Social Media & SEO

Is it a trend? After several weeks of reporting 2017 data from several sectors we think so. B2B and B2C brands are posting fewer pieces of social media content yet piling up more consumer engagement actions. This week we look at the hotel sector in 2017 and sure enough, it’s grabbing engagement with fewer pieces of content. The Four Seasons leads the way.

The horrific events in South Florida that left 17 people dead and roughly twice that number wounded was the 25th fatal, active school shooting since Columbine in April 1999. While the shootings share many characteristics, they differed in a number of the ways communications figured into the equation.

Financial firms are generally thought to be shy about social media. Not so, at least in 2017, according to data provided exclusively to PR News by Shareablee. The sector combined for some 58 million consumer interactions in 2017, which represents modest growth vs 2016. And it accomplished this despite posting fewer pieces of content.

It’s dangerous to take anything out of context, particularly data. Facebook’s user numbers are gargantuan and are continuing to grow modestly. Still, digging down, you’ll find older people fueling its growth and younger folks departing or not visiting the social channel at all.

Facebook woke up this morning to see another gray hair in the mirror. While Facebook’s popularity with younger users has been on the decline for some time, a new report from market-research firm eMarketer quantifies just how bad this year’s exodus will be. Facebook is set to shed about 2 million users under the age of 24 this year.

This weekend, one of the most-viewed sporting events in the world kicks off in PyeongChang, South Korea. But it’s not just athletes that will be strutting their stuff on the world’s biggest stage. For the brands that serve as official sponsors, the Winter Olympics provide a perfect opportunity to combine storytelling skills with the natural drama of international competition. Here’s a look at how some of those brands are leveraging the games, using everything from influencer marketing strategies to virtual reality experiences.

Twitter delivered a profitable quarter for the first time in its history, beating Wall Street’s expectations with fourth-quarter net income of $91 million. But the cheery news was tempered by the fact that its user growth is stagnant, and even falling in the U.S. Meanwhile, in a tale of two platforms, Snapchat is still bleeding money, yet its user base, particularly among Gen Z, is on the ascent.

By turning to short-form video via channels like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, brands can capture—and keep—the precious attention of their target audience. “As social feeds continue to be overwhelmed by a never-ending influx of content, brand storytellers must embrace a less-is-more approach,” says PwC’s Larissa von Lockner.

Kevin Elliott, U.S. director, risk & crisis communications practice at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, has a favorite aphorism about crisis management: “If you treat a bad day like a crisis, you’ll turn it into one. And if… Continued

Comedian/actor Jim Carrey has begun a campaign to dump Facebook due to the company’s profiting off fake news and ads it sold to Russian agents during the U.S. presidential election. Part of Carrey’s beef is that Facebook still isn’t doing enough to stop it. He’s removed his Facebook page, given up his Facebook shares and urges concerned investors to do the same. Should Facebook consider Carrey’s actions a crisis or a bad day?