"Hello" From a Marketing Standpoint

The winged eyeliner queen sold 2.43 million copies of her newest CD "25" last week and shattered a world record. Yes, I'm talking about the vocal angel, Adele. Her smokey vocals and hard-hitting, emotion-filled songs have taken the world by storm forcing all of humanity to break out their tissues. However, it's not just humanity that wants a piece of Adele's buzz, commercial brands are throwing its tissues into the ring as well.

Since Adele's renewed fame, brands like Coca-Cola have used its Twitter account to combine branding with popular culture (see the tweet here). SHIFT Communication's blog titled, "What Brands Can Learn About Social Media from #Adele25" has given amazing insight into the do's and do not's of  piggybacking your brand onto pop. culture.


The blog post is a definite read for those social media managers for businesses across the globe, but I will highlight two key points I thought were really important.

Point 1: Do

One "do" that was listed when using popular culture of viral topics was to make sure the trending topic you're siting is relevant to your organization. If the topic doesn't fit with your business, or if you can't create a correlation from the topic to your product then don't push it out on social. You do not want to post an irrelevant tweet or post and your followers scratch their heads, or worse, criticize you for trying to hard.

Point 2: Do not

Do NOT forget your hashtags on Twitter. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how often someone's creativity goes to waste because they forgot a hashtag. Hashtags include you in the conversation; it is your gateway to becoming viral yourself.

This blog post was a great overview of tips for anyone's social to potentially be included in a trending topic. Again, I highly encourage you to read the full article at SHIFT Communications blog here.

Social Media Policies and Why They are Important

You buy a car. You love your new car, but suddenly something breaks on it. What do you do? Well depending on the damage, you could grab the manual manufacturers put in your glove compartment. That manual gives pages and pages of how your car works and why. You put your tire back on, fix your headlight, change the oil or fix whatever else was broken on the car. Afterward you reflect back on the handy-dandy manual and how you don't know what you would've done without it. 

Like cars, social media has manuals too. They are called social media policies. Social media policies are becoming increasingly important because every business now has a social media platform (or should). When these platforms are ineffective or causing trouble, the organization should look back to its social media policy. 

A social media policy consists of an introduction summarizing what the policy contains. The introduction usually explains the organization's culture, mission and values, as well as how the social channels tie into them. Next, a social media policy should address the responsibility of the online spokesperson(s). Online spokespeople should be appointed in an organization as the voice of the social channels. These people should be trained as to what each channel does, as well as the purpose of the channel in the organization. Responsibilities of an online spokesperson could include the values the organization looks for in the spokesperson, and outlining any state or federal laws that the spokesperson needs to follow online. 

Then, a social media policy should address the rules and guidelines of all other social media users within the organization. The employees of an organization are always representing it and this holds true online especially. Many organizations have gone under scrutiny because of the sensitive information employees post online, or the calloused or inappropriate opinions employees comment or share. These comments and posts are not always about the organization, but the character of an organization's work force is always under scrutiny online where consumers can see. Finally, most policies have a conclusion that sum up the points of the policy and why its important again. 

The content an organization puts into a social media policy should act as a manual when confronted with online etiquette issues or questionable posts on the organizations social media platforms. As an organization, you will find the upkeep of your social media policy will help you make decisions, as well as defend your social media decisions, if the policy is done well. 

To find example social media policies, you can simply Google "social media policy templates."

Get Your Social Media Organized for the New Year

2016 is quickly approaching. The New Year always brings commitments to getting organized, why not do the same for your organization's social media accounts? Social media calendars are a great way to do just that.

Social media calendars are calendars that explain your future social media campaigns and include the content and visuals you hope to post. Calendars can be time consuming, however, if you block out some time during one day at the office at the beginning of the month, you'll find it will help you in the long run.

To create a social media calendar you can Google "social media calendar templates," there are Microsoft Word templates on the 2013 version or you can get a plain date calendar from Wal-Mart. Most headings of the calendar are: date, time, content, visuals and responsibility.

Social media content calendars can be as in-depth as you'd like. Some social media administrators prefer to block out a month of content at a time while others prefer to create three, six, even a year in advance. Usually, these months will include the chosen "theme" for the social media platform, the topic to post, visuals and who is responsible for the post each day.

Organization is important in almost every endeavor, it's time to include an organization's social media accounts to the list. You're stress levels will thank you for it the first time you don't have to think about what you're going to post on your organization's Facebook five minutes from now.

Is Social Media for All Businesses?

Social media platforms can be difficult to manage from a business standpoint. Sure, places like Coca-Cola, Victoria's Secret and Ford make it look easy because with huge hiring ability and millions in yearly revenues it is easy to hire people to take care of the organization's social channels. As a small business, however, it may be daunting hearing everyone talk about creating Facebook pages. You may think, "When will I find the time," or, "Is is that important?"

I'm hear to tell you yes! Social media is that important! In the day of "googling" everything it is important to have information readily available for potential and current clients. Facebook pages can be an ideal place for people to come find out more about you, your product/service and more practical details like business hours.

Facebook can also be a place for your consumers to influence others - for good or bad. Facebook gives consumers the ability to comment and review your business on your page. As new consumers find you on Facebook they can read the (hopefully) glowing reviews your previous customers have said about you. Or, if someone has said something not as nice, Facebook gives you the ability to defend yourself or correct information that is not accurate.

