Author: New Professionals PR Blog

pr strategy… Facebook Group v. Fan Pages–Never build a group page by Janet Krenn

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Go to any professional development seminar and the first thing you’ll hear is, “You can’t ignore social media. Get your company on Facebook.”

Yes do, but for pete’s sake, never build a Facebook Group Page! If you’re looking to build a Facebook presence for your company, use a Fan Page. Looking to build a presence for an association–Fan Page. Facebook presence for your church group or club–Fan Page.

If your company, association, or club is already using a Facebook Group Page, kill it and relaunch as a Facebook Fan Page. That’s what your New Pros Section did this week, and although only time will tell how well it meets our members’ needs, I’m betting the additional functionality will make us better connected than our previous page. In case you’re ever charged with building a Facebook presence, I thought I’d share with you some of the improved functions that only a Facebook Fan Page can provide–Oh, and if you haven’t already, Become a Fan of New Pros!

Fan Pages Send Updates to Members’ Homepages

How well would you keep up with your friends on Facebook if their updates never made it to your homepage? I bet not very well, and unfortunately, no part of a Facebook Group Page will make it to your members’ homepages. Events, wall postings, and discussions will all go unheeded unless you send your members a message. It takes away from time you could be spending developing new and better content. Fan Pages work just like Personal Pages. If you update events, the wall, or any other part of the Fan Page, it will make its way to your fan’s homepage. This means you can save the “message members” function for big announcements that need a little extra attention.

Fan Pages Can Receive RSS Feeds

When you’re working on a multi-layered social media campaign, you could be looking at 4 different networking sites and let’s face it–you need to streamline. A Facebook Fan Page can receive an RSS feed and automatically post new content to your wall as it becomes available. This could be a great tool for promoting a blog or another on-going effort, without having to manually update your Facebook Page everytime.

Fan Pages Allow Apps

Okay, confession time, in the previous paragraph when I said Fan Pages can receive RSS, I was referring specifically to the “Notes” application. But your app options don’t stop there on a Facebook Fan Page. Any box, application, or function you can put on a Personal Page, you can put on a Fan Page. Or if you have the budget, you can higher a developer to build a unique app to spruce up your page and build that coveted brand identity.

Fan Pages Help You Integrate Facebook to Other Online Venues

You may have noticed that in the sidebar of this blog, we have a new Facebook widgit. When you launch a Fan Page, you get the code for this nifty little box. You can add the code to your website, your blog, anywhere that runs javascript, and it visitors to your other online venues can become your Facebook fan just like that!

Fan Pages are User-Friendly

Your wall is the most important part of any Facebook page, but only the Fan Page keeps the wall at the top of the page, where it belongs. Group Pages bury the most frequently updated parts of the page: Discussions are under layers of static text, the wall ends up at the bottom of the page, and events are tucked away in a sidebar. If you want the newest information you post to show at the top of your Facebook page, you need a Fan Page.

Fan Pages Have Analytics

If you need to show your higher ups, or yourself, that your Facebook efforts are successful, know that only Fan Pages provide analytics. A few simple clicks and you can check out fan demographics, page visits, multimedia views and more. You can even export your data into an excel file or a comma separated variables list.

Fan Pages Have It All

Okay, not really! But I’ve found the functionality of a Fan Page to be shockingly superior to that of a Group Page. If you’re considering building a Facebook presence for your group, go for the Fan Page and never look back!

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JANET KRENN is the Communications Co-Chair of the New Pros Section. She wants you to know that the opinions expressed in this post are that of her own, and should not be assumed to be the opinions of PRSA or the New Pros Section, although she suspects that they hate Facebook Group Pages as much as she does. Oh, and Janet’s always looking for new contributors to the New Pros Blog. Email janetqs(a)gmail.com if you’re interested in contributing.

pr strategy… Case Study in Building Community Trust by Sara Cullin

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Few industries are as misunderstood or outright detested as landfills.

According to the 2009 Saint Index, which measures the politics of land development, landfills hold the top position as the most opposed form of local development. That said, few industries draw as much curiosity.

I work for Rumpke Consolidated Companies which operates eight landfills and six recycling centers. Our communications team is often confronted with misconceptions about the solid waste industry. To address these, we wanted to create a program to develop advocates by harnessing the public’s interest in what happens to their garbage.

