Be Your Authentic Self

Michael Stevens from Vsauce

In June, I attended a Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield, England while I studied abroad. The conference had various sessions and keynote speakers that talked about how children in the United Kingdom get and use media. One topic I heard a lot during the sessions was the importance of children being authentic with their online profiles. Several professionals shared how sometimes children develop an online self and authentic self that tend to conflict and present different images.

Michael Stevens, one of the keynote speakers and creator of Vsauce, shared how being authentic has led to his success on YouTube. He began Vsauce in June 2010 and has expanded to three YouTube channels with about nine million subscribers.

He relates his success to him being authentic because his subscribers see him being very candid and they form a friendship. Stevens also explained how he films the videos alone and being real leads to viewers feeling like they are hanging out with him and that there is not a barrier between him and the audience. His videos are very conversational and use plain language that makes his content easy to understand and is friendly to people of any ages.

In his keynote, he also pointed out how Echosmith singer, Sydney Sierota, is a great example of being authentic on social media. She regularly uploads videos on her YouTube channel and other social media profiles from her iPhone. The videos are very causal and creates a dialog between her and her fans. Stevens also praised Sydney on how she replied to comments fans leave on her videos and shows she cares.

Whether you are a celebrity or not, being real and authentic on social media is key to maintaining a strong, relatable presence. Some other keys to staying authentic on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media outlets include using your own photos, genuinely engaging with your followers and replying to comments and having a unified brand and purpose.

What are some of your social media tips that allow you to grow your following and stay real?

This blog post was written by PRowl Secretary Shaun Luberski. You can follow her on Twitter here. 

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How to keep your brand relevant

In today’s society, trends can come and go in the blink of an eye. Cellphones that sold out on their release dates 2 years ago are now distributed for free with a prepaid data plan, and music artists that dominated the top 40 radio stations last summer are now struggling to sell copies of their albums. With such a rapidly changing environment, relevancy is the most powerful tool a brand can possess in order to remain successful and continue to grow. Here are three techniques that companies have used and continued to use in order to stay in the public eye.

 

1) Jump onto new trends as soon as possible

Many companies focus their efforts on being as unique and different as possible in an effort to differentiate themselves from their competitors. However, it can be just as beneficial to keep an eye out for the newest trends and use their popularity to your advantage. Snapchat is a great example; the social media app has become increasingly popular, so artists and companies in turn have created Snapchat accounts as a newly emerging method of marketing. Celebrities might use their Snapchat story it to show their fans an interesting behind-the-scenes look at their daily lives, while magazines such as Cosmopolitan and People use the new Discover feature to reach out to a different audience.

 

2) Use popular news stories to your advantage

A smart, unique way that companies have been able to stay relevant is by referencing current pop culture events; as a company, this is a great way to relate to your audience and appear up-to-date. The team behind the Oreo cookie Twitter account, for example, made headlines during the 2013 Super Bowl for their quick, improvised marketing efforts. Many sports fans remember the sudden blackout that put Super Bowl XLIX on hold for a good 15 minutes. Oreo took advantage of the confusing moment to tweet out an advertisementwith the tagline “You Don’t Have to Dunk in the Dark” The spur-of-the-moment ad was retweeted over 10,000 times, leaving many wondering how Oreo managed to make it all happen.

 

3) Don’t be afraid to try new things

Many people have heard the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” This rule does not usually apply in the business world; in a world with constantly evolving technology, it is not always a good idea to stick with the same old methods. Instead, it is more important to continuously adapt in order to keep up with your competition. This is a mistake that has caused the downfall of many different companies. Blockbuster, for example, was knocked out of existence when more convenient alternatives such as Netflix started to appear, allowing customers to watch and order movies without ever having to leave their house.

 

By adapting to new technology and paying attention to what is popular within the market, a company will be able to prevent themselves from being forgotten in a world where new and modern companies are constantly emerging. Any brand that is able to stay relevant will be sure to have long term success within the market.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Dylan Rhudd. 

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What are we really using LinkedIn for?

Since the beginning of this summer, I have noticed an increasing popularity around the social media platform LinkedIn. While I made an account on LinkedIn during my freshman year of college, I was never too active on the account until this past year when I began to network with people that I felt the need to connect with. Maybe it is because my peers and I are now beginning to advance in our careers, but it seems that I am not the only one who had the same idea.

When I first made my account, I was prompted to sortthrough the “suggested connections,” so I connected withany close friends who also had an account at that time. As I have met more people in college, I have continued to go on and connect with those I felt necessary. However, lately I have been receiving requests from all different people, some of whom I have not seen since high school. The times where I have watched my phone light up with the notification asking if I would like to connect with someone from high school that I barely knew then–or even have a remotely similar career path to now–lead me to think about what the purpose of this platform really is.

Typically when you think about logging into LinkedIn, youwould probably end up updating a section of your profile or connecting with someone that you recently met in a professional setting. One of the best aspects of this app is its ability to allow you to stay in contact with past professors and employers. Some people have even heard of that one friend of a friend’s sister who received a full time job with benefits right in her LinkedIn inbox. With the importance of networking rising, LinkedIn has become crucial for staying in contact with those who could be beneficial to your career.

