Making Your Client Insta-Famous

I have just completed two weeks of my internship with a small boutique PR consultancy. The majority of the work I have been given is social media based, which is excellent as I get to combine my web communications and my PR skills.

The knowledge of how to create an engaging and meaningful online presence is an essential component in a PR professional’s tool kit. Social media can have a hugely positive effect on a business, if its use aligns with client objectives and branding strategies. If used strategically social media can achieve the following:

• ·    Increase the client’s audience and reach of messages
• ·      Direct online traffic to desired domains
• ·      Increase the sell through of product or services
• ·      Increase ability to actively engage with consumers/users/viewers
• ·      Allow consumers/users to see transparency in business operations (gain trust)
• ·      Allow for a deeper perception of brand through consistent publishing of on-brand content
• ·      Allow messages to be sent instantaneously to a large, relevant audience
• ·      Break geographical restrictions of traditional media

Since its creation in 2010, some businesses have solely used Instagram to drive sales and communicate with target audiences. A great example of this is hair mask company Oh Hello Hair. This company sells a small collection of hair masks exclusively through its website. The only communication tool the company used initially, to amass an active audience of 371,000, was Instagram.

Image via @ohhellohair 

Through Instagram alone Oh Hello Hair were able to establish a brand identity, direct consumers to the website to purchase products, communicate and inform followers/consumers and engage with brand ambassadors, as part of a third party endorsement strategy. Utilising the platform in this way enabled the brand to thrive and it quickly began turning a handsome profit.

Image via @ohhellohair

For the past two weeks I have been creating social media plans, specifically for Instagram, for several different clients. The clients already have Instagram accounts but need assistance in making them more meaningful and on-brand. The clients are all from different industries making the objectives of their Instagram pages differ also.

https://www.instagram.com/ohhellohair/

The following is an overview of the five stages needed to create an engaging and effective Instagram presence.

STAGE ONE: RESEARCH

 To create a strong social media presence you have to know the following:

• Who is the current audience?
• Are they active or inactive?
• Who is the target audience? Know the demographic and sociographic and be specific.
•  When is the target audience most likely to be active online, so the posts get maximum exposure?
• Complete a statistical analysis of current posts. Which were successful, which were not? Why? 
•  Are all social media platforms branded and cohesive and do they tell the same story?
• Are they linked together?
•  Are the existing social media platforms a true reflection of the client? If not, why?
• SWAT analysis of current usage

STAGE TWO: PLAN

What are the key objectives of the Instagram page? Which of the following does the client want to achieve:

• ·      Generate sales or use of services
• ·      Increase active audience/ consumer/ client base
• ·      Inform
• ·      Educate
• ·      Entertain
• ·      Inspire

Different objectives on social media channels require different tones and voices. Unless you fully understand the objectives of the content you are posting, it won't be meaningful and will result in no objectives being reached.

Once the branding and objectives are understood, you should have an idea of what type of content to generate. As a guide, aim to post no more than twice per day. Any more and the meaningfulness of the posts are reduced and you risk flooding the feeds of active users. *Exception is live streaming/updates of exciting events or relevant breaking news.

• ·      Create a social media content plan for each month. Identify any upcoming significant dates, events and promotions that align with the brand or business. If you are working in-house, then it is this point you would be working closely with other departments in order to gain maximum exposure for the brand and its upcoming activities.

• Choose images to post and create copy to go with them. Images should be high quality and the copy should be snappy, with one point per sentence. Nothing should take up more than a few seconds of users time on social media, or it becomes obsolete. Use the few seconds of audience interest you have wisely. 

• Find relevant, popular and niche hashtags to go with images in order to make the image easily searchable.

State Three: Design

Each social media platform is suitable for different content types. Instagram is a visual medium, making the aesthetics of the page highly important. Plan how the client’s page will look, remembering to ensure it remains on brand. The best and most successful Instagram pages are consistent and tell a story or convey a theme just by one glance. Consider one of the following:

• ·      A colour scheme
• ·      To use the same border on each image
• ·      To use the same filter on each image
• ·      To use colour groupings

Stage Four: Generate Unique Content

Online audiences respond well to unique content.

• ·      Organise a photo shoot with the client and their products/services
• ·      Use props and environments that align with the client’s branding

Stage Five: Engage

It is crucial to engage and be responsive with followers:

• ·      Ask questions
• ·      Reply to comments and queries in a timely manner
• ·      Be interested in what the followers add to the presence
• ·      Engage with other relevant businesses in a similar field (steer clear of direct competitors)

Once the above is complete, the initial Instagram page should be up and running. The steps then repeat as a continuous cycle. Quantitative and qualitative research needs to be routinely gathered and analysed to ensure the Instagram page is effectively adding value to the client’s business and achieving desired objectives.

