Indeed, the information contained within these pages abound is chock-full of real-world ex- amples of how ... As you dra
DIGITAL PR GUIDEBOOK measurement reputation crisis management SEO video mobile PR media & influencer relations customer relations public affairs internal communications social media, including best practices
in using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ and more Foreword by Matthew Schwartz, group editor, PR News
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Foreword
PR Pros Turn on a Dime for the Onslaught of the Digital Age Whether it’s the profound changes in the way that corporations create and distribute content, tilting the balance in political elections or altering the very nature of media relations, digital media and digital communications have become pervasive in the PR world. And it’s only going to become more pronounced in 2013 and beyond. With apologies to Jimmy Durante, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Of course, as a PR professional you’re probably a few steps ahead of some of your communications brethren in grasping the importance of mastering the digital space when it comes to communicating with your customers, prospects and media influencers. Or anyone else who has an iPhone and is passionate (or disgruntled) about your brand and/or the way your company conducts its business. But it’s the accelerating pace of change in digital communications that may even give the most seasoned PR executive a serious case of whiplash. Which is why reading our PR News Digital PR Guidebook—and keeping it on the top shelf for quick reference—is so crucial for PR pros at all levels. You want to excel in the digital space and prove to the C-suite (and your clients) that you’re ahead of the digital curve. This guidebook will prove invaluable in your quest to achieve that goal. You’ll see that, as is our custom, we haven’t left any stones unturned when it comes to providing you with a comprehensive (and in-depth) look at myriad challenges confronting PR execs on the digital-media front. Indeed, the information contained within these pages abound is chock-full of real-world examples of how digital media is fundamentally changing the modus operandi of communications executives, whether it’s the proliferation of online- video programming to help layer PR campaigns or how digital channels have forever changed how PR pros respond when a crisis hits them right between the eyes. The content, which is contributed by the PR News staff and many of our readers, focuses on most every facet of digital PR, including mega social channels Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, along with the (rapidly growing) Instagram and Pinterest platforms. We also focus on how digital communications is having a massive impact on content creation, which, back in the Paleolithic Age, say, ten years ago, was simply called “editorial.” However, we also show you how digital communications is constantly affecting the more traditional areas in which PR plays a critical role, such as media and influencer relations, public affairs, legal concerns and internal communications (if you don’t get buy-in on your digital efforts from the folks from within the four walls, it’s unlikely you’ll succeed externally). Whatever the discipline, each of the chapters in this book has a common theme: the growing value of digital media in the PR matrix. As you draw closer to the core of your company’s overall marketing strategy, you have an opportunity to master digital media and understand how it impacts virtually everything that PR people do. The overriding lesson, regardless of the business sector that you’re practicing in, is that digital PR needs to be the focal point of your marketing-communications strategy. While other elements of PR are not exactly going away, they are becoming increasingly subordinate to digital communications. You need to know that not just to keep your head above water but also to take your communications efforts to a higher level, with the rewards being bigger budgets and a (permanent) seat at the table. Here’s to finding everything you need in our PR News Digital PR Guidebook.
