Posts Tagged ‘communication’
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
If you work in Public Relations, you’re more than well aware of how to write a press release since that is your bread and butter. You are probably a whiz at writing them for traditional media outlets – newspapers, magazines, tv/commercials, etc. etc. But how comfortable do you feel having to write them for web 2.0 and social media? Is there a difference? Does it matter?
Well lets start with the basics. Of course it matters! More and more customers are spending their on their computers versus traditional outlets. You must go where your target demographic is and interact with them now to gain their attention and their loyalty.
Is there a difference between writing a traditional press release to be sent out versus a social media press release? The answer is a plain and simple, unequivocal – yes. Social Media strives on keywords. With the searching capabilities of Twitter, Facebook, & Google Primarily, people are imputting specific keywords to find things they want and companies must somehow know these keywords and use them to their advantage.
How do you do it?
As with any case of good journalism or press – the headline is everything. It must be short and sweet and have the exact keywords you’re hoping to have searched.
When you start to write the press release, keep in mind that absolutely no one has time to read a full page, single spaced article about whatever it is that you are doing. Today, people have more options than ever before and less time to choose. Get your point across succinctly and quickly.
You want to market these releases to bloggers who can disseminate your information to their networks and other interested parties. The trick here to remember, is don’t just use boring text in your body. Create hyperlinks to enrich and fulfill your press release that tie into your product, or create ways for people to get in touch with your company more easily.
Formatting is key. Use bullet points somewhere in the middle that will draw the eyes directly to the most important factors. Have headings, bold fonts, italics. Make your story pop out and scream, “Read me!”
These suggestions take minutes to do and will yield amazing results. Otherwise, your press release won’t get any snap, crackle, or pop and you’ll be left behind the competition.
Tags: "PR 2.0", article marketing, communication, creative marketing, increase traffic, public relations, social media, social media marketing
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Blogging to an audience is all about putting out good content that will keep readers coming back for more. If you deliver quality over quantity, your audience will be more interested in bookmarking your site, subscribing to your RSS, or signing up for your e-mail newsletter. Make your readers stick and grow your following by creating an e-mail newsletter.
E-mail newsletters are a great way to promote your company, brand, and/or blog. If you have valuable information to share, creating an e-mail newsletter tells people that you have value and authority. Keep it fresh by separating your blog content from your e-mail newsletter so that both are unique. Giving unique content to your audience with your e-mail newsletter also entices them to subscribe, so they don’t miss out on your work.
Try to keep your E-mail newsletters on a schedule. Creating a schedule and sticking to it gives your audience some predictability and something to expect. Try not to bombard them with e-mail so you keep your content in demand, rather than becoming annoying spam. Once a week, maximum, or bi-monthly is a good start.
Offer contests, giveaways, and discounts. Offering something to your audience keeps your content valuable and worthwhile. Keeping your content worthwhile generates traffic to your blog and website that will remind your audience that you are an authority, and you appreciate their loyalty. Another great way to give value to your audience is by offering them sneak peaks on projects that are not officially available to the general public.
Tags: "ezine articles", communication, e-mail marketing, social media marketing
Posted in article marketing, social media general, social media marketing | No Comments »
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
For someone new to social media, it may sound like a foreign language, or hip new lingo terms that seem age specific. In reality, social media is for everyone young and old. Though it may seem that the Gen Y dominates social media, anyone can learn and start using it right away.
Two of the most popular social bookmarking web sites are Digg and Delicious. Social bookmarking sites allow you to save website links online rather than on your web browser. You can add keywords and tags to organize your bookmarks and it can be versatile and helpful in managing many saved links.
Digg
Similar to Reddit, Digg is a sophisticated social bookmarking web site that utilizes user participation to rate web links. Users can share links and vote a link up or down (digg or bury, respectively). The most popular links are showcased on the main page of Digg. This means that depending on your ratability, your site could get potential amounts of high traffic. Keywords are paramount when submitting links. Your link headline should be captivating and grab attention; providing just enough information so users know what it’s about and are interested enough to click and learn more.