Finally, Facebook is a free tool that has huge marketing ability. Facebook provides free analytics on each business page for the page owner (Facebook calls these people administrators) to look at to see how their social media efforts are paying off. If you would like to invest money into Facebook advertising, the analytics page gives you those options as well, which include boosting posts, Facebook ads and target audiences.

Facebook is an amazing and essential tool for many business owners no matter how large the business is. As far as other social media platforms go, you will want to do a lot of research to see if the platform is a good fit for your business. Twitter usually is a difficult medium for businesses to break into and Pinterest is usually better for visually-based businesses.

Social media is essential to business now. If your business does not have a social presence, or at least a website, you are behind in the game. Now, a huge warning for those interested in social media for your business or if you already have one for your business: a vacant, inaccurate Facebook page or website is worse than not having one. Though social media is important if you do not have the time, energy or inclination to keep a page updated do not create one.

Mozzarella Sticks at the Golden Arches

I have an important announcement for humankind - McDonalds will be offering mozzarella sticks 3 for $1 nationwide! If you're as fanatic about Italian cheeses fried in delicious golden brown crusts you will want to lend an ear.

Buzzfeed wrote an article yesterday spreading the word of McDonald's decision to offer mozzarella sticks nationwide after positive feedback from the test locations earlier this year.

Some people are excited...and others not so much. However, you can never please everyone. According to the tweets Buzzfeed reported in its article, the enthusiasts are saying things like, "No lie these mozzarella sticks are bomb." But the nae-sayers are saying things like, "Word of advice: NEVER get mozzarella sticks from McDonald's."

Since they are new, the mozzarella sticks' future hangs in the balance at McDonalds, but McDonalds' PR seems pretty solid right now. Historically, McDonalds has been attacked from all sides because of things like the sugar, fat and salt contents in its food and targeting children to eat fattening meals by giving them toys. I stand by the fact that fast-food is obviously not that nutritious and if someone is that concerned then just don't choose to eat at McDonalds and stop complaining, but I digress.

The introduction of all-day breakfast menus at McDonalds (FINALLY!) and now the addition of mozzarella sticks shows me that McDonalds listens to its customers, which is great public relations. We asked for it, and they gave it to us after research that reflected a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties.

This attentive listening and research on McDonalds' behalf has show positive results in both sentiment and profit for the company as well. McDonalds reported the first quarter of growing sales in the United States for the first time in two years.

As a celebration for McDonalds finally coming back to the top, lets all feast on $1 mozzarella sticks in its honor.

Chipotle in Trouble?

Recently, Chipotle is shutting down nearly 50 locations in the Pacific Northwest due to E. Coli outbreaks that could potentially link back to Chipotle stores around the area. 

According to an article by Buzzfeed, at least 22 people have contracted E. Coli after eating at Chipotle restaurants. The shutting down of the stores is a safety precaution as of now while health investigations continue.

From a PR standpoint, is this an emerging crisis for Chipotle, or will our nation's love of burritos as large as your face surpass the E. Coli scare? 

I'd like to speculate that even though at least 22 people have contracted E. Coli that could be linked to Chipotle, the restaurant chain will come out largely unscathed. I think that Chipotle's mainstream status and use of fresh foods will  overcome the present situation. Also, Chipotle's quick response to the allegations, its close investigations with the local health departments and store closures provides a strong sense of remorse and responsibility on the corporation's behalf. 

So I leave it to you - will Chipotle skate by this health threat without a scratch? Or will we have to order our extra guacamole somewhere else? 

Press Release Potential

If Public Relations tactics were a buffet, press releases would be the bread and butter - in other words a staple of the meal.

Press releases are one of the tactics used most often in the PR industry and that is not likely to change anytime soon. Although the ways to submit press releases are numerous with the addition of websites, email, social media and online news rooms, a well-written press release can still make or break your ability to get published in nonowned media.

Some of the important pieces of the content that should go in your news release are as follows:

1.) Address the "5 W's" and the "H."

Press releases should tell the most valuable information of what your news is talking about. If a reader doesn't know "who, what, when, where, why and how" there will be gaps in your story, which leads to an uninterested target audience.      

2.) Keep it brief.

Journalists and editors don't want flowery language. Keep your writing concise and professional while telling the most important information first. If a journalist wants to expand on your story for a feature article, he or she will call you or express interest through another channel of communication.

3.) Insert relevant quotes.

Quotes that are relevant to the press release your pitching can increase interest and add more information from a credible source within your organization. Try to keep the length of the quote correlated with the length of your news release. You don't want your news release to be a line or two long and then follow up with two paragraphs of quotations.

4.) Finally, be sure to end with a boilerplate.

A boilerplate is the last paragraph that basically sums up what your company/organization does in your industry or community. It can also explain a little bit of your organizational history, serving area and company values/mission statement. By reading a boilerplate an editor should have a good idea about what your organization does and why.

Press releases become easier with experience. If you're new to PR or press release writing, be sure to find a coworker or boss to edit your press release once you are finished writing to catch any mistakes before sending it to media contacts. After a press release or two you will be writing like a pro in no time.