Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Recently we helped the Port of Kingston conduct a survey to gather feedback on its planned Passenger-Only Ferry service. We created the survey to determine how people would use the ferry, when they would ride it and their primary purpose for using the service.
The survey was distributed via Facebook and Twitter between April 16 and April 30. It was a cost-effective way for our client to get direct feedback from potential passengers, which will be used to make decisions on a variety of features and functionalities of the service.
In addition, the survey provided the Port of Kingston with interesting data to share with Tad Sooter, a journalist with North Kitsap Herald. He included many of the survey’s key findings in his article on the new ferry service.
This is a good example of how customer input can be used to offer a better service. In addition, the market research was helpful in driving editorial coverage.
The next time you need data about your customers, we encourage you to consider developing a survey and distributing it via social media. We believe you’ll get wonderful insight that you can analyze to move your business forward. And you may find that the media is interested in your research as well.
More information about conducting perception audits can be found here.
I recently read an interesting interview in Mashable with Forrester Research’s CEO George Colony offering his perspective on why CEOs should be well versed in social media. While more and more companies and C-level executives are embracing social media as an effective tool to help meet business objectives, there’s a staggering amount of executives who are not actively engaging in social media.
Not surprisingly, Colony believes that there are three key barriers to the wide adoption of social media by executives including age, regulatory constraints (particularly for public companies) and time. (For more on this topic, check out Jennifer and Colleen’s article in Seattle Business Monthly called “The Social Media Blind Spot.“)
It’s critical for executives to not only understand the value of social media, but also be engaged on these platforms. Executive engagement in social media can help build strong and trusted relationships with customers, effectively handle a crisis situation and build thought leadership in the marketplace.
We are routinely called upon to illustrate the value of social media to executives and help train them on the practicalities of how to use social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. One of the first things we recommend is holding a training session to help executives understand the “basics” of social media so they understand how people are using these solutions and the impact they can have on an organization.
These sessions typically have two objectives; the first, is to help executives understand how people and organizations are deriving value from social media; and secondly, give them a high-level overview of the nuts and bolts of Facebook and Twitter to help them get started today (common terminology, best practices, etc.).
Additionally, we have found it effective to highlight examples of how an organization’s competitors are leveraging social media.
The more you can educate your executives at a high level on the basics, the easier it will be to get them to dip their toes into the social media waters.
I think Colony sums up his perspective on CEOs and social media wisely by saying, “I think within 10 or 15 years boards will look for social skills. This will be part of the portfolio of the CEO — they’re going to have to have this kind of ongoing communication with their customers. Because the Facebook generation will demand to be communicated to that way.”
For more information on how you can help educate and train executives to use social media, contact us at [email protected].
We are looking for one more intern to join our team for the summer. This paid intern will join another intern working directly with senior members of the Communiqué PR team.
Interns at Communiqué PR are active members of a designated account team. Our interns acquire “hands-on” public relations experience, gaining exposure to areas such as: media relations, press material development, media list building, etc. We prefer candidates who have had prior public relations internship experience.
Ideal candidates are college students entering their senior year in Fall 2010 majoring in public relations, journalism, communications, business administration, marketing, English or related field.
The candidate must be comfortable with Microsoft Windows and Office (esp. Excel, Word, & PowerPoint), social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and be articulate, proactive, energetic, and eager to learn.
Desired skills:
- Self-starter who can work independently with minimum supervision as well as collaboratively in a team environment
- Good communication skills – both oral and written
- Organized and efficient
- Articulate and thoughtful
- Friendly and personable
- Energetic and enthusiastic
- Willingness and eagerness to learn
- Consistent, regular and punctual attendance
- Proficient in Microsoft Windows and Office (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) as well as Facebook and Twitter
Please send a resume and cover letter to [email protected].
The right images can go a long way toward impacting the placement and pick up of stories. I was reminded of this today as I read the Seattle Times. I am a loyal subscriber, and while my husband and many other friends enjoy consuming the news online, I still enjoy sitting at the dining table flipping through the paper with my coffee.
This morning as I scanned the business section of the Seattle Times, a photo of a guy on a bike mixing a frappuccino immediately caught my eye. The caption for the photo reads, “Ian Cranna, Starbucks director of blended beverages, pedals a custom Frappuccino while Gita Stiritz secures the lid Monday.”
