Tag: Public Relations

A Social Media Super Bowl

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

There are 32 teams in the NFL across 21 states. Super Bowl XLIX, New England Patriots versus Seattle Seahawks, was the most-watched Super Bowl and most-watched television program of all time with a staggering 114.4 million American viewers. This past season, 103.4 million American viewers tuned in for Super Bowl LI, Patriots versus Atlanta Falcons. You could say professional football is a pretty big deal.

The various football teams have a lot of work to do on the field, and their communication teams have a lot to do off of it. Each team has to connect with thousands of fans, and one great tool to do this is social media. Any given team will be using social to post game results, questions to fans, information on players, news about the team, the game schedule, merchandise and more. That being said, we’ve ranked the top five NFL teams who we think have done a stellar job with their social media.

1. Dallas Cowboys

The Numbers:

The Cowboys have 3.75 million followers on Twitter, 2.6 million followers on Instagram and 8.6 million likes on Facebook.

Why We Love Them:

We love that, like most teams, the Cowboys share player interviews and highlights, but the team stands out in the way it uses social media to focus on the team as a whole and the friendship between players. We also love the shoutouts the Cowboys give the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, who have 393,000 Instagram followers of their own.

The Cowboys do a great job of utilizing Instagram stories, including highlights of wallpapers, captains, events and the season schedule. Most importantly, this team makes its social media shine by never missing a birthday shoutout to the players and well wishes to fans on holidays. 

2. Carolina Panthers

The Numbers:

The Carolina Panthers have 3.01 million followers on Twitter, 1.5 million followers on Instagram and 2.3 million likes on Facebook.

Why We Love Them:

The Panthers might have the most clever and humorous social media in the NFL. Expect to see a gif blowing off a big loss or the Panthers hitting another team with lighthearted jabs on Twitter. The Panthers are also in tune with younger fans and pop culture, recently turning Ariana Grande’s hit song “Thank u, next” into a hilarious meme and sharing the Panthers players you can play in the popular video game, Fortnite.

The Panthers can also be serious. We appreciated the team’s post in solidarity with Pittsburgh after the recent shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue.

In addition to staying on top of current events, the Panthers love showing off their players off the field, their fans and their city, Charlotte, North Carolina.

We’ve also got to hand it to Sir Purr, the official mascot of the Carolina Panthers, who boasts 17,900 followers on Instagram.

3. Minnesota Vikings

The Numbers:

The Minnesota Vikings have 1.26 million followers on Twitter, 769,000 followers on Instagram and 2.1 million likes on Facebook. The Vikings have a Facebook show, The Rundown, but with a pretty small following of just 1,700 followers.

Why We Love Them:

So! Much! Purple! The team colors of purple and gold jump out at you on the Vikings’ social media but especially on Instagram where uniforms, crowds of fans and tinted cartoons make a wave of purple. This team gets fans pumped for upcoming games by putting the Vikings’ cleats up against their opposition’s footwear.

We also love the way the Vikings get their fans involved with #purplepups.

4. New York Giants

The Numbers:

The Giants have 1.8 million followers on Twitter, 1.7 million followers on Instagram and almost 4 million likes on Facebook. The Giants also have a show on Facebook, called Giants Life, that has 4,000 followers.

Why We Love Them:

The Giants do so much community service and giving that there’s an account dedicated just to community relations! We love that the main Giants’ Twitter does a great job of retweeting highlights and sharing those moments with a larger Giants’ audience.

Like the Vikings, the Giants get fans involved with #NYGiantsPup, which has been used on almost 900 posts this season. Where the Giants stand out are their fun and flavorful posts sharing healthy tailgate recipes, which are done in partnership with Weight Watchers.

5. Buffalo Bills

The Numbers:

The Buffalo Bills have 965,000 followers on Twitter, 472,000 followers on Instagram and more than 890,000 likes on Facebook. The Bills also have a Facebook show with 17,000 followers.

Why We Love Them:

The Buffalo Bills prove that the number of followers you have doesn’t always equate to the originality of your posts. We love the Fun Fact Friday posts the Bills have been doing to highlight players and make them relatable to fans.

We also love how the personal lives of the players are shared on the team page, including interviews with the wives and kids of players.

Loyal football fans get excited about the uniform their team wears. This team shows its social media finesse by sharing what combination of pants, jerseys, gloves and socks the Bills will be wearing at their next away game.

Overall, the Bills are great about connecting with fans and are giving them a look behind the scenes.

Interested in other ways social media can shine? Check out our blog about getting the most out of your hashtags.

