Tag: PR

Boost Your Blog

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

Inception warning: we’re writing a blog on blogs.

You’ve spent hours researching, writing and editing your blog post. It’s perfect. You want the entire world (well, your key publics) to read and love it.

Clicking the publish button isn’t the end of the blog’s journey, though. Ensure that your post doesn’t just live on your website by tapping into other communication mediums to expand reach and boost engagement. To accomplish this, here are four tactics on our radar:

Instagram Story

Example from Sugar & Cloth on Instagram.

If your business page has more than 10,000 followers, you can embed a link in your Instagram Story. With a simple swipe, followers are whisked directly to your website to read the blog. In your story, entice viewers by announcing the blog’s topic and including a CTA like “Swipe up for the full post!” On the Social Media Examiner podcast, Sue B. Zimmerman recommends creating a “Blog” highlights folder where all of your blog-related stories can live forever. (Check out our previous post for more info on Instagram Highlights and why they’re important.)

For an advanced social media move, try going live on Instagram to talk about the post. Sue goes live for 45 minutes the same day she releases a blog post to talk in detail about the topic and bring in guests. Her efforts create an engaging, exciting experience of each post for viewers.

Infographic or Visual Graphic

Itching to show off your creative side? Turn words into pictures through a graphic. Visuals are not only more interesting to look at than long-form text but also easier to share with others.

Is there a piece of info in your blog post that could be depicted visually? Share the graphic on social media to hook viewers and accompany it with a link to the full blog.

Podcast Episode

This ever-growing audio platform was made for the multitasker. Listeners tune in while making their morning commute or evening dinner, which drives deep engagement because there’s less effort needed. Repurpose your written content into an episode that expands on the topic and brings in guests.

Does it seem daunting to take the mic? Check out “How to Start a Podcast” for an in-depth guide by The Podcast Host.

Social Sharing Schedule

This tactic is shorthand for publishing your post more than once on each social media platform. Garrett Moon with Kissmetrics defends the blog repost because it provides your audience the value you promised them. Sharing the blog a second or third time captures the viewers who missed your initial post, and it demonstrates that your content is still relevant weeks and months later.

Garrett cautions against becoming a spammer to your audiences. In his step-by-step guide to create a social sharing schedule, he recommends varying how often the blog is shared on each platform and switching up the message to create different hooks.

From Blog to Brand

These tactics drive traffic to the mother lode: your website. When audiences arrive at your blog post from an Instagram story, Facebook infographic or podcast episode, they may stick around and explore everything else your website has to offer. The boost to your blog will translate into overall brand strength as your activity across all platforms builds a central brand identity.

What do we love more than our own blog posts? Those of our clients. Drop us a line to see how we can help you get the most out of your blog content.

Written by intern Elizabeth Comtois, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill. 

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PR People: Elizabeth Poindexter

Sarah HattmanBlog, PR People, Public Relations, , , , , , ,

Elizabeth Poindexter

Job title and function: I am the director of communications for the UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Allied Health Sciences, a position I’ve held since October 2015. Our department is fairly complex. It houses seven different programs (including physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology), in addition to several other programs and centers. I plan our department’s internal and external communication efforts. Internal efforts include our departmental e-newsletter, internal communications alongside the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health Care, clinic updates and donor relations. Externally, we promote our students, faculty and staff in a variety of different settings, including through earned media and owned media outlets.

Most rewarding thing about working in PR today: For me, promoting meaningful work is the most rewarding part of working in PR. Even though our department’s work is complex, I love distilling that work into meaningful stories that are easy to relate to for an outside audience. Not everyone knows about Allied Health, but almost everyone knows someone who has worked with a therapist or clinician regardless of the discipline. Forming a connection in someone’s mind between our work and how it relates to them is very rewarding, whether we are communicating with potential students, donors, faculty members or others. Similarly, with my background in broadcast journalism, it is rewarding to continue to do that type of work through different avenues, and I love having a more tailored, fine-tuned message to constantly promote.

Craziest/most challenging thing you’ve done in PR: One adjustment I made in my current role included re-evaluating how my degree in journalism could still be a strong suit in the world of PR. There are several aspects I’ve carried over: the ability to write well, working on deadlines and interview skills. Other skills, such as maintaining objectivity, are an example of something I’ve had to occasionally reconsider. At the end of the day, I work to put our department’s best interests at the forefront of our communication and don’t necessarily approach that work as I would have in the newsroom.

Advice for new PR pros: If you haven’t worked in journalism or learned about it, you should! That is the one piece of advice I constantly repeat. My time in the newsroom definitely helped me understand what it is really like to work alongside PR professionals, and it also motivated me to do a good job once I transitioned into PR. I also recommend continuing to learn about new skills or ideas as the landscape of PR and communication changes; good PR doesn’t always mean a well-crafted press release.

Are you interested in being featured in “PR People?” Send us a message on Facebook to share your story!