The photo accompanied a story focused on Starbucks’ plans to reinvigorate demand for its iced frappuccino by allowing consumers to concoct their own blends. By allowing people to customize these drinks, Starbucks hopes to drive more sales.
It was an interesting article and well placed front and center on the business section. After reading the article, I couldn’t help thinking about the impact photography has on story placement – images can often drive people to read a story and help convey powerful messages. For instance, when you look at this image, you get the sense that while Starbucks’ employees may be serious about coffee drinks; they’re not above having a bit of fun.
Kudos to the person who was the brainchild behind the event and bike blender photo opportunity. I am certain it impacted placement and drove interest in this story. The lesson here: don’t forget about photography when you make your next big announcement.
As print newspapers around the world are merging or moving to online-only versions, eBay founder and Hawaii resident, Pierre Omidyar is looking to develop the next generation of online news.
According to a story we heard on April 22 on NPR, Omidyar is creating a subscription-only online news website for residents of Honolulu, called the Civil Beat.
The Civil Beat, which is expected to officially launch tomorrow, May 4, will be significantly different than traditional newspapers because it will rely heavily on social networking.
The goal of the Civil Beat is to engage the community in reading and commenting on the news. In addition, the journalists will leverage social media as they’re working on their stories. They’ll tweet and blog as they’re gathering information as well as share their perspectives around the experience of reporting.
Finally, how the news is aggregated will be different. The site will have topic pages, which are devoted to a particular subject such as Honolulu’s passenger rail project. The benefit to the reader will be that content around this topic will be continually updated and they’ll be able to refer back to the page for the living story.
It sounds interesting to me, but clearly the monthly subscription fee is not cheap. At $19.99 a month, people are going to need to derive significant value from the site. Otherwise, I just don’t see this being a sustainable model.
Nonetheless, it will be fascinating to see what happens with this site as newspapers continue to adapt and social media continues to grow in popularity. Clearly, people value NPR’s member stations enough to donate money during the semiannual pledge so maybe this will work.
Please let us know what you think. Would you be willing to pay a monthly fee to engage in this marketplace of news with reporters, neighbors and others in your community?
We all know about the benefits that social media provides both consumer and business-to-business (B2B) companies. It can help raise visibility of a company, provide a powerful channel to engage with target audiences and can help create brand loyalty. But what if you’re a new company or an organization just starting to build a presence via social networks? How do you quickly build awareness and increase your following to make the investment in social media worthwhile?
While there are a variety of ways to grow your fan base and increase engagement, social media contests are a fantastic option to consider to accomplish this goal. Contests can be cost-effective and easily executed with limited resources and can lead to some amazing results.
We recently completed a project in which we executed two Facebook contests to help a company increase its Facebook fans, drive viral buzz surrounding its website and encourage target audiences to try its service.
Our first Facebook campaign began in mid-March. We partnered with the client to encourage target audiences to become fans by offering to send each person a complimentary iTunes song while simultaneously entering them into a random drawing to win an iPod Touch. The monetary investment for the prizes was manageable and the response was incredible. Through this campaign, we made excellent traction and more than doubled the company’s Facebook fan base.
After the success of this initial campaign we executed a second Facebook campaign in which we leveraged friend referrals to continue to increase the company’s fan base. Fans and current customers were asked to refer their friends to become Facebook fans. The person with the most referrals received a grand prize. In addition, a daily winner was selected via a random drawing. The company gave out prizes to the daily winners including an Amazon gift card, iTunes gift card, flat screen TV and a flip camera.
Consider these results:
- Over the course of one week, the company saw a 300 percent growth in its Facebook fan base.
- The company garnered positive comments via its Facebook fan page from consumers about how they benefitted from the company’s service and how much they enjoyed participating in the contest. In fact, 123 people posted comments on the company’s page about the two contests.
- Since these two contests, new fans have been engaging regularly on the Facebook fan page driving viral buzz around the client’s products. These contests also provided an open channel for the company to secure feedback from consumers.
One final example, Communiqué PR launched a Twitter contest back in February to help celebrate the firm’s sixth anniversary. The objective was to see if we could leverage social media contests to increase brand awareness and facilitate deeper engagement with our followers. The contest ultimately helped drive traffic to our website traffic as well as drove sales for Colleen and Jennifer’s book, “Strategic Public Relations.”
For more tips for executing a successful social media campaign, please contact us.