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We are about to dive into a new book for our 360PR Book Club. There is nothing better than reading up on public relations and social media while lying on the beach! Well at least everyone in our office thinks it’s exciting…

We are considering three books this summer, ranging in focus from how social media is taking over PR to why flash mobs actually work. Here are our picks for the summer session of the 360PR Book Club:

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR  

By Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations focuses on how PR professionals have the opportunity to make PR succeed more powerfully with social media and Web 2.0 It seems like we have been doing this for a while, but maybe Solis and Breakenridge will give new tips and tricks to seasoned PR professionals.

Twitter Power: How to Dominate your Market One Tweet at a Time

By Joel Comm

As PR pros we’ve been using Twitter for a long time, but we are always open to hearing how to make Twitter work harder for our clients. Twitter Power discusses through case studies and best practices, how to build a brand via Twitter.

And Then There’s This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture

By Bill Wasik

And Then There’s This highlights the phenomenon of viral culture, including the creation of flash mobs, memes, and other Internet sensations such as guerilla marketing and political blogs. The theory of why certain phenomenon take off and others are left in the dirt is important for all PR people to understand. Wasik may have some new insight that will help on our current campaigns.  

Let us know what’s on your book list this summer - for business or pleasure!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Books, PR Industry by CaitlinMelnick - 2 Comments →

 

We’ve returned safe and soundly from Chicago and BlogHer 2009 was a big success.  Its biggest turnout to date, the five-year-old conference morphed into a true tradeshow format with major brands turning out to grab the attention of bloggers across the country.

Elaborate booths, impressive swag and even celebrity sightings (Tim Gunn, Paula Deen and Carson Kressley), are a testament to the fact that brands know how important bloggers are to their success; and are willing to put the resources and funds behind social media initiatives to get in the bloggers’ good graces.

Social media is a force to be reckoned with; and is certainly gaining lots of attention in the industry.  Issues with the FTC (see Laura’s recent post), Blog with Integrity and the recent announcement of the PR Blackout Challenge all point to an obvious truth: new media is calling and is here to stay. By the looks of BlogHer 2009, brands have taken notice.

From national brands like Pepsi Co and Walmart to non-profits such as Safe Kids to the unexpected presence of Pork (touting themselves as the Real Pork Bloggers of Chicago), the brands at this year’s conference ran the gamut.  Also, our Safety 1^st client was in attendance to introduce its new Complete Air car seat with Air Protect Side Impact Technology.  Stay tuned to view our Flickr page with all of our booth visitors in front of the Chicago skyline!

See you all next year in NYC for BlogHer 2010!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Social Media by BrittanyWelch - 3 Comments →

In PR, we often become entrenched in the minutia. It’s easy to do - between client work, staying on top of media, and being compulsive multi-taskers, it’s easy to forget about what matters in the end: the big picture. This week, instead of focusing on different social media mediums, we’re taking a look at big brands, crowds and Twitter-type muck raking.

Mashable “Are Media and PR Pros Ready to Embrace the Twitter-Sized Press Release?” - Press releases take time to write, re-write, and approve, and are costly to distribute. How effective would putting out a 140-character release over one accounts’ Twitter stream be? It seems as if only time, and tweet aggregating service Muck Rack’s popularity, will tell.

BusinessWeek “Viralsourcing: Let Crowds Create Your Ad Message” - Brands wouldn’t exist without consumers, particularly those devoted to purchasing their products. So why not ask brand fans and the public for their opinion when creating material targeted at asking for their allegiance and money? Find out how marketing professionals are getting inside the minds of their customers with “Viralsourcing.”

TechCrunch “The Most Engaged Brands On The Web” - If you’re an active Tweep, chances are good you’re following @JetBlue and @Zappos. Why? Plain and simple, they “get” social media. Both companies engage with their followers, offer news of deals and discounts, and appear genuinely concerned with their image. Find out which companies understand what it takes to rise to the top - and find some new accounts to follow while you’re at it.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - No Comments →

Guess what the first and last topic was on the first day of Blogher? Right. That FTC stuff. Disclosure was the main message from the Blogher founders.  Blogher requires its network of 2,500 bloggers to aggregate product reviews to a separate review blog and note that reviews are sponsored.