Designing a Community Program that Meets Needs and Answers Questions

In 1996, the company began organizing tours of its largest facility. Since then, our communication department has offered prearranged landfill tours every week. A 45-minute bus trip around the site provides a first hand look at landfill operations. Our tour guides share information about the history and future of the landfill, construction and environmental protection, as well as fun and interesting facts about the site.

Obtaining Support for the Program within the Organization

Providing clear expectations for management and operations is often key to gaining support. There is a fear that opening the door to the public is also an invitation for more criticism and scrutiny. By demonstrating the effectiveness of providing the public informative, organized, and consistent information, we have been able to utilize more community relations tactics. Tracking feedback from visitors has been important to demonstrate success.

Monitoring the Program for Effectiveness

Although tours have been offered for several years, we began gathering feedback from participants in March 2009. Within a few days of visiting, we email a link to a brief online survey to whomever scheduled the tour. The survey consists of just seven questions, but it has helped us identify topics that could be emphasized more or are of particular interest to visitors. We are also able to gauge the impact of the tour in motivating visitors to be more conscientious about waste and recycling.

Most of all, the feedback provides confirmation of the effectiveness of having an open door policy with the public. Many of the comments we receive not only in the survey, but also in phone calls, emails, and letters, express appreciation for simply providing the free public service. One-hundred percent of survey respondents indicated they would recommend the landfill tour to someone else.

Expanding Efforts to Build a Supportive Community

Our open communication policy has made our organization a trusted source for many local schools, universities, and community agencies that regularly contact us for tours and presentations. To accommodate the volume of requests, we have produced educational videos, as well as provided virtual tours and activities on our Web sites. We have also expanded our tours to other facilities within the company.

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SARA CULLIN is a corporate communication coordinator for Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc. in Cincinnati.

your pr career… 10 Steps to Starting a Local New Pros PR Group by Crystal Olig

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Our first years in public relations can vary from enlightening and fun to intimidating and tough. Our peers in PR quickly become our best resources, providing a relationship-based connection to the industry.

By starting a New Pros group for your local PRSA Chapter, you’ll be able to share your passion for PR, be a leader in the chapter, and grow your personal network of connected, smart, and helpful peers—who won’t mind if you occasionally geek out about AP style, social media, or the coolest new blogger in the city.

Starting a local New Pros group takes some work, but it is not as hard as it sounds. This 10-step roadmap spells out exactly how you can get there.

Find New Professionals in Your Area

1. Build a base of new PR professionals.

Associate members, recent graduates, and current internship programs are rife with new PR pros eager to build professional skills and connections. Get email addresses, Twitter handles, phone numbers, and LinkedIn or Facebook info and connect with new pros in multiple ways.

2. Expand your base of new PR professionals through referrals.

Build an active referral program. At every live event, ask new pros for connections to their peers. Challenge each attendee to bring a friend or industry peer. Engage new pros on Twitter; then use your network to create a “re-tweet” trail for event postings and resource links. Use Facebook to actively invite others to events, engaging them pre- and post-event. Use word-of-mouth to help bring in new people.

Reach Out

3. Create a consistent outreach plan.

Choose a primary New Pros communication tool, such as a list-serv or Facebook page. Train new pros where to go first for group information, and stay in front of busy professionals by using secondary resources like an online chapter calendar, weekly e-blasts, and oral announcements before other PRSA events. Reminders are key. Follow this schedule and contact members one month, then one week, and then one day out.

4.  Don’t assume—Ask what new professionals in your area need.

You can discover what your members are interested in using a short and sweet questionnaire. A quick Survey Monkey quiz can do the trick also. For example, you can ask new pros to rank interests, such as these:
•    Career building advice
•    Connection to a mentor figure
•    Gen Y workplace issues/generational differences
•    Hard skill development, i.e. pitching practice, social media strategy
•    Informal socializing
•    Meeting the media
•    Networking with more seasoned pros
•    Sharing experiences in comfortable peer-to-peer environment
•    Soft skill development, i.e. time or information management

Plan and Engage

5. Plan hybrid new professionals events.

Many young pros want to socialize, but need an academic incentive to compete against a crowded social calendar. In Phoenix, we created the “Happy Hour+” program, hosting informal education opportunities for the first 15-20 minutes of the event, followed by networking. Examples include a “Top 10” tips presentation on focused topics, roundtables on hot button issues, or quick Q&A sessions with PRSA board members or notable leaders.

