The Public Relations Blog

What are the different types of roles for Page managers and who should be assigned which role?

Facebook enables businesses to have multiple people act as managers of their Pages. This is convenient, but it also poses a security risk. If an employee no longer works for the company, but still has complete access to its Facebook Page, trouble could ensue. That’s why it’s important to understand the different types of roles for Page managers and to restrict who has all-access to the Page and whose access is limited.

Make PR and positive news your secret weapons to move ahead of the competition

Most companies know that positive media coverage can help with promotion and increased visibility. What you may not know is that media coverage can also improve your online reputation.

With the popularity of online shopping and social media, the first interaction customers are likely to have with your company will be online. Therefore, it is vital to have a stellar online reputation, and PR, along with positive news coverage, can help.

PR explains the importance of branding

Heinz. John Deere. Sears. Wells Fargo. What do these names have in common? You know exactly what they are without any explanation. In addition, you know precisely what to expect from their products and services. That’s branding.

Every company – whether it’s B2B, retail or a large corporation – can benefit from branding efforts to increase market share and visibility. Branding is not only for companies like McDonald’s or Apple; it’s the kind of recognition you should seek for your own company, and PR can help.

Social media is a growing platform with many different channels for a company to engage over, from professional channels like LinkedIn to the more informal options like Pinterest and Snapchat. When companies maintain presences on these various social channels, employees often want to connect with them. However, some employees may not know the best way to go about connecting their work lives with their social lives. Here are a few tips to share with your employees to help them connect with your company’s social media profiles.

Social media is now the No. 1 way the majority of Americans spend their time on the Internet. Currently, there are more than 1 billion active Facebook users and 400 million Twitter users – and these numbers are increasing rapidly. It’s clear that social media is booming. People use it for everything: to obtain news, to be entertained and to research and buy products and services. In fact, social media offers a straight, quick path to your target audience – which is why you can’t afford not to be using it.

Use these tips to educate your company on PR’s true value

You know that your company needs to be more visible and engage more customers in order to increase sales. However, it can be difficult to sell management on public relations as the solution.

Many companies see PR as just something to pull off the shelf when there’s a crisis. This misunderstanding makes it difficult for them to see the true value of PR work. Once you effectively explain all the ways that public relations can help you boost sales and advance your company’s goals, you’ll have an easier time convincing management that it should be an essential part of your strategic plan.

Optimize your digital footprint with these steps

Incredible amounts of research have gone into determining how people form first impressions. The digital age has complicated the phenomenon by eliminating physical signs and signals. In place of smiles are likes, retweets and reviews, not direct word-of-mouth referrals. Businesses must therefore consider how their digital first impressions (gained not only through their websites but also via social media chatter and search engines such as Google) impact their brands.

How a social media policy can help you in a crisis

It seems that, almost overnight, social media has taken over our lives. We use it to stay connected, express opinions and follow the issues that are important to us. Some people feel they couldn’t go one day without it.

Unfortunately, the technology has evolved faster than many can manage it. Businesses especially have found themselves playing catch-up, struggling to engage customers and increase profits through social media platforms, lacking the necessary guidance and making reputation-crushing mistakes along the way. With assistance from PR, you can create your social media policy and avoid disaster.

Many people assumed the rise of social media (and with it the rise of amateur journalists) would turn the newspaper (and perhaps the news media itself) into a relic. And an article by Paul Eastham proposes a valid argument as to why the newspaper will survive social media and amateur content.

Eastham explains the theory that the rise of social media and the ability for users to easily copy and circulate articles without paying for them would essentially make journalism unprofitable. And then he details why such theory is flawed.

If you ignore Google, it may ignore you!

By Jason Mudd, APR

Your company has followed all the smart advice about making the most of social media for business. Most likely, you have hired a social media manager (or outsourced one) who ensures that you have a constant presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and maybe even Instagram and Pinterest. You may also have some videos on YouTube. What about Google+?

Many companies have neglected Google+ because they feel it’s still new and unpopular. However, there are several reasons why you need to give this platform more than a passing glance. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Google+ should move to the front of the line when it comes to the social media focus for your business. Here’s why: