By now you've probably heard of Pinterest, or at least seen Pinterest content shared across a range of other popular social media channels. You may even have an account. But if you aren't familiar, Pinterest is essentially an online bulletin board where users can create categorized boards and "pin" – or bookmark – related images and videos from websites or uploads. They can also "repin" and share pins from other users.
Read More
Reaching the masses on social media seems like an easy thing to do. Facebook has more than 800 million active users, with more than 50 percent of them logging in every day, Twitter claims 300 million.
But, while these vast user populations may represent great opportunity for the consumer-facing side of the business world, their translation into the business-facing community remains a bit unclear.
In judging the value of participation in this forum, BtoB marketers and decision makers often see two sides to the debate:
1. A complete lack of presence could reflect poorly on a company – especially in a BtoB world where staying “ahead of the curve” is everything.
2. With indistinct analytics, lead-generation value and return on investment, how can a budding BtoB company justify the expenses and time commitments associated with maintaining a social presence?
Furthermore, those businesses that go with door #1, often quickly become frustrated with their results, and fall back into door #2, unable to justify the investment.
I personally believe that with social media, you get what you put in. So, I’ll bring this discussion back to the bare bones of PR. Our overarching professional theme – know your audience – doesn’t magically disappear when thrown into the realm of social media...
Read More
Be honest, when was the last time you took a step back from your hectic workspace and set aside a few moments to reorganize? Probably around six months ago when you caught the spring cleaning bug, right? For your sanity – and those around you during the holidays – here are five things you probably shouldn't put off until next spring.
Read More
At the close of an infamous week marked by both an earthquake and a hurricane, I'm relieved to have missed the biggest disaster of all; the Twitter fail whale that arises from too many tweets and prevents users from viewing the site. Lately, every major event has further proven of the importance of Twitter as an instantaneous news source and an arena for completely unfiltered commentary and interaction. But as social media's role shifts to further evolve into a news platform and society's reliance on social media for disaster preparedness and awareness continues to grow, can popular platforms' systems keep up with the flow of information?
Read More
So, the Facebook announcement was pretty awesome, as promised. Beyond the group chat capabilities, new chat design – and yes, even beyond the Skype video calling integration – if we look at this announcement with a public relations lens, there are a few awesome tips to take away from the work of the Mark Zuckerberg team to see how a company press conference can overshadow something like the White House’s first-ever presidential “Twitter Town Hall.”
Conventional PR wisdom will tell you that you can’t force something to “go viral.” Sure, you can make every effort to produce content that is hilarious, meaningful, catchy, valuable, or just so very cool that people want to share it with their friends. But no matter how real it gets in the Whole Foods parking lot, or how many dance parties take place in Apple stores, you truly cannot control what catches on and what doesn’t.
But sometimes a client offers a deal so amazing it takes on a life of
its own, as was the case with the deal Kangaroo Express offered its
guests: Pay $6.99 for a reusable cup, refill it with fountain or frozen
beverages as many times as you like at any of the 1,600+ locations
throughout the Southeast – all summer long.
It's that time of year...March Madness is here! But instead of drafting a blog entry that underscores my passion for college basketball or shares my bracket perspectives to help others claim victory in NCAA pools this year...I'll shift to a different discussion on March Madness - Charlie Sheen.
At Largemouth, we understand the importance of considering legal ramifications of all types of communication and PR, which is why I decided to take part in a webinar titled, "How To Avoid Legal Pitfalls with Your PR Initiatives."
Read More
While former UNC basketball player Donald Williams may be known for his three-point shooting, the autograph session Largemouth held at a Kangaroo Express in Chapel Hill last week was a slam dunk.
Read More
Some people love flying and others hate it. I am of the latter but do it all the time anyway.
On a recent flight back to Raleigh-Durham International I had the pleasure of sitting next to an instructor of airplane maintenance. As we flew he educated me on many of the mechanical processes of the plane, especially during the take off and landing. This knowledge helped me relax as I learned that the buzzing noise wasn't the plane falling apart. Simply having the instructor on board also gave me a sense of security; if anything bad happened I knew there was someone besides the pilot that would know what to do.
Read More
A client recently expressed curiosity into what social media sites like Digg and del.icio.us are all about. Wanting to be thorough, I did some research into how - and if - companies should use the sites as well as how they could potentially fit into a public relations strategy. I felt my conclusions were worth sharing.
Read More
Facebook is at the forefront of discussion about social media. Clients want pages, fans, wall posts, etc. But how do you distinguish between the noise and real results on your fan page?
Read More
I follow my favorite stores on Twitter for alerts about sales and find out nightly restaurant drink specials through Facebook. Truly, social media is at the forefront of B2C PR. But don’t forget that social media has an increasingly important role in B2B as well. What should you and your B2B client know about social media?
Read More
To learn how to take full advantage of our snazzy Flip Video HD camcorder, Kelly, Alex, Clarisse and I attended a Business Wire "Meet the Media" lunch yesterday that discussed how to add video to maximize reach, exposure and pick up. The three speakers on the panel were (left to right):
Read More
Sitting at my graduation from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I saw hundreds of talented 20-somethings ready to tackle the real world. As a graduate of the public relations sequence, I know I saw things through a different lens, but I was still reminded that despite all the news stories (written by journalists, by the way), about how the news industry is failing, we still need journalists. In fact, with limited resources, we need better journalists now than ever before.
Read More
Top auto trade publications got their first look at our client's (Eaton Corporation) Electric Vehicle charging equipment during Mitsubishi Motors' "Electrified Highway" test drive on May 20. The event, which started in San Francisco and ended in Sacramento, Calif., gave journalists an opportunity to drive the Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle (iMiEV) in real world conditions from one major city to another.
Read More
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the first-ever nationwide Media Leaders event that took place simultaneously in seven cities: New York, Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and … Raleigh?! Yes, that’s right. I was so proud to see North Carolina’s capital listed among these other major cities. I have happily lived, worked and played in the Raleigh-Durham area for several years now. Over time I have seen our area receive increased recognition across the country as a technology hub with Research Triangle Park and an education center with the many renowned colleges and universities in our midst. I am proud to see Raleigh is being recognized for its active social media scene.
Read More
Governor Perdue released a social media policy and tutorial for state government last week via her