360PR Blog

Many brands have been leveraging social media as part of their communications strategy for several years now.  But our thinking about how to use social media has evolved tremendously, especially during the past 12 months.  And it’s not just the digital natives who get it.

The most senior-level marketers, with 20, 30, or more years in the business, see social media for its true potential – as a catalyst, more than a way to keep the conversation going.  Sure it’s that too, but the idea of putting social media first, ahead of other tried-and-true PR tools and strategies, is fairly new.

That changes everything – from how we think about solving a communications challenge to how we hire and staff a campaign.  For me, 2011 will be remembered as the year that social media went from a layer that gets added to a campaign – almost like frosting to a cake – to become a driving communications strategy, the means to the end.

Today a brainstorm starts with online communities.  We understand not just the power of fans, but how to effectively tap into them and how to measure.  This was evident in many of the high-caliber PRWeek award entries I helped judge earlier this month, and reinforced by an AYTM Marker Research study (December 2011) that found more consumers prefer to receive updates from brands via social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, instead of traditional media.

Importantly, social media is not a quick in-out strategy.  Deploy a video and, as Emeril says, BAM!  But a video does not a campaign make.  It can, however, be a compelling tool in a broader, integrated campaign.  And that’s what it’s really about, isn’t it?  The broader campaign platform and strategy:  from there, all else flows.  At 360, we think of it as our “full circle” approach.

But kicking off that campaign may not be your ‘typical’ big splash, physical event. More and more, social media comes first – with a reveal, some other special access, a video that gets passed, the simultaneous take-over of multiple channels, and more.  Heinz’s introduction of its new ketchup with balsamic vinegar is a great example of a brand leading with social media, in Heinz’s case tapping into its more than 800,000 Facebook fans to start the buzz about a new product.  We did something along those lines when revealing the new Disney Baby collection available at Target stores and fans responded enthusiastically, helping us spread the word.  There are countless success stories and more on the way.

What role will social media play for your brand in 2012?

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, PR Industry, Social Marketing, Social Media by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

Some of the smartest minds in social media gathered recently at the Society of New Communications Research (SNCR) Symposium at Harvard for a discussion of the group’s latest research findings. This is my third year attending the event and it has been hugely interesting to see the progression of each of SNCR’s studies. A couple of trends really POPPED for me this year…

Surprisingly, corporations are still behind the curve with social media adoption. Nora Ganim Barnes (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) found this in the Social Media Adoption Trends Among Inc. 500, Fortune 500, Higher Education and Charities study. While many of the world’s biggest brands have a presence on social media platforms, Fortune 500 and Inc. 500 companies are still behind Charities and Higher Education in their use of social media to communicate with stakeholders. The proof is in the pudding. Check this out:

What does this tell me? While many companies “get it”, there is still more work to do in educating consumer brands (our clients) on the value of social media in helping them to connect with their customers. With changing media consumption habits, the methods in which we communicate must also continue to evolve!

While corporations still have some catching up to do, media and journalists are using social media for their story-telling and reporting in a BIG way. In a separate session, Jen McClure and Don Middleberg presented the “3^rd Annual SNCR/Middleberg Survey of Media in the Wired World”. In this study, it was found that 90% of journalists say that their reliance on social media has increased significantly in the past year. 75% of journalists are using Facebook in generating content. 70% are using blogs. 69% are using Twitter. 54% are using online video. 53% are using Wikipedia. 31% use LinkedIn and 28% use citizen photos.

So, to those Fortune 500 / Inc. 500 corporations that have not yet adopted social media as a significant portion of their communications strategy, you might want to take another look at what the cool kids (i.e. influencers and journalists) are doing!

Thanks to SNCR for organizing yet another great Symposium, as well as for honoring 360PR’s work with the Ball brand National Can-It Forward Day campaign in the Excellence in New Communications Awards.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Boston, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Industry Organizations, Social Marketing, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - 2 Comments →

By Rob Bratskeir

At last week’s Critical Issues Forum, Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs boldly declared, “2012 will be the Twitter election,” adding that in today’s Washington, rapid response comes by the tweet, not the press release. 

Gibbs’s thought-provoking keynote address at the Council of Public Relations Firms’ annual meeting illustrated and interpreted social media’s immense power to mobilize communities.   While the Arab Spring may have been the world’s wake-up call to the medium’s massive reach and influence, Gibbs said the 2008 Obama campaign already understood that a shift in communication was underway, and that social media was the “connective tissue [that could] make the election of a man named Barack Hussein Obama possible.”  

