Talking through your social media strategy (or lack of one)

Here at FACTEUR, we absolutely love to share the knowledge we have in PR and marketing to help you with your brand or business, which is really the purpose of our blog, e-mail newsletters, and social media posts. Nevertheless, you may oftentimes have questions that are specific to your individual company or campaign, and need to pick a professional's brain, get an unbiased audit of your marketing now, or need help planning for something in the future. We can totally help with that!

So, in celebration of Social Media Day on June 30, 2017, we are offering a limited number of social media consulting hours at a special rate! 

Here's how it works:

From now through June 30, 2017, purchase up to 10 consulting hours at a discounted rate of $50/hour, yours to use through December 31, 2017. Following your purchase, you will be contacted directly to set up call time(s).

Consulting hours give you and your team one-on-one access to FACTEUR director and social media specialist, Reena Goodwin, for 60 minutes via phone, Skype, or Zoom.

Sample of discussion topics:

• How to set up Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat channel
• Social media training and channel overviews
• Audit of your social media channels
• Recommendations for social media strategy specific to your business 
• How to harness the power of hashtags
• Best practices for building audiences and engagement
• Analyze your business social media insights
• Advertise on social media
• Brainstorm content ideas 
• Content planning
• Discuss an upcoming campaign 
• Social media influencer marketing
• Topic of your choice

Curious to know if we can cover your topic? Send us an email at hello@facteurpr.com! 

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Advertising, marketing & public relations: teamwork makes the dream work

Whenever my roommate talks about her marketing classes, I feel a weird blend of familiarity and bewilderment; it’s like I can only catch every other word she’s saying. I recognize the language, but I’m not quite fluent. 

I once told her, “I don’t know how to think like a marketer.” I study public relations, not marketing! The two are closely connected, but not quite the same. 

So what is the difference between marketing and public relations? How does advertising fit in? I wanted to know, so I began asking at school and researching online. 

Here's what I uncovered!

Advertising

Advertisements want you to notice them. At the focus of every advertisement is a product or service. “Here I am,” it says, “Buy me!” 

With the rise of AdBlocker and a growing distrust of self-promotion, advertising often gets a bad rep. Information is readily (and literally) at our fingertips; most of us need more than a few seconds of a banner ad to be won over. The best advertisements are about more than the product alone; they also communicate value. Take, for example, this NIVEA DOLL video advertisement. It promotes sales, absolutely, but it also raises awareness for sun protection!

Think of advertising like a math equation: it takes the right product, expressed in the right way at the right time, delivered to the right audience, to produce a direct result.

Above: the relationship between advertising, marketing, and PR.  FACTEUR PR Instagram

Target: Potential customers
Message: “I am fantastic, and this is why you should buy me!”
Great for: Creating buzz about a product/service, driving sales, targeting specific audiences

Marketing

Marketing might seem similar to advertising, but think of marketing as a cake. You don’t usually eat a cake whole; you cut it up into slices. Advertising is just one slice of the marketing cake!

If we’re talking about strictly business (and not a cake), then marketing is the strategic implementation of tactics that brings together the buyer and the seller. It is a map that leads to the target audience — and marketing is all about the target audience. “Who am I targeting?” it asks, “And how can I appeal to them? Why should they choose me over the competition?” 

Marketing is me sending you a love letter of how you mean more to me than anyone else. It’s me writing a sonnet about how you are perfect for me, and I am perfect for you. 

Target: Current/potential customers
Message: “This is how I add value to your life, so you should buy me!”
Great for: Creating brand recognition, persuading target audiences, driving target audiences to action and purchase

Public Relations

Advertising and marketing both aim to sell, whether it be the product or the brand. Public relations, however, aims to build a relationship (hence ‘relations’). “This is who I am,” it says, “And this is how we can connect!”

A big part of public relations is media coverage.  Advertising and marketing “speak” directly to their audiences — but public relations enhances a brand through the media and word-of-mouth. You might read an article about a product launch, or you might watch a review on YouTube of a product, likely facilitated by PR people.

The end of the tunnel for public relations is not necessarily a sale or a purchase. Public relations is about creating and fostering relationships, about building credibility and trust, and about sharing a story. While sales aren't the first priority of PR, they can (and often happen) as a result!