But is disclosure enough?  Do we need or, let me rephrase, want “compensated reviews”?  If a product or service is truly break-through and relevant to the audience, and the outreach is well timed and appropriately targeted (if I can put in just a small plug for PR), reviews get written and for the right reasons.

There was a lot of discussion throughout Blogher Business about how bloggers “add value for marketers.”  But most blogs weren’t started as a marketing platform, and even as they’ve collectively evolved to be a viable channel for advertisers online, the audience needs to come first.  If it doesn’t, we all lose.

A group of bloggers we have a heck of a lot of respect for launched an initiative this week called Blog with Integrity, inviting bloggers to take a pledge of a code of conduct - totally voluntary and completely about raising the bar back up in the blogosphere for mom bloggers and all bloggers.

So what about us PR peeps?  Almost a decade ago, The Council of PR Firms set forth a code of ethics by which members firms (including 360PR) agree to conduct business - to help ensure PR with Integrity.  ”In communicating with the public and media, member firms will maintain total truthfulness and accuracy… the sources of communications and sponsors of activities will not be concealed,” reads an excerpt.

Social media, and PR’s prime-time role in social media, have raised the stakes.  We need to strive to be authentic, accurate and transparent in every interaction with bloggers, journalists and analysts every day.  What would our moms say?  Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

What are your thoughts?

 

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Industry Organizations, Internet, Marketing to Moms, PR Industry, Social Media by LauraTomasetti - 6 Comments →

Call it a stunt.  Call it desperation.  MomDot issued a challenge to its community of bloggers last week calling for a PR Blackout for one week in August.  (Just so happens that’s the week everyone’s on vacation anyway, haha.)  The ironic thing is the announcement was the most successful PR move ever for MomDot, accidental or not.  The Wall Street Journal was the latest to cover the news, in today’s edition.

On the one hand, I don’t blame MomDot.  Bloggers, and mom bloggers in particular, are over-saturated with PR pitches.  We get calls daily (truly daily) from brands wanting to dive in.

I often think of our mom blogger friends on the inevitable receiving end.  Step into their world for a minute.  Unlike journalists, most mom bloggers don’t work full-time. They’re balancing blogging with their other passion - family.  And some of the pitches, no scratch that, MOST of the pitches they get are just awful.  Read Bostonmamas Christine Koh’s recent “Bad Blogger Outreach” series.  Delete, delete, delete.

The good news is blogs are now widely recognized by brands as a legitimate channel in the mom media mix.  And there are brands and PR firms (wink, wink) that get it.

It’s important to look at blogs individually and not as one big mom blog bucket.  So much of good blogger relations is about content mapping. What’s the blogger’s focus?  What value does the brand bring to the discussion?  How can you be a true resource to a blogger and not a source of exasperation?

For more, look for 360 at Blogher Business this week, and if you’re not headed to Chicago, keep an eye here and on our tweets (@Laura360, @C_Pierce, @BWelch).

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Internet, Marketing to Moms, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - 12 Comments →

With social media, as in life, even the mighty fall. First there was Friendster, then Myspace stepped up the online networking game. But Myspace was only able to wear the king of social media crown until college students, and then anyone, was able to sign up for Facebook. Currently, 140-character updates are what’s attracting the masses. It seems as if the portion of the internet-savvy population are always waiting for the next-best-thing. Below, check out what has been, what’s hot and what type of social media user you are.

TechCrunch “Twitter Back on Track in June with 20 Million U.S. Visitors” - Though Twitter could be considered the hottest social media tool of the moment, surprisingly, the service hasn’t seen a steady rise in devotees. What’s behind the flux in numbers? I’m guessing the recent celebrity-driven news cycle likely played a role.

Mashable “Myspace: No Longer King of Entertainment”- In theory, Myspace is cool. You can personalize your page with a variety of widgets, make customized backgrounds, stream music and more. But how does a site that bills itself as “a place for friends” stay afloat in a sea of competitors ready to steal the social media spotlight? Find out why Myspace is now a lonely place for bands and everyday people alike.

