The Public Relations Blog

Google has changed the SEO and social media game again, so you’ll need to change with it

Google recently announced a major change in how it handles Google+ for businesses. Most of the features a Google+ profile had before, such as phone numbers, reviews, operating insights and page insights, can now be found on the Google Maps profile. This update affects how a company should manage its SEO and prioritize its Google profiles.

How to use a PR nightmare to help you improve your bottom line

The country’s current social climate is an opportunity for better public relations between PR firms and their clients. One of the best examples arose recently at the University of Missouri, and smart companies are paying attention and making changes.

Understanding an important tool for crisis management

Experienced PR firms that are skilled in crisis communications work closely with their clients to build “dark sites” (aka blind sites, black sites or ghost sites). Dark sites are fully functional, pre-packaged web pages prepared for immediate publishing in the event of a crisis. Dark sites are so named because they reside in a different layer of the Internet than the layer most of us typically use, and their main purpose is to communicate accurate and timely information, given the immediacy of viral social media.

Use PR to solve problems, build your customer base and achieve results

Engineering firms today face a challenging marketplace. In order to stay ahead of the competition, you need to increase your visibility, prove that you add value and differentiate yourself as an industry leader. Help from PR can make these vital tasks easier.

To engage clients, handle crises and communicate effectively with target audiences, every kind of business requires assistance from experts who excel in these areas.

Let PR show you how to help your company while helping others

You have done a good job of fostering a company culture that encourages and celebrates charitable giving. Of course, you did not do this just to receive recognition, but it would be nice to get some anyway. The trick is to promote your corporate social responsibility efforts without sounding like a showoff and possibly alienating customers. With help from PR, you can reap both the internal and external benefits of your charitable giving efforts.

Late Friday night, when gunfire and blasts took the lives of at least 128 people in Paris, the world turned to social media for updates on the tumultuous situation. Among the tweets of condolence, sadness and worry, there was the occasional corporate tweet about products, the sporadic blogger pushing his posts and some of the usual whimsical content you find on Twitter.

While social media is a fun way to connect with consumers and prospects, it’s also a source for news and community-building during times of tragedy.

How Turing Pharmaceuticals’ Martin Shkreli and others can climb out of a PR nightmare

Imagine this: A crisis is brewing over your company’s perceived lack of compassion for your customers. To make things worse, a top executive is quoted in major media outlets saying that the company will do little (or nothing) to change.

You don’t need to imagine it; you can read all about it in the news coverage of Turing Pharmaceuticals’ CEO, Martin Shkreli, who decided to drastically increase the cost of a life-saving drug from $18 to $750 a pill. However, there are ways for this company – and others in a similar situation – to recover from such a fiasco with help from PR.

We live according to our own moral standards and beliefs and we run businesses in the way we believe is ethical and appropriate. Unethical business practices can not only damage your business reputation, but can also completely ruin the business itself. When it comes to dealing with your public either in person or on social media, it’s important to know which behaviors are ethical and which are not.

Of course, ethical norms vary from business to business and from culture to culture, but some are more or less standard for most business practices.

You won’t win true customer loyalty with flashing lights and shiny objects; your values and your brand identity are what will attract and retain consumers long-term. Keep an eye on the next generation’s habits and favored platforms in order to better connect with them. You don’t have to look far to find templates to model your business’ success after.

When used regularly and wisely, blogs are useful tools for driving two-way communication with audiences. Over the years, Axia Public Relations’ team members have fielded questions about the relevance of blogs and whether businesses should even bother, given concerns surrounding time investment and lack of topics. In short, it’s important to view your blog as an active extension of your business. To help with content creation, we’re sharing another short list of ideas to inspire blog neophytes.