Target: All stakeholders, including customers, influencers/editors, internal audiences, and shareholders
Message: “This is who they say I am and why I am worth talking about, so we should be friends!”
Great for: Building connections with media outlets and audiences, creating a positive image

Advertising, marketing, and PR. See how different they all are, despite how similar they seem? Each field has its own perspective and way of planning and executing! Each one on its own can produce great results, but together is when they really work best. Teamwork makes the dream work!

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Julie Hong

Contributing blogger
Julie is FACTEUR PR's Digital PR intern for Summer 2017.

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How to post on Instagram from your desktop

Instagram has always been a mobile-only social media platform, and certainly still is. And while many social media management programs such as Hootsuite have boasted the ability to post on Instagram through your desktop, it still has never been fully possible. However, just recently, a workaround on the Chrome browser has come to light. We just tested these five steps to posting photos from your desktop computer directly to Instagram, and it totally worked. Give it a try! 

1. Open the Google Chrome browser on your desktop, and head to Instagram.com.
2. Right-click anywhere on the webpage.
3. From the drop-down menu, select "Inspect."
4. You will see a window like the one pictured below. Above the Instagram feed on the lefthand side, select the size of the mobile device you would like to preview.
5. To upload a photo, click the camera icon on the preview window as you would on Instagram through your mobile device. You'll be able to add a caption and hashtags as normal, too! 

There you have it! A quick and easy way to upload photos directly to Instagram from your desktop! Did you try it? What do you think? 

Office Jams: Spring 2017 Playlist

Music has always been an enormous part of my life. In fact, if it wasn’t for music, I don’t think I’d be working in the field of marketing and public relations. 

In the late 90s at the age of 13, I built my first website and designed my first e-mail newsletter on behalf of a band I adored at the time. I also was a contributing writer to their fan club zine (that came in the mail every month!). Realizing my passion for music and writing led me to get a degree in Public Affairs Journalism in college, which is when I began my career specifically in music marketing for major record labels. It’s been one of the highlights of my career thus far! And while I love music, I haven’t played an instrument since high school (guitar and flute!), but have expressed the performance piece in a different way. 

This month is a special month for me because I’m celebrating my seventh year as a professional DJ. While I don’t play as much as I used to since launching FACTEUR, I still love to compile playlists and share them with clients and friends. 

Some of us love peace and quiet while we’re working. That is largely true for me, especially when I’m doing a lot of writing. But much of the time I do love some music in the background that keeps me energized and inspired to conquer the tasks and projects ahead of me. I shared a summer productivity playlist here last summer, and we’ll plan on sharing these more regularly each season. We hope this puts a little pep in your step - enjoy!

FACTEUR PR: Spring Tunes 2017 Playlist:

Digital content and story ideas for May

Welcome to the month of May! If you're in the northern hemisphere, you are probably welcoming some consistently warmer weather, which always inspires us to create new things. May has no shortage of great events that can serve as an inspirational source for blogging. These ideas are also applicable to your social media and media relations pitches. To get you started, here are just a few opportunities this month to align your brand or business with some already note-worthy happenings online.

May is...

• Vegan Month
• National Peanut Butter Lovers Month
• National Water Safety Month
• World Stroke Month
• National Bike Month
• National Photograph Month
• National Songwriting Month

Daily opportunities include...

May 2: National Lemonade Day
May 4: National Star Wars Day
May 5: Cinco De Mayo
May 6: Kentucky Derby
May 7: National Packaging Design Day
May 11: National Foam Rolling Day
May 14: Mother's Day
May 18: International Museum Day
May 20: Bike to Work Day
May 25: National Wine Day
May 27: International Jazz Day
May 28: National Hamburger Day
May 31: National Macaroon Day

Want more content ideas for the year? These are just a few of the ones we've identified! We have developed four editorial content calendars specifically for the food & drink, arts & hobbies, health & wellness, and lifestyle industries. You can find them under the Downloads tab here on the FACTEUR website (and showcased below). We've pulled together social media, blogging, and PR opportunities based on monthly and daily holidays, hashtags, and high profile events that are related to each of those industries. Also included is a list of story ideas to get you started with developing your editorial plan, as well as space to brainstorm your own ideas. We're offering each calendar for $10, and if you buy all four with our Blogger Bundle, you basically get one free! Plus, every time we update the calendars, we'll make sure you'll get the newest iteration (at no extra charge, of course). Happy creating!

