Did you know that more than 144 billion emails are sent each day? Talk about volume! It also serves as a reminder just how important it is to craft effective, eye-catching emails.
For this installment of On the Record, I put together my top three tips for crafting the perfect email.
What tips and tricks do you use to help cut through the clutter? Share your tips on our Facebook page.
When’s the last time you sent someone a postcard? In this age of texts and emails, I am a huge fan of the hand-written letter and cannot help but smile when I open my mailbox to find one waiting for me.
When I started at Clairemont two years ago, I noticed a series of framed postcards on the mantle by my desk. Occasionally, it was mentioned that they were Myrtle’s postcards, but I never heard the full story until recently, and it’s fascinating. However, it’s not my story to tell, so if you want to hear the whole story – and didn’t get to hear it at the recent High Five Conference – contact Clairemont CEO Dana Hughens.
What I will tell you is that it’s a story about 80 postcards that were written over a span of 50 years and sent from all over the world to a woman named Myrtle. Myrtle’s postcards are more than just a great story, they also can teach us about building our brand through storytelling. Let’s go “On the Record” with Dana to find out more.
Want to learn more about how PR can help effectively build your brand? Click here.
What is the plural of Octopus? Octopi? Octopuses? Who knew Octopi would be such a big deal at Clairemont? Our client, Il Palio is attending the Charleston Wine and Food Festival and is planning to feature their specialty dish, grilled octopi. So what’s better than a grilled Octopus on a warm day in Charleston? Spotting an Octocow on the way to afternoon meeting in Durham! Yes, believe it or not we spotted this in the parking lot while making our way to a meeting!
Want to learn more about the work that we do at Clairemont? Read our case study blog posts here.
Today’s post is written by Clairemont intern, Emma Kirkpatrick.
We’ve all heard it – chatter that Facebook is slowly dying and is doomed to become the next MySpace. But before you go and break up with Facebook, consider this. Yes, more and more users, specifically young teenagers, are trading in their Facebook accounts for newer social media platforms, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. But let’s not forget who owns these apps—Facebook.
And why did Facebook decide to buy these apps? With its steady user base and enormous funds, Facebook is changing and adapting to the new social media environment where it is not the only social network anymore. In more recent years, an average social media user navigates between multiple platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
But what makes Facebook different from these newer platforms? Channels like Snapchat allow users to post pictures that will disappear and be forgotten after a few seconds or hours. On the other hand, Facebook aims to allow users to post photos designed to be remembered, such as weddings, graduations and family reunions. Each platform’s goals and functionalities differ, helping to further distinguish them.
Teenagers might say that Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram are the “in” platforms and Facebook just isn’t cool anymore. But according to Business Insider’s article in 2013 when Facebook seemed to be diminishing, Mark Zuckerberg said, “People assume that we’re trying to be cool. It’s never been my goal. I’m the least cool person there is! We’re almost 10 years old so we’re definitely not a niche thing any more so that kind of angle for coolness is done for us.”
Instead of trying to be the trendy site that relies on the cool factor to attract users, Facebook is trying to build a lasting product to compete in the same market with platforms such as Google.
Recent data shows that Facebook continues to squash the competition in social media traffic referrals. This may be because businesses and companies still rely heavily on Facebook for marketing strategies and endorsement activities.
So even though there are new channels, tools and platforms popping up daily, Facebook isn’t dying anytime soon.
How do you feel about Facebook? Connect with us on Facebook and let us know!
Unless you have been completely out of touch, you no doubt heard about the madness that the recent Lilly Pulitzer for Target launch created. Sadly, I found myself smack dab in the middle of the crazy. I am still recovering.
After a super busy week, my family decided to skip church and get caught up on the morning of Sunday, April 19. We were out of everything, so I planned to make an early grocery store and Target run for diapers, toilet paper and other essentials for the week ahead. My husband took the kids out to breakfast and I picked up a coffee and remember thinking how excited I was to be running these errands alone so I could have some peace and quiet. I knew the Lilly line for Target would be in stores starting that weekend, and I foolishly thought maybe I would pick up a cute bathing suit or dress for my daughter while I was there. What I saw when I drove up blew my mind…a huge line winding around the building waiting for the doors to open.
It got worse. Once they opened the doors people went crazy…running to the display, knocking each other over and grabbing as much as they could. The doors opened at 8:00 a.m. and the entire women’s collection was completely gone by 8:02 a.m. Some ladies were cheering and immediately on their phones trying to sell what items they had scored to friends and family. There were tween girls crying in front of the racks because there was nothing left. It was a sad site, folks. Even worse, ladies lined up like vultures outside the dressing room in hopes that something wouldn’t fit and get thrown back to the wolves.
I went on about my shopping just taking it all in. I ended up with a scarf and a jumpsuit for my daughter that someone had discarded in the cleaning products section after the mad dash. I wasn’t even sure I wanted them, but after what I had witnessed I felt like I won the lottery.
Since the launch, there has been a lot of discussion around whether or not it was a PR success or a fail. As a PR professional, I happen to agree with this article from the Bulldog Reporter that it was a little bit of both.
At a previous job, I worked on the Target account and have enormous respect for the brilliant work that comes out of their PR/Marketing department. They are a strategic machine. And since the same thing happened when they launched the Missoni line for Target back in 2011, I can’t believe they were blindsided by this response. After all, everyone is talking about Target, and there have even been social media sites created to buy and sell the Lilly items online. The “limited availability” drove the demand and the hype.
But at what cost? Does this affect how target loyalists feel about the brand? I don’t think so. Speaking for myself, I was not upset with Target for that spectacle…more than anything I was disheartened by people’s behavior. What do you think? Did what happened with the Lilly line affect how you feel about the Target brand? Or should we say job well done?