The approach Gibbs’s team took starting in 2006 (decades ago in social media time) still serves as a social media strategy and deployment blueprint for not only political campaigns, but for consumer marketers today.  First, make people feel like they have a stake in the outcome, Gibbs explained, rewarding those who have declared interest with access to information first.  Next, be prepared to listen closely to the stories you get back – and not just the ones you want to hear.  Gibbs said that in aggregate, those stories tell a bigger tale – one that either validates your approach, or tells you how to adapt. Finally (and perhaps foremost) be transparent at every step.

Gibbs said that meeting these mandates requires tremendous time, energy and resources.   Looking around and seeing heads nod, I could see that point wasn’t lost on anyone representing the dozens of agencies represented in the room — many tweeting away as Gibbs spoke. 

As in any industry rapidly transformed by technology, Gibbs identified legacy issues as the biggest barriers to effectiveness, and urged communications professionals to abandon the control freak mentality that served us so well until only very recently.   “You have to acknowledge the reality that voters and consumers are now in control,” he said, stressing that engaging in a two-way dialogue, listening and responding are the new rules of the road. 

Gibbs exposed an essential paradox of splintered media, a revolution rooted in cable TV’s rise in the 1980s that is today fueled by social media’s ascent.  “There is more media, but it is harder to communicate,” Gibbs said, illustrating his point with a stunning metric. In 1980, 50 million Americans watched a national network newscast every night – essentially meaning that 50 million people got the same message, day in and day out.  Today that number stands at 21 million, while the U.S. population has grown by nearly 80 million.  In other words, it’s easier to get the word out, but infinitely tougher to get your point across.  

While Gibbs generally stuck to his native politics for narrative, he landed a point about corporate behavior and image management in the social media age that we as consumer marketers and communicators can ignore at our own peril.  “Products today are judged less on their products’ performance than on their parent companies’ reputations,” he said.  One needn’t look further than BP last year, or Netflix today, to understand.

Filed under: Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Interactive Marketing, Politics, Social Marketing, Social Media by Admin - No Comments →

By John LeRoy

As you may have heard, Facebook announced some MAJOR changes to the platform last week that have already begun to roll out.  The most significant of these changes is the complete overhaul of personal Facebook profiles into the new “Timeline” format.  For a full breakdown of what changes Facebook users can expect to see in the coming days and weeks, check out this Mashable article, but here are a couple of the highlights:

1)    The New “Timelines”: Individual user profiles will now look entirely different, taking more of a “scrapbook” approach to detail a users every move.  Timelines will eventually become the default Facebook profile.

2)    App-roval: Once a user opts-in to share information for any given app, the info will begin to automatically show up on Facebook with each action within the approved app.  Many users have likely already experienced this feature as they see what songs their friends are listening to on Spotify, for example.

3)    Facebook Gestures: Developers are now able to turn any action into a button – such as read, watched, etc.  It will be interesting to see how brands take advantage of this feature now that “Like” is not the only option.

In regards to what will happen to brand pages, Facebook has not made any official announcements and it has many marketers (including us!) patiently waiting to see how clients will be affected and what adjustments to current tactics will need to be made.

While brand pages and their managers wait to see how, exactly, they will be affected, Mashable’s Todd Wasserman gives his thoughts on “What Facebook’s Changes Mean For Marketers.”

Leave us a comment about what you think of Facebook’s coming changes.  A disturbance to the current marketing mix or a golden opportunity to get creative?

Filed under: FaceBook, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking by Admin - 1 Comment →

By John LeRoy

Twitter has announced some changes to its feature-set in recent weeks, some of which will impact the ways that PR professionals and their clients use the platform.  You can read a previous Ragan post about the changes here, but here is a quick overview of some of the changes and what they mean for us:

-       Changing Twitter app landscape:  Since Twitter has purchased Tweetdeck, there is speculation that third-party apps will become more obsolete as Twitter controls more of the action on their own service.  Translation:  Marketers may need to re-acclimate themselves with “Twitter-approved” services for monitoring, managing multiple accounts, etc.

-       Simpler picture-sharing:  This new feature allows individuals and marketers to take and add pictures to Tweets without using third-party services, like TwitPic, making it more turn-key to upload photos.  The photos will also begin appearing directly in Twitter streams as opposed to via a link.  Translation:  Easier real-time photo sharing from events.

-       Ad Platforms: While it is still uncertain of how it will look, there is speculation that ads will begin appearing more prominently in Twitter streams.  Translation:  A potential shift in the trust that consumers have in Twitter as a news source, and also an opportunity for PR to lead news sharing on Twitter.

