Developing A Content Strategy — Good Content Is The Key

PR-Squared recently did a five part series on Social Media — “If You Only Do Five Things In Social Media.” We especially liked number 5.

Check it out.

Get On Board The Social Media Train

More and more people are into social media. And, for PR practitioners, that means you have to get on board.

If you're still a doubting Thomas (and hopefully there are only a very, very few of you left out there), check out Amy Porterfield's report at Social Media Examiner.

Her piece looks at a recent study by the Nielsen Company that claims that 75 percent of U. S. households use social networking and that internet users spend more than 6 hours a day on social networking sites. That's double what they spent in 2009.

It's no surprise that Facebook is the leader in social networking, but Nielsen has the stats to back it up. Porterfield includes other “factoids” about social media too in her summary of the report.

So, check it out. And get on board the social media train. Figure out how well-managed social media platforms can benefit your clients and build your business.

And, yeah, Amy spelled Nielsen as Nielson, but we can forgive her for that.

Facebook: When Inappropriate Negativity Comes To Visit

Facebook fan pages are all the rage for companies these days. If it's your job to manage such a page, you know the drill: Create a personality for your page, monitor the comments, be responsive, learn about your customers, mine the data.

But what to do if you get a fan who starts posting information or gripes that are totally unrelated to the spirit of the page? Sure, we all want to respond to our customers. Make things better. Turn them around. Show the other fans we're good guys.

That all works if you are dealing with a rational person whose complaint is about something your company did or how your product performs, and you can address the why's and how's -- or at least show him you will work on the problem.

But, what if you start seeing posts from someone who's just using your site to vent? Who's raging about something that you can do nothing about or isn't related to your product? Who is holding your fan site hostage and using it as a bully pulpit?

Here are some things to remember:

You don't have to respond at all. Comments drift down into the archives in a matter of hours. If the poster is a bore or clearly a raving lunatic, then he'll be ignored by your fans.

You can respond in a private message to the complainer, showing empathy and suggesting that he direct his complaint to the proper place so he can get some satisfaction. Kill him with kindness-- but not on your public platform.

If the person turns strident or abusive in his postings, simply block him from participating on the page. Private message him so he knows why his comments no longer appear on your page.

Ask yourself honestly if the person is complaining about something you can or should address. If the answer is no, you don't need to have your FB page held hostage to someone like that. Block and move on.

How To Tick Off A Journalist In Four Easy Steps

Sometimes we come across an article that gives some "Best Practice" advice, and we think "we just couldn't say it any better!"

So, when that happens, we just like to share:

How To Tick Off A Journalist In Four Easy Steps

Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!