6. Initiate a matching program.

Many times both seasoned and new professionals are unwilling or unable to commit to a formal mentoring program, though it’s a frequently-mentioned need. A matching mechanism during the RSVP process for chapter-wide events allows new and seasoned professionals to be paired up for a one-time-only mentorship opportunity. If individuals make a great personal connection, it can develop into a more consistent mentorship relationship.

7. Deliver variety in programming.

Deliver events and topics that are varied. Don’t be afraid to crowd-source the next topic. Shifting physical locations for events, from local agencies to downtown pubs to suburban restaurants, helps spread the burden of drive time obstacles.

Keep this Advice in Mind

8. New professionals leaders must be visible and accessible.

Send at least two New Pros members to the regular PRSA events and host a New Pros table. Invite new professionals to join the table. This way the new pros will will have someone to sit with, ask questions of, and network with. As an added bonus, New Pros committee chairs get valuable visibility within the larger PRSA chapter.

9. Be time- and cost-conscious.

New pros encounter common barriers to developing a consistent tie with professional associations: Time and money. As an entry-level or junior employee, it’s hard for a new pro to request time off to attend daytime PRSA events. Plan events outside of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Events such as weekend brunches, happy hours, or coffee meet-ups might work better than lunch meetings. Many organizations are unable to assist with membership fees for junior pros, and entry level salaries don’t cover many extras. Be open to non-member attendance, and try to keep events free or under $5 (unless the fee covers the cost of food or drink).

10. Create a super committee.

To launch a New Pros group, you need a solid, diverse, and enthusiastic committee to share the workload. Start with four to five new pros from different areas of PR, including corporate, non-profit, and agency. The New Pros committee leader should have a strong tie to chapter leadership, whether through a designated board member contact, within a professional development cluster, or via the membership committee. Meet monthly in person or via conference call. Maintain a strong committee by respecting each person’s time, requiring accountability and responsiveness and consistently incorporating committee members’ input or ideas.

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CRYSTAL OLIG is the former Phoenix PRSA New Pros Committee Chair and is a current Central Ohio PRSA University Liaison committee member. She can be reached at crystal.a.olig[at]gmail.com or through @sparklegem on Twitter, linkedin.com/in/crystalaolig, or the whY genY blog.

pr strategy… The Dangers of Social Media Marketing by Travis K. Kircher

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I spent four years working as an assignment editor for a local TV station. We covered a host of fatal accidents, homicides, house fires, etc. One of the first things we did when we got word of a fatality, whether the death was a tragic accident or the result of foul play, was hit Facebook and MySpace up to see if they had an account. If they were young, chances were they did. And chances were, it was an open account. That is, any member of the public could access it.

I can remember one instance in particular when we were covering a fatal accident involving a young person. As soon as we got the identification from the coroner I ran his name, and, sure enough, there was his profile page, his smiling face beaming eerily from the computer screen. Already his friends had gotten word of the tragedy and were posting memorial messages on his wall. It became standard practice for the media to show those photos and read these messages on the air.

When people stop to think that they might wake up one day to see the contents of their MySpace or Facebook pages as a topic for discussion on the morning news, many of them bristle. Isn’t that a little below the belt? After all, what business does the media have delving into people’s private lives?

This is the lesson all of us must learn: As long as your profile page is open to the public, IT IS NOT YOUR PRIVATE LIFE. When an agitated husband writes, “I hate my wife!” on his evening status update, it’s no different than purchasing ad space on a 250’ x 500’ digital sign in Times Square and announcing it to the world.

The media will investigate anything in the public record, and an open Facebook account IS public record. And it may not just be the media thumbing through your MySpace photos. Prospective employers, loan officers, ex-girlfriends, sexual predators, your boss, and Osama bin Laden could all be checking you out.

