Category: Raleigh PR Agency

10th Annual Gingerbread Benefit Secures Regional Coverage

Margot HorganBlog, Clairemont Client News, In Our Community, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, The Clairemont Team, , , , , , , , 1 Comment on 10th Annual Gingerbread Benefit Secures Regional Coverage

For the past three years, Clairemont has had the honor of promoting and participating in one of the Triangle’s most anticipated holiday events of the season – Triangle Family Services’ Annual Gingerbread Benefit, the premier, vital fundraising event for the longstanding local nonprofit.

This year, marked not only the tenth anniversary of the Benefit, but also the 75th anniversary of Triangle Family Services, which provides programs to families in need in the Raleigh-Durham area in three key areas – financial stability, family safety and mental health services.

With 2012 marking prominent milestones for both the Benefit and Triangle Family Services, we knew that we wanted to make this year’s Annual Gingerbread Benefit bigger and better than any other.

Our plan? A detailed and strategic media relations campaign that would target news coverage in both regional and local publications. With gingerbread-themed media kits in tow, our work started this summer with our “Christmas in July” push to long-lead news outlets. Diligent pitching and coordination with our media contacts continued through the year and throughout the day of the actual event.

The result? Substantial coverage promoting the 10th Annual Gingerbread Benefit in leading publications like Southern Living Magazine, Our State Magazine, Carolina Parent Magazine and Philanthropy Journal, just to name a few.

Southern Living Magazine, Nov. 2012
Our State Magazine, Dec. 2012
Carolina Parent Magazine, Nov. 2012

Interested in hearing more? Check out some of the other coverage in the links included below:

Gingerbread houses and more for a good cause

The News & Observer

>>View Story

Entertainment Briefs

The Durham Herald Sun

>>View Story

Triangle Family Services Gingerbread Benefit

Cary Citizen

>>View Story

Gingerbread Benefit Feature

NBC 17 – My Carolina Today

>>View Clip

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Social Media Barometer is Coming to Raleigh

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , 16 Comments on Social Media Barometer is Coming to Raleigh

I’m so excited to report that my friend and fellow PRSA Counselors Academy member, Martin Waxman, is coming to Raleigh this week, (okay, technically Chapel Hill) to deliver his Social Media Barometer presentation. Martin has had this show on the road, including a stop last month at PRSA’s International Conference where he presented to a packed room. We are thrilled to have Martin as a speaker this week at NCPRSA‘s PR and Marketing Seminar.

Check out Martin’s blog post today for more info about Social Media Barometer and the video I shot with him recently to get a preview. Hope to see you at the Friday Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Follow Martin’s blog! Great info for PR people.
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#CMWorld: Part II

Margot HorganBlog, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , , , , ,

As promised, here are some more insights and one-liners from my recent Content Marketing World (CMW) conference!

The movie Finding Nemo decimated the global clownfish population.

Formally known as “The Nemo Effect” (no, I’m not joking), studies have found evidence that the hit movie caused such a demand for clownfish, the wild population drastically reduced and even reached extinction in some areas. On the flipside, along with the demand for every child to have his or her own “Nemo,” came the demand for everything Nemo needs to survive (tanks, food, rocks, more fish, etc.). What’s the point? According to conference speaker, Andrew Davis, valuable content increases demand for the products and services you sell. “The Nemo Effect” – that’s the power of valuable content. To succeed, create valuable content to create needs for your business.

Content is fire. Social media is gasoline. Use your social to promote your content first and your company second.

‘Nuff said. Conference speaker, Jay Baer, says it all.

Never exit the metrics train at the consumption depot.                 

Here’s another one-liner from Jay Baer (can you tell his session was a lot of fun to attend?). Knowing the amount of people who have read your content is great, but don’t stop there when you’re riding the research train! Knowing a piece of content generated 3,000 page views should prompt even more questions (not stop you dead on your tracks): Do people consuming that content engage in other, more desirable behavior on the site? Do they do so at a ratio different from site visitors overall? Do people consuming that content return to the site?

If your mom won’t share your content, it’s not good enough!