Delicious
Delicious is the most popular social bookmarking site out there. By bookmarking sites on Delicious rather than on your web browser “favorites” folder, you get the dynamic community of shared bookmarks by other users. Tag your bookmarks in different categories by assigning keywords to group them with other likeminded users who have tagged their links in the same category. This allows for a great resource for website surfing and getting your websites or bookmarks discovered by other users.
Digg and Delicious have icons you can install on your blog or website to help encourage readers to share your articles. Giving them the option should increase the chances of getting more traffic to your website, by allowing your posts a chance to go viral.
Tags: business social media, communication, Delicious, Digg, social media marketing
Posted in blogging, social media marketing, social media sites | No Comments »
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
In my previous post, I write about the advantages of social media marketing for your business on Facebook. Here, I will focus on the differences between Facebook fan pages and Facebook group pages and any advantages or disadvantages from a business perspective.
The differences between Facebook fan pages vs. Facebook groups are minor, but one of the main advantages to Facebook fan pages is indexing. Fan pages are accessible to the public and can be picked up via search engines. This means that fan pages have a greater chance of being noticed and will show up on your friend’s feeds when you join. Group pages can only be seen via Facebook and does not have public access. While that makes it harder to search, group pages have the viral advantage of being able to send or invite your friends to join; a feature that fan pages do not have.
Another feature unique to group pages is sending private messages. An administrator has the ability to send messages directly to a member’s inbox, while Fan pages can only send messages that show up on the notification bar on the bottom right hand corner of your web browser. While the notification bar alerts you when a new notification is up, users often ignore the feature due to unwanted or unnecessary “spam” messages that often clog up the notifications.
So which option is better for business and social media marketing? While most of the basic features are the same, the key differences between fan pages and groups are major enough to warrant an examination. Fan pages are more versatile because you can connect your blog rss feeds to automatically syndicate, and add web applications. Administrators are not known publically and fan pages do not connect with the administrator’s personal account. The fan page can be seen more like an entity rather than an individual. This makes it more attractive for celebrities, brands, and businesses, who may hire someone to manage their accounts. Fan pages also do not have a member limit while group pages cap out at 5,000.
In summation, fan pages are the better option for social media marketing and a businesses web presence, but groups can work great for smaller ventures related to a more specific cause or social media campaign, such as marketing an event.
Tags: business social media, communication, creative marketing, facebook, Facebook page, social media campaign, social media marketing
Posted in blogging, social media general, social media sites | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Don’t worry if you feel like you’re arriving late to the social media revolution. The new social technologies are here to stay, and they’re only growing bigger and more important in today’s business world. Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, LinkedIn, SlideShare, Scribd, Delicious . . . how do you keep up with them all?
Traditionally, businesses relied on interruptions and disruptions through radio advertising and television. There was a whole lot of static between institutions and the customers they served. Most of the time, customers didn’t feel connected at all.
The new social media platforms effectively remove these barriers. Now it is up to businesses to embrace and leverage communication with customers, and to establish connections with the consumer base.
Our suggestion to small and large businesses is get involved. Use the experience and the knowledge you have as a CEO, entrepreneur, or salesperson and share that knowledge with the world through a Wordpress blog.
While a company website definitely serves a purpose, a blog can actually bring you targeted traffic. This is because blogs are dynamic while websites are static. If your company is feeding new content into a Wordpress blog once or twice a week, then your customers will know you’re reaching out to them and communicating. They will know there is somebody–a person–who wishes to communicate and share knowledge on a consistent basis.
The second reason why a blog is absolutely essential to your business: user-generated content produces more traffic than non-user generated content. The commenting feature on blogs allows people to interact with you and the information you deliver to the public. Now consumers can ask questions and add their insight to the discussion.
Lastly, blog content frequently appears in search results. Here at PR-echnology we use keywords in our blogs and these keywords are designed to match search results in Google. That way, when somebody is searching for “public relations and technology,” our blog will appear.
Don’t be discouraged by the hundreds of social networks and new social technologies out there. Start out with the basics: create a Wordpress Blog. Remember, social technology is communication; and that’s what will improve your sales and reputation.
Tags: communication, new social technologies, public relations, public relations and technology, social media, social media marketing, social technology, Wordpress blog
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