In addition to the above, social media strategies and campaigns can be planned using the Instagram page as the communication medium. Also, ambassadorships can be sourced to increase exposure. These act as second layer tactics to an already established Instagram page.

I'd love to hear anyone's tips on how they increase social media followings.

My top three social media tips

I’ve spent a lot of time on social media throughout my internship. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… you name it, I probably did it! Here’s some tips I picked up that might help you execute a social media strategy. 

 

Be a consistent poster

Social media is not a static tool, it’s something you need to update regularly. I updated each platform once every two days to keep content fresh and different each time a person sees it. I also started a post series called “Pearl Tip Tuesday” and each Tuesday a new tip about pearls and their care is posted. I thought this would be a good way to get a sense of regularity and get people looking back through older posts. It’s been a good strategy so far, and will likely become a great tactic to keep in mind. 

 

A picture says a thousand words

Did you know that including a picture in a Facebook post increases engagement (likes, comments, shares) by 39 per cent*? I was lucky at my company to have a big bank of beautiful photos to use in social media. Almost all of my posts had a picture attached as well, which makes the social media profile much more interesting and varied. If a posts pops up in someone’s newsfeed as well they’re much more likely to look at it if there’s an interesting picture as well. 

 

Prepare in advance

Although social media has an advantage in being current and great for news updates, it’s really time consuming to post every day and it will often get pushed by the wayside when there’s other more pressing tasks. As such, I used Hootsuite to schedule posts to the company’s Twitter profile and Facebook’s scheduling feature to save time down the track. I ended up scheduling three months of posts in one sitting, which was a much more efficient way of doing things. We also posted more recent content from events and media as they happened, to make sure the page also had a sense of currency. It was a good strategy overall.

Do you have any social media secrets? Please feel free to share in the comments.

*7 Powerful Facebook Statistics You Should Know About: http://www.fastcompany.com/3022301/work-smart/7-powerful-facebook-statistics-you-should-know-about

Branding: Much more than just a logo

I am now 10 days into my internship at Corporate Sports Australia working on the Chevron City to Surf for Activ and I have very quickly realised the importance of corporate branding.

Branding is defined by the American Marketing Association as a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. 

In the instance of the Chevron City to Surf for Activ, branding is vital due to partnership and sponsorship agreements made with external parties.

Every piece of documentation including but not limited to; press releases, emails, newsletters, event guides and marketing material needs to have the official Chevron City to Surf for Activ logo on it, as seen below.

Additionally, in written communication such as emails, press releases and published media it is essential that the event name is written in full, being the 'Chevron City to Surf for Activ' not the City to Surf or Chevron City to Surf.

Even when emailing press releases I am required to include a disclaimer note reading:
**Note: Please be sure to refer to the event by the official event name 'Chevron City to Surf for Activ' in all media.

By mentioning the disclaimer in my email I have reiterated the importance of branding and secondly I have covered myself in the instance that the event is not referred to correctly.

Due to Chevron's agreement as the exclusive naming rights sponsor for the event, Chevron must approve all logos and marketing material that is produced. This communication between Corporate Sports Australia and Chevron regarding the branding of the event allows both parties to have a sound understanding of the Chevron City to Surf for Activ brand and what it stands for within the community.

The first press release I produced I had several instances where I referred to the event as the 'City to Surf' but today having produced 15+ press releases it has become second nature to write the event name out in full.

In the instance of events; branding also allows the public to make the connection between the event and social media initiatives. In the case of the Chevron City to Surf for Activ, the hash tag #CTSjourney is being used via social media platforms including Twitter and Instagram. Through the branding efforts made by Corporate Sports Australia and associated parties this hash tag is immediately recognisable to the public to be in relation to the Chevron City to Surf for Activ.

So far I am very much enjoying my internship at Corporate Sports Australia and am looking forward to seeing all the behind the scenes preparation come together on the 25th of August. I look forward to updating you all on my progress and sharing my experiences with you.

#foodstagramming

Foodstagramming is a continuously growing trend in which people posts photos of their food on Instagram and Twitter. With that said, my Instagram feed has turned into a constant stream of photos of other people’s food and I know I’m not the only one. 

Indonesians in particular, are up to date in almost all social media trends thanks to the popularity of the Blackberry and affordable internet mobile plans. I Googled and found that 95.7% of Indonesian netizens are active on social media. And as an Indonesian myself, I know firsthand the love affair my country has with social media, predominantly twitter.  