Mashable “What Type of Social Media User Are You?” - First, a fact. You’re reading this blog right now. Second, a conjecture: You’re a concerned/business/leisure follower. I bet you didn’t know you could be analyzed so specifically based on your social media habits. I’m also willing to bet I just piqued your interest (at least a little bit?) Check out this piece to figure out where you fall among the social media elite.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - No Comments →

So I’m just a wee bit late in the game with this post.  Hey, we’re busy with client work, a good thing right?  The New York Times published an article over the holiday weekend, Spinning the Web:  P.R. in Silicon Valley.

While some in the PR industry scoffed at the article (read Edelman’s rebuttal), there was at least an element of truth and a lesson or two to be learned by reading about the galavants (including bikini-clad client meetings) of Silicon Valley publicists.  Plus, let’s be honest, it was a fun, lighten-up, summertime read.

So here’s the true part:  PR is still about relationships.  That’s true whether dealing with influencers online or off, and it’s one of the reasons why PR practitioners are better equipped to lead brands into social media than other specialists who focus on transaction-based marketing.

There’s no denying the powerful combination of relationships + social media in the successful launch of Wordnik.   But it’s not simply ‘who you know.’  The nature and quality of the relationship is key.  How deep does the relationship run?  Is it truly two-way and built on mutual respect?  Will it last over time?

The Edelman blog brought to light another important point:  to reap the benefits of a sustained PR effort, you need a strategic approach, not just a whisper in so-and-so’s ear.

Filed under: Media and Press, PR Industry by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

After some time off for the 4^th of July holiday, 360PR’s weekly digital news round-up is back. This Friday, we’re highlighting articles that speak to making the most of social media. Novelist Oscar Wilde said “What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” In terms of social media, Wilde reminds us that quality is truly what counts.

Mashable “How To Get ReTweeted” - Are your tweets falling on deaf ears? Mashable shares tips on how to get shown some reciprocal Twitter love. One quick tip? “Don’t talk about what you had for breakfast,” no matter how delicious your @Starbucks Frappuccino was.

New York Times “Rise of Web Video, Beyond 2-Minute Clips” - The days of poorly shot, short, choppy videos are (hopefully) coming to a close. Over the years, as internet speeds and bandwidth increased, so have the length of online video. With sites such as Hulu, we’re now able to watch entire episodes of our favorite TV shows, as well as full-length movies. See how bloggers and others are now jumping into the mix with this article.

Tech Crunch “YouTube Launches Reporters’ Center, Wants To School Citizen Journalists In Better News Reporting” - With the rise in cell phone cameras and easily portable video devices, the term “citizen journalism” has entered our vocabulary. Footage shot by every day people are now part of nearly every newscast. So how do news organizations legitimize the information they receive? From interviewing techniques to investigative skills, a new YouTube channel aims to educate hopeful reporters.

Marketing Vox “39% of Moms Make ‘Net Time Their Quiet Time” - While we already know that moms are online in record numbers (the number using social media tools and networks has skyrocketed 426% in the last three years,) according to a recent study by BabyCenter.com, 39% of moms consider their daily time online as the most restful piece of their day. Check out the study to see what other reasons moms gave for devoting time navigating the web.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - No Comments →

Throughout April and May, the amount of publicity that Twitter received in mainstream media sky-rocketed. It was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, for one. And not to mention it seemed like half of Hollywood had signed up for their own account - most notably, Oprah (who hasn’t tweeted since the beginning of June, by the way). I wrote about Hollywood’s use of Twitter back in April, but now the media has been telling a slightly different story - Twitter is leveling off?

I’ve seen multiple blog posts chronicling the decent of Twitter and citing various stats. According to Quantcast, for example, US Twitter usage has gone down from 24.4 million to 21.9 million since May. And HubSpot recently released their annual “State of the Twittersphere” report, which led to a number of blog posts calling attention to the figures of almost 55% of users have never tweeted before and 53% of users don’t have any followers.

But, Twitter (and the community) is still going strong. Looking at the “big picture,” comparing May 2008 to May 2009, Nielsen found in a recent study that Twitter has actually seen the largest gain in total new users compared to other social networks - a 1,448% increase! In addition, Nielsen found that people have actually been spending more time on the site, particularly in recent months - great news for the community!

[Read more →]

Filed under: Digital PR, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - 3 Comments →