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Key Takeaways from the PR + Social Media Summit

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Last week the GCAI team traveled to Milwaukee, WI to attend the PR + Social Media Summit at Marquette University. I presented during the panel discussion, Online Reputation Management: Tools, Tactics, and Tips from Experts on the Front Lines while John moderated the panel. Mary also moderated the panel, Engaging with Social Media Communities for the Right Reasons and the Right Outcomes.

When not busy presenting, we attended multiple breakout sessions and also listened to keynotes from George G Smith Jr., Sr. Manager, Social Activation Strategy and Execution at PepsiCo, and Jennifer McTighe, Director for External Relations at IBM Research. We learned a lot at the summit and wanted to share some of our takeaways from the event with you!

John Garvey and George G Smith Jr. at the PR + Social Media Summit

George G. Smith Jr. and John Garvey presenting at the PR + Social Media Summit.

John’s Takeaways:

  • How advanced Marquette University is; students’ questions, participation, MU greeted me on Twitter when I arrived.
  • Social media has arrived for major brands – it is not “new”, “an after-thought”, something for kids – or interns…
  • Strategy is all important – know where you are going and what to measure.
  • Concentrating on building fans is so yesterday.

Mary’s Takeaways:

  • Social media isn’t about promoting new products/services; it’s a virtual culture for your brand.
  • The future of social media is moving toward radical transparency.

Laura’s Takeaways:

  • Redefine influence. Always remember that small communities online matter just as much as the larger ones.
  • Don’t complain about changes to social media platforms. The platforms have to change to survive.
  • Focus on engagement with your communities, not the number of fans or followers you have.

Were you at the PR + Social Media Summit? Anything you would like to add? Please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

 

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Requires Radical PR Tactics

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Back in the day (like five years ago), GCAI provided pro-bono Public Relations services to  Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity’s blitz builds, so the concept of rallying volunteers, supplies and donations to build a house was not a new thing to us.  Then, along came the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EMHE) Springfield build.

For those who have not followed the show since its inception in 2003, basically its star Ty Pennington and his design crew roll into town, partner with a local builder and then build a new home for a deserving family in about a week. Although there is undoubtedly a lot of background work that takes place over the months preceding the build, the local builder and supporting volunteers (insert PR agency here), complete their work in about five weeks.

What made this build quite interesting for GCAI, was the fact that it would help the family of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who committed suicide at the age of 11 after being subjected to relentless bullying at school. We have provided pro-bono PR services to a foundation in his memory for the past two year and were preparing to launch their second annual race/walk to raise money to support anti-bullying efforts.

By agreeing to take on EMHE, we would have two significant pro-bono efforts going on at the same time. Not the smartest business strategy, but our hearts were committed!

Unlike our previous Habitat blitz build efforts, GCAI would bring its full tool box of digital marketing strategies to the EMHE effort.  That would include starting and managing  of an online community that experience explosive growth, Search Engine Optimized PR, and online management using iPhones in the field, Sponsored Posts advertisement on Facebook and more. Our objectives were simple: develop volunteer support, media coverage, and donations. The response to our efforts was stunning!

In just under five weeks, the Facebook community we started for EMHE grew to over 7,000 members (see example A).  With management activity that just about matched the 24 hour a day demands of the build itself, this community thrived. It solved problems, answered questions, chased off trolls and spammers, donated supplies and money and volunteers, and – in doing so – exceeded our wildest expectations.

Facebook Insight: Screen Shot for Total Facebook Likes

Example A

 

Using Facebook Insights, we were able to determine that the EMHE Springfield page received over 1 million impressions and engagement occurrences (fans interacting with a post) which reached 8,000.  Active and live community management ensured that engagement spiked at key points during the event, in this case, the 9/11 “Door Knock Day” and 9/18 “Reveal Day” (see example B).  We chose not to use scheduled posts very much during the five week event due to concerns about Facebook relevancy scoring (diminished impressions due to using a third-party app to scheduled post). At the Online News Conference in Boston MA recently, Facebook presenter Vadim Lavrusik suggested that this was not the case. Still, GCAI would recommend live community management for events like EMHE even though it is extremely labor intensive.

Facebook Insight: Facebook Fan Interaction

Example B

Despite the lack of advanced planning time, our available technology – critical to SEO PR and real time community management – worked quite well.  As previously mentioned, iPhones and certain apps were key to these efforts.  Rather than use embargoed releases, we chose to disseminate from the field using the iPhones.  We were also able to take pictures and capture video which – upon approval from the show – could be posted right to the Facebook Fan page.  The phones provided a means to communicate with media (by text and email) – who were traveling up to an hour and a half to cover the event. We were also able to call in interviews to 94.7 FM WMAS who provided daily coverage of the event.  Media also posted extensively about the event on Facebook and Twitter. Using the iPhones, we could Like or RT these mentions – thus giving them extra SEO value.  The result was fans would could not attend events, where therefore able to enjoy all the excitement through the fan page.  Community management was live and instantaneous (see example C)

Facebook Insights: Real Time Dissemination

Example C

We did discover the outer limit of SEO PR conducted from the field, however.  That limit is battery power and we are currently researching several battery backup solutions for our next effort.

Interestingly, the local Twitter community did not respond to this effort at all.  The EMHE profile was used for PR dissemination, but generated very little by way of followers and engagement (See example D). Hashtag use was encouraged and used, but again, in very low numbers.  GCAI generally has found that the local Twitter community is not responsive to charitable or civic efforts in terms of engagement (RTs, mentions, offers of support).

Twitter Followers

Example D

Finally, we were monitoring and searching for multiple keywords as part of our online reputation management strategy. There was a relatively low response because the majority of the conversation stayed within the Facebook community that we had created. We did find a few negative posts within the comments section of online newspaper articles. Those responsible for the negative posts, trolls or spammers as we like to call them, were forced out of the community by other commenters. The negative posts were often marked as spam or inappropriate by members of the online newspaper community to prevent further posting.

If you have suggestions for future Social Media News posts, want to be a guest blogger, ask questions or share thoughts, please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

3 Perspectives On How Social Today’s PR Graduates Must Be – Part 3

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Views from The Student, The Pro and The Professor

Last week we discussed how graduates will use social media to find a PR job. This week’s Social Media News, is the last of our three  part series, and asks what will surprise graduates about social media once they get on the job. GCAI tapped three people for their perspectives.

The Student: @stjackman
Stephanie Jackman, Intern at GCAI, completing a BA in Communication this year from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY
The Pro : @MFallon
Mary Fallon,  Media Director at GCAI and Isenberg School of Management at UMASS Amherst graduate, Google AdWords Certified, PRSA member for 4 years, has led seminars on SEO and SMO PR at UMASS Amherst
The Professor: @FvrythingPR
Dr. Daradirek Ekachai,  Associate Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI

3) What will surprise graduating college students about social media once they get on the job?

The Student:
Little is taught about social media in the classroom so the majority of experience I have, I’ve learned as I went along. I was surprised to find the amount of time and effort that goes into developing a social media strategy and how essential it has become to a company’s marketing needs. In order for a company’s social media initiatives to be carried out successfully, they must be well thought-out and organized.

The Pro:
I believe most students will be surprised to realize how much strategy goes into social media.  Social media isn’t just about creating and distributing posts; the content must be tied to an overall plan which has been created with the business’ goals in mind. Also, the strategic plan must be constantly evolving as social media does.

The Professor:
 I think students might be surprised that, being seen as a “digital native,” they could be regarded as a social media “expert” with full responsibility in the area “grown ups” are not familiar with. They will have to learn quickly on management (time and organization) issues.