Or has it really just become a way to brag about your accomplishments to others?

If the future chemical engineers, firefighters, and financial advisors that I went to high school with want to connect with me, a communications student pursuing marketing and PR, what could have prompted their decision to connect with me? There is a slim chance our industries will ever cross paths, so did they just want me to look at their profile so I can see how well they are doing in college? Or has LinkedIn become a spinoff of Facebook where you need to have a certain amount of connections to be taken seriously?

Whatever their reasons may be, the most important thing to remember when using LinkedIn is that even though it has become the easiest way to present yourself as a professional, it is crucial that you are still able to network and act professional offline and in a public setting as well. 

Do you think the people you connect with on LinkedIn should be relevant to the industry you are planning to have a career in? Or should you have as many connections as possible, even if they are from completely different industries? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Kristen VanLeer. 

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Instagram: Friend or Foe?

As PR professionals we love to “gram” our personal photos, showing the picturesque lives that we all apparently lead. Instagram is a platform where the average user can employ powerful editing tools to manipulate characteristics, such as thehue of a photo, to reflect the things that we’re feeling at any given moment. I’ve used this app in many PR situations, as I’m sure many of you reading this have. 

Seeing how many likes you can accumulate over the course of an hour may be fun, but is this a really good practice when youthink about it? There are always two sides to a story. 

Why Instagram is your friend:

Instagram is a great platform for posting selfies, images of places you’ve been and things that make you happy where your friends and other followers can see and interact with them. It can be an awesome confidence booster for those reasons.

Something I’ve also experienced while working social media positions is that hashtags can be an effective tool for connecting with your targeted audience and gaining followers. The visual nature of Instagram makes it a great way to get the word out about promotions and giveaways, in a way that’s accessible for your brand’s audience. Let’s face it, Instagram is a “cool” app!

Why Instagram is your foe:

One issue with Instagram is that it’s not always an accurate reflection of reality. Users have the ability to pick and choose the best of their photos, manipulating their feed in a way that implies that they are living amazing lives filled with fun and interesting activities. It can almost become a competition. However, most of the time you’re only seeing the cream of the crop, and a photographically manipulated version of it at that.

Some advice if you aren’t sure whether Instagram is your real friend: 

Follow accounts that you genuinely want to see! Whether it’s a friend or a fashion blogger, follow accounts that generate content you’ll be happy to see, and maybe consider unfollowing some of the accounts that you frequently swipe by. It’s just social media, if they even notice, someone you don’t even know won’t be offended if you unfollow them (and if they are, it will only be for a second, I promise). 

If you decide it’s your foe, I’d say it’s time to switch off and delete the app. You’ve got nothing to lose (other than the illusion of “coolness.”) 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Marisa Blackwell. 

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Holiday Social Media Tips

Happy almost Fourth of July weekend!

Photo Credit

As one of the major summer holidays, public relations and marketers work hard to craft 4^th of July social media campaigns to attract their audience’s attention. Most campaigns are made for Twitter but more are happening on Snapchat and Instagram too.

The biggest obstacle is trying to stand out from the crowd and get your message heard. Here are some ways to get your brand noticed on social media.

1. Include visuals

Whether it is a picture, GIF or video, any visual element increases engagement and makes people stop and look. Be creative with pictures and make sure you take them from the best angle with a plain background so it is easy to see, especially since a lot of people will be viewing your content on a small screen. If possible, take high quality photographs with an actual camera and then upload them later onto social media.

2. Make a creative hashtag

Your hashtag is extremely important for people to find your campaign, and it also lets you monitor traffic and engagements. Incorporate the holiday and your brand for users to instantly make the connection. On posts, include your unique hashtag and a trending hashtag to further expand your audience and engagement.

3. Build in giveaways or contests

As per tradition, brands love doing special holiday sales and promotions to increase sales and awareness. Promotions work well to attract new people to your brand because everyone loves getting something for less or even free. Create promotions that require users to share your brand’s posts with their followers. In addition, any promotions or offers also spread through word of mouth too.

The upcoming holidays are a great time to boost your brand and increase traffic on all social media sites. You can also take some of these tips and apply them to your personal social media pages too. 

This blog post was written by PRowl Secretary Shaun Luberski.

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Did Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" fulfill its hype?

Whether you’re a “Swiftie” or not, there is no denying that Taylor Swift dominated the Billboard Music Awards last Sunday, where she received eight awards.  However, most of the buzz on social media did not pertain to her wins.  Instead, people were raving about the premiere of Swift’s music video for her song “Bad Blood.”

Before the music video made its debut during the award show, Swift was able to create suspense with her brilliant social media marketing plan.  Promotions began on her Twitter and Instagram accounts 10 days prior to the release date on May 7.  Swift first posted an edgy, cinematic picture of herself that revealed her role as “Catastrophe” in her music video.

