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.