Public Relations and Crisis Management

These days, having a strong and consistent social media presence has become an integral part of modern public relations and marketing strategies for many businesses. But being simply active on social media and being impactful are two different things that yield different results for your brand’s bottom line. To make your social media content break through the noise and engage your audience, it needs to be crafted accordingly. So, without further ado, let’s move on to the seven tips that will help you improve the quality of your social media content: 1.     Address the reader directly When drafting your social media copy, rather than focusing on yourself, grab the readers’ attention by addressing them directly. Using “you” in your social media posts helps establish a stronger personal connection with the reader and adds immediacy to your post. 2.     Use active voice Drafting your copy in an active voice will help you focus on action...

These days, companies spend lot of time and money to entice customers to "follow" them on social media , but very often, they don't do enough to keep them engaged. The key to not only retaining, but also growing your customer base is engaging with the most active members of your social communities in order to transform them into brand advocates. Take the time to respond to comments and questions in a friendly and conversational tone to help spark engagement and dialogue. Additionally, actively responding to reviews, both positive and negative, can help show your appreciation and openness to feedback. Finally, rewarding your brand advocates is a great way to create positive word of mouth that will be shared with their family and friends.  For example: a beauty brand can surprise active followers with a free bottle of their yet-to-be released moisturizer and a card asking them to share their feedback with their brand's official hashtag. The customers...

Today, we would like to discuss a topic that seems to be the source of a lot of questions and confusion among both, many PR pos and their clients – what the social media release is and how it is different from the regular news release . Both the traditional news release and the social media release (SMR) serve a similar purpose – to share the latest news with company stakeholders - however, they do so in slightly different ways. The main difference between the two types of news releases is their target audience. Unlike the traditional news release, which is focused on conveying an announcement to reporters and news outlets, the SMR targets the end reader directly. Traditional news releases are typically written in a formal tone using the so-called inverted pyramid approach where the most important facts are laid out in the very first paragraph and additional details are provided in paragraphs below. This is done in order to make it easier for reporters to quickly absor...

As public relations professionals, we always strive to deliver results for our clients. It’s no secret that earned media coverage in a reputable publication holds more weight with audiences than advertising and other types of paid media. However, earned media is also a lot more difficult to secure. Finding a newsworthy angle, crafting a compelling pitch, and sending it to the right journalists can sometimes challenge even the most experienced PR pros. The following tips will help you craft a better pitch to successfully secure earned media for your clients: Be Concise Try to keep your pitch emails no longer than two or three short paragraphs. When introducing your client, make sure your pitch coherently answers the five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. Remember that reporters receive dozens, if not hundreds of pitches a day. So, overwhelming them with extra text is the best way to make them lose interest. Consider the Audience Don’t forget to research the publ...