Lisa Buyer’s Twitter #SocialChat Recap – Optimize, Publicize, Socialize

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Miranda Miller

The Buyer Group president and CEO Lisa Buyer joined #SocialChat Tuesday evening as featured guest to discuss how the world of social media marketing looks through a PR lens. Hosts Alan K’necht and Michelle Stinson Ross asked five questions of Buyer, focusing on best practices for positive PR across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. Here are her tips for better social optimization and traffic through PR:

How is public relations different from marketing?

Lisa explains, “PR reports the story and marketing helps sell it! My mantra is optimize, publicize and socialize. Act like a reporter in PR and you win in social. PR is the editorial side of marketing; it helps your brand report the news and be the news.”

Sometimes PR can be too fluffy, said Buyer. She recommends that if you write like a journalist, you will have more credibility. “PR is organic, whereas marketing is many times a pay to play and smart consumers know that,” she said.

“Write in AP style and get to the point with no fluff, then optimize,” advised Buyer, in response to participant questions on how to write more like a journalist. “Write like it’s an optimized version of The Wall Street Journal, but customize it for your industry and also make sure it is social.” Reporters and journalists are taught to tell the story in the lead, she explained. She recommends putting the most important information first, unless sharing a feature story.

When asked how to tie these strategies into an angle interesting to readers, Buyer said, “Riding the trends is where the angle comes in. Tie your PR news story with the right angle and the right trend!” Participants were directed to Buyer’s How To Write a Press Release Google Loves and Searchers Read for more tips on optimized PR, which can help stories spread widely through news and social channels.

What is the best PR use of branded Facebook pages?

Buyer is no stranger to Facebook optimization; the deck from her PR Meet Facebook presentation is available online. On marrying PR and Facebook pages, she said, “Again, it’s not about selling; report the news via your Facebook Page.” Don’t just share your brand’s news though, she warns; tie in the real news. “Brands that align themselves with headline news become the headline news and curate the news. The media is on Facebook looking for expert sources everyday, so make your Facebook Page the “go to” expert in your industry,” she told participants.

Comment on what’s happening in the news, whether it be your Facebook Page or story on @nyt. This helps brands become an information source for people who are too busy to search through the masses of information available daily in the news and helps establish companies as topic experts and authorities. “Once you establish your brand as an industry expert, you can add endorsements,” Buyer said.

 

Buyer notes that brands also forget (or don’t know) to use keywords. Use branded keywords in Facebook Posts, she advises.

How does the shift in Twitter toward the professional affect PR outreach?

“If you can’t explain something in 140 characters or less, it is too complicated,” said Buyer. “You must be able to boil down your PR story into tweets and short posts for other social media networks.” Today’s news is reported via Tweets, she notes, and anyone can break news or be a part of the news. Brands should strive to be the first to break news to their community. As on Facebook, she recommends, “Let your social community rely on you to curate the news!”

“People are so busy, they don’t have time to troll all the info out there. Let them rely on your brand,” Buyer told participants. She had previously offered more in-depth advice on tweeting for greater PR value in a 10 tips blog post and also offers tips and techniques for Twitter optimization over on Search Engine Watch.

 

What are some examples of great use of YouTube for social PR?

Watch.tv is one great example of optimized and publicized how-to videos, said Buyer. Q&A videos are great content for optimizing and publicizing, as are CEO interviews and testimonials. Anything you can create with some value to viewers can be optimized for social sharing. “Add a video to every press release!” she advises. Video content adds interest and meta data makes it highly searchable.

How does Pinterest play into the PR game?

“Pinterest is the visual story teller,” said Buyer, calling it a “social PR, branding, and SEO opportunity all in one.” Buyer recommends report your brand’s news story or blog posts in pictures as an excellent use of Pinterest to get referring traffic. In an earlier blog post, she had discussed the rising popularity of the more visual social network and offered resources for Pinterest newbies wanting to learn the lingo or etiquette required for successful PR campaigns there.

Bonus Question!
Q6 @LisaBuyer What, in your opinion, is the biggest opportunity in social that brands are missing?
Maximizing the PR story with visuals, play up the #FB timeline with brand centric images and using #PR to influence social media marketing so that it is real, not contrived messaging.

#SocialChat takes place at 9pm EST Monday nights. Organizers recommend using TweetChat.com to track and participate in the conversation. The coolest social hosts n the Twittershere are Alan K’necht (@aknecht) and Michelle Stinson Ross (@SocialMichelleR).

http://beta.hashtracking.com/ht-pro-rpt/alanknecht-socialchat-2012-05-14/

Posted in Social PR | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

#Mashcon Tweets and Rumors Heard @Mashable Connect

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Lisa Buyer

If you can’t explain it in 140 characters, your idea is too complicated! The most popular Tweet from #mashcon and also the most poetic as a mantra of what’s to come in digital marketing.

