Social Media

Companies may expend tremendous energy and time to find the right influencer for their brand. Unfortunately, they often fail to look deeply into an influencer’s past for clues of potential future behavior. Although many details surrounding a recent incident in Denmark remain unclear, it reminds us of the need for companies to research the reputation of influencers before going into business with them.

So, the White House plans to host its first ever social media conference this Thursday. But Facebook or Twitter have not been invited. What does a social media summit look like without two of the biggest platforms participating? And who’s going to this thing, anyway? The White House has been mum. But based on what we do know, we take look at what might be discussed.

With PRNEWS’ Top Women in Healthcare Communications awards luncheon coming up later this month, we asked our data partner Shareablee to look at the most socially active pharma and healthcare insurance providers for the first months of 2019. Clearly, these sectors need to address their social media strategies as both suffered major downturns in consumer engagement vs 2018.

We rarely cover live events in this publication. PRNEWS senior content manager Sophie Maerowitz gave us a reason to make an exception. She attended a PRSA session featuring former Hearst executive Joanna Coles, who offered so many interesting tips and tactics that we had to share them with you. Here are some gems from the sharp yet blunt mind of Coles.

There’s been a generational and cultural shift toward activism over the last few decades, as consumers call for more organic and open conversations about CSR from businesses. With this, the spirit of reversing capitalism-induced environmental and social damage has also become a trend in marketing. And millennials are largely the ones driving the shift.

Putting Facebook’s problems with inconsistent messaging aside, the “platform vs. publisher” debate has considerable relevance for PR pros, whose success in Media Relations largely depends on building out some variation of a PESO strategy that involves a traditional ad spend, an earned media component, solid SEO and robust owned content delivery channels. Communicators are in a position to become influencers of Facebook’s policy, not just through their partnerships with marketing and ad spends, but by treating the ubiquitous social network as a “publication” and not a “platform.” Here’s why.

A social media budget should focus on so much more than just dollar signs. A good budget requires a recipe of research and development, as well as resources. Every organization, from billion dollar companies with multiple marketing departments across the globe, to smaller nonprofits with social media armies of one, should take a look at social media usage and where it fits into their overall strategy.

Sending out a press release or blind-calling reporters isn’t the best way to get your stories told or your message out. With six PR pros to one journalist these days, getting through is a big part of the battle. The best thing you can do is get to know the reporters who write on your relevant beats and build a relationship with them based on trust. Can you use social media too? Here are 9 things you need to consider first.

It’s not really news that more and more data issues are popping up at Facebook. The company’s business model is predicated on a deeply conflicted data scheme. Still, the company has hurt itself by failing to accept some of the basics of crisis management. Here are a few lessons from the latest Facebook scandal.

National days are a great way for brands to engage with not only influencers and fans on a topic, but also to reign in some new faces. Today, for National Doughnut Day (June 7), some brands like Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme create actionable items to bring consumers through their doors. Others, like the Salvation Army regale us with nostalgia, teaching us about the importance of the origin of the holiday. And there are always those brands with icky content, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.