Some more practical, blunt wisdom from Jay Baer (last one, I promise!). If you’re not creating content that’s worthwhile to someone who has to love you no matter what, it’s time to create better content. We can’t complain about content that our consumers don’t find valuable if we don’t give it any value!

Hard work and enthusiasm. Work hard and love what you do.

Jack Hanna, Animal Planet TV personality and zookeeper, was the last keynote speaker at the conference, and made one of the biggest impacts on me. I have never seen someone talk about his or her job with so much unbridled, genuine passion. Let’s all hope we can channel that same passion into our jobs and lives everyday!

Oh, PS, did I mention that I met Rick Springfield? Pretty cool!

Rick Springfield and me!
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#CMWorld: Part I

Margot HorganBlog, Marketing, Professional Development, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , ,

Last month, I attended Content Marketing World (CMW), a three-day long conference in Columbus, Ohio, which focused on all of the ideas, hardships, tips, tricks and secret joys of content marketing. Presentations were given by industry leaders such as Sam Sebastian, director of local and B2B markets at Google; and Marcus Sheridan, blogging trailblazer and pool company owner.

Despite my urge to share every last word of knowledge that I gained on my trip, I’ll provide the abridged version. Here is my summary of one-liners of the most interesting parts of my conference:

They ask. You answer. (Golden Rule).

This first tidbit comes from Marcus Sheridan (the most energetic speaker that you will ever see in your life). If content creation is the biggest challenge you face for your blog, think again. Pull your staff together and say, “What are the questions you get asked every day about our work?” Then make a list and write an individual blog post answering every single one of those questions.

Don’t be a content hog, but a digital dandelion!

Words of wisdom from conference speaker, Jay Baer. Don’t just put content on your website, put it everywhere you can so as many people as possible can see it!

Seventy-three percent of all people who read B2B blogs are human. –Tim Washer, Cisco

This is a statistic that I was presented with during a session by Ann Handley titled, “Epic Content That’s True to Your Brand AND Drives Business.” And, yes my friends, it’s true – the majority of people that read blogs are human J So, what does that mean to us? We need to speak human when we write our blogs! Don’t get so caught up in the corporate side of the job, that you forget you are talking one human to another (or hopefully many!)

Mobile will only continue to grow in importance.

According to a presentation by Sam Sebastian, director of local and B2B markets at Google, mobile will continue to make a big impact on the way people shop, buy and consume. Sixty-one percent of all smart phone users call a business after searching it on the web, and 45 percent of all consumers use smart phones for in-store product research.

The whole myth of time doesn’t exist.

Marcus Sheridan tackles another blogging myth here. There is no such thing as, “I don’t have time to blog” because we always have enough time for pay roll. Until we accept blogging as a necessity (like payroll or breathing) we aren’t going anywhere!

Did any of these one-liners stick out to you? We would love to hear your thoughts! Stay tuned for part II of this blog coming soon!

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From Univision at the DNC to Raleigh PR Agency… Meet Our Intern

Dana PhelpsBlog, Raleigh PR Agency, The Clairemont Team,
What an honor to meet Univision reporters, Rosa Blanca Vilchez and Luis Megid.

Meet Stephanie Yacono, our newest intern at Clairemont Communications. Stephanie is a bilingual Spanish/English graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she graduated with a double major in international public relations and Spanish. Prior to joining the team, she has held various internship positions, including a position as a marketing and event planning intern for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a public relations intern for the Center for Global Public Relations and, most recently, a production assistant for Univision during the Democratic National Convention. Here’s what she had to say about her time spent there.

Last week was by far one of the most memorable moments of my early career. Not only did I have the opportunity to work at the DNC – I was working for one of my favorite television networks ever: Univision!

Univision is the leading and largest Spanish-speaking television network in the United States, and I have been a fanatic for many years. When I learned about the opportunity, I immediately applied. I’m still a little bit in disbelief that they chose me! I arrived at the convention at the Time Warner Cable Arena on Monday morning. It was the beginning of a long week that concluded Thursday night around 4 a.m., after driving several news team members back to their hotel. Every day consisted of early mornings, long hours and late nights, and it was absolutely worth it. And yes, I would do it all over again! Continue reading “From Univision at the DNC to Raleigh PR Agency… Meet Our Intern”

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