In case you missed Mashable Connect, the signature conference of the year that takes social media trends and technologies to new levels with some of the industry’s most elite digital players. My favorite part of Mashable Connect was meeting up with Sarah Evans for a quick Social PR pow wow and a chance to meet her “boys” IRL! :)  Online or offline, Mashable Connect delivered ground breaking sessions and meet ups like How the Youth are Using Digital to Shape the Future, Why Most Marketers Get Digital Marketing Wrong by Cindy Gallup and Sarah Evans gave the heads up on the Evolution of PR.

Continue reading →

Posted in Social PR | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

5 Tips #PR Professionals Can Learn from Lindsay Lohan

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Lisa Buyer

Lindsay Lohan has had her fair share of troubles recently, and she’s been all over the news and gossip sites. Undoubtedly any PR professionals who work with her are up for quite a challenge. If you’re a PR person, here are some things you can learn from the Lindsay Lohan debacle.

lindsay lohan

1. You Need to Be Willing to Face the Deeper Issues

Lindsay Lohan is a young starlet with the disease of addiction. Much of the trouble she found herself in was a direct result of it. If the root of the problem continues to be half-heartedly addressed, she is likely to continue finding herself in bad situations. In the case of addiction, no PR person can cure it. However, PR professionals must be open to tackling deeper issues that continue to interfere with their efforts. If you don’t want to do damage control endlessly, you sometimes have to face the monster beneath.

Continue reading →

Posted in Public Relations, Social PR | Tagged | Leave a comment

Social Media Insights From College Students at MediaPost Search Insider Summit

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Lisa Buyer

Pass the beer, censor the Facebook post and ignore the ads. Life without social media? College students say they can’t imagine it! The first generation of consumers who grew up on social media and mobile phones graduates next month and smart marketers are searching for clues on how to influence the young and social savvy.

MediaPost Search Insider Summit brought students together to explore the next version of the social-search engine in the eyes of the next-gen consumer.

How does the next-generation of consumers react to the increasing social prowess of search and the ability to find content online? Do students LIKE to search online, and what reaction drives them to PLUS a purchase, TWEET a message, or take some sort of action. Is it different on mobile device, compared with desktop? Does knowledge from strangers and friends prompt them to try new products or services?
A panel of Florida Gulf Coast University seniors took center stage for a close up on how they use social media and mobile devices for school, work and play. The Panel: A Social Search Engine Through the Eyes of Next-Geners was moderated by Michelle Prieb, Account Supervisor, Edelman @meprieb who asked provoking questions that gave marketers valuable insights on how next generation of consumers and professionals make social media part of their everyday life.

When it comes to social media, college students say

  • They use Twitter more for professional purposes, to follow real world and business news. They are more apt to follow a company on Twitter versus Facebook.
  • Facebook is used primarily for personal use, reserved for friends and family.
  • Facebook ads are “creepy” and might cause a virus! Four out of six students say they have never clicked on Facebook ads.  One of the students said that they clicked on an ad once; and it was by accident.
  • Common interests motivate them to LIKE a company, but they don’t necessarily LIKE a brands on Facebook just because they like them offline.
  • Keep in mind they grew up on Facebook, they do not know many people who are not on it other than a few “older” friends who are around 30-years old!
  • Teachers are  showing students how to use because “it will be critical in a career.”
  • Social media makes their life easier, communications would be harder without Facebook and Twitter.
  • Without social media they might go out more often.
  • They think email is “old school” and use Facebook versus email in all school projects because it is quicker and offers better conversations and allows for instant communications.
  • While waiting for class to start, students will use mobile phones and devices as a learning tool to easily look up information, research read articles anytime from anywhere.
  • Students organize news feeds with apps such as Flipboard which creates a personalized magazine out of everything being shared with you.
  • Check ins are random and scattered. When they are in a cool spot, they tend to Checkin on Facebook and don’t really see  the need for Foursquare
  • Learned they need to keep their social media networks “clean and sober” and understand the value of personal branding versus college grads from a few years ago.
  • They all LIKE and <3 Groupon and Living Social, saying they use Groupon more.

Looks like the college graduating class of 2012 will be bringing some social freshness and prowess to the online marketing world. Social media resumes are the new black.

Check out the MediaPost session on Ustream.

Video streaming by Ustream

Posted in Social PR | Tagged , , | Leave a comment