Time will tell what these changes will really mean for the growing micro-blogging service, but we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.

Filed under: Digital PR, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter by Admin - No Comments →

Foursquare has made some exciting upgrades since the last time we “checked in.”  Most recently, the geolocation service announced several partnerships sure to enhance user experience, whether it’s sports, movies or music that you fancy.

Through brand new relationships with ESPN, MovieTickets.com and the concert-tracking website SongKick, users will now be able to check-in to sporting events, movies and concerts in addition to more traditional venues like retail stores, restaurants and bars.  Previously, while users could check into a stadium, for example, their Foursquare friends wouldn’t know the reason for their visit unless they manually added additional text such as ‘Patriots game.’  Now, check-ins will include details of the event as well as related tips, such as the game kick-off time, each team’s league record, etc. 

Kudos to @Foursquare for consistently making an effort to keep people connected and informed.  Oh, and if that’s not cool enough for you, it was just announced that Obama has joined the ranks of Foursquare’s over 10 million users.  You can now follow The White House!

Filed under: Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - No Comments →

It is concept that has been a staple of Marketing for decades – people rely on the opinions of others to make purchase decisions. Good old fashioned word-of-mouth information sharing used to occur mostly offline, but social channels now let consumers communicate more easily and more often. To companies and communications professionals, social media allows us to become a part of that dialogue. In fact, in a recent study from ROI Research and Performics, they found that over 30% of people are more likely to purchase from companies/brands that they “like” or “follow” on social networks, than from brands or companies that they do not.

We are also able to draw valuable insights about the needs and wants of consumers through social media. The study also found that over 50% of survey respondents strongly or somewhat agree that voicing their opinions on social networking sites can influence the business decisions of companies/brands. I can tell you first hand, this is true.

While neither of these percentages are huge, it is enough for a brand that is not using social media right now to stop and consider integrating a social strategy into their marketing mix. Other highlights from the study can be found on Performics.com.

Filed under: Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Interactive Marketing, Internet, Social Marketing, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

By John LeRoy

Many of the “who’s who” of social media converged upon 92^nd Street in New York City for the 140 Characters Conference this week for a two-day session comprised of rapid-fire presentations from more than 140 speakers and presenters.  Among them were TODAY Show’s Ann Curry, Mashable’s Adam Ostrow, Marc Ecko, Cory Booker and Jeff Jarvis, just to name a few.

If you missed it, here is a brief breakdown of some of the topics discussed at the conference:

-       Real-time News Reporting:  One panel examined journalistic issues that must now be considered by news organizations as they vie to be the first to “break” news stories. Recent examples include top-tier news orgs like NPR prematurely Tweeting that Arizona Rep. Giffords had been killed during a shooting five months ago.  Here’s an article about the damages caused by this gaffe.

-       College In Real-Time:  Syracuse University professor, Anthony Rotolo, gave an overview of how he has implemented social media into his courses to conduct conversation during classes via Twitter, perhaps making him one of the few teachers who encourage the use of technology (and social media) as a tool rather than rejecting it as a learning distraction.

-       Happiness (Via Skype):  Author Deepak Chopra addressed an enthusiast from Toronto via Skype to talk about happiness and the “entanglement of minds,” referring to the fact that social media has the ability to affect nearly all aspects of life, including happiness and health, simply by interacting with others.  He went as far as to say that social networks like Twitter and Facebook have become extensions of our neurological make-up.  Talk about mind-blowing!

Here’s the entire list of sessions that took place over the course of the two day conference. If you were there, what sessions stood out for you?

Filed under: Digital PR, Events and Conferences, FaceBook, Internet, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking by Admin - No Comments →

To call all PR people social butterflies would be a generalization. If you don’t consider yourself an extrovert, however, you’re probably in the wrong profession. It’s our job to gain awareness for our clients, and in doing so, we do a LOT of talking. The panel I attended yesterday, Successful Social Marketing: Cultivating Advocates and Driving Sales, served as a reminder that listening is equally, if not more, important. And, as we all can attest here at 360PR, listening to a brand’s chatter online across forums, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and beyond takes time, patience, and an analytical eye.

The discussion was part of a series of events hosted by Mitx, a group of industry thought leaders dedicated to, in part, keeping on top of trends. Speakers from BzzAgent, New Balance and EMC offered their experience and expertise on utilizing outlets including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to assist in a successful campaign – from planning stages, through launch, and beyond.  Among their suggestions: leverage employees to be brand ambassadors, engage influencers in the early stages, map your content to what people are already searching for, and strike a balance between knowing your brand and listening to your customers.