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Table of Contents: Foreword............................................................................................. 3 Index of Companies & Organizations....................................................... 8 Chapter 1: Overview........................................................................... 12 7 Principles for Building Buzz Equity, And Don’t Forget the 3 S’s — by PR News Editors........................................14 As a Sales and Employment Tool, Don’t Sell Your ‘About’ Page Short — by PR News Editors. .................................17 As Social Networks Proliferate, Facebook Retains PR Value — by PR News Editors...............................................20 PR Pros Must Deliver the Right Emails at the Right Time — by PR News Editors..................................................22 Key PR Ingredients for Serving Up Tasty Restults — by Drew Gerber...................................................................25 3 Ways to Improve Your Brand’s Social Media Presence — by Brad Luttrell.........................................................27 Why Your Boring Brand Might Need Some Social-Media Spark — by Hugh McMullen. ...........................................30 PR Pros Embrace The Living, Breathing Digital Ecosystem — by Nathan Rice and George Mayer............................33 #Write_on: How to Write For Social Media Networks — by Allison Hersh............................................................39 4 Ways You’re (Probably) Not Using LinkedIn for PR — by PR News Editors.........................................................42 14 Ways that SMBs Can Create Impactful Social Media Content — by Kathleen Brommer...................................44
Chapter 2: Twitter.............................................................................. 48 Storytelling for Business: How to Be Effective in 140 Characters — by Deborah H. French....................................50 Timely, Measured Responses Result in Twitter Success — by PR News Editors....................................................53 Twitter Paid Products Can Supercharge Social Outreach — by PR News Editors...................................................55 6 Tips for Using Twitter’s Promoted Products — by PR News Editors..................................................................58 Hashtags: Your Event’s Viral and Vocal Best Friend — by Nichole Lunat...............................................................60 Twitter’s 3 Cs: Chat, Customer Service and Conversation — by Erin Boudreau. ....................................................64
Chapter 3: Facebook........................................................................... 68 8 Tips to Boost Engagement on Facebook — by PR News Editors........................................................................70 5 Tips for Measuring Your Facebook Efforts — by PR News Editors.....................................................................72 Facebook Empowers Brands to Target Specific Fans — by Lauren Hopkins...........................................................74 How to Respond to Customer Service Comments on Facebook — by Jennifer Spivak and Lorraine Tran...................78
Chapter 4: Emerging Social Media: Pinterest, Instagram and Beyond...... 92 How to Expand Your Brand on Pinterest — by Dan Moyle. ..................................................................................84 Turning Visuals into Revenue: Pinterest Opens for Businesses — by PR News Editors...........................................87 Instagram Picks Up Steam as an Engagement Tool — by PR News Editors...........................................................89 Pinterest for Brands: Now the Real Work Begins — by PR News Editors.............................................................92 How to Host Contests on Pinterest to Boost Your Brand — by Sarah Solomon Byrkit............................................95 Pin-ching Pennies? 10 Pinterest Tips for Small Businesses — by PR News Editors. ..............................................97 Instagram Gets the Picture for PR Opportunities — by Lynford Morton................................................................99 How to Be a Social Media Rock Star on 6 Platforms — by Kent Lewis. ..............................................................102 Gamification: Where Psychology Meets Communication — by Miguel A. Cano. ...................................................107
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Chapter 5: Legal Concerns and Social Media Policies in Digital PR......... 110 Copyright and Fair Use Issues for PR Professionals — by Dawn Conway. ...........................................................112 Tips on How to Assess and Manage Social-Media Risk — by Jim Satterfield ......................................................117 Zuck Soup: Investor Relations Tips to Avoid a Facebook-Style IPO — by PR News Editors.....................................120 The Role of PR Pros in Customer Pricing — by PR News Editors.......................................................................123
Chapter 6: Digital PR Measurement................................................... 126 Achieving Success Through the 5-Step Methodology — by Jessica Payne...........................................................128 Social-Media Monitoring Vital to Your Brand — by Elisabeth Korody...................................................................133 The Golden Nugget in Google Analytics — by Chip Hanna..................................................................................135 Communicating Social Media Metrics to Your CEO — by PR News Editors. ........................................................138 Executives Find ROI Tough Social Media Nuts to Crack — by PR News Editors....................................................141 How Data Can Dramatically Change Your PR Practices — by Ellen Lanse. ..........................................................142 Re-Tooling Social Media Metrics to Provide Real Insights — by Kent Lewis.........................................................148 Rise of Online Analytics Offers PR Executives a New Pitch — by PR News Editors...............................................151 PR Myth: ‘CPM’ Does Not Apply to Public Relations — by Mark Weiner.............................................................154 Social Media ROI: Placing Value on Customer Engagement — by Elisabeth Korody..............................................155