Sarah Hattman, APR is president-elect for the North Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America and has been working in PR since she left television news. She grew up in North Carolina and was excited to move back to her home state in 2012 and then join Clairemont Communications, a Raleigh PR agency. 
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PR People: Allison Fonke Blough

Sarah HattmanBlog, PR People, Public Relations, , , , , ,

Allison Fonke Blough

Job title and function: My job title is owner/consultant of Anthem Strategical. We specialize in marketing solutions for small businesses. It’s important for me as a consultant to have the full picture of a business, from the owner’s personal branding to the business’s overall history in their market.

Most rewarding thing about working in PR today: The most rewarding part of this industry is discovering more about the people who make up the businesses. I love telling their personal stories as well as those of their companies. I believe that people connect with stories and that authenticity is the capstone. Truth often resonates with us in a way that we can’t even explain. We just feel it! I love that part of my job is being a storyteller.

Craziest/most challenging thing you’ve done in PR: The craziest thing I’ve done for PR is jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. I was in charge of communications for an outstanding veteran nonprofit, Operation Enduring Warrior, and I was tasked with promoting their skydiving program for wounded veterans. At one of the promotional skydiving events, the opportunity to do a tandem skydive fell into our laps. I was then convinced that the best way to share the experience of skydiving was to do it myself, so onward and upward we went! It was amazingly peaceful, and I have to admit that knowing the feeling firsthand helped me promote skydiving with a greater understanding and build a stronger rapport with our audience.

Advice for new PR pros: My advice for PR professionals is to always be bold enough to take on new projects outside of your comfort zone. Good PR is more about helping represent the heart of an organization than being an expert in that field. You’ll be amazed at how much crossover there is and you’ll gain new experiences and opportunities as a result. We’re in this industry because we’re life-long learners, so don’t be afraid to go learn something new!

Are you interested in being featured in “PR People?” Send us a message on Facebook to share your story!

Sarah Hattman, APR is president-elect for the North Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America and has been working in PR since she left television news. She grew up in North Carolina and was excited to move back to her home state in 2012 and then join Clairemont Communications, a Raleigh PR agency. 
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CAPRSA Instagram Takeover v. PR Baton

Dana PhelpsBlog, Counselors Academy, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

Deja vu. That sums up my initial reaction to participating in an Instagram takeover on the PRSA‘s Counselors Academy feed designed to give a sense of what it is like to work in PR. Hmmm. Why does that sound familiar?

In 2013, with the help of my Clairemont team, I launched PR Baton “to show the world what a day in PR looks like, one photo at a time.” We called it a social media experiment, and we created and synced Tumblr and Instagram accounts utilizing signup forms and calendaring apps. We also wrote rules and recruited “runners” to carry the baton. It produced 469 posts from varied PR professionals in the United States and Canada before the management of it started to become a full-time job. And then we returned to our full-time jobs of taking care of our clients’ PR and social media campaigns.

Was I ahead of my time? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, it was a fun exercise that allowed us to learn even more about digital communications and led to several interesting conversations with clients and prospects about social media possibilities. Now back to my Counselors Academy Instagram takeover…

I love that members of Counselors Academy are now participating in this way to share our work, new ideas, best practices and just the everyday stuff of working in public relations. Clairemont has also utilized Instagram takeovers for our clients to collaborate with like-minded organizations to gain additional exposure.

Have you participated in an Instagram takeover or secured one for your company or client? We’d love to feature your best examples in an upcoming post. Hit us up on Facebook with your faves.

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PR People: Darcy Bowers

Sarah HattmanBlog, PR People, Public Relations, , , ,

There’s no doubt about it. The world of public relations is full of creative, talented people and Clairemont is excited to highlight the skilled professionals who do amazing work in the Triangle area in a new “PR People” blog series.

We’re kicking off the series with someone who is very involved in the local PR scene – Darcy Bowers. At the beginning of the year, Darcy began her role as president of the North Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America (NCPRSA). We recently had the chance to catch up with her to learn more about her life in PR.

Darcy Bowers:

Job Title and Function: Sr. Communications and PR Manager for Transitions LifeCare. Jill of all trades with editing, branding, media relations, social media, website content, team management (not a PR team, but various interdisciplinary teams around our organization) responsibilities.

Most Rewarding thing about working in PR today: Variety – who can be bored?!

Craziest/most challenging thing you’ve done in PR: I was an “actress” in a mortgage video. At the time, I was single and not a homeowner. I played the role of a wife who, with her “husband,” was being sold mortgage insurance for their new home. Talk about reaching!

Advice for new PR pros: Remember the importance of ethics. Find someone to emulate, even if it’s not a PR professional. I have several role models from my early career days I think about to this day when I’m in a quandary about next steps. I’m thankful for their guidance and their willingness to shepherd me along.

Are you interested in being featured in “PR People?” Send us a message on Facebook to share your story!

Sarah Hattman, APR is president-elect for the North Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America and has been working in PR since she left television news. She grew up in North Carolina and was excited to move back to her home state in 2012 and then join Clairemont Communications, a Raleigh PR agency. 

 

 

 

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