As speaker Polly Pearson wisely said, social media is a relationship accelerator. So save your breath, because tapping in and listening to the conversation regarding your company/brand/product could prove more valuable than all of your planned email and phone pitches combined.

Filed under: Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Industry Organizations, Interactive Marketing, PR Industry, Social Marketing, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 1 Comment →

Earlier this week Facebook launched a new website for ad and PR agencies. Facebook Studio showcases examples of organizations that are using the platform to reach & engage with consumers and the site includes a Gallery of work, a Spotlight section, and an Awards section. The Studio also provides a venue for discussion around the use of Facebook for brand marketing and features a Learning Lab with general information about Facebook marketing.

According to this Ad Age article, this is Facebook’s way of  establishing more of a “give-and-take relationship” with agencies. Not only does it make sense…it is about time! If you think about it, you might say that agencies / brands have partially helped Facebook grow into what it is today. For years, brands have experimented with and used the platform for promotions, which has ultimately led to more revenue for Facebook via it’s advertising service. With so many brands and agencies using the platform for marketing in recent years, it is surprising that Facebook hasn’t reached out to agencies in this way sooner. This is a step in the right direction and I look forward to seeing if Studio flourishes into an active community!

Filed under: Digital PR, FaceBook, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking by EliciaBasoli - 1 Comment →

…they were all topics discussed in yesterday’s 360PR Tweets & Sweets meeting! The 360PR crew gathered around bowls of delectable spring-themed candy and salty snacks to chat about interesting social media and digital case studies from recent weeks. I took note of three trends based on the discussion:

- Late Night Social: PR people and brands aren’t the only ones integrating social media into communications efforts. TV producer’s have been getting creative with ways to keep audiences engaged via Facebook and Twitter. For example, Conan O’Brien recently live-posted on Facebook during an episode of his show, conducting hilarious video Q&As with fans during the program. The videos led to tons of engagement on the Facebook page. In addition, Jimmy Fallon has integrated social media within his show with the popular “Late Night Hastag” segment, which garners thousands of tweets surrounding each segment.

- Social Election 2012: The 2012 presidential election is right around the corner, believe it or not. And following President Obama’s heavy social media campaigning in 2008, candidates for the 2012 race are getting out in front with social media communications. For example, Mitt Romney released a video on Monday on YouTube announcing his entrance into the race. It has received over 80K views thus far. And, following Obama’s announcement on Twitter, Romney quickly tweeted back saying “@barackobama I look forward to hearing details on your jobs plan, as are 14m unemployed Americans.” This will be an interesting race to watch!

- Social Coupons: Some brands are taking advantage of the social couponing craze on Facebook, including Healthy Choice and Pretzel Crisps. Healthy Choice launched a “progressive” coupon on Facebook and the value of it increased the more people “liked” the brand’s page. The campaign was supported with a Facebook ad buy and “likes” jumped from about 6,000 to 60,000! In addition, Pretzel Crisps (a snack food favorite here at 360) has also gotten some positive attention lately, for their Facebook coupons. With a couple simple coupons, and Facebook’s viral nature, Pretzel Crisps was able to double their Facebook “likes” in about 36 hours!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Digital PR, FaceBook, Interactive Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, YouTube by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

Yesterday marked day one of the first Radian6 User Conference – Social 2011. After a full schedule filled with engaging keynote speeches, fun sessions (note: want to get an audience’s attention? Crank some Lady Gaga), and Radian6 product announcements that will certainly change the way marketers listen to the conversations surrounding their brand, the day’s takeaway was this: social media is where life is happening.

The numbers are staggering. According to Dell’s CMO Karen Quintos, two-thirds of people online are engaged in social networks. 700 billion minutes are spent on Facebook every month. Your mobile device is no longer a phone. As @mitchjoel so wisely said in today’s closing keynote, “It’s a remote control for your life.”

As communication pros have known for some time, just because you’re not an active participant in the conversation, it doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about you. And increasingly, people are talking about you (and your brand, and your products) at a faster pace and on more platforms. If you’re not talking back in a strategic manner, you’ll be left behind.    

Social media is now where our lives play out, for better or for worse. And it’s happening fast.

If you’re interested in learning more about Social 2011, check out the website or follow the Twitter stream.

Filed under: Events and Conferences, FaceBook, Internet, Social Media, Uncategorized by SkyeMcIntyre - 1 Comment →

Google announced a new addition to their suite of products last week, +1, which integrates social sharing functionality into Google’s search algorithm.  A new +1 button will be added next to every search result and, if you are logged into Google, you can click the button to give your stamp of approval, sharing the search result with others. In Google’s words, +1 is shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.” Sound familiar? It did to me… +1 is very similar to Facebook’s “Like” button, or even to Digg.com.