Chapter 7: SEO................................................................................ 158 The Importance of Keyword Difficulty Screening for SEO by David Viniker............................................................160 Using Online Press Releases to Drive Lead Generation — by Nicholas Pandiscio.................................................165 The Importance of Online Executive Positioning for SEO — by David H. Rosen.....................................................168 The Secrets to SEO Domination on Google — by Manny Sarmiento....................................................................176 A Public Relations Approach to Multilingual SEO — by Donald L. Dunnington. .....................................................179 5 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your New Website — by Tomeeka Farrington. ...........................................................183 SEO Best Practices for Getting the Most Out of Your Content — by David Viniker...............................................185 Don’t Forget Google When Optimizing Local Searches — by Julien Brandt..........................................................188 5 Tips for Writing News Releases Humans and Google Will Love — by Andrew Hindes........................................191
Chapter 8. Content Creation............................................................. 194 Changing Content: Marketing and PR Strategies for 2013 — by Kevin Pike and Steve J. Scearce.........................196 Turn and Face the Change: New Marketing and PR Strategies — by Nathan Burgess.......................................... 200 5 Keys to Making Your Business a Content Powerhouse — by PR News Editors..................................................205
Chapter 9. Video.............................................................................. 208 Innovation Drives Video Success on Anchor Platform YouTube — by PR News Editors..........................................210 Tip Sheet: Make the Changing Media Paradigm Work for You — by Dave Armon.................................................212 Beyond YouTube: Learning The 3 Ps of Online Video — by Mark Manoff..............................................................214 Add Real-Time Interactivity to Your Video Strategy — by Kriselle Laran..............................................................218
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Video Marketing: The Ultimate Guide to the Future of Storytelling — by Kent Lewis.............................................221 Strategies for Enhancing PR Initiatives with Mobile Video — by Miguel A. Cano. .................................................225 Video and SEO: A Plkace Where Powerful PR Strategies Converge — by Justin Handley.....................................228
Chapter 10. Media & Influencer Relations........................................... 232 How Social Media is Changing the Media Relations Landscape — by Stephen Hunton..........................................234 5 Ways to Navigate The New Media Relations Paradigm — by Kathleen Boylan. .................................................237 The Easy Way to Effective Influencer Identification — by Eric Koefoot and Chris Bolster.......................................239 How PR Pros Should Work With Journalists in New Beats — by PR News Editors..............................................243 Keeping Your Clients in the News—Sans any News — by Lydia Howard. ............................................................245 11 Media Relations Tips from HuffPo’s Nate Hindman — by PR News Editors.....................................................248 5 Tips for Exceeding Journalists Expectations — by PR News Editors................................................................250 Media Watch: Journalists Demand More Visuals — by PR News Editors. ..........................................................251 6 Reasons Why Grammar Still Matters in the Digital Age — by Andrew Hindes..................................................253 7 Tips for Communicating With Journalists via LinkedIn — by PR News Editors..................................................254
Chapter 11. Crisis Communications.................................................... 256 Cultivate Communities Now to Mitigate a Crisis Later — by PR News Editors. ...................................................258 5 Tips For When a Social Media Crisis Strikes on a Weekend — by PR News Editors..........................................260 10 Tips on How to Handle a Crisis on Twitter — by PR News Editors.................................................................261 Making Sure Social Media is Your Ally in a Crisis — by Andy Castagnola and Dustin Hoffman. ..............................263 Social Media is Another Way Of Saying ‘Crisis Communication’ — by Karen Masullo............................................266 When a Story Goes Viral, It’s More than Just Numbers — by Beth Schlesinger..................................................270
Chapter 12. Public Affairs................................................................. 272 Key PR Takeaways from the First ‘Social’ Election — by Jennifer A. Moire...........................................................274 How Social Media Can Help Sway the Public’s Decisions — by Bill Paulos and Todd Wolfenarger...........................278 Harnessing Social Media in Muncipal Communications — by Rachel R. Hawley. ..................................................281 How to Use Twitter in Political Campaigns — by Marshall Maher.......................................................................285 How to Prep a Leader to Deal With a Hostile Audience — by PR News Editors...................................................289 #pinkslime in the Spotlight: Hashtags Take Center Stage — by PR News Editors. ...............................................292
Chapter 13. Customer Service and Brand Management........................ 296 Customer-Produced Testimonials Can Beat Ads in Effectiveness — by PR News Editors......................................298 10 Ways to Energize Employee Bloggers and Boost Your Brand — by Maggie Scott and Michael McManus...........301 Understanding and Preventing Brandjacking in Social Media — by Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D. & Marcia W. DiStaso, Ph.D.. ...304 How PR Can Forge Peaceful Coexistence With Wikipedia — by PR News Editors................................................308 Digital Watch: Editing Wikipedia Posts a ‘Sticky’ Business — by PR News Editors...............................................311 How to Match Celebrities with Your Brand’s Personality — by Deborah Sierchio..................................................312
