Tag: Clairemont Communications

Have You Heard the Buzz About the Fuzz?

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment on Have You Heard the Buzz About the Fuzz?

Social media has forever changed the way brands interact and communicate with consumers. Today, Clairemont intern Callie Henson tells us how she has embraced the power of new media in her PR courses, internships and class project –  The Fuzz. 

I’ve always been the kind of person who loves social media. At first, it was more for my personal use – but now, I am fascinated with the power and influence new media can bring to a brand.

Over the past few years, I have been able to get a strong grasp on how to be a successful PR professional through my different internships and classes specializing in public relations. For the past month, I have lead a campus-wide new media campaign at UNC called The Fuzz. And with this project, everything I have learned through my college career has come together – my PR skills and social media skills have worked together  to help create one strong creative branding campaign.

In the New Media Technology and It’s Impact on the Future of Advertising, Marketing & PR class I am taking at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, I have learned all about new media, it’s impact on audiences and the prevalence new media will have in this industry in the future. Gary Kayye, my professor and founder of rAVe Publications, has challenged us to create a new media campaign on campus to truly show what new media can do for a marketing campaign.

The Fuzz is my team’s campaign – and from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and Pinterest, my team has created a strong brand and personality on campus in the past three weeks. Everyone knows, or wants to know, all about The Fuzz. Our campaign uses creative marketing to the max – we have figured out how to put on an entire campaign without spending any money. We have reached out to local businesses, and by supporting them and their social media, the businesses have provided us with donations and prizes.

UNC student Julia Shearer shows off her winnings from The Fuzz local business partner, Caribou Coffee

“Five years ago, the idea that students would able to take mostly free new media technologies to organically create a marketing project of this scope and with this level of community involvement would have been unimaginable,” Kayye said.

This marketing campaign has opened my eyes to all the possibilities of new media technologies and what it can do for any business. Social media has brought the power of voice back to the brand. No longer do you need to rely on a reporter to get your news and your story out there.

We got our story out there on our own through different social media channels and self-publishing news websites. For example, I was even approached by Susanna Gebauer, the founder of the exploreb2b.com social platform, to write a story about The Fuzz for the global communications news source based in Berlin. And, from my time at Clairemont, I’ve learned about different self-publishing news websites like The Third Report, All Voices and Pitch Engine. We even have a Huffington Post story in the works…

The Fuzz has allowed me to put my PR skills and lessons-learned to the test. And, so far, I think I’ve passed. As for today, our YouTube page has nearly 2,000 views total. Our followers on Twitter and likes on Facebook grow everyday. And most importantly, the Fuzz is truly buzzing around campus. Everyone wants to know the buzz about The Fuzz. Have you heard the buzz about The Fuzz?

http://youtu.be/NbxNa9nGhV0

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My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Day 18

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , , ,

If you’re working on a team, it can be difficult staying up-to-date on what everyone is doing, what you need to be doing, when something is due, when something is completed, etc. Clairemont’s solution to this problem? A free online task manager program called Asana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiLCmstyDdM&feature=player_embedded

Asana is a digital workspace where you and your team can share task lists, plan, organize, prioritize and stay in sync with all of your different projects. On Asana, you can create new workspaces for each client or project, create different tasks and to-dos for each workplace, assign tasks to different team members, set due dates and check items off the list upon their completion. Each team member can see exactly what she and other team members need to do. Projects can be prioritized so you always know which is the most pressing and important at that time.

With people in and out of the Clairemont office and often on different schedules, Asana has helped us communicate what needs to be done and when. Instead of clogging up email inboxes with messages reminding someone to edit a blog or send a document, the task can be added to Asana, assigned to a specific team member and flagged with a due date. This may sound like an elementary idea, but in a public relations office where you are working on a number of different assignments and clients at any given time, the ability to streamline everyone’s schedules is necessary for productivity and efficiency

Intrigued? You should be! Asana is easy, effective and, most importantly, free! It’s a great tool for a public relations agency to use, and we highly suggest it. Take a look at this “Intro to Asana” video to learn more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liO5VbbIqIs&list=UU2BoogM0AqwOJyoSp1S4ClQ&index=7&feature=plcp

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Best Practices for Facebook Timeline

Josephine ButlerBlog, Marketing, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , ,

As Margot mentioned earlier, one of the ways that Clairemont team members work on professional development is by reading. I’m constantly seeking the latest and greatest when it comes to social media and public relations. Recently, I had the chance to review an e-book from our friends at Hubspot entitled, “New Facebook Business Page Timelines,” and I wanted to share a few best practices with you.

1)   Think visual! With the integration of timeline comes the opportunity for visual storytelling. The most popular pieces of content are usually photos and videos. If you’re looking for an example of how to tell you company’s story, we recommend checking out the Thomasville Furniture Facebook page. We worked closely with the Thomasville team to collect old photos and milestones for the page. Because the company has a rich history, the options were nearly endless!

One of our favorite milestones from the Thomasville Facebook page.

2)   Use a logo for your profile picture. This is especially important because it visually associates your brand with any sponsored stories or ads that you run.

3)   Turn your featured apps into compelling calls-to-action. Because Facebook did away with welcome landing pages, you can now showcase your page’s content using the apps toolbar in the upper right-hand corner. I really like the idea of using text-based images because it allows you to explain the app’s features or benefits to users. Here’s a great example of a call to action:

Hubspot’s compelling call to action!

4)   Pin new promotions every seven days. When content stays fresh, engagement will remain steady. I actually recommend pinning things for three days or less, if possible (similar to my recent advice about Facebook advertising).