Like individuals, businesses can often be careless about their social media accounts. When setting up a MySpace or Facebook page, it is critical for marketers and public relations professionals to keep the following tips in mind:

  • Keep business and pleasure separate on social media. A business owner who already has a personal account under his name should not use that same account for business purposes. Clients don’t want to hear you “shoot the breeze.” They want to see professionalism and expertise. Keep one account for fun, and the other for business.
  • Double-check the privacy settings on your social media accounts. Facebook and MySpace give you the option of making your accounts public or private. It’s a no brainer that any high level executives with personal accounts should have them set to “private.” Business pages will likely be public.
  • Be aware of potential exposure to litigation. Don’t post any content to your Facebook page without first determining whether you have the legal right to do so. Posting images of minors may pose a problem if you don’t have parent’s permission.
  • Monitor your social media networks. One of the most dangerous things a business can do is open a social media account and then forget it is there. Entire conversations may have taken place and accusations may have been leveled against your company without your knowledge. Take an active, aggressive, and vigilant approach to the way you handle your account, and be quick to nip any problems in the bud before they explode into a PR nightmare.
  • Don’t post anything to social media you wouldn’t say to Larry King. You have no idea who is accessing your account. Even if it’s closed to the public, one of your friends could save images from your page and e-mail them to others. Anything posted on a social media account should be run through the PR office first. You should also be aware that once it’s up, it’s permanent. You may take it down, but that doesn’t mean someone hasn’t already seen it, saved it,and distributed it to others.

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TRAVIS K. KIRCHER is an independent copywriter and founder of WriteNow Creative Services, which does indeed have a Facebook account (feel free to join.) He can be reached at tkircher@writenowcs.com.

social media case study… Using Facebook to Execute the Quick PR Campaign by Janet Krenn

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When California Tortilla won Best Burrito in Washington, DC by Washingtonian Magazine, the California Tortilla marketing team wanted to develop a promotion to get the word out by the beginning of July–and by the way, they only had a couple of weeks to develop, launch, and close said promotion.

To meet their time crunched goal, they turned to social media.

California Tortilla, a Maryland based Mexican food franchise, already had a solid footing in social media. Their Facebook page has more than 3,000 fans, and their Twitter page (caltort) has about 1,800 followers. California Tortilla also has a strong email list, called TacoTalk.

“[Social media] was a good fit for this campaign,” said Stacey Kane, Marketing Director at California Burrito, who notes that the franchise frequently uses social media to run promotions such as coupon give-aways and others. “Our customers are very vocal, and so social media is a good extension, a good way to interact.”

To spread the word about their new “Best Burrito in DC” victory, the company decided on a radio script writing contest. On the California Tortilla Facebook Fan Page (July22), the wall read:

“You know how California Tortilla won Best Burrito in Washingtonian Magazine?? Well we did…and we want to run some radio but we have no budget to pay anyone to write the copy. So we decided we wanted our fans to do it for us. Write a thirty or fifteen second spot saying why we deserved the award and the winner gets $1000 and free burritos for a year…”

In fact, California Tortilla relied nearly exclusively on social media to promote the campaign. But it’s not as if they snubbed traditional media. “We put out traditional PR, but it seemed to only get picked up by the trades, not local media,” said Kane.

Once the contest opened, fans had only 5 days to submit their radio scripts. California Tortilla received nearly 100 entires.

“The entries weren’t just written scripts. Several people actually submitted produced radio pieces,” said Kane.

Kane said she was shocked at the “shear amount of time and passion that people put into [their entries]. The contest closed on July 7th, and by July 8th, people we’re emailing to ask whether we picked a winner.”

They hadn’t. Instead, the company sent all the participants a goody bag of coupons and other swag to tide them over while waiting for the winner to be announced. California Tortilla plans to announce the winner within the next week, when the company launches its new website.

Although Kane said her group did not pick a metric by which to measure the campaigns success, she felt it was a hit. Not only did they get a large response quickly, “The campaign did generate a lot of buzz, and this was reflected in increased sales,” Kane said.

What does Kane recommend for other companies considering launching a similar contest via social media?

  1. “In regard to social media campaigns, stay true to your brand.”
  2. “Make stuff clear and easy for fans to execute.”
  3. “Do what you promise to do; make clear cut rules, and stick to them.”

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JANET A. KRENN is Communication Co-Chair of the New Professionals Section of PRSA. If you’re a member of the New Professionals Section, and you’d like to contribute to the New Pros’ blog, email her at janetqs(at)gmail dot com