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FACTEUR PR welcomes Julie Hong to its team

We are so excited to welcome our summer intern, Julie Hong, to the FACTEUR PR team! Julie is currently finishing her third year at University of Georgia, where she studies Public Relations and New Media and has experience in community relations, media relations, social media, event planning, and more. During the school year, she is part of the Publicity Committee at her school’s PRSSA chapter and the occasional staff writer for seasonal publications. A California girl who moved to Atlanta at age 16, she loves to say ‘y’all’ but still gets confused when she hears ‘fixin ‘to’. She is personal, positive, and a people-person who feels strongest when she is a part of a team (and already has a lot of great, innovative ideas!), so we are thrilled she’s “ecstatic to be joining Facteur PR as a digital intern for the summer, and can’t wait to get plugged in!” 

Julie will be with us through August - please join us in welcoming her to the team! Leave a comment below, and feel free to send her an email. Plus, stay tuned for some blogs and other great content from Julie throughout the coming months here on the FACTEUR blog! 

FACTEUR PR Digital Workshop: Fresh & Profesh PR Strategies for Startups Coming to FearlessCon

FACTEUR PR is proud to be part of FearlessCon, a digital conference event for creative entrepreneurs who are looking to learn real-world strategies to take their business to the next level. Now in its third year, FearlessCon's goal is to empower women around the world to create a life around their passions and turn their ideas into impact and income.  

Brought to you by the team at Femme & Fortune, FearlessCon will take place from the comfort of your own computers on Friday, May 12 and will be available to watch at any time after the live broadcast! Six women from around the world will be teaching topics on branding, public speaking, public relations, social media and more, including Reena Goodwin, founder of FACTEUR, who will present a workshop titled Fresh & Profesh PR Strategies for Startups. (See the line-up here.)

Tickets are $69 and on sale now! Just for our clients and community, take $10 off each ticket with the promo code FearlessReena. See you on screen!

What about the press you didn't ask for (or want)?

It's time for some real talk! There will be times occasionally (though hopefully not) where a brand or business might suffer some unfavorable press. I'm sure we've all seen the PR nightmare surrounding the recent United Airlines debacle involving the violent removal of a paying passenger from one of its planes just weeks after two other passengers were not allowed to board a flight based on a dress code. Truly, I can't think of a more stressful public relations job than that supporting an airline. Nevertheless, it's important to keep in mind in times like these that every single brand is subject to negative press. 

Whether you own a flourishing Etsy store, a delicious food brand, or offer business coaching services to your happy clients, it's important to have a plan in place in case things go wrong. You have to be an optimist to grow a successful business, but that doesn't mean realism gets to go out the door.

Nobody likes to think about "what's the worst that could happen?" and there's no better time to really think and plan for it than when things are going very well. Public relations is just one part of a crisis communications plan, and to help you get started, we've pulled together four considerations for you, which you can download below!

Four things to think about when building your crisis communications plan:

1.) Identify your spokespeople
In a crisis, who would be your key spokespeople? How will you get ahold of them? What will they say? The spokesperson may very well be you!

2.) Set up internal communications
Always be communicating quickly and clearly with staff and stakeholders with any updates as they arise or as they make sense. You don't want your investors reading unfavorable news about you on Twitter first.

3.) Monitor and respond
You should be doing this anyways, but always be sure to monitor the media and social media for chatter and sentiment surrounding your brand. In case of crisis or negative review or story, be sure to respond quickly if it makes sense. Depending on the depth of the situation, you may first want to...

4.) Hire a professional
Your lawyer and a professional crisis communications firm are always the best resource to advise on a strategy. Outside perspectives and expertise, especially if legalities are or could be involved, are strongly advised.

Recovering from bad press is certainly not impossible to recover from. Like all of your communications, keep your audience top of mind and stay true to them and your brand. 

