Recently I wrote a post, here on BurrellesLuceFresh Ideas, outlining key tips for integrating online video into your PR campaign from a recent PRSA-NY panel. For this post, I thought I would re-cap some of what I thought were the most compelling best practices for creating, marketing, and measuring online video content – as discussed at the event.
It was followed by a roundtable Q&A moderated by Jason Winocour, social and digital media practice leader at Hunter Public Relations.
How to Create Online Video Content Nearly 89 percent of journalist report that they regularly include online video content in their stories. But how can marketing and communications professionals create compelling video content?
Jim Sulley, president of Newscast U.S., had these best practices to offer:
Understand who you are trying to reach. Who are your target demographics?
Get the attention of the people watching. You only have 10 seconds to hook their interest.
Shoot to script, don’t script to shoot. In other words, take the time to plan your videos and write a script.
Create biscuits, little surprises along the way, and don’t give away the ending upfront.
Be truthful. And remember, production values count.
Entertain or DIE.
Too much text is annoying for online video.
When creating video content, you will also want to get your online community, stakeholders, and agencies involved, as this with provide you with feedback and help you market your initiatives. (more…)
When was the last time that you called up a company for information and were patched directly through to a fellow human? I can’t remember when.
In the past 30 days I’ve been on the phone with a cable company, a cell phone company, a bank, a law firm, two kinds of insurance companies, plus a pet store. The only time I was actually patched in directly to a live person was the later – the pet store – although they weren’t particularly helpful and I should really be adopting from a shelter anyway.
In any case, I submit that few things are more annoying than punching through a handful of phone prompts, listening to hold music, then stumbling through more prompts before realizing what you need isn’t one of the touch tone options and that you’ll have to wait for a human anyway.
Facepalm.
Please allow me to introduce you to Gethuman.com. This is a directory of companies, phone numbers and reviews, compiled by for and of the people, which offers not only a guide on how to bypass phone prompts, but details the best way to get the most out of any listed companies customer service department.
From their site, “The GetHuman™ movement has been created from the voices of millions of consumers who want to be treated with dignity when they contact a company for customer support.”
The GetHuman site was created by Paul English (also the co-founder of Kayak.com, a site that lets you search flights, hotels and cheap travel deals all in one place) in the mid 2000’s and has grown through the hard work and diligence of their team as well as the support and input from readers like you.
Using the recommendations on the site, I rarely get stuck punching through phone prompts anymore. I’ve also gathered a healthy respect for those companies that patch you straight through to a human representative. I hope that as time passes, consumer feedback and experience leads to a friendly sea-change in the service industry.
With the weather drawing colder and the days turning darker, it is clear the yearly phenomenon of the winter doldrums are setting in. People seem to be grouchier and the coffee isn’t working as well as it seemed to just two warm months ago. With the layering of clothing, there also seems to be a layering of “attitude.” Like yawning, negative attitudes are certainly contagious. Personally, I have noticed that when I have a positive attitude it changes the attitudes of those around me.
With these thoughts in mind, I have devised several ways that you too can be as “cheery” as possible through the next cold months:
1.Bring in a box of goodies or a reasonably “healthy” sweet treat. This is one happiness inducer I always found that works on my team. Picking up some munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, for example, is inexpensive and low-maintenance; while at the same time can be a happy surprise for unexpected colleagues. The treats are sweet enough to give a sugar boost, yet small enough not to cause guilt on our waistlines.
2.Share positive feedback from clients. When someone gets a really great kudos, or congratulations on a good job, it is nice to show others that our hard work does not go unappreciated day in and day out. Sharing these feelings of good sentiment from our clients can be a great esteem boost for those around us.
3.Develop an office support system. Whether you’re working in marketing, advertising, public relations or some other industry, developing relationships with team members can minimize stress and lets you know that those around you understand what you are going through.
4.Re-decorate! Adding new flare and panache to your personal office space can help lift your spirits on those down and out days. Include photos of friends, family, and those people close to you who make you feel great inside.
5.Place a candy bowl on your desk. This is one of my favorite ways to let my co-workers know I am approachable, and that they can take snack break when needed.
6.Keep your personal space organized and clean. You’ll feel as though you are more in control. Employees can gain an easy sense of satisfaction by keeping their things in order. Enhanced confidence and motivation will also stem from this simple change.
7.Make friends at the office. It has been proven that the happiest people are those who can count on their colleagues as their friends. Finding people at the workplace, who you have a connection with, can really make a difference in your day to day experiences. Ask coworkers about their evenings and weekend plans, also about their families and life outside the office. Catching up on everyday life can lift spirits and help you look forward to coming to work. Support through your coworkers can make anyone feel better!
As the winter months approach, what things do you do that enhance your day to day activities at the office? How do you keep from layering on the attitude? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.