How will +1 affect consumers? Well, search results will now be impacted by the number of people that have +1’d a site. In other words, the most popular searches will bubble to the top. This could make finding products and information easier. Instead of Google bots generating every result, other searchers will have input on results, making search a more social experience.

And what about the implications of +1 for brands, advertisers and web developers? For one, this adds a whole new level to a company’s SEO strategy – it is not just about Google’s algorithm anymore. In addition, over time, Google will be releasing a +1 button that brands can integrate within their own websites – again, similar to Facebook’s “Like” button. And lastly, brands will have to consider +1 as it relates to paid search campaigns. Apparently, +1 will not necessarily impact a company’s paid ranking (you will NOT get a better position based on how many people have +1’d you). Rather, you will get the benefit of increasing the click-throughs on your paid link because people have +1’d it. In Google’s words:

We expect that personalized annotations will help users know when your ads and organic search results are relevant to them, increasing the chances that they’ll end up on your site. You don’t have to make adjustments to your advertising strategy based on +1 buttons, and the way we calculate Quality Score isn’t changing (though +1s will be one of many signals we use to calculate organic search ranking). Think of +1 buttons as an enhancement that can help already successful search campaigns perform even better.

With all of that said, +1 is still in the experiment/beta phase (it’s not live for everyone yet, although, you can join the experiment here). While Google has made a previous attempt to implement a social tool (i.e. Google Buzz), only time will tell if +1 will take hold. We’ll be keeping our eyes and ears on +1 as it continues its roll-out. Regardless of the outcome, brands should be prepared if +1 succeeds, thinking about how to integrate the +1 button alongside Facebook “Like” and “Tweet This” buttons on their website.

Check out this video for more info on +1:

Filed under: Interactive Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking by EliciaBasoli - 2 Comments →

By Caitlin McNamara

In the wake of the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, and a following tsunami, many took out their phones to call their loved ones but soon found out that the lines were down. So what was next? Social media, of course.
 
Under one hour after the earthquake devastated Japan, Google launched their “Person Finder”  application on their homepage. The “Person Finder” was built by the Google Crisis Response team, which is made up of a philanthropic group under the Google umbrella. The “Person Finder” is an interactive database in English and Japanese that allows users to search for missing persons online or submit information about people who are injured or are missing. To date, there are approximately 7,200 records being tracked on “Person Finder.” Not only is this database being used for the Japanese earthquake/tsunami, but was also used for the Haiti earthquake and the Christchurch earthquake.
 
Twitter, with an estimated 10 million active users in Japan, spiked with Japanese related hashtags, such as #prayforJapan, #Fukushima and #Sundai. #TokyoDisneyland also soon shot up in the trending list as a TwitPic was released of Japanese tourists sitting in the middle of the earthquake at Disneyland. Many people have also used Twitter to state their grief for those in Japan as well as their concerns on other aspects of the disaster. 
 
While Facebook is one of the top social media outlets in the world, its popularity has not translated equally in Japan. Similar to Facebook is the social media outlet, Mixi, which is Japan’s largest social network. However, many Americans overseas in Japan have utilized Facebook to spread a mass note to their family and friends letting them know that they are alive and well.
 
Lastly, mobile networks such as AT&T have begun using text messaging to help raise funds. AT&T wireless customers can text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to give a $10 donation to help Red Cross with disaster relief support. No text message fees will apply. This offer lasts until March 31.  
 
As more and more reports are released on the aftermath of the horrific earthquake and tsunami in Japan, many will continue to use social media as a way to communicate not only their locations, but also as a way to vent their frustrations and grieve their losses. Social media has become a way to spread awareness throughout the world in a matter of seconds. We will continue to look to social media as an up to the minute resource on the Japanese disaster, and we will all continue to pray for #Japan.

Filed under: Charity, FaceBook, Social Media, Social Networking by Admin - 1 Comment →

Can you believe it? It has been 5 years, since the first tweet was tweeted. Since 2006, Twitter has permeated our culture and is used by all walks of life around the globe, from politicians and celebrities to charitable organizations and brands! It is hard to imagine our lives without the ability to share a thought or experience via the infamous 140-characters that Twitter allows. So, Congrats to the folks at Twitter and here’s to many more years of tweets to come!

Check out this video released on the Twitter blog, featuring a number of VIPs talking about how they use Twitter. Who knew?! Snoop Dog follows Martha Stewart!

Filed under: Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →