Author: Cherith Andes

Clairemont’s Tracy Lathan Featured as PRSA District Speaker

Cherith AndesAPR, Blog, The Clairemont Team, , , ,

Clairemont’s very own Tracy Lathan, APR, is stepping on stage as a featured speaker at the PRSA Southeast District Conference in Raleigh, N.C.

An account strategist at Clairemont Communications, Tracy brings a vast wealth of experience in the public relations industry. Prior to joining the Clairemont team, Tracy led integrated marketing programs for two Fortune 500 companies, John Deere and Target Corporation. She was responsible for planning and executing media events for John Deere’s new product launches, efforts that secured a PRSA Silver Anvil award. For Target, Tracy led media relations efforts, industry events and new initiatives targeting influencers and bloggers.

Tracy has been instrumental in creating Clairemont’s blogger engagement program, leading employee communications initiative for clients and providing strategic counsel to Clairemont’s retail, restaurant, education, design and real estate clients. In addition, Tracy currently serves as the accreditation chair on the NCPRSA Board of Directors.

As one of the area’s leading experts on APR, Tracy will be hosting a pre-conference session about the accreditation process, along with Eva Hornak, APR, and Stephanie Llorente, APR. This workshop will equip both students and professionals with strategies to prepare for the accreditation process and to build their accreditation portfolios.

Get all the details about the conference, coming April 18-20, 2018!

 

Read More

Who Wore It Best?

Cherith AndesBlog, Raleigh PR Agency, The Clairemont Team, , , , ,

We’re not shy. As a team that transforms PR campaigns from “blah to voila,” we love things with pizzazz.

… including cooky, crazy costumes.

For Clairemont’s 8th anniversary extravaganza, we invited our friends from the Lil Photo Bus to capture the hoopla in their photo booth (which, incidentally, is housed in a vintage VW bus). From boas and top hats to flashy flamingo frames, partygoers had their pick of props from a decked-out costume closet.

The best part? We have these festooned festivities on file.

Check out the snapshots from our 8th anniversary, and tell us: who wore it best?

Read More

Clairemont Foodie Takes Charleston

Cherith AndesBlog, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, Travel, , , , ,

The landing page of the 2018 Charleston Wine and Food Festival captures it all.

Fueled by a contagious passion for the people and places that make Charleston worth celebrating, the annual festival infuses homegrown flavor with top chefs, winemakers, authors, storytellers, artisans, and food enthusiasts from around the globe for a five-day event that spans the first full weekend each March. 

That’s it exactly. The love of food, the talent and passion behind it is contagious … which is one of the reasons we love working the restaurant and hospitality industry.

This year, Clairemont CEO Dana Phelps Hughens will be one of our local ambassadors to the Charleston Wine and Food Festival (CWFF) on February 28 – March 4, 2018! She’ll be sampling flavors and fare, and meeting new friends and old at the festival’s five-day packed schedule. In addition to our favorite Charleston buddies like the Cocktail Bandits, we’re excited to support the stunning Triangle talent featured this year!

We’ll share all the behind-the-scenes goodies we can find! Check them out on our Facebook page!  

 

 

Read More

Facebook’s Change: Now What?

Cherith AndesBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , ,

Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s head of news feed, described Facebook’s newest change as “bigger than the average tweak … It’s not a tweak.”

Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner, dubbed it “Facebook Zero,” and Contently described it as the “Facebook apocalypse.”

It might just be all three.

In mid-January, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled an overhaul to Facebook’s algorithm, one that possibly spells disaster for business pages. Rather than pontificate on death’s door, here are the CliffsNotes:

The Main Shift

Previously, Facebook aimed to connect users with relevant content. Now, the algorithm will prioritize meaningful interactions between people, not between pages and people. Think … posts by people who ask for recommendations or who share personal stories that spark heartfelt responses.

Who Matters? People. Real, actual people, not businesses or news sources. This overhaul places a premium on people who are in your network as well.

What Matters? Previously, the Facebook algorithm evaluated successful posts by the amount of time spent and the number of likes. The new system values post engagement in the form of comments. Lengthy, meaningful comments that require time and effort score far higher than short, monosyllabic quips.

(Facebook spells it out in its short video.)

The Effects

Straight from Marky Mark (Zuckerberg) himself — content from pages will increasingly disappear from news feeds. Reach, views and referral traffic will decrease to pages, including the Facebook content darling itself: video. Facebook will view this as a passive media type. (Note: video is not disappearing or becoming obsolete; we’ll need to adjust how we utilize it!) Overall time on Facebook will decrease while, Facebook predicts, quality of interaction will increase. And while the shift will start in the news feed, it will eventually infiltrate the entire platform.

Why the Change?

Facebook adopts a psychological stance on this one. Passive scrolling and empty interaction on Facebook, it says, decreases quality life. Meaningful, engaged interaction that requires effort and time investment add value and boost positive feelings. Hence, it seems that Facebook is striving to bolster our quality of life.

But back to business … now what?

First and foremost, don’t panic. Here’s what we see as promising grounds so far.

1. Ad Campaigns. There’s little chance that Facebook will hamstring its revenue source: ads. Begin to beef up your ad strategy, solidifying campaigns and goals to increase website traffic and nurture conversions. While many predict that costs for campaigns will rise as supply and demand adjusts, ads are currently still a firm method to connect with your consumers. (P.S. Check out a few tips here.)

2. Live Videos (and others). Live videos seem to be a slight exception to Facebook’s new rules. It encourages viewers to actively engage with both the content creator and with other viewers. Video, in general, is not dying, especially with recently launched features like Facebook Watch. So don’t ditch your cameras yet! Just stay tuned for ways to create “thumb stopping” content that will illicit comments and shares.

3. Encourage “See First.” For now, train your followers to mark your page as “See First,” affording your business content some priority in their news feeds.

4. Explore Using Messenger Bots. These “behind-the-scenes” bots can deliver ad content, answer questions and help streamline the sales process beyond standard news feed content or ads. Jon Loomer shares tips on leveraging Facebook Messenger ads.

5. Avoid Engagement Baiting. Facebook has made it clear that they will demote pages and posts that use engagement baiting to artificially increase post engagement. Asking fans to like, share, comment or tag friends are examples of engagement baiting. It’s a no-no.

6. Diversify. Psssst. Don’t forget; Facebook isn’t the only platform to nurture your fan base and gain customers. Now is the time to revisit your content marketing and broad social media strategy.

As marketers, we now need to consider how to create conversations between people, not between our followers and the page. Also evaluate how investing time in this Facebook shift supports — if at all — your core business goals.

In essence, Facebook has transformed from a broadcast platform into a coffee house table for thoughtful conversation. Pour a cup of joe and chat.

Need some help revamping your Facebook strategy? We’re here to help.

Read More

Maximize Your 2018 Marketing

Cherith AndesBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , ,

What’s hot? Ringing in the new year doesn’t necessarily require a revamp of current strategies. But it does call for a closer look at burgeoning digital and social media trends along with new tools on the horizon. Where do you need to place your focus to maximize your marketing efforts and boost business success?

A New Definition of Evergreen Content

In the past, social media platforms catered to snack-sized, temporary content forms designed to be consumed at brief intervals. Recently, there has been a gradual shift toward permanent content. Unlike traditional “evergreen” content, however, the M.O. of social media is still real-time posts that can be specific to one moment, event or experience. (e.g. Snaps from a one-time conference or a Insta story about your lunch burger.)

Platforms are now creating ways to make the content permanently available. For example, Instagram recently launched Stories Archives, allowing users to save and repurpose their stories, along with Highlights that showcases “permanent” video compilations on the user’s profile. So much for the 24-hour lifespan. Businesses should leverage this opportunity to create content with consideration to future repurposing. Not only does this alleviate hefty content planning, it also can add credibility by reconnecting the audience with past successes, products and appearances.

Short Planning Periods

The days of the annual content calendars are bygone. Both technology and social media platforms introduce new products and features weekly, monthly and quarterly. Yes, create a content marketing game plan commensurate with sales and business goals. But devise an internal system that allows (and even requires) you to revisit and adjust strategy frequently. Create an arsenal of resources to stay updated on consumer behavior and social media trends.

Laser Focus on ROI

With the predicted downturn in the economy, businesses and consumers alike are watching budgets with a close eye. Although this should be nothing new, marketers need to continue to craft strategies based on detailed performance analytics that evaluate multi-faceted variables and KPIs. Fortunately, the digital landscape is replete with powerful tools and user-friendly platforms, like Simply Measured.

Video, Your (Not-So) Secret Weapon

Social video generates 1200 percent more shares than text and images combined. Video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80 percent or more, and video can also drive a 157 percent increase in organic traffic from SERPs. Digital platforms evolve almost weekly to accommodate both instant and highly produced video, such as the good ‘ole Facebook cover photo (that can now be a video). Live Streaming claims center stage boosted by extra tools, like Facebook’s new Creator app that allows you to pre-create intro and outro segments for your live segments. Leverage easy editing tools, like Magisto or Animoto, to create and polish content straight from your phone.

Don’t miss these opportunities to maximize every inch of your strategy. Want to bounce around some ideas? Shoot us an email!

Read More