5)   Publish more than once a day. Previously, brands didn’t want to post more than once or twice a day because when you bombard fans with too many posts, they’ll unlike your page. Nowadays, the algorithm for users’ news feeds has changed. If you’re not posting several times a day, your content is getting lost in the feed.

Again, these are just a handful of tips that I found helpful. If you’d like to read more, you can find the e-book here: http://www.hubspot.com/guide-to-new-facebook-business-page-timelines/.

Any more tips to add? We’d love for you to share!

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Hug it Out of Slug it Out? More from Summer Brand Camp

Dana PhelpsBlog, Professional Development, , ,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PJakiUSfF8&feature=relmfu

In my last post, I talked about some of my favorite things about Summer Brand Camp. Today, I wanted to dig a little deeper into the first thing from that list which was the collaborative song writing exercise, led by Banding People Together. In addition to thinking things like this are just really fun, I love to observe the human dynamics in these types of situations.

The first thing I noticed was all the different backgrounds represented in the room. People came from different states, some were in marketing while others were in HR or operations, we had cat lovers and dog lovers (if you know me at all, you know…), we had people who thought we should write our song in a major key to make it sound uplifting and others wanted the darker sound that comes from a minor key, and we had those who enjoy curse words and those who do not. Sound familiar? It should. It describes most people’s work environments.

Our first task was coming up with a name. Brant, our facilitator, stressed the importance of consensus to teamwork. When it seemed there wasn’t one choice that everyone loved (sounds familiar again, eh?), Brant did something that I thought was brilliant to bring in the few folks who didn’t agree with the majority. He gave them something special… or I suppose you could say he played to their egos. Either way, it worked! The females in the room agreed on The Summer Brand Cramps. Two guys, George and Michael, were opposed. So, we became George Michael and the Summer Brand Cramps, and eventually George Clay Michael and the Summer Brand Cramps to include the name of the third guy in our group. With their names getting the spotlight, we reached consensus. Hmmm, I’m going to remember that little trick.

Next we debated style, lyrics, should we use the f word in our song, all kinds of fun things! Then, we were down to the wire to finish our song in time for the performances, and we had the biggest debate about how the song should end. When you read the lyrics below, you’ll get a sense for the path the song was taking and musically, there was a lot of angst in it. Brant advised that it wouldn’t go with the flow for it to end all happy happy. It came down to one line. Should it be “slug it out” or “hug it out?” “Slug it out” really fit more with the overall tone and feel of the song, but really everyone in the room was of the mindset of resolution when applying our song to real life and we just couldn’t feel right with “slug it out.” Plus, @IamCathyMac (follow her — she’s new on Twitter. Tell her she’s doing a great job!) who was so sweetly persuasive really wanted “hug it out.” See, sweetness can get you so far in negotiations!

The last thing I have to say is that I was originally adamantly opposed to putting something about a cat in our song. But even my canine loving heart found myself agreeing to change a “now” to a “meow” because from across the room I had started to adore and respect a (gasp!) cat lover for her creative ideas and the collaborative way she played the game. We even added a little kitty choreography, and man oh man, what a great time we had performing our song! We were a team that overcame our differences, and we were proud to be teammates. And we still think we were better than all of the other teams! With that said and without further ado, I give you the lyrics to “Meow”….

I hear you b!+@#ing but we ain’t listening

Your lips are moving but words aren’t sinking in

You say you really care, but I just don’t see it there

We gotta do this or we’ll be outta here

Just shut your big mouth

Stop messing around

Let’s get the job done

It’s time to have some fun, MEOW

You say you’re trying, but it’s not working out

I think you’re lying, so let’s just hug it out (awwww)

Just shut your big mouth

Stop messing around

Let’s get the job done

It’s time to have some fun, MEOW

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Is the APR Really Worth it?

Tracy LathanAPR, Blog, Professional Development, , ,

As the accreditation chair for NCPRSA (North Carolina Public Relations Society of America), our local PRSA chapter, I have been asked many times whether or not getting the APR (Accreditation in Public Relations) is really worth it. My answer in a word: absolutely. This has been a hot topic of conversation as some organizations hold the APR in very high regard (even making it a requirement for employees), while others don’t place the same level of importance on the credential. Having just gone through the process myself, I can confidently say it was a worthwhile experience that has positively impacted my career.

After spending the past 11 years in an agency, I understand that the day-to-day workload demands and other responsibilities of life make the thought of pursuing an APR a bit daunting. While achieving it is certainly doable while working full time, it is a time commitment. If you are on the fence in deciding whether or not to commit to the process, here are a few arguments to help make the decision a little easier.

  • Advancing the profession – Accreditation helps boost our industry’s overall image and increases individual professionalism.
  • Setting yourself apart – I have heard from many PR professionals that they take a closer look at resumes with an APR credential, as it shows that the applicant has taken the extra step and demonstrates the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities.
  • Committing to constant improvement – Whether you are in the early stages of your career or a seasoned vet, professional development is critically important. For me, the APR process helped highlight my strengths, as well as identify areas of weakness where I needed to focus a bit more. Aside from the letters beside my name, going through the APR process made me think about things differently and ultimately made me a better counselor.
  • Who couldn’t use a little extra money – There is some research that suggests it may increase your pay grade. Anecdotally, I have heard the same thing from Raleigh PR agency owners and corporate communications professionals.

In the end, whether or not you choose to pursue an APR is a decision only you can make, but I have yet to meet someone who has been through the process and did not feel that he or she benefited from it in some way.  I encourage you to reach out to your local PRSA chapter accreditation chair for advice and support (if you are in the Raleigh area that would be me!). The APR chair can also connect you with other people in your area who are going through the process, as well, which can be a great support network.

Best of luck!

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