Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

On Our Radar.

August 19th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing, and pop culture. The best finds on the Web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. This week’s links were brought to you by our Senior Account Executive Jessie duPont and myself.

In the past year the ability to add QR codes into your advertisments and events has become a really popular tactic. Brands began adding QR codes to advertisements, event sponsorships and more. This week Mashable published an article giving tips and ideas for successful ways you can use QR codes in your marketing.

Every week we see new and innovative ways that brands are using social media. This week Starbucks announced a program in which consumers can rally to have the popular Pumpkin Spice latte come to their city first. The creative community in New York came together to launch a project that will bring the stories of everyday New Yorkers to life.

Last year a few brands began using the popular blogging platform Tumblr as a way to share information with consumers. There was a ton of buzz around successful ways that brands were using Tumblr and this year even more brands have joined the bandwagon. Mashable published an article this week showcasing Tumblr Marketing and how you can know when your brand is ready for their own blog.

Events have always been a big part of the PR world. Whether you are hosting a press event, sponsoring a conference, or inviting people to a tweet-up, organizing events is part of the job. Luckily, we have been able to streamline the event organizing process by leveraging many of the digital tools created for event planning. This week Bing launched a new tool that will help you invite people, organize RSVP lists and make your event flow even smoother.

If you are around the city this weekend and looking for a family friendly event join one of our clients over at Summer Streets and say hello!

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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A PR Pro’s Guide to Surviving BlogHer

August 2nd, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

If you spend any time at all in the women’s blogging space I am sure you know that women from across the country will be coming together for the annual BlogHer conference this week. Each year BlogHer grows a little bit bigger and this year 3500 women will be gathering together in San Diego.

This will be my third BlogHer and this year I will be attending BlogHer for business so in typical BlogHer fashion, I wanted to put together a “Getting Ready for BlogHer—PR style” post.

When you have three days to build relationships and connect with as many people as possible it helps to go in with a few tips to be effective.

1. Know your purpose before showing up

Time is limited at BlogHer so it helps to go in with some basic goals. Maybe you are looking for people to add to your next Blogger brigade or to connect with moms in a certain demographic? There are tons of parties and meet-ups so knowing what or who you are looking for before you get there can help you figure out where you need to be.

2. Find your people before you arrive

With three-thousand women in one place it is impossible to make connections with them all. Choose specific women you would like to meet or types of bloggers you are interested in working with and seek those connections out beforehand. This will help you know where you need to be and make introducing yourself a little easier.

3. Be transparent about your goals

Many bloggers go to conferences to connect with brands and find new ways to work with the companies that they like. Because of this bloggers will have questions about what your goals are, who you are looking to work with and how they can help. Don’t be afraid to let them know what projects you have coming up and what you are looking to do.

4. Be open minded (and kind)

Following up on being transparent—every blogger works differently and has different opinions on how brands should work with bloggers. You can gain a ton of insight on how bloggers perceive your plans and what you can change to be successful. When sharing ideas and goals be open minded and listen to their feedback and suggestions.

5. Have a follow up plan

After the number of parties, panels and meet-ups you will need about a week to recuperate from BlogHer. You may not remember what conversations you had with whom at each party in a week. Take notes about the people you meet and create a plan to follow up.

I will be spending most of the weekend at the P&G house in the expo center so stop by and say hello!

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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Social Media Keeps You Young

February 24th, 2011 | Posted By Adrianna Giuliani

We are obsessed with being young. While we nip, tuck, diet, exercise and groom to turn back the clock–why don’t we consider friending, tweeting and commenting as equally important rituals in returning to a youthful state? It’s been my humble observation that people who are young at heart have discovered the most accessible fountain of youth—the internet. Below you’ll find my “theory” on how social media can be our digital botox.

1. Let’s You Hang Out with Your Friends: Remember high school days when we would clock hours on the phones with our friends every day, pick them up for school and pass notes between class? Well thanks to Facebook, email, IM and texts we can create a sense of digital togetherness by sharing experiences, humor and support. Even though you might not be able to get together to watch the Oscars you can still gossip about Natalie Portman’s laugh, in 140 characters.

2. Forces You to Channel Your Inner Optimism: From slacktivism to activism, we’ve seen the power of social media raise 38 million dollars for Haiti, fill 22 million bowls of rice for families around the world and generate 104K tweets per hour during the triumphant rescue of the Chilean miners. It’s almost enough idealism to make us believe we can help humanity with the click of a mouse .

3. Helps You Keep Up with the Kardashians (and the Beliebers): Was it Kim, Kourtney or Khloe that launched that perfume? Which mass retailer carries nail polish-inspired by Justin Bieber’s “My World?” You better find out — your niece’s 12th birthday is coming up.

4. Makes You Laugh: Weather it’s a sarcastic status update from an old friend, a cat playing the keyboard or Zach Galifinakis interviewing Jon Hamm Between Two Ferns, the internet provides an endless stream of content to ensure you are LOLing during the most mundane days. Plus the only thing funnier than discovering the hipster Ariel meme is passing it on.

5. Fuels Social Promiscuity: As we get older and enter into relationships it’s shunned upon to make new friends if there is a possibility of attraction. But social media provides a loop hole where meeting new people is embraced and relationships are centered around sharing ideas and networking. Who needs “monogamy” when you can have more followers?

Adrianna Giuliani is a Creative & Strategic planner at DeVries. She blogs about how technology and social media can create, crumble and confuse meaning in modern relationships. Read more on her blog Techromance or on the College Crush.

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On Our Radar.

January 28th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing and pop culture. Here are a few things that are on our radar this week.

The Internet has opened up the ability to share information and many different kinds of content with consumers. You can now create video content, imaging, newsletters, and podcasts to share your message in a new way. Video marketing has really skyrocketed in the past couple of years. Consumers are now able to watch video while on the go using their laptops, tablet devices, and phones. Recently Mashable released a great article about what makes a video go viral. While every branded video campaign has the goal of going viral there is huge mix of factors that really determine how successful your video campaign is going to be.

Speaking of successful video campaigns, the most successful video campaign last year is back! Old Spice recently launched a follow-up campaign to compliment their very successful efforts last year. This time they are tapping an Old Spice social media fan in a creative contesting format to engage consumers.

There is so much content shared across the web each day that we are beginning to ask: Have we reached a world of infinite information?

Often times when people consider traditional and social media they put them in silos separating the two distinctly. However, we have found that the most successful campaigns utilize both sides of media in a holistic fashion to create the most buzz about your brand. This week Mashable released an article showing how to create buzz around a new product launch. This article really shows how to take your traditional media efforts and mix them with your social efforts.

Every time we turn around Facebook is launching a new product and new features. Recently, a conversation was started regarding a new feature Facebook will be rolling out soon. This product was created specifically with brands in mind. Brands on Facebook will soon have the opportunity to gain a little more control on what content is being featured on their wall. Users can vote up popular content keeping the most relevant comments and interesting content at the top of the page and at top of mind.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

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