Eliminating the Use of Impressions in Public Relations

All too often in the public relations world, you hear about impressions. Many judge the success of a release on how many page views it received.

However, out of those page views, how many people actually followed up on what you had to say? I don't think page impressions are an accurate judgement of whether your message was heard. For example, just because you have 1,000 Twitter followers does not mean that all 1,000 people will be viewing your tweet.

What are some better ways to measure response then?

Comments- When people actually take the time to read and comment on your blog, website, etc., it usually shows some sort of interest in what you are saying. It might seem obvious, but comments are a much better judgement of the amount of feedback you are receiving.

...but what if you aren't getting comments?

Another way to go past just looking at page impressions is to use a website like bit.ly when you post links on Twitter or Facebook. Bit.ly shortens your links, but it also analyzes clicks. You can see how many people read your message on Facebook or Twitter and were interested enough to click on the link.

This post might have seemed a bit too obvious, but I hear about page impressions so much that I thought I would write a brief message.

~Olga Ball

Blogging: How You Can Use a Blog to Enhance PR for your Company

A few entries ago, I discussed some tips from Lynn Hoppes on how to make money by blogging. But how do you use a blog to maximize your public relations efforts and build readership? Here are a few quick tips.

1)  Find your niche and stick to the topic. Don't try to do too many things with your blog. Establish exactly what you want your blog to be and stick with it.

2) Be consistent about updating your blog. Decide whether you are going to update your blog daily, weekly or some other designated time and stick to the schedule. This helps build and maintain readership and get your name out there. If people are interested in your blog, they will know exactly when to come back for a new update.

3) Incorporate multimedia into your blog. Add useful videos and make the blog more visually appealing with photos. Create a poll if you have a question for your readers and make your blog more interactive.

4) Promote your blog through social media. Use Facebook and Twitter to build interest. Do not simply state "read our blog." Instead you could say something along the lines of, "No one cares about the bologna sandwich you had for lunch. Read our blog to learn how to maximize your Twitter for public relations efforts."  and include a link to your blog.

I hope these tips are useful.

~Olga Ball

Big 12 Public Relations: What Can Be Done?

As I mentioned earlier, I wrote about Nebraska and Colorado leaving the Big 12 for my crisis management and media framing, discussing whether the Big 12 effectively managed the public relations crisis.

I could go on and on about the crisis, and the Big 12, but that's in the past. I want to briefly discuss what Dan Beebe (the Big 12 commissioner) can do in terms of public relations to help show that it is still a strong conference in the future.

One of the concerns for the Big 12 conference right now is stability. Conference realignment seems to be occurring more often, and the Big 12 needs to show that it is strong enough to hold together during all future realignment.

 Beebe keeps stating over and over again that the Big 12 is not interested in expanding. I think that this statement is a bad move. If the Big 12 wanted to show that it is a strong conference that will last, it should be stating that expansion IS possible. In the TV revenue business of college football, the Big 12 needs to show that it is willing to expand if other conferences are threatening to take more of the Big 12's members. I think Beebe should not be so adamant about saying that the Big 12 would not be willing to expand.

Beebe should be stating often that the Big 12 is strong and would be willing to expand if it would help te conference in the future.

~Olga Ball

Questions to Ask Before Posting on Twitter

I have compiled this by researching what other people have said and from personal experience. What is the best way to insure that your tweets will be read or even retweeted? Here are a few questions to ask yourself before tweeting for your company:

1) Did I use proper spelling and grammar?
Yes, this is important, even on Twitter. If you spell something wrong or use the wrong form of "your," it just makes you (and the company) look bad

2)Is what I am saying actually important or interesting?
Some people tweet just to tweet. No one wants to know that you had a ham sandwich during your lunch break. Especially if you are tweeting on a company twitter, make sure what you are saying helps build relationships.

3) Will this tweet help the public relations plan?
Along with the idea of whether the tweet is interesting or important, one should consider, does the tweet line up with everything else you are doing as a company? Does it help promote your image?  Sometimes it is easier to be negative about a situation on a social network so one should reread everything and make sure it is exactly how one wanted the tweet to come across.

~Olga Ball

Facebook's In-line Insights Feature

Facebook is in the process of launching a new feature called in-line insights to its Facebook fan pages. The feature allows for an at-a-glance analysis of every post an administrator creates on their page.

The analysis is divided into two categories: impressions and feedback statistics. Impressions is the number of page impressions that a post has received, but it is is not the number of times the post has been read. A page impression is calculated every time someone views the page containing the post. [it is also known as a page view.] With Facebook, an impression is added as a result of someone directly clicking on the page, the post appearing in someone's news feed, or a result of a shared post between people.

Feedback is the number of people who have taken action on the post, with either a "Like" or a comment, expressed as the percentage of the number of feedback compared to impressions.

So how can PR professionals use this information?

