Taking A Step Back From PR Interactive

It’s bittersweet to be writing this post, but I believe the time has come to officially let all my readers know that I’ll no longer be posting on PR Interactive.  In the past 6 months, I haven’t been posting regularly because I’ve struggled with determining what my goals for this blog actually are.

I recently wrote about how my use of social media has changed since I graduated from college last year, and I’ve watched PR Interactive go through an identity crisis as I try to adapt to my new role as a young professional starting out at the bottom of the corporate ladder.  What once started out as a way for me to investigate the convergence of social media and public relations turned into a sort of guidebook for other communications students – which I still love and will continue to help any students who reach out to me [megmarie412 at gmail dot com]!

Now, I’ve come to a point in my life where I think it’s more important for me to sit back and engage in social media a bit differently so that I can continue learning as a PR newbie.  I’ll still be actively listening and participating in conversations on Twitter and through blog comments, so please don’t write me off completely!

A sincere thanks to all my readers and the bloggers I’ve met through PR Interactive, especially the industry professionals and amazing professors who guided me through this whole process (some unknowingly) and provided me with a wealth of information as I went from student to job-seeking graduate to young professional.

I might dive back into the blogosphere eventually, but for now I’m taking a step back and looking for other ways to connect with communications professionals, professors, and students.  I always want to continue writing, so if you know of any guest-posting opportunities, please keep me in mind. Additionally, for the many students who seem to stumble across this blog, I hope my archives will provide some insight on my life as a PR student learning about social media.

My Shifting Social Media Presence: From Student to Professional

For a year and a half, I’ve been active in social media as a public relations student, a recent graduate interning at a big firm in a new city, and a young professional getting settled in her new career.  As I grew and changed with each of these roles, so has my presence in social media.  I believe this shift is one many students go through as they get their first jobs, though the results are extremely varied.  Since the majority of my readers are PR students, I wanted to share how my social media activity has changed since I’ve embarked on my career and why it’s okay to experience change.

When I started blogging on PR Interactive, almost 2 years ago, I wanted to enhance my classroom education by analyzing and reporting industry trends.  Back in 2007, the PR trend to discuss was social media.  Most of my posts focused on digital PR campaigns, Twitter, Facebook, and viral videos and how these were influencing public relations students and professionals.  Rarely did I write about traditional PR campaigns.  To create a balance in my extracurricular education, I started following agency blogs and college professors.  This opened my eyes to another benefit of social media: the world of networking.

I began using my blog as a networking tool in addition to supplementing my college education, especially as graduation grew closer and the impending job search became necessary.  Twitter started to grow in popularity back in early 2008, so I created an account and started interacting with professors, students, and professionals from around the country regularly and easily.  My digital network of PR influencers steadily grew via my blog, Brazen Careerist, and Twitter, and it’s no secret that this group of amazing people helped lead me to my outstanding internship and, subsequently, my current positon at NMS.

The last year, as I’ve embraced the title of “young professional” and [reluctantly] let go of  “college student,” has probably seen my most dynamic shift in terms of social media presence.  I don’t blog frequently or consistently, but I still comment on numerous blogs each day to engage in conversations about the PR industry.

Additionally, my Twitter network has grown exponentially to include the bloggers and journalists I frequently work with on behalf of my clients.  Instead of focusing on just PR and social media, it’s imperative that I have an invested interest in the entertainment industry since the majority of my clients fall into this category.  Following entertainment professionals – whether it’s a movie studio or a film critic – on Twitter has allowed me to build better relationships with them and my clients, which as I often say, is the foundation for good PR.  And, of course, my Google reader is now filled with entertainment/film/TV blogs that I frequently comment on, too.

Currently, though I might not be as active on my own blog as I used to be, I’ve found ways to incorporate social media into my daily life outside of what I already do every day at NMS.  All of it provides me with a better understanding of what I do as a PR professional at a digital agency.

I’ve also started using Twitter and blogs to learn more about my personal interests, such as traveling and the hospitality industry.  I recently launched a separate blog,  Take Flight, that allows me to investigate the tourism industry more in-depth, much as I did with PR back in 2007.

Though each of these stages allowed me to use social media differently to benefit my education and career, one aspect remained the same: social media allowed me to dive deeper into my passions while constantly learning about a variety of topics in ways I never thought possible. Communicating with much wiser people, who I might have never had the chance to meet and learn from, impacted my life, career, and knowledge of the online world in a way that will always be the most significant part of my social media presence.

As 2009 grads start their new lives post-college, I hope they  realize it’s okay to change the way they use social media, and that their audiences and network will most likely shift, too, as they become more involved with the type of work they’ll be doing.  As long as social media is providing value and education, there’s still benefit to participating, no matter how often (or not) you use Twitter or write on your blog.

(h/t to Sydney Owen for asking some great questions recently that sparked this post.)

How Would I Market to Myself: Marketing to Gen Y Consumers

Recently, I’ve found myself wondering if social media marketers (myself included) are missing a massive opportunity when it comes to marketing to Millennial consumers. With the availability of numerous digital tools and our social media culture, it’s become much easier to interact with the 18-24 year-old demographic. Easier, however, does not mean more effective.

This morning Marc Meyer put out this Tweet:

Since I had just read two articles from the Wall Street Journal and MediaPost stating that only 22% of Millenials use Twitter, and of those, only 29% follow companies, I agreed with him.

Then, Marc asked me a thought-provoking question: How would you market to you?

Good question – one that forced me to separate myself from my day job as a marketing professional so I could think like the 23-year-old kid I am.

Below, I’ve listed several ways I’d like to see companies marketing to me.

1. Rely on Word-of-Mouth. With social networking sites, what you say and do can spread rapidly among my peers. If 10 of my friends become a fan of your page on Facebook, it shows up on my homepage and I’m intrigued, and more likely to click through to your page. Facebook makes this easy with its advertising, but if you can find ways to do this on Twitter and other sites, you’ll certainly be helping out your brand.

2. Add value by being relevant. However, don’t expect everything you say to cause a cascade effect on social media platforms. Focus on adding value rather than overloading on content. People my age are really, really good at tuning out what we don’t want to hear. (Just ask our parents.) The best way to ensure we’re listening to your messages is to make them relevant to us. Learn why we’re in a given community, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or an iPhone app, and speak to us without severely interrupting what we’re doing.

3. Be conversational. When you’re trying to build awareness about your brand to gain customers, don’t use social media as a billboard but as a telephone. Social media should be an interactive tool, and when your consumers speak, listen and respond. In my experience, the most successful Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages are those that go beyond simple @replies and wall posts. Ask questions, get our feedback, and implement changes. Everyone likes to have their ego stroked, right? Brand consumers, especially Gen Y ones, are no different. What feels better than having a company listen to reasonable, quality recommendations we’ve made?

4. Offer free stuff. We’re just out of college.  Loan payments are becoming a harsh reality.  If you want us to try out your brand, give us some free samples or coupon codes.  Reward us for being loyal customers by launching programs like all those restaurants do. Imagine if your favorite sunscreen or deodorant had Buy 10, The Eleventh Is On Us cards? I know I’d be much more inclined to consistently buy my favorite brand rather than whatever is on sale, which is what I do now.  Plus, if a company could build an entire online community based on the loyalty rewards system, I’d probably check it out to see what other users are saying about new products/sales/coupons/etc.

5. Give back. Millennials are do-gooders, and we pride ourselves on supporting companies that are good, too. If you can leverage a social responsibility campaign into your marketing plan, make sure the right Gen Y demographics are aware of it. Kind actions certainly make advertising words stick better in my mind.

What else can be added to this list? What companies do you think are already doing a great job marketing to Gen Y through social media? What other ideas are there beyond social networking sites?

