus credit cards or the motivation other brands had for doing things they knew were wrong or even illegal. Tobacco giant Philip Morris International is trying to remake itself into a purveyor of smoke-less product. It says it wants to discourage teen smoking. Then why was it flouting its own rules and using young, attractive influencers to tout its cigarette alternative?

It was a fitting message for the final speech of The Social Shake-Up. Though attendees were loaded with days of social media takeaways, they also were beginning to feel the effects of some great parties and a lot of shaking. Clad in a great suit, Ann Handley urged the crowd to slow down…strategically. Well received, Handley’s message was loaded with insightful tips about improving content creation.

Jaime Primak Sullivan, star of “Jersey Belle” and president of Bridge and Tunnel Entertainment, shared the backstory to her success of her online video series #cawfeetawk at Social Shake-Up 2019. She also offered insights on adapting to the ever-changing nature of digital communications, all while being a working mom, and how to answer the question: “How do you do it all?”

Instagram has long since graduated from being a platform for photographers and artists to share and display their work. Now a bona fide marketing, sales and recruiting tool for a range of brands, Instagram’s growth has eclipsed 1 billion active users. 5WPR chief Ronn Torossian offers five basic best practices that brands should bear in mind as they launch or seek to grow their Instagram presence.

On May 6, the 2019 Social Shake-Up Show in Atlanta kicked into high gear with a slew of hands-on workshops on social-adjacent topics from live streaming, to graphic design, to crisis management and more. Marketers and communications professionals working at a wide array of brands (Entertainment Tonight, Adobe and Kent State University, to name a few) offered attendees tips and tricks for more eye-popping designs, higher search rankings and better game plans for inevitable Twitter storms.

The Facebook F8 developer conference always causes a stir. Mark Zuckerberg emerged from his social media hive to dish on the latest changes to Facebook apps and products, delivering a sense of excitement and certainty for shareholders, media and users alike. Zucks’s overriding message? “The Future is Private.”

Social marketers often know what tools and resources are worth spending money on, but advocating for that budget, and working with the C-suite to allocate said budget, proves the greater challenge. We spoke with Rajesh Kari, Vice President and Business Leader at Infovision Social, about this exact matter ahead of his appearance at next week’s Social Shake-Up Show in Atlanta.

Many brands provide options for customer support on social media. While some companies fall back on traditional customer care departments or call centers, in today’s digital, “customer experience first” world, successful brands realize that consumers expect more personalized engagement. Customers choose social media in order to avoid traditional calls or chats. What does that mean for developing social strategies that fulfill customer service needs and also provide a differentiated experience?