They can see what kind of posts really engage their audience, and what is the most effective time to post. Professionals can monitor the number of impressions they receive in the first hour and compare it to the number of impressions when a post is posted at a different time. Also, they can see what kind of content works best for their readers by seeing if people comment more on articles, videos, or photos. Practitioners have the opportunity to experiment and evaluate content, which could help improve future content on the page.

~Olga Ball

Effective Social Networking for PR

These days, most public relations practitioners are given the task to come up with an effective social networking plan for the company. 

A big problem that has been detected in those who are just starting out with promoting companies through social networks is redundancy and frequency of updates. Some will post the same link over and over again, thinking that it will reach more people. This is not the case. In most situations, it has the opposite effect - posting the same information on Twitter and Facebook can annoy your followers and cause them to stop following your account. 

Frequency of updates is also important to consider. Those who tweet very often can overload their readers with content to the point which the followers decide to no longer follow them. I spent some time researching how often is too often to tweet or post on Facebook, and most websites say the same thing: quality matters much more than quantity. Twitter and Facebook are about building relationships with your readers so keeping others interested is essential to effective social networking.

~Olga Ball 

What I Learned at NCMC 2010: Blogging

I just got back from the National College Media Convention in Louisville, and I loved it! The hotel was beautiful, Louisville was wonderful (and much colder than here!) and the sessions were amazing. One of the sessions that really made me think was Lynn Hoppes of ESPN.com's session on "How to Make Money By Blogging."

So how do you make money by blogging?

Hoppes said that one should find a niche that one is good at, that no one else blogs about. He said it needs to be specific, like covering the building of new stadiums and arenas.

Hoppes said to increase readership, one should use key words to increase search engine optimization. For example, if you are talking about LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, don't just say "LeBron" or "Kobe." Always use their full names to increase the chances of your entry appearing high in a search engine.

Also, Hoppes suggests writing like you are having a conversation with someone. Don't try too hard!

He also suggested using the "monetize" options and adding advertising once the blog increases in readership.

I will write more about the convention later this week.

Olga Ball

Millennials and Information

I read a report put out by Edelman group that stated that "according to a recent Kaiser Foundation study, teens today grow up spending 7.5 hours per day creating and consuming media and, according to Mintel, that average jumps to more than 13 hours per day for 25-30 year olds." The report goes on to say that "75% of global Millennials in our study said that they are never disconnected for more than an hour a day and one in seven Indian Millennials said that at no point are they disconnected during the course of their day."

What does this mean for PR?

• Because of the Millennial attachment to various forms of media, news of a crisis spreads quickly, and PR professionals must be able to respond to a crisis as quickly as possible to combat the effects of the crisis on on the situation.
• The report also states that Millennials "use four or more sources of information to make their final purchase decision on everything from clothes, to electronics, to grooming products." This means that public relations [and advertising] is more important than ever to build relationships with people. 
• Social media is becoming increasing more popular for Millennials to use as a form of customer service, with one in five Millenials turning to social networks for support. This means that companies should monitor their social networks and interact with their followers to maintain good customer service. 

A copy of the report can be found here.

I have thought a lot about Millennial media consumption lately, due to the release of the Baylor Lariat's special tab on Generation Y. (which can be found here). We have been pegged with words such as lazy, privileged and unprepared, but our commitment to social media shows we want to be constantly up to date with the latest information (and technology.)

Though I don't use myself as an example because I am likely consume more media than the average Millennial due to my editor position on the Baylor Lariat, I am still glad to see my friends occasionally post news articles and discuss events that are important to them on Facebook and Twitter. Since some claim that print is dead, I am glad that our generation is still consuming media on a daily basis. 

Public Relations and the Newsroom: The Divide

As a city editor at the Baylor Lariat, I am in charge of going through all of the press releases we receive daily. Almost every day, I receive a message from someone asking me why I didn't run their press release. Most of the time, the answer to the question is relevance. I release press releases from companies that have NOTHING to do with Baylor, who want us to write an article about them even though our readers wouldn't be interested.

The other big reason is whether the press release is newsworthy. I get press releases all the time about events that occur all the time and don't have any interesting news elements to them.

As a public relations major who works at a newspaper, I spend more time going through press releases than other people might. Here are a few tips I have thought of while reading other press releases that might be useful to you if you would like to pitch something to the newspaper.

1) Make it short--just include the main information. That way people can read it quickly and call you for more interviews.
2) Just like in a news story, put the most interesting information at the top. If you put the newsworthy elements at top, we are more likely to use it.
3) Don't include a lot of quotes- It's just easier to get basic information in the press release and then contact people for quotes. We almost never use quotes we get in press releases so just a few quotes works well.

Those are just a few things I noticed while reading press releases. Hope this helps!