Why Online Marketers Might Be Wrong About Collegiate Consumers: Twitter is for Fun, Not Business!

I recently received this press release from the PRSSA chapter at my alma mater, and found the results interesting enough that I wanted to share with you.  Basically, a research team found out that social media marketing might not be as hard-hitting in the college crowd as we thought.  Granted, the sample size is a bit on the small side, but I do think the concept behind the research is worth noting: many college students only use these sites to interact with their friends, not with companies and brands.  It’s hard for me to imagine this since it’s what I spend the majority of my day doing, but I’m really interested to see what you all have to say after reading the press release:

A recent survey conducted by a research team from the Walter E. Griscti chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America at the University of South Florida reveals that this generation does not understand the business applications of new social media sites like Twitter.

Of the 250 Florida college students surveyed, 99 percent use social networking sites. However, only 15 percent have an account with Twitter and 34 percent have never even heard of the site.Some 58 percent of the students who have Twitter accounts never use the service or rarely log-on.

“There is a stereotype that because students are always plugged in that they understand the strategic uses of social media sites,” said Kelli Burns, professor at the University of South Florida and author of the forthcoming Celeb 2.0: How Social Media Foster our Fascination with Popular Culture. “Businesses have a misconception that students know how to use Twitter; these findings prove otherwise.”

The research team survey results reveal two distinct findings. First, college students are not active Twitter users. More importantly, they are not interested in interacting with brands through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

A common misconception is that sites like Twitter offer an innovative way for advertisers and companies to interact with the young demographic. However, 75 percent of students say they would be “not at all interested in” or “don’t care about” following brands, companies, or organizations on Twitter.

Many companies assume that social media enables college students to be smarter consumers. Sites like Twitter, social media analysts claim, act as a medium for the new two-way communication between brands and consumers. Given the media chatter about the importance of social networking for corporations, there is a disconnect between the promise of social media and reality.

Results reveal that a mere 6 percent of college students follow companies and only 4 percent follow brands on social media sites. These findings suggest that if corporations and communicators continue to bet on college students using social media sites effectively, they may come up empty handed.

The fact is that college students use social media sites primarily for keeping in touch with friends, not for networking or brand interaction. Until Millennials become less weary of this interaction, the gap between what business professionals expect and what college students actually know will continue to widen.

Do you think this report is accurate? Do brands communicating online miss the mark when attempting to engage with collegiate consumers?

17 Links to Bookmark So You Can Pitch Like a Pro

Pitching is integral to any young PR professional’s career. Despite it’s importance, many of my peers (myself included) find this to be the most challenging aspect of our profession. The only way to truly get better is to have experience, and many companies have policies that don’t allow interns to pitch.

So how do we learn about pitching without practicing? Doing a lot of research and reading numerous case studies helped me grow more comfortable when I first started doing media and blogger outreach.

Over the months, I’ve collected quite a few posts that have helped me enhance my pitching skills. They are all bookmarked and I refer to them often, especially when I’m stumped or uncertain about how to approach a new contact.

Below are some of my favorites that you might find useful, too:

Blogger Relations (and Social Media Release) Case Study by Todd Defren

How You Might View Bloggers by Chris Brogan

A Day in the Life of My Inbox – and When E-mail Marketing is Spam by Josh Bernoff

Open Letter to Fitness and Health Brands Pitching to Bloggers by Stephanie Quilao

Anatomy of a Bad Pitch by Dave Fleet

Great PR Manners Go a Long Way by Chris Brogan

Putting PR People on Notice by CityMama

e-Book: The Art and Science of Blogger Relations by Brian Solis

PR-Squared’s Blogger Relations Bookmark by Todd Defren

How Do I Get Placement on Blogs by Jason Falls

5 Wrong Ways to Pitch RWW and 1 Great Way by Marshall Kirkpatrick

How to Pitch Bloggers: 21 Tips by Darren Rowse

The PR Professional’s Credo: 7 Promises by Todd Defren

The Bad Pitch Blog’s Compiled List of Resources

How to Talk to the Press by Guy Kawasaki

Say What? A .pdf of What Not to Say to the Media compiled by the Bad Pitch Blog

5 Tips for Media Relations Success by David Mullen

Confessions of a Spendaholic: Why Creating (and sticking to) Budgets is Easier Than Ever Before