***
*Bio: Jennifer Shtutman has been an Account Manager with the BurrellesLuce client services team since 2007. She is passionate about all things media and enjoys hearing about the latest trends and technologies in our business. Jenn is an avid writer and editor for the Fordham University academic journal, Perspectives, and is currently working towards her master’s from Fordham University. What she most enjoys about her profession is that she is in the business of keeping people happy. “I am all about maintaining a positive relationship with my clients, and helping them gain the most out of what BurrellesLuce has to offer.” Facebook: BurrellesLuce LinkedIn: Jennifer Shtutman Twitter: @BurrellesLuce
Is it really necessary for companies to monitor social media in order to interact with their customers? Or is there a better way to observe and report on your client base?
Rick Mans believes this to be so in his blog post entitled, Why Companies Should Not Invest in Online Monitoring, featured on Social Media Today. He writes that “If companies really cared about what was going on, they would have invested in such a social infrastructure that complaints/news about their products and services would come to them in no time.”
He goes even further by stating “…monitoring tools are a poor man’s solution to engage with your audience… when you are in touch with your audience and your audience can find you and you have created a group of loyal people (brand ambassadors / evangelists) around your online presence, you won’t need monitoring tools to discover complaints.”
This runs counterpoint to a contention of the modern business age that all social media must be monitored in order to truly be in touch with all of your customer feedback.
However, I believe the point Mans attempts to make is that if the proper feedback infrastructure is created internally, then the monitoring of online media will only be redundant. Moreover, no news should be breaking in the world of social media that you shouldn’t have been made aware of and are already working towards either finding a solution or a way to profit from it.
In a perfect world this may be so. Even if companies create their own customer feedback rail network, they still must possess the ability to anticipate the response in the social media world in order to best deal directly with their client base. After all, if a customer truly cares enough, they will vent or praise in their preferred online outlet (be that Facebook, Twitter, or some other forum) regardless of whether a company maintains a presence there or not.
Thus, it is imperative that we do both – monitor online media and genuinely listen to and engage with constituents. That is why BurrellesLuce is working even harder to create even more tools to help you listen, manage, and respond to the activities taking place in both traditional and online news, social media, and broadcast. Stay tuned in the coming month(s) as we unveil new ways for you to effectively take charge of your WorkFlow.
In the meantime, what do you think? Is it critical to incorporate online monitoring into the larger engagement funnel or is it merely a show put on by companies? How are you using online monitoring in your public relations and marketing efforts? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of Fresh Ideas.
I recently joined the Droid world. I LOVE my Droid Incredible. The coverage is amazing, the clear picture and fast processor allow me to view websites and videos on the go, access Adobe files with crisp clarity and truly work “in the cloud.” And of course the tool that every public relations professional needs at all times – a camera. The Droid comes with a 8 mega pixel camera for all your photo needs. But my real Droid joy comes from the many apps I now have at my fingertips.
I don’t know how many apps are too many or too few. After reviewing the app marketplace I downloaded, tested, and kept the following free apps to help organize and maximize my mobile experience:
AndroNews: Provides fast links to major news sources: CNN, USA Today, WSJ.com and BBC to name a few.
Evernote: My most-used, must-have app for organizing notes on all of my devices. The “cloud” at its finest.
Facebook: Full-featured Facebook interface.
FourSquare: Not totally sure why, but I continue to “check-in” from time to time.
Google Goggles: Snap a picture and launch an automatic Google search of whatever you’ve scanned. *CAUTION people searches yield XXX results
Magic8Ball: To help with my really tough day-to-day decisions.
Scanlife: Allows me to engage and maximize the QR Code experience.
TMZ: Celebrity gossip. A supplement to my subscription to People!
Touiteur: My Twitter app of choice. I tried several apps, including the Twitter app and found Touiteur to be the best, most feature-rich.
UrbanSpoon: Scouting new restaurants either at home or on the road.
Where: Provides easy-access reviews and allows local vendors to send me coupons when I’m in proximity of their location.
All of the apps I share here are free. I don’t mind paying for an app if it’s good, but there are so many great free apps you don’t necessarily have to invest to maximize your mobile experience. Though I caution you before settling on any apps; thoroughly read the reviews. Don’t be fooled by the overall rating. Upon digging deeper into the reviews I realized many of the reviewers who provided detailed feedback actually ranked the app lower than the overall rating. Those higher ratings were primarily just the rating with a very brief “It’s excellent” or some mundane response.
I know we have a lot of Blackberry, iPhone and Droid users who follow the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog so I ask you to please share: What are your go-to apps? How do you use them to stay organized and be more efficient? If you are in PR or media relations have you helped create an app for your brand or client’s initiative? Can you give examples of successful app marketing campaigns?
With the weather drawing colder and the days turning darker, it is clear the yearly phenomenon of the winter doldrums are setting in. People seem to be grouchier and the coffee isn’t working as well as it seemed to just two warm months ago. With the layering of clothing, there also seems to be a layering of “attitude.” Like yawning, negative attitudes are certainly contagious. Personally, I have noticed that when I have a positive attitude it changes the attitudes of those around me. 
Is it really necessary for companies to monitor social media in order to interact with their customers? Or is there a better way to observe and report on your client base?
