The Public Relations Blog

5 tips for seeing social media for what it really is: one tool among many

Who logged on and made Twitter king? Is it time to put social media in its place?

A recentBusinessweek article says it is – mainly because research suggests social media may not do a lot on its own to impact audiences. In fact, Businessweek says that, according to poll results, social media doesn’t convince audiences to buy products and services.

What you don’t know about it could be costing you money and customers

Social media use is increasing, but you probably already knew that. What you may not know is how people are accessing it, why they stay connected and what they want to see from your company on social media platforms. If you are not aware of these issues and keeping ahead of the trends, you could be getting it wrong and, ultimately, losing money or customers.

Social media is everywhere and doesn’t seem like it will disappear anytime soon. These days, if your company is not on social media, it’s almost like you don’t exist. Still, many companies have no idea how to take full advantage of this engagement tool or use it properly.

When done correctly, social media campaigns can have a huge impact on moving your targeted audiences through the sales funnel, from lead generation to actual paying and repeat customers. However, to achieve these results, you must know the best methods to make social media work for you long-term. These tactics will help.

Recruiting top talent has gotten significantly more difficult in recent years. With the popularity of social media, you can now find out more information about job seekers than ever before. Nevertheless, you should realize that while you are calling references and performing background searches on potential hires, they are checking you out, as well, often using sites like Glassdoor.com.

Update that profile (audiences notice) and 5 other PR tips for LinkedIn

Moving on from how to use Twitter to updating your LinkedIn: If you know you need to strengthen your online reputation, you can’t overlook LinkedIn anymore. To your audiences, it’s totally legit. It’s also one serious way you can cut through the social media clutter that clogs up every industry. Read on to see how the recent report shared on Forbesimpacts how you use LinkedIn to build your brand as part of your PR strategy.

How to deal with what’s wild (and wildly effective) about this platform  

Let's continue on our social media binge this week and dive into one platform in particular – the wild horse of social media – Twitter.

LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter, oh my!

Yesterday, we shared how to leverage PR and social media to get and keep more clients, now we're going to talk about managing social media.

According to research conducted by Protiviti and North Carolina State University’s ERM Initiative in a recent report entitled “Executive Perspectives on Top Risks for 2014” (pg. 5), there are eight top strategic risks for 2014:

Three tips to help your business keep negative reviews from hurting its reputation

Almost every business will receive negative online reviews, and there is nothing wrong with that; it’s better to get some kind of feedback so you can improve your products and services. Plus, those bad reviews also add credibility to the positive reviews.

However, mishandling negative reviews can do long-term damage to your company’s reputation. If you have received negative reviews or want to proactively make a plan to handle those reviews when they arise, read these tips and don’t let your reputation take a hit.

(or...They may eat paleo, but audiences want to binge on media)

The digital age has taken its toll on the newspaper business. Newsrooms across the nation have downsized and some have thrown in the towel entirely. The newest generation of consumers spends less time watching traditional broadcast news, opting instead for social media and real-time online feeds to get its news.