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How to Play the Business Naming Game and Win — by Andrew Bogucki............................................................ 314 How to Identify Attributes That Help Drive Rebrand Research — by PR News Editors.......................................... 316
Chapter 14. Internal Communications................................................. 320 Incorporating a Call-to-Action in Internal Communication — by Lisa Nicole Chen. ................................................ 322 Minding the Gap: Engaging a Remote Work Force with Video — by Kai Fawn Miller............................................. 326 Room for Growth Keys to Retaining Top Talent — by Kimling Lam...................................................................... 331
Chapter 15. Case Studies................................................................. 334 ESPN Takes Fans Behind the Scenes and in the Huddle — by PR News Editors................................................... 336 Clorox Uses Social Media to Make a Healthy Difference — by PR News Editors. ................................................. 340 Metrics Prove PR’s Worth in Medicare/Medicaid Enrollment — by PR News Editors. .......................................... 344 Big Scoops of Content Propel Talenti Gelato e Sorbetto — by PR News Editors................................................... 348 Cartoon Network’s Anti-Bullying Messaging Inspires Millions — by PR News Editors. .......................................... 352 Bloggers Send Infantino’s Test-Drive Campaign Into High Gear — by PR News Editors......................................... 356 Embracing a Multi-Channel Communications Environment — by Elizabeth Handler and Kody Kraatz....................... 360 Duke’s University’s Virtual Campout Contest Scores — by PR News Editors...................................................... 364
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Index of Companies & Organizations Following are the companies featured in this guidebook.
Company . .......................... Chapter Communication Sciences International...................13 Absire Public Relations.............................................1 Adapt.tv ..................................................................9 Aflac.......................................................................10 Alltop.com..............................................................10 Amazon..................................................................13 American Apparel...................................................11 Amerifirst Home Mortgage........................................4 Angie’s List.............................................................12 Anvil Media.......................................................1, 6, 9 Apartment Therapy...................................................4 Appalachian State Univ...........................................13 Apple Inc................................................................13 Apriso.....................................................................15 The Baltimore Agency...............................................6 Bank of America.....................................................13 BBC.......................................................................10 BP..........................................................................13 Ben & Jerry’s..........................................................15 Bliss Integrated Communication...............................8 BodyGuardz.............................................................9 Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP)
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BrightRoll ................................................................9 Burlington, NC........................................................12 Burson-Marsteller................................................7,11 Carmichael Lynch Spong........................................12 Cartoon Network....................................................15 Chelsea Piers.........................................................15 Chick-fil-A...............................................................12 Ciao Bella...............................................................15 Cision.......................................................................5 Cisco Systems Inc....................................................9 Clorox.....................................................................15 CNN...........................................................10, 12, 15 Coca-Cola..............................................................13 Comcast..................................................................6
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CoreBrand..............................................................13 Costco...................................................................14 Costa Concordia....................................................11 Coyne PR...............................................................13 Current360...............................................................1 Critical Mention.........................................................9 Davis & Gilbert LLP . ..............................................12 Deloitte.....................................................................9 Department of Veterans Affairs...............................14 DeVries Global..........................................................6 Domino’s................................................................12 Drowned in Sound..................................................10 Duke Univ...............................................................15 Eastwick...................................................................6 Edelman.............................................................4, 13 ESPN ....................................................................15 Firestorm............................................................5, 11 Fleishman-Hillard....................................2, 3, 4, 6, 10 Forrester Research.................................................14 451 Marketing .........................................................7 French/West/Vaughan..............................................9 FrontPointSecurity..................................................13 Gansevoort Hotel Group...........................................4 General Electric........................................................4 Goldman Sachs........................................................1 Haberman................................................................1 Hamilton Jewelers ...................................................1 Hard Rock Café . ...................................................13 HDR Architecture ..................................................13 Heinz......................................................................13 Hive........................................................................10 Hubspot...................................................................7 Huffington Post.......................................................10 Hunter PR..............................................................12 IBM Corp................................................................13 Internet Advertising Bureau UK.................................7
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Intermark Group.......................................................6
Pew Research Center.............................................12
ITT Corp.................................................................14
Philadelphia 76ers..................................................13
ITT Exelis................................................................14
Planned Parenthood...............................................11
J.C. Penney............................................................13
Porter Novelli ...................................................12, 15
JSH&A Public Relations........................................4, 9
PR Newswire..........................................................15
Ketchum.............................................................1, 15
PRIME Research..............................................13, 15
Klout.......................................................................12
Public Communications Inc. (PCI).....................10, 11
Knowlagent............................................................13
PublicRelay ...........................................................10
K-Tron......................................................................7
Radian6..................................................................11
Landor Associates....................................................1
Red Cross..............................................................11
LEGOLAND Discovery Center ...............................10
RF Binder.........................................................12, 15
Levick Strategic Communications...........................12
Rowan University......................................................7
Lewis PR................................................................11
Safeway.................................................................14
Lindt Chocolate........................................................4
Salesforce..............................................................12
Luna Metrics...........................................................12
Shell.......................................................................13
Makovsky...............................................................11
Social Fulcrum..........................................................3
Mars Inc.................................................................14
Social@Ogilvy ..........................................................9
Mary Kay Cosmetics...............................................13
Social@GSG...........................................................12
Mashable................................................................10
Sourcefire...............................................................13
McDermott Will & Emery LLP....................................4
Spotlight Communications........................................7
McDonald’s............................................................12
SpotXchange ..........................................................9
Meltwater...............................................................14
Stanton Communications...................................1, 10
Meow Mix...............................................................13
StrategyOne...........................................................13
Mom Central Consulting (MCC)..............................15
Sweet Spot Marketing..............................................8
Modern-Miami.com................................................15
Susan G. Komen for the Cure.................................11
MSLGroup..............................................................11
Talenti Gelato e Sorbetto........................................15
MTV.......................................................................10
Talking Points Memo..............................................13
Narasopa Media LLC ..............................................9
Target.....................................................................14
NBA.........................................................................9
TerraCycle................................................................6
New Media, New Marketing......................................7
Technorati .............................................................10
News Broadcast Network.........................................9
The In-House Writer............................................7, 10
New York Knicks....................................................15
The Summit Group Communications......................12
Nuclear Energy Institute..........................................11
Threadless................................................................4
Old Spice ............................................................9, 1
Time Inc.................................................................15
OrganikSEO.............................................................7
Tremor Media ........................................................11
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ..................................11
TubeMogul ..............................................................9
Pan Communications...............................................6