America’s economic situation is dismal. The headlines are depressing, the outlook isn’t good, and Americans are struggling in a sea of unemployment. Despite this, I somehow managed to let my spending spiral out of control. I have finally acknowledged my problem – I was a spendaholic – and thanks to a slew of easy-to-use online tools I have found ways to regain control of my habits.

Now, a slight disclaimer: I didn’t go crazy and accumulate tons of debt on credit cards. I am still relatively debt-free, but when I analyzed my spending habits, I realized that I wasn’t saving as much each month as I could have been. Money that should be going toward my professional and personal development was being spent on… well, that was the problem: I had no idea where my money was going.

It all started when I got my first full-time job. Receiving regular pay checks after being a broke college student for so long made it a little less painful to check my bank account. In fact, those checks made it so much easier that I stopped checking my accounts altogether. I became a spendaholic because I knew the money would be there.

In January, I checked my account and realized that after 4 months of having a job, my financial standing had not changed as much as I’d hoped it would. My savings had little growth and my checking had stayed the same every month.

Then, it hit me: I was living in the moment, and not thinking about my future. I realized that if I continued spending money at the rate I was, I would never save enough to go back to school or buy a car or purchase a home or travel as much as I wanted. Something had to change.

I decided I would sign up for a financial service that tracked and analyzed my spending habits. Many of my friends and co-workers recommended mint.com, and that’s the service I went with. (I’ve also heard great things about expensr.com.)

I’ve been using mint.com for a week, and I’m hooked. I can go back several months and see where the majority of my money went. It was a brutally honest wake up call – one I desperately needed. Like most young professionals trying to get settled in a new city, most of my money went toward my social life: concerts, movies, eating out, and happy hours.

Using mint.com, I adjusted my budget so I was cutting back on these things. Even with slight changes in each area, I will be saving thousands of dollars this year that can be put toward future investments. Mint.com also sends me alerts when I am getting close to a certain budget, or if large transactions occur in my accounts which helps me easily track my monthly spending.

In this era of economic uncertainty, I decided to reel in my inner spendaholic so I can practice financial responsibility skills that I hope will serve me well as I get further away from the collegiate lifestyle.

Using PR to Successfully Launch a Corporate Website

I spent Super Bowl Sunday hard at work in the NMS offices gearing up for the launch of my company’s re-designed website and monitoring online buzz about brands advertised during the game.

As a young professional in the public relations industry, the Super Bowl provides immense insight into consumer marketing and brand monitoring – which is why I was thrilled when one of my co-workers asked me to help with the Super Bowl Social Media Snapshot and working on the launch of our new website.

Getting Involved with the Website Launch

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned since graduating from college is when any of your colleagues ask you if you want to work on a project with them, you enthusiastically and immediately accept. This is what I did last week – and it led to a great opportunity that allowed me to use and develop my PR skills in a new way.

Yesterday, a 14 hour day at the office, allowed me to work on very challenging and rewarding projects that have stretched and improved my PR skill set. Not only did I get to work on the Social Media Snapshot, I also learned how to effectively market a company’s website re-launch.

I had never publicized a website launch before, so it was a great learning experience, especially since company websites are usually the main source of information for consumers and employees, both current and potential. Because of this, both internal and external PR was used.

Navigating the New Site for Highlights

Before the site launched, I spent considerable time browsing it to familiarize myself with all the new changes and how they enhanced the company’s brand and would provide visitors with engaging and necessary information.

