Just in case you have been out of commission and haven’t heard of Pinterest, according to its About Page, “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web […] Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.”
The site was (soft) launched less than two years ago and is still by-invitation-only, but has exploded in popularity in the past few months. According to ZDNet, Pinterest received nearly 11 million total visits in the week ending December 1, 2011. That’s 4,000 percent growth on visits during a single week in just six months, points out CNET, bumping it into the top 10 social sites among the more than 6,000 properties that Hitwise tracks.
We all see cool stuff online that we’d like to share or save (aka “pin”) – I have some Facebook friends that I wish would use Pinterest instead of filling my stream with kitten images and quotation graphics, but that’s for another post. Snark aside, it is no surprise that people are finding use for this online pinboard. Friends and colleagues that are engaged are pinning wedding themed items, foodie friends are pinning recipes, fashion junkies are pinning wish-list items, etc.
So, I get the individual use, but what, if anything, can this do for companies or organizations? (more…)
It was followed by a roundtable Q&A moderated by Jason Winocour, social and digital media practice leader at Hunter Public Relations.
Recipe for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Marketing and communications professionals often talk about the need for engagement and the desire for their videos to go viral. Who wouldn’t want millions of people viewing their videos and spreading them across the web seemingly overnight?
While it’s not impossible to fulfill that goal, the success of a video is quite relative. It won’t matter how great or potentially “viral” your video is, if no one can find it online…
Jack Finkelstein, president of Method Savvy, had these tips to share on effective SEO and improving the searchable quality of your video: (more…)
It was followed by a roundtable Q&A moderated by Jason Winocour, social and digital media practice leader at Hunter Public Relations.
Why Digital Video Fifty-nine percent of Americans get their news every day from online and a mix of broadcast, radio and print sources. In fact, it is predicted that “by 2015, the demand for online video is expected to grow by 81 percent.”
Eric Wright, senior VP of marketing and business development, DS Simon Productions, Inc., offered additional insight on why digital video matters to the media.
AOL Newsroom is now bigger than the New York Times.
Journalist are using online video on their website.
79 percent will use more online video in their messages.
Interestingly enough, over 50 percent of journalists say that video is vital to their jobs and that HD is the most important format.
For these reasons, among others, it is imperative that public relations professionals use video to engage and build relationships with stakeholders, the media, and the community. However, PR folks have lots of homework before integrating online video in their campaigns. (more…)
JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and I’m here at the PR News Media Relations Summit. I’m here with Colin.
Colin, will you please introduce yourself?
COLIN MOFFETT: Sure. I’m Colin Moffett. I work for Weber Shandwick, and I’m a senior vice president on the digital communications team.
BURKE: Colin, thanks so much. And what is your advice for people as far as that shift in mentality of now becoming the newsmakers? What are the tips and takeaways that you have?
MOFFETT: Yeah. I think it’s, you know, more than anything else, it’s a–it’s a shift in thinking. It’s a shift away from being, you know, more of a press shop, where you’re–where you’re trying to place information and get other people to tell your story, and really becoming a story you’re telling yourself and thinking like a newsroom and thinking like a channel and creating content, being–having an editorial process, thinking through the editorial calendar, you know, getting content out there in different ways, different types of content, getting it out over different channels and really getting it in front of the people you need to get it in front of, as well as using the media and–to carry that story. But really using the sort of entire media landscape to make sure that your story gets where it needs to get.
BURKE: It’s definitely a paradigm shift that we’re all in communications trying to get our head around.
MOFFETT: Mm-hmm.
BURKE: Where can people find you online and in social media, Colin?
MOFFETT: Sure. They can find me at Twitter @cmoffett, C-M-O-F-F-E-T-T, and I can talk to people there.
To summarize the panel: location apps (e.g., Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt) serve as another way to enhance a consumer or stakeholder’s experience and interaction with your company, brand, or client.
Tara Dunion, Consumer Electronics Association, looks to enhance the attendee experience at the International Consumer Electronics Show each January by creating an official location page on Foursquare and aggregating all the social media coverage on the website. (And they even plan to add additional locations for 2011). She commented that many exhibitors have multiple locations available for check-in, which also buys-into the game aspect of Foursquare.
Danielle Brigida says, The National Wildlife Federation wants to get you outside enjoying nature, so they employ Whrrl and Foursquare to help people share their experiences with others. Whrrl works well for their needs because it allows the user to upload a picture to help tell their story.
A recent story on Mashable by Dan Klamm highlighted how universities and colleges can use location-based tools to promote the school, foster school spirit, drive revenue and promote the community. One idea included offering special badges for exploring places on campus.
However, not all location-based tools are gaining momentum. When Facebook Places premiered, Foursquare had a record number of new sign-ins because it connects with the new Facebook app. A few weeks later, few people are using Facebook Places. Dan Frommer explored the possible reasons on Business Insider, commenting, “Only 2% of My Friends Are Using Facebook Places…”
After the panel ended, I enjoyed brainstorming with others on how they might use these tools to help their organizations. How could you add geo-location social media into your PR toolbox? What questions do you have about the tools? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuceFresh Ideas.
