Tag: Twitter

The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 28 – #prjobtips

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency, , , ,

On my 28th day in the PR world, I decided to list a few of the things that I have learned.

Top 9 PR tips I have learned from working at Clairemont:


1) Use social media as tools. Gaining more followers for our clients is a daily task for me and social media has the power to gain meaningful exposure for our clients.

2) Use links, keywords, and SEO to optimize blog posts. It is important to add in a quick tag or keyword to our posts. Hopefully, this will help to maximize the visibility of Clairemont’s blog.

3) Save your drafts, every single time. In order to avoid losing a hard day’s work, I try to save every few minutes. Saving my work ensures that the files will be around in case of a freak accident.

4) Develop an eye for details. Proofreading is the most important thing to do before hitting the send button. In order to avoid miscommunication or utter embarrassment, I often ask a colleague to help me.

5) Brush up on your phone communications skills. Everyday I have the opportunity to talk to potential clients and vendors for events. A positive tone and clear enunciation is key during a conversation.

6) Read the newspaper, every day. At Clairemont, we receive the paper daily. I think that reading up on current events and watching the news regularly are essential when working in PR to stay in the know and to help come up with creative ideas for clients.

7) Be enthusiastic about putting in additional time at work. Sometimes, PR can call for a little extra time out what many would consider normal office hours. Working in this 24/7  field requires a flexible attitude and the realization that oftentimes projects come to life outside of the office.

8) Teamwork matters, so love your colleagues. The best part about Clairemont has to be the positive collaboration of the team. Since I am in a room full of so much diverse experience and backgrounds, I get the opportunity to soak in so much information.

9) Be proactive with your client work. I have learned from my colleagues that it is important to anticipate client needs. I watch as they make sure every detail is ironed out for our clients,  ask “what might be next?” and plan accordingly.

What are some of the things you learned at your first job?

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

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Self-iquette: Selfie Etiquette

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

Kaitlyn Goforth, Clairemont’s wonderful intern, takes an honest look at the do’s and don’ts of the selfie world.

#ToSelfie or #NotToSelfie?

Last fall, Paul McCartney claimed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that he took the first selfie. Former secretary of state Colin Powell made similar claims in March, posting a mirror picture he took in the 50s to Facebook. It’s caption, “Eat your heart out Ellen!,” referenced Ellen DeGeneres’s recent trend-setting “Oscar selfie” with three million retweets. Regardless of who was the first to snap a photo of this sort, we can all agree on one thing: selfies have officially taken over social media.

We see them everywhere. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat–the list continues. Recently, there has been talk about selfie etiquette, particularly after President Obama was seen snapping one at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus stay in the news constantly with their skin-bearing photos, and David Ortiz faced controversy with his Samsung-sponsored selfie. As communication experts, public relations practitioners and simply social media users, this leads us to the main question. When is it appropriate to take a selfie, and ultimately, what’s the point?

#ITweetThereforeIAm

People take selfies on vacation, in restaurants and even while sitting in their cubicle to update friends or followers about the hum-drum goings-ons in their lives. Suddenly, there is a social media frenzy of sharing every moment online, leading people to ask: “If you don’t post it, did you really do it?” Most smart phones are even equipped with front-facing cameras, enabling users to get the perfect angle on their self-portraits. This has lead to selfies following plane crashes, selfies while rushing the field and selfies while driving (#dangerous). The reason people are on social media is to keep up with others, but we’ve got to ask if the selfie game has simply gone too far.

#SelfieEtiquette

Next time you have the yearning to snap a selfie, remember these do’s and don’ts. It may save you from social media scrutiny.

  • DON’T take a selfie at a funeral. President Obama didn’t set a great example, but in general, a funeral should be a selfie-free zone. People are there to grieve the loss of their loved one, not to watch you try to gain Instagram followers.
  • DON’T take a selfie in a public restroom. Not only is this not the greatest setting for a photo, but there is also the issue of privacy.
  • DON’T take a selfie in the car. Not only is it obvious (we all see your seat belt), but you also should probably be more focused on, well, driving! Wait until you’re safely out of the car to pose for a photo.
  • DO check what’s behind you. You don’t want your dirty clothes or your Justin Beiber poster in the background for everyone to see.
  • DO choose quality photos. No one wants to see a grainy or dark picture on his or her newsfeed. If you’re going to post a selfie, make it a good one.
  • DO take selfies with friends! These photos are fun and maybe even Instagramable. There’s no better way to capture memories than through awesome pictures.

#HereToStay

The “selfie” urge is understandable: you’re having a great hair day, you’re traveling the world or you’re sitting on the beach and you want the world to know about it. Gone are the days of experiencing something remarkable and leaving with only a memory. Regardless, “selfie” was officially added to the Oxford dictionary in 2013.  It is here to stay, so we all better get used to it.

 

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Instead of Giving “The Finger”

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

Facebook “Poke” Dies, Raising Another “Pointed” Question

After what might possibly be Facebook’s shortest-lived app, the infamous Facebook “poke joke” died a silent death on Friday, May 9—sans headstone, eulogy or even so much as commemorative post.