Meet Catastrophe. #BadBloodMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/q9P7JJoWld

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 7, 2015

Leading up to the release, the pop-singer also reveled several other celebrities who would appear in the “Bad Blood” video including: Kendrick Lamar, Lily Aldridge, Zendaya, Hayley Williams, Gigi Hadid, Ellie Goulding, Haliee Steinfeld, Lena Dunham, Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevingne, Serayah Love, Jessica Alba, Martha Hunt, Ellen Pompeo, Mariska Hargitay, Selena Gomez, and Cindy Crawford. Each day, Swift posted pictures of the various actresses, singers, and supermodels as their heroic alter egos.  Over 100 million people viewed the promotional media on Twitter, but the edgy theme and large amount of celebrity cameos made the video highly anticipated.

Luckily, “Bad Blood” was able to exceed its expectations after the premiere.  According to Billboard, Swift was mentioned 149,000 times during the Billboard Music Awards, and the hashtag, #BadBloodMusicVideo, was used over 112,176 times on Twitter.  The social media platform even gave Swift a customized “Bad Blood” emoji to go along with the hashtag.

Source: USA Today

Overall, more than 7 million tweets were posted about Swift and “Bad Blood” since the announcement on May 7.  Swift proved to be a savvy social media user, as well as a fearless and powerful young woman.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Kimberly Leung. 

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It's Not Delivery, It's Iggy Azalea

Iggy Azalea had a gripe to handle before heading to this year's Grammy Awards, and she took to social media to settle the score. After an issue with a Papa Johns Pizza employee who, according to Azalea, distributed her personal phone number to family members, Azalea tweeted at Papa Johns searching for answers.

. @PapaJohns was my favorite pizza but the drivers they use give out your personal phone number to their family members.
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) February 8, 2015

Papa Johns responded to the tweet, but the response was far from what any patron searching for quality customer service would want in return. Taking advantage of the social media moment, Papa Johns completed their response with hashtags referencing Azalea's lyrics. The response did nothing to suggest a settlement of the issue, had no mention of policy or procedure and made it clear to followers that the issue was not being taken very seriously.

@iggyazalea #We should have known better. Customer and employee privacy is important to us. Please don’t #bounce us!
— Papa John's Pizza (@PapaJohns) February 9, 2015

Azalea continued her protest on Twitter bringing up what, I believe, to be very relevant points about the issue of protecting customer privacy.

When an employee steals information it's called data breach. It's illegal. There are steps a corporation is supposed to follow afterward.
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) February 9, 2015

They don't include tweeting out song lyrics to the customer making the complaint, it's really unprofessional. I want a real answer.
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) February 9, 2015

In a day and age where everything ends up online and celebrities are having their privacy breached more than ever, sensitivity and attention to this issue would have been best. Brands and social media managers must be aware that while not everything is a crisis, having a scene play out before the public requires careful handling. Papa Johns may be a respected brand with a loyal following and customer base, but if this is how they treat a public figure, imagine how the situation would be handled with a non-celebrity customer.

 Overall, the response makes Papa Johns look unprofessional and reflects poorly on their customer service standards. There was no public resolution made to the original issue.

But the real winner of the night? Definitely DiGiorno Pizza, who decided to interject themselves into the end of Twitter feud.

.@IGGYAZALEA delivery. smh

— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) February 9, 2015

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Chipotle's Offensive Twitter Hack

Chipotle Mexican Grill had a lot of cleaning up to do after the brand's Twitter account was hacked for two hours on Sunday morning. Hackers changed the account's avatar to a picture of a swastika, edited the bio information, and sent out multiple tweets using offensive language to attack President Obama and the government systems.

Source: Coloradan Magazine

According to Mashable, Chipotle Communications Director, Chris Arnold, immediately responded to the hacking by making a public statement:

"Our Twitter account was hijacked overnight for about two hours during which a series of offensive tweets was posted to the account. We apologize for the nature of the posts that were made during that time, and we are now conducting an investigation to try to determine what happened and who might have been involved." 

During PR issues such as these where customers and audience members are offended, it is important for the brand to come forward with a spokesperson and a statement. Sitting back in silence can often lead to assumptions that your brand or organization is backing up whatever drama has occured. Not only did Chris Arnold speak on behalf of Chipotle, but the brand also tweeted a public apology and deleted all remains of the inappropriate hack.

Chipotle is commonly associated with positive marketing. Its current "Cultivating Thought" campaign involves printed literature on the restaurant's cups and paper bags as an activity for customers while dining. The works of well-known authors, such as Malcolm Gladwell, Toni Morrison, and Michael Lewis, and even a few faces from the entertainment realm, like Bill Hader, Sarah Silverman, and Judd Apatow, are used within the series. Additionally, the brand had a successful Twitter contest the week prior to the hack; followers posted haikus about Chipotle on Twitter and shared via Facebook to be entered to win a free entree for two.

Source: Vanity Fair

In July of 2013, Chipotle actually "faked" its own Twitter hacking as a publicity stunt for their 20th anniversary, and wound up with over 4,000 new followers the next day. Let's see how much @ChipotleTweets' followership increases after a real hack.

Hopefully the Communications staff was able to treat themselves to a hearty burrito after what must have been one stressful social media Sunday.

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