Since NMS is a social media marketing company, my team knew we had to highlight the features of our site that showcased our experience in this area. For example, many of our case studies include links to Delicious bookmarks with placements we received. This innovative feature is valuable to our clients and employees. Picking out a few key elements will help draft reader-friendly marketing copy when it comes time to promote the site launch.

Writing the Press Release

Press releases spread the word, and when distributed via newswires they increase SEO results. Writing marketing copy and press releases about websites can be tedious, but every site launch needs them.

To ensure the release included the features on our site we wanted to highlight, but was also reader-friendly, we opted for a short introduction and a bulleted list of the features we wanted to showcase. This included our Flickr gallery, employee profiles, blog with 86 employee contributors, and interactive timeline.

The press release needed to provide readers with comprehensive information about the new site, that will pique their curiosity enough to drive them to the site.

Spreading the Word

If necessary, your company might want you to distribute your press release to the public over various newswires. Here are some free ones: OpenPR.com, PR-USA.net, Free-Press-Release-Center.info, i-newswire.com, PRLog.org and PRZoom.com. PRWeb and PRNewswire are paid services that allow more options for distribution and might be a good fit depending on your company, budget, and the quality of the website’s features and usability.

Pitching journalists and bloggers who cover your industry will help give the launch more publicity, leading to higher traffic and more press for your company.

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Have any of you worked on a site launch before? Is there anything you would add to these areas?

Super Bowl Advertisers Score Big on Twitter; Missed Engagement Opportunities with Consumers

It’s no secret that I’m a social media geek, which is why I had no problem spending Super Bowl Sunday in the NMS office working with my co-workers to compile the 2009 Super Bowl Social Media Snapshot.

The snapshot, a quantitative and qualitative analysis, looked at how consumers used social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Wikipedia, and blogs to discuss not only the game, but also the brands featured in those million dollar commercials everyone keeps talking about – for now.

What I love about social media is that it allows companies to connect with their consumers on a deeply personal level. This is what most of us find fascinating about social media, right?

Unfortunately, most advertisers have not fully embraced this concept yet… which is why the Snapshot revealed that marketers may have missed a huge way to engage and connect with their consumers by not providing long-term relationship development opportunities.

Here are some of the findings I found most interesting:

• In the 24-hour period surrounding the game, there were over 191,000 blog mentions of 41 Super Bowl advertising-related brands, personalities and terms
• During the game itself, there were about 41 Super Bowl advertising-related brands, personalities and terms
• Movie trailers and car companies saw the highest volume of blog mentions; notable performers included Audi, Star Trek, Hyundai and Transformers 2

However, here is where advertisers missed out:

Despite Facebook’s ability to serve as a tool for companies to build lists, much like Obama did by building a database of 13 million, through the group and brand pages, this year’s crop of advertisers failed to leverage the free tools available to compliment and maximize their TV buys.

• The analysis showed minimal discussion on Facebook brand pages regarding spots aired during the game
• Companies were selective in the platforms that they used – most posted their ads on YouTube at some point, some also ran a Twitter account in the character of their ad spot; however, users proliferated on dozens of social media platforms and no one single company successfully activated and realized the potential that was out there
• For a significant number of online community members, social media usage surrounding this year’s game was centered on sharing and documenting their own Super Bowl Sunday experiences, including: preparing snacks for a planned Super Bowl party, watching the game with friends at a local bar and families tailgating in head-to-toe Steelers or Cardinals fan gear

Engaging consumers on a variety of platforms, such as promoting a Facebook fan page community or a highly interactive Twitter account (kudos to the brands that did this!), should have been the rule, not the exception.

The full report can be downloaded in .pdf form here: http://newmediastrategies.net/docs/NMS-Super_Bowl_Snapshot_Report_2-2-09.pdf

Update: The Wall Street Journal ran a story showing how advertisers used Twitter to “keep Super Bowl buzz going.” The brands are: SoBe, H&R Block, E*Trade Financial, and Overstock.com.  Some of these brands have a lot of work to do when it comes to engagement and response, but at least it’s a start.