And rightly so, you’ll agree, after a quick peek at the facts.

As legend has it, Zuckerburg developed the new Facebook Poke app (not to be confused with the original poke feature)  in less than two weeks. This “new” version touted the ability to grace your friends with videos and photos that self-destructed after 10 seconds (yes, you got it. A direct Snapchat clone.) After its premiere in late 2012, Facebook’s iOS poke app zipped around the market for a whoppin’ 16 months before fizzling into the social media graveyard (accompanied by loud Zuckerburg family drama).

Sad Day.

Except not. Originally, the 2004 inaugural Facebook poke started as a little digital tug on the sleeve: “Don’t forget about me.” “I’m here…and thinking about you.” “NO, REALLY. MESSAGE ME ALREADY.”

And for the last half-decade, social media apps have followed suit, morphing into one big sleeve-yanking trick after another to garner the attention of our family, friends and followers. Snapchat, the obvious rival for the Facebook poke, appeals to our miniscule attention spans while Instagram satisfies our unspoken yen for endless visual stimulation.

But recently, social media has done an about-face. Rather than eliciting attention, we’re desperately trying to silence the noise.

Shut up? There’s a button for that.

Twitter, for instance, just introduced a new button that enables you to “mute” chatty followers from your feed. Zap. Instant silence. Another app, “Shut Up! The Red Button” available on Google Play, allows you to tell a nearby friend to pipe down with the tap of a  button. Enjoy a similar, albeit slightly more jarring, experience with Smosh’s “iShutUp” that yells “shut up” in response to any nearby noises.

We’re dying for ways to unplug with apps like Freedom or Anti-Social that impose timed internet blackouts on your laptop. And just think: after decades of inventing ways to burn the midnight oil, we’ve now created systems like SleepStation to force us to quiet our minds and nod off.

The Newest Craze: Nothing.

We can’t help but crave it: blessed, golden silence.

So the death of the “new” Facebook poke is certainly nothing to mourn. (Did anyone even know it existed?) Rather, the shift is a reminder for us to invest in meaningful communication. Meaningful communication: this self-defined concept bequeaths us with the freedom—the permission—to step back and reevaluate our time.

You may find that tweets truly are the glue in your long-distance friendships. Or your evening Facebook chat and random Snapchat streams actually strengthen the bond among your best girlfriends. That’s all ok. Better than ok.

Tweet it. Mean it.

The medium can be irrelevant; the message is critical. So don’t bother adopting every latest app fad (the Facebook poke being a prime example). Instead, choose whatever Insta-Snap-Book-Tweet-a-gram actually works for you and your friends, and then do it: invest in meaningful messages to those who matter.

And if you’re ever in doubt, I’m pretty sure the post office still manufactures them good ‘ole postage stamps (and Target has quite the collection of chic personal stationery). Just pointing that out.

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Is the Death of the Hashtag Scandalous?

Dana PhelpsBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , 1 Comment on Is the Death of the Hashtag Scandalous?

Today’s guest post is brought to you by the incredibly smart and fabulous Sam Halle, Clairemont intern.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…

It hasn’t been long since Facebook wove hashtags and tagged mentions into its social platform. Now? It’s Twitter’s turn for a notable update. Perhaps the “Twitbook” jokes will start to hit a little closer to home for both services now.

Twitter announced its profile redesign this week, promising a “whole new you.” Interestingly, this whole new me looks quite familiar. The redesign bears a striking resemblance to Facebook’s three-column design. New users will immediately see the change, and existing users will receive their new look in the coming weeks.

PR gurus, take note of the following updates:

  • Users’ web profiles will now include a larger avatar profile photo;
  • Web profiles will also now include customized headers – with a photo (think Facebook or Google+ cover photos);
  • The font size of tweets that receive the most engagement will in users’ feeds, making notable content easy to find;
  • A user can now pin a Tweet to the top of his or her profile page (similar to the pinned post feature on Facebook); and
  • Filtered timelines – Tweets, Tweets with photos/videos or Tweets and replies – are available.

Lately, Twitter has been making an appearance in headlines for its efforts to increase its accessibility to new users. This profile redesign is clearly a step toward doing so. Get a glimpse of the changes by checking out these already redesigned profiles: @flotus, @kerrywashington, @zacefron or @channingtatum.

There have been other moves toward making Twitter more accessible as well. First, Twitter has begun to introduce a metric of post views to each Tweet in order to increase engagement and measurement. Second, the Favorite, Retweet and Follow buttons were made more prominent in the recent mobile app update, a change that has increased interactions by more than 35 percent. Lastly – and most controversial – Twitter reps have hinted that the company may phase out its infamous @-handle replies and #hashtags.

What do you think about Twitter’s new look? What – if any – implications will it have for clients’ PR or branding? Are you ready for the death of the #hashtag?

 

 

 

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