Written by Kaitlyn Karcher, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Meet Kelli, our newest member

Kelli FletcherBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, The Clairemont Team, , , , Leave a Comment on Meet Kelli, our newest member

A decade ago my fiancé and I packed our bags and headed up the coast (15 hours to be exact) to Cambridge, MA. We did all the things one does while living in New England: picked apples, played in leaves, visited the Cape, cheered for Tom Brady…

While my other half dived into his law school studies, I continued down my PR-focused career path. It was 2008, and I was coming out of my first job with global PR firm, FleishmanHillard. I had spent a year and a half working under a strong leader that taught me all the great basics of PR. My accounts included Thomasville Furniture, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Cheerwine and Newland Communities, and my work on these clients solidified my interest in consumer public relations. Finding a job in 2008 was extremely hard. The recession had taken hold, and I was coming from a small town to a big city. Through a networking contact, I was put in touch with a very small firm that had some very big projects. I worked on contract for six months and was able to call some of Boston’s most popular companies my clients, including The Massachusetts Film Office, the Life is good Company and, my personal favorite, The Boston Athletic Association/Boston Marathon. 

From there, I transitioned to working with my sister. Having recently moved herself and her company to New York, she was serving small business clients in lifestyle and beauty. I learned to conduct desk-side meetings with editors at top magazines in NYC, advise on seasonal designs for jewelry and travel accessories and dabble in this new thing called…social media. That’s right. We kicked off blogs, twitter and Facebook for each of our clients.

Once my husband finished law school, we decided to stay in the Boston area. I secured a job at a locally-focused mid-sized firm working on accounts including Mohegan Sun, The Preservation Society of Newport County, Simon Malls, The Boston Wine Expo, FELD Entertainment and a handful of local restaurants and bars. I did everything from media list building to new business pitches. I staffed events and directed celebrities where to stand and smile. I met professional players from every Boston team, and I was able to taste the food and test the scene at some of the city’s newest restaurants.

I finished my New England “stint” at a fantastic national mid-sized firm. Their client roster was more tech-focused, but I felt the need for a change in my experience. The company offered an integrated approach for its clients, so I learned how to incorporate all aspects of communications including social, digital and marketing into my traditional public relations knowledge. This was extremely valuable as it’s now becoming the standard for many agencies.

I’ve stood in Fenway while it was empty. I shook Edleman and Gronk’s hands (Again, Pats fans? Anyone?). I watched the leaderboard for the Boston Marathon be changed manually in the pressroom of The Copley Hotel. I received exclusive tours through off-limit rooms in the Newport mansions. I.met.Martha.Stewart. But even more, I watched a city I loved grow while working among the smartest people in the biz.

Our three-year plan turned into 10, and along with these career milestones, we mixed in amazing friends and two babies. But, coming out of our 11th winter (40 feet of snow if you average 3.5 feet each season!), we turned to each other and said: “OK. What’s next?!” It wasn’t really a hard question to answer, as we were both born and raised in the Tarheel State. So we packed up our things and, as the song goes, headed down south to the land of the pines.

When returning to NC, there was little doubt as to where I’d try to bring my experience. I was going to offer it to Dana, the woman who taught me most all of the skills that allowed me to gain it in the first place. The mentor, who gave me my first job, guided me through how to do it and then set me free when it was time. So, here I am, home again, home again. And I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of this team. I have no doubt they will teach me the ins and outs of this city that has grown two-fold since I drove away from it 10 years ago. I’m excited to make my new memories and reach my next round of milestones here at Clairemont Communications.

You can follow Kelli on Instagram @kbealefletcher

 

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Meet Kaitlyn, Clairemont Intern

Clairemont InternBlog, Professional Development, The Clairemont Team, , Leave a Comment on Meet Kaitlyn, Clairemont Intern

The dream job

Bakery owner. First-grade teacher. Founder of a dog and cat rescue. Novelist. If you asked me today what my dream job is, I would probably say one of these or something similar to it — without much thought or consideration mostly because these jobs are simple to define and palatable. Additionally, each job caters to big loves of mine: desserts, kids, animals and writing. However, it wouldn’t be entirely true of me to say that my dream job was a bakery owner or novelist.

Within a few years of any one of these jobs I would be bored. That’s not much of a dream job, is it?

How I found it

Early in my sophomore year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I started to have doubts about the degree in global studies I was pursuing. It was too similar to my political science major, and I felt limited both creatively and in the opportunities available to me. I decided to take two classes in the School of Media and Journalism just to see if I would like the material — and I loved it. I was immediately captivated with public relations, in part because the classes and faculty offered an environment where I felt valued and truly learned, but even more so because I finally realized that my true dream job is in communications. In May of 2019, I’ll graduate with a bachelor’s degree in media and journalism and a bachelor’s degree in political science.

As a public relations practitioner I could work on a bakery’s grand opening or do media relations for an elementary school getting state-of-the-art technology. I could work on the website and newsletter for an animal shelter or arrange readings for a novelist at smaller, intimate bookstores to debut their books. Essentially, in public relations, I would have the opportunity to put on a new hat, work with new people and tackle new problems every day.