As mentioned in my first blog post, What restaurant PR brings to the table, I’m currently interning at a restaurant in Jakarta. As I spend much of my internship at the restaurant, I’ve been able to observe patterns in customers who follow a variety of social media trends. As expected, it is generally the young female adults aged 17-25 who spend the few good minutes uploading photos of their meals online. It therefore becomes essential for the restaurant to present their food, drinks and desserts in an artistic way that entices customers to take photos and upload online. A clear advantage of the foodstagram trend is the awareness and interest it creates online that will help in attracting future customers to the restaurant.

#parc19bistroterrace

Social media is a powerful PR tool that has become increasingly important in the restaurant scene across the world. Restaurateurs have altered their business models to integrate social media. Evidently, proactive use of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can significantly improve the business in terms of public awareness and interest, customer loyalty, profit and so forth. However, we should never forget the risks involved. Restaurants run the risks of having negative comments posted on their Facebook wall, which calls for constant monitoring. Burger King recently suffered a hacking incident which brought negative impacts on its brand reputation. A restaurant and other establishments must take the necessary actions in order to mitigate social media risks.

Instagram, the trials and tribulations.

Venn is new to Instagram. The idea behind joining was very much to give an inside sight into the day to day running of Venn and everything that is going on. It was decided that the Instagram should not just be reserved for the marketing manager or the PR intern, we should allow all employees to access it and post things.

This was a really cool concept, the owners of Venn (Desi and Jade) are very much into the idea that the staff should be able to post pictures of new products/drinks as well as pictures of themselves having fun at work. However we found everyone was a little Instagram shy and largely short on time, so we found that the Venn instagram was being flooded with pictures of new shop products and little else. Also the posts were not equal and all were very different in style, some people embraced hash tags and captions, others would just post a photo.

This lead to me being given the task of preparing 'the Instragram Guidelines'. This document will make it clear what employees have to do to make a post, for example; everyone must use the tag #vennperth and write an appropriate caption explaining the picture.

Also i put forward the idea of a each department having a certain day to make a post. This idea was to avoid too many posts being made on one day and none on others.

I'm currently drafting up the guidelines and I'll be finalizing them next week, until then the Venn Instagram is still a bit unorganized but if you are interested you can follow it @vennperth.

Amy
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ITS A WRAP!

#4 ITS A WRAP

Perth Fashion Festival 2012 is over! The week went by so fast; it was a blur of excitement and exhaustion. Its been a week since Day 1 and I am still recovering!
Whilst I have worked in events for a couple of years now, I have not experienced a week long event. It is so much different to an event that goes for one night, or one day. You really cannot prepare yourself for something like PFF if you haven't worked it before.

Some of my highlights from the week were:

1. Social Media

I was one of a few girls on the PFF Instagram during the week! It was an amazing experience approaching 'celebrities' to take photos of them, or capturing a run way show and then uploading it to see so many people 'liking' and commenting. Whilst it was fun, it did come with great responsibility. There were PFF rules about how and what we upload, concerning boarders, filters and tags. This task really helped me understand the power of social media and how important it is in the public relations industry. 
On a personal level, taking part in the PFF Instagram was also very effective from a networking point of view. I had underestimated the impact social media can have on your work life until this experience. Through Instagraming people I met lots of designers, bloggers, stylists, industry people and journalists, who after meeting, I followed their Instagram from my person Instagram account, with them following me in turn.  
With my online presence now existing in a work environment as well as personal, I have taken on the responsibility of 'cleaning' up my own social media. Yes it is a bit of fun, but it is important to give off a professional, 'ideal' online image. 

2. Watching 'my' event

There were two PFF events I solely focused on during the Festival, as my boss was the Project Manager for them. The great thing about this industry, is that you have something tangible to show for all your hard work. It was an incredible experience to see it unfold first hand, as well as to read all about it in the media the next day. Such as on The West:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/full-coverage/perth-fashion-festival-2012/a/-/article/14923523/local-collections-hit-the-mark/

3. Networking

The amount of people I met and the relationships I have gained as a result of working throughout the PFF week and my internship there for the past 3 months are invaluable. On a personal level, I have made some great friends and on a work level, I could not be more grateful for the experience and the doors it has opened up. 
In the PR world, you never know who is watching, who you will meet, or who a person is, so my greatest lesson learnt is to always be professional, always be presentable and always be on your A game, no matter what your feeling on the inside. Events is very hard work and long hours, which often goes unnoticed and unappreciated, so you really need to develop a thick skin. Go out of your way to introduce yourself, don't be shy and make an effort with everyone, because you don't know who they know. Perth is a small city, use every opportunity you can to network. 

ITS A WRAP

The Festival was so well received and it's amazing feeling knowing I contributed to it. I have decided the PR industry, in particular, Events, is definitely the area I want to work in once I graduate soon. Hopefully I made a good impression at PFF and they will consider me for next year!