Crisis Presentation-Nebraska and Colorado leave the Big 12

This PR crisis struck me because it hit so close to home. I was on a cruise to Alaska during the second week of June, and I kept turning on ESPN as soon as we got to our cabin because I was so worried. If the Big 12 dissolved, Baylor would have been in trouble because the university would have likely had to go to a conference that does not have automatic BCS qualification, and Waco would have lost quite a bit of money.

I am impressed with the way President Ken Starr and Congressman Chet Edwards handled the problem. President Starr assumed presidency on June 1, the day the rumors began to circulate. Thus, he was suddenly thrust into a crisis as soon as he arrived at Baylor. His e-mails to students and alumni, which explained the situation for Baylor and asked for support, were effective.

Today, the Big 12 came out with its new football schedule, with nine conference games. This eliminates a non-conference game for Big 12 teams, which could be hurtful for the conference. Furthermore, the schedule is the same every year, with alternation home/away games for each team. I think it really takes away the unpredictability aspect. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

I can't wait to write about this crisis for my paper.

LeBron James and PR

After the announcement of his decision to leave Cleveland for Miami, LeBron James has had to do a lot of PR in order to keep from being hated for his choice.

In order to avoid this situation, James should have told the Cleveland organization privately about his decision before announcing it on national television. This might have stopped the outburst from Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert and many Cleveland fans. Furthermore, he should have not made the decision so publicized, going as far as having a one-hour special on ESPN.

What he needs to do now in terms of public relations (and what he has been doing):
1. He went back to Akron, Ohio to thank those who supported him in his hometown.
2. He should do an appearance in Cleveland, thanking all of his fans there. Currently, he is not very liked in Cleveland and if he made an appearance, it would help.
3. Show that he cares about more than just winning. Talk about his love for the game.

Top Three Things I Learned at My PR Internship this Summer

Top Three Things I Learned at My PR Internship this Summer:

1.    Don’t be afraid to take initiative. 
When I first started my internship, I looked through the previous files and made suggestions on what can be changed to make the video production process more efficient. My supervisor loved that I was willing to suggest ideas as soon as I started, and many of my ideas were implemented. 

2.    Bounce ideas off each other.
Some of the best ideas that the interns worked on this summer happened when we would take the time to sit and discuss what each person was working on and help each other with our projects. It was difficult to find time to meet during our busy schedules at work, but every time we discovered it was worth it.  


3.    Don’t be afraid to take criticism.
During the middle of the internship, each person had a review with their supervisors to discuss what they were doing well, and what could use some help. It was a good learning experience and helped us grow in the PR field.

Those three things have helped me now in my work as a city editor for the Lariat. We are constantly taking initiative and bouncing ideas off each other. We also have to be unafraid of criticism since we face the criticism of students and professors when we write something they don’t like.

I will include more lessons I learned at a later date.

Olga

Website content

On Tuesday, I drove two hours to Houston to apply for a visa. When I finally made it to the consulate, they told me that it was too early to apply for the visa. This is after I made several phone calls to both the Houston and DC consulate and confirmed that it was OK to come and get it. Plus, I searched the consulate website and couldn't find a date restriction. The Houston consulate barely had any information on their website.

This made me think of public relations and website content. I think a PR practitioner should watch the content on their organization's website and make sure it is up to date and does not leave gaps. Furthermore, the website should be able to provide a good overview for visitors. A website should be able to provide enough information to answer basic questions and should be interesting enough to ignite follow up questions.

A Lesson in Learning Styles

This summer, when I was working for Profiles International, I had to create a lot of storyboards for possible video ideas. One of my huge projects was to plan a 15 minute video, which was shown at the company-wide meeting in July.

I came to my supervisor with a two page outline, complete with the time frames of each clip chosen for the video and why I chose those clips. My supervisor loved it and showed it to the Chief Marketing Officer. The Chief Marketing Officer then asked her to ask me to make a different version of the storyboard to take to the executive team: a version in Powerpoint--complete with a screenshot of each video and a short sentence about the video. My supervisor explained to me that the executive team is full of visual learners- who prefer to see a screenshot of the video and not read a lot of text.

Later, as the video was entering its production stage, I had to redo the story board another way. This time, it was a timeline format for our video producer, who needed to see where to place transitions.

From that point on, I made three different types of storyboards for the same projects. I learned that it is important to accommodate different learning styles so that everyone involved can understand the project.

PR Terms-Twitter Parties

 I have always been against using Twitter since I always felt like a series of Facebook updates, but now I can see how Twitter is useful in PR. I had never heard of a twitter party, which is a virtual party on twitter, that typically lasts an hour or two, with people going back and forth about a specific topic. Twitter parties seem like an interesting way to learn more about a topic. I could see how twitter parties would be a great addition to a debate. People would be able to give their opinion about a topic, and others could instantly reply to what the other person said. This would create an interesting dialogue and allow for faster interaction. I can't wait to use them and see how well they work. 


Olga