How I’ll get it

Despite spending much of the past few years in a classroom or library, I’ve always had a fascination with life and an eagerness to see as much of the world and meet as many people as possible. This has fueled my love of traveling — most recently to London — and my love of books that share exciting stories and ideas. It also makes coming home to my family and friends in the western mountains of North Carolina that much sweeter.

I hope to bring that fascination and eagerness to Clairemont, putting life and energy into each of my projects. I know that my time at Clairemont will be full of learning opportunities, new people and new ideas — just some more of my favorite things. I am excited and humbled to be working at an agency that can give detailed care to its clients, and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish at Clairemont in the months ahead. I know this internship will better prepare me for my dream job in public relations.

Written by Clairemont intern Kaitlyn Karcher, a senior at UNC.

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Should You Buy Followers?

Clairemont InternBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , , Leave a Comment on Should You Buy Followers?

We’ve all done it. You post fresh content, respond to comments and employ a good balance of organic and paid exposure, but it seems like your social media following is growing at a snail’s pace.

Growing your social media can cause headaches and take an amount of effort and time that you feel like you may not have. You’ve heard that some accounts pay to boost their followers and, at this point, it seems like a creative solution to your problem, right? Unfortunately, like all things too-good-to-be-true, that notion is a little misguided.

Buying social media followers can have more consequences than just taking a large bite out of your budget.

1) It can damage your brand reputation. While buying followers can seem harmless at first, once real followers discover that your profile numbers have been padded, they may feel as if you are no longer credible. Once your brand suffers a negative reputation, it can be difficult to regain your customers’ trust.

2) You won’t get the engagement you need. With thousands of “bot” accounts (accounts created for users that don’t exist, copycat accounts or hacked accounts), you won’t be getting the true engagement that you need for social media success. Sure, you may be paying for hundreds of likes and retweets, but when you post content, the consumer is more than likely one of your fake followers. That doesn’t help get your message out there or grow your business.

3) It can be expensive. If you still want to risk it, think about how much money you’ll be paying to potentially damage your reputation and acquire hollow engagement. Most companies that provide these follower accounts charge in bulk for followers, likes and retweets. It could cost you anywhere from $50 to a few thousand dollars regularly.

4) It often violates platforms’ terms of use. If you still think that buying followers on social media is a good idea, think about this: it violates many of the top platforms’ terms of use, including Twitter and Instagram. While it’s not illegal, your account could be suspended or even removed.

It may seem like your account will take forever to gain a hefty following, but by uploading and sharing quality content strategically, you can grow your social media accounts. Try working in some hashtag magic or become acquainted with Instagram’s new algorithm to start.

If you need to step back and let some pros take over, drop us a line, DM us or tweet us!

Written by intern Yasmine Evans, a senior at NC State University.

 

 

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“Secret Sauce” for Client Relationships

Tracy LathanBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, , , Leave a Comment on “Secret Sauce” for Client Relationships

The foundation of any good relationship is built on several fundamental values, such as trust, transparency and mutual respect. But there also needs to be that spark, or chemistry, to really make the magic happen. The same holds true for successful agency/client relationships.

Throughout my career, I have worked on numerous account teams and navigated through all types of client relationships. The one common thread among the accounts where we really moved the needle for the client and produced big results were the ones where we had the secret sauce.

Wondering what the ingredients are? Let me share a few with you.

Mutual Respect – This should go without saying, but sadly that is not always the case. The client and the agency team members need to have a mutual respect for one another as well as for their roles and responsibilities on the account. They need to be able to really listen to each other and understand their respective areas of expertise.

Trust – Trust is key. As an extension of the internal team, clients need to be able to trust their agency partner as they would their in-house colleagues. Confidential information must not be shared and deadlines need to be consistently met to establish that trust. They also need to be able to trust that their agency partner has their back and is looking out for issues and opportunities that could affect the business.

Good Rapport – Often during a busy workday it feels like there isn’t much time for chit chat. But sometimes taking those extra few minutes at the end of a call with a client to ask about her weekend or family can make all the difference in the world. You are building a relationship, and while it must always be professional, taking the time to also make it personal can make all the difference in the world.

Honesty – I think we all would agree delivering bad news to a client is never easy, but it is always best to be upfront from the beginning and for the agency contact to alert the client at the first sign of trouble. If a project is going over budget or there are hiccups when planning a big event, pick up the phone and let the client know where things stand. That approach will eliminate any big surprises at the end and will help build the trust I mentioned earlier.

Sometimes it’s effortless, and all of these elements fall into place naturally. Other times the dynamic doesn’t start out as smoothly, and you need to cultivate the relationship. Either way, it’s in everyone’s best interest to put in the extra work to make sure the key ingredients are in the secret sauce. It will pay off in the long run. I promise.

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