Click the image above to download and print PDF.

Learn more about FACTEUR PR's public relations services.

Ten things to include in a pitch pack or electronic press kit

With an almost unlimited amount of information available online, one might wonder when pitching a product or service if supplying a reporter or collaborator with a press kit is still necessary or even expected. 

Depending on the reporter you're pitching, or even the popularity of your brand, you may not feel the need to put in the time it takes to create a pitch pack or electronic press kit. However, having a press kit ready to go if a reporter (or even investor or advertiser) asks is only going to help tell your story, equip your reader with the most valuable images and information, and make your brand look super polished.

So, what should you include and how should you present your press kit? For starters, it's all about ease of use. We love to create a PDF that can be viewed and printed like a magazine spread, which helps editors visualize your story on paper, and an electronic version (or an EPK - electronic press kit) that includes downloads of images, press releases and more. These formats tend to work in for numerous circumstances, but feel free to get create and develop a video, microsite, and more!

Electronic press kits can be attached in e-mail pitches, as well as be available for download through your online press room.  (electronic media kit created by facteur pr on behalf of chill pop shop.)

Press kits can also be printed and mailed or shared with investors or buyers. (press kit created by facteur pr on behalf of chill pop shop.)

Here are 10 things we recommend including in your brand or business press kit:

1. Biographies: Be sure to include a detailed company biography, as well as biographies on your company('s) founder(s) and leadership team. 
2. Press releases: What is the news you're trying to share? Make sure that those press releases are included in your press kit. 
3. Fact Sheet: Fact sheets can be bulleted to help editors quickly glance at the facts, figures, history, and breakdown of your brand.
4. List of products: If you have a product-based business, include photos and information about each of your products (like the example shown above). Don't forget to include costs!
5. List of services: If you have a service-based business, include photos (examples work) and information about each of your services along with costs.
6. Media highlights or other accolades: If your brand or business has been recognized by the press or with various awards, be sure to include highlights. These can be screen shots, links, pull-quotes, etc.
7. Resources: A great way to position your company or yourself as a thought leader or expert in your field, don't be shy about listing the ways you can be a resource to a reporter. For example, if your press kit is for your yoga studio, but the owner is also a nutritionist, make sure to mention that he/she can also speak about the intersection of exercise and nutrition. 
8. Contact information: Include how a reporter or editor can get in touch with you or your publicist, or how an investor or buyer can get in touch with you directly. (In your PDF, also link to any downloads on your website.)
9. Videos: If you have any video content, be sure to include along with your press kit. Videos can obviously help illustrate your brand story, educate, position you as an interview source, and provide content for digital media outlets. 
10. Hi-res photography: Embed and link to a directory of hi-res, quality photography. This includes photos of the physical business (if that exists), team members, founders, products, services, logos, etc. While it's always wonderful when a media outlet is able to send a photographer, in many cases they will ask for your photos. And if you can already show you have a selection of professional, eye catching photography, you may just be increasing your chances of landing that story. 

Remember, your press kit might be the first introduction for someone to your brand. Put in the effort to make it really count. Good luck! 

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We hope this content is helpful for you, your brand, or your business. If we can help you create your pitch pack or electronic press kit, contact us!

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FACTEUR PR recognized by PR Couture

Homepage of PRcouture.com

For as much publicizing as us publicists do on behalf of our clients, one would think we would devote the same amount of time and energy to promoting ourselves, but that simply is not the case. PR and marketing are such behind-the-scenes careers where the primary responsibility is to make others look and sound really good. That's just one reason why being publicly recognized for the work that you do is such an honor. 

I've been a big fan of PRcouture.com, which is a wonderful resource for public relations and media professionals who are focused mainly on lifestyle communications. Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when selected and featured for PR Girls We Love! I did a Q&A covering the highs and lows of PR, my career journey so far, as well as some industry trends. You can read the full post here. 

A very special thank you to the amazing ever so valuable PR Couture for this opportunity, and to Suzuran Photography for the accompanying photos! And a HUGE thank you to our clients and friends, too; without you, there would be no story to tell.

Cheers,
Reena