Turner Broadcasting System...................................15
Pennsylvania State Univ..........................................13
TweeParties Inc........................................................2
Peppercomm.........................................................12
Vantage Communications.......................................10
PepsiCo.................................................................13
Watson Wyatt Worldwide........................................14
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Weber Shandwick....................................................4 Whole Foods..........................................................13 Wiggle......................................................................7 Wikipedia...............................................................13 WolfCom..................................................................7 Zeno Group Silicon Valley.........................................9 Zimmerman/Edelson Inc...........................................2
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Clorox Uses Social Media to Make a Healthy Difference By PR News Editors
T
he power of the Internet, specifically social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook, has changed the way brands approach PR cam-
with the help of PR agency Ketchum, needed to create a strategy that would use the power of social media influencers, engage moms who are involved and user their influence in social paigns. communities and use Facebook, Twitter and The potential reach social media can pro- YouTube to drive awareness via outreach and vide gives organizations opportunities to SEO tactics. spread their message to large audiences, promote their brands and engage directly with More and more PR pros are consumers. seeing the benefits of relying That was the thinking when The Clorox almost solely on social media Company wanted to take its commitment to for selected campaigns. helping families lead healthier and happier lives to the next level by creating Check-in for “When we thought about health and wellCheckups. With the target audience of moms ness, we tried to figure out how we could elebetween the ages of 25 and 54, Clorox teamed vate the campaign and factor in healthy habits up with the Children’s Health Fund to launch we could do every day,” says Molly Steinka six-month, social media-based campaign rauss, associate manager of PR for Clorox. that would encourage consumers to “check With the objectives set to secure one milin” and submit their daily healthy habit, or lion check-ins to provide 500,000 check-ups select one that they were already practicto kids in need, create social media discusing. When those check-ins occurred, Clorox sions about the campaign and drive traffic to would reward those healthy habits by pledgthe website, the following tactics were put in ing to donate 10 cents to CHF every time a place: user shared or checked in their healthy prac• Collect and activate a group of high-profile tice to checkingforcheckups.com. social media celebrities and influencers to At the time of launch, Karen Redlener, excreate online awareness, discussion and ecutive director of the CHF said: “Without participation. access to comprehensive health care, children are at increased risk of developing life-long • Launch the effort with a high-profile health event in a top media market. Then health issues. We are thrilled to partner with recreate those events in other markets Clorox again this year to bring vulnerable across the country. kids the care they need and deserve so they • Generate awareness and buzz through incan live healthier lives.” person engagement with a celebrity social In order for this campaign to pop, Clorox,
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The Clorox Check-In for Checkups campaign allowed moms to go online and submit a daily healthy habit, resulting in a donation to Children’s Health Fund. Image: Ketchum
media influencer and via national media outreach. • Roll out the program through a video series posted on YouTube, blogs posts, and Twitter and Facebook posts. • Increase searchability of the campaign through online directory outreach. Social Media Influence In working with the Ketchum PR team, research revealed that 82% of moms are always looking for ways to lead healthier lifestyles. Ketchum’s research also revealed that 63% of those moms are active on social networking sites and most share information they feel is worthy of passing on. With that in mind, it was decided that instead of going through bloggers to spread the word about the campaign, the most effective way to bring about awareness was to target specific influencers on social media to get
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others involved with the campaign. The Children’s Health Fund was a great partner to work with,” says Carlisle Campbell, VP, group manager of Ketchum. “They had a lot of similar ideas and our goals matched perfectly.” With the objective being to secure one million check-ins, Clorox reached out to several key influencers who could spread the message to their own large audiences and get others involved. “We spent a lot of time finding the right people who were relevant to the topic and the cause involved,” says Steinkrauss. Bethenny Frankel, a New York Times bestselling author, was selected to lead the social media influence component. A new mom herself and a health advocate, Frankel was considered ideal and someone who the target audience could identify with. And with more than a million followers on Twitter and 800,000 “likes” on Facebook, her social media reach was a perfect fit to help spread the healthy message. The campaign was officially launched at a “Random Acts of Wellness” social event at the Chelsea Piers in New York City. It was Frankel’s chance to get started in her role to encouraged New Yorkers in attendance to check-in their healthy habits. Social Influencing In conjunction with the launch a series of videos on YouTube featuring Frankel helped Clorox drive its message. The videos, featuring healthy tips presented with a unique theme, were shared via Twitter over the course of the campaign to increase engagement and drive more traffic to the website. On Twitter, the hashtag #checkinforcheckups was the central point for users to share their experiences with their followers. On Facebook, check-in “events” were created periodically to provide support to others and to increase engagement opportunities.
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Chapter 15 • Case Studies
Keeping the Buzz Humming: Tips For a Top-Notch Social Campaign When Clorox wanted to create a program rewarding consumers for practicing healthy habits, it teamed up with Ketchum and the Children’s Health Fund to create Check-In for Checkups, a social media-based campaign that encourage consumers to “check in” and submit their daily health practices. Here Leslie Schrader, partner and director of Ketchum’s Washington, D.C. brand and marketing practice, offers the following tips for executing a successful social media campaign: • Activate all assets: Use traditional media and on-the-ground events to drive social and vice versa. This creates stronger and more substantial engagement than either one alone. • Engage the right partners: Choose the right mix of influencers to help drive engagement, conversation and create unique content. Make sure the partners have an authentic connection to your brand and campaign. • Go where your audience is: It might be tempting to ride the wave of popularity when new social media platforms are introduced, but it is still important to analyze where your target audience is going online. No matter how innovative a new platform may be you won’t achieve your business objectives if your audience isn’t using the latest platform. • Deliver good content: Bring your brand or cause to life through original content that is easily shared. Think about ways to engage your audience so that they are telling you what types of content they want to see more of, and then deliver it.
According to Steinkrauss, the combined Ketchum/Clorox team of 15 monitored the social media discussion to make sure everything stayed on course. Melanie Edwards, author of the ModernMami.com, a popular blog from the perspec-
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tive of a Latina working mother, hosted Facebook events, using her online influence to bring even more awareness to the campaign. “Twitter and Facebook were great tools for us as they enabled conversation among those who were getting involved,” Steinkrauss says. Checking In The success of the campaign exceeded agency and client expectations. More than one million check-ins had been secured by Nov. 2011, which put the campaign nearly two months ahead of schedule in terms of goals. The most important outcome: 500,000 children received viral health checkups because of the campaign. The campaign also drew 953,400 Twitter impressions and 1,395,954 Facebook impressions. Other campaign results include: • Generated more than 1,800 tweets • Reached more than 13 million people through Facebook and Twitter • Earned more than 12,000 video views, far exceeding the original goal of 1,500 views • Captured 90 million media impressions “The most surprising part of the campaign was the heavy involvement from the people who were checking in,” Campbell says. “It was really amazing to see. They were very inspired to give.” What’s Next? The success of Check-In for Checkups should eliminate some of the uncertainty other brands have with completely putting the success or failure of a PR campaign in the hands of social media. With the success, the door will be opened to future campaigns led from a social media perspective. “Everything we do, we’re looking at how we can use it better in the future,” Steinkrauss says. More and more PR pros are seeing the benefits of relying almost solely on social media for selected campaigns. Twitter, Facebook ® PR News
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Influencer Measurement Tools: They Drill Down, But How Far? For its Check-In for Checkups campaign, Clorox, with Ketchum, identified key online influencers—targeting moms—to get the word out about healthy habits. There are plenty of tools out there to find your key ambassadors online. Jason Falls, social media consultant and author of the Social Media Explorer blog (www.socialmediaexplorer.com), has compiled a list influencer measurement tools. Here’s just a small sampling of tools—both free and paid—on the list: Alltop – Blog RSS aggregator organized by topic. Lists feature top blogs in each category edited by the Alltop staff. Klout – Score-producing application measures an individual’s ability to move his or her networks to action. mPACT – Dashboard shows top 10 influencers by default, but allows drill downs with no limits on what you can find. ReSearch.ly – Offering from PeopleBrowsr allows array of topics and search-based filters to identify mentions of search terms on Twitter. Traackr – Custom topic influencer research tool. Produces dynamic top 25 list by category. Research model that factors reach, resonance and relevance to produce a numeric ranking. TweetLevel – Edelman project that produces overall Twitter population list that can be filtered by influence, popularity, engagement and trust. Twendz – Waggener Edstrom tool that identifies Twitter influencers around searched-for keywords. Twitalyzer – Twitter analysis of network, reach and impact. Individual profile page displays a person’s Twitter network and cursory bio information.
and other networks provide a direct connec- share our message,” Campbell says. tion to consumers and allow everyone a voice How true: Clorox found an issue it was pasto share opinions on any subject. sionate about, chose influencers who shared “The influencer approach really worked for its vision, and made it work. PRN us, as we were able to find the right people to
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