Public Relations: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

By: Carolina Lafuente

So you’ve just wrapped up an event one of your clients was hosting, thanks to your social media coverage and the feature you got on yesterday’s 5 p.m. news, the turn-out was excellent. More people are now familiar with your client’s brand, they now have a larger following on social media and sales are estimated to go up.

    But what if something went wrong and suddenly negative news comes out about your client’s company? Do you spin the story around? Is that really the right thing to do? Or do you own up to it and apologize?

Public relations specialists sometimes get a bad reputation of being dishonest based on stereotypes. Simply because some brands have had PR nightmares, doesn’t mean we are all made equally. Our jobs are to sell brand images; nowhere does it say this cannot be done by presenting factually based evidence about products. Yes, at times things go wrong. Thankfully there are guidelines to ethics of public relations, which can be found on Public Relations Society of America’s website.

According to the PRSA Code of Ethics, we must “Act promptly to correct erroneous communications for which the member is responsible and investigate the truthfulness and accuracy of information released on behalf of those represented.” In the simplest terms, we must remain transparent. Transparency allows customers to build a trust with brands, in turn creating a loyal customer base. We are in the communications field, let’s communicate effectively.

Cross-Posting on Social Media and Why You Shouldn’t Do It

BY: Carolina Lafuente

As a brand, sharing on all your social media platforms is key to engaging with your audience. However, if you’re sharing the exact same post across different platforms, you’re probably not going to get much interaction. Your followers will notice and it comes off as impersonal and lazy from your part.

First and foremost, not all social media platforms are created equally. Therefore, each post should be appropriately tailored to specific outlets. Your Twitter audience wants short, in the moment updates, while your Instagram audience is much more visual. Twitter works great with links to lead your followers to your site. Instagram, not so much since you can’t embed links into captions.

Facebook might be the trickiest to reach your audience through. Facebook’s strange algorithm punishes you for that one video you might’ve posted that didn’t get much attention. This however may work to your brand’s benefit by challenging you to really get to know your audience. It is important to keep in mind that with Facebook, the amount of people your posts reach varies on how much interaction your previous posts receive.

Social media shouldn’t be taken too seriously though, unless you’re a serious news outlet. Instagram is one of the best ways to showcase your brand’s personality through photographs, videos and text. Your followers will resonate with posts that are personalized. Sometimes, the amount of likes and comments go further than the number of followers you have. Speaking of followers, don’t forget to reply to your followers on their posts to let them know you’re there and you’re listening. So go ahead, post that TGIF gif or photo, and don’t forget to add that hashtag.

Why You Should Use Snapchat for Your Business

By: Carolina Lafuente

    Snapchat is slowly growing more and more each day. Today, it’s even used as a news media outlet with its Discovery feature that features stories by media outlets such as ESPN, The Food Network, and CNN to name a few. Celebrities have it, bloggers have it, my friend’s little sister has it and has more followers than I do fresh out of high school.

    The truth is, the world is becoming more social media conscious to where if you don’t have a presence in a certain outlet, you might as well not be real. Snapchat can be used to a brand’s advantage to grow its presence by giving consumers an inside look to a company’s everyday functions, a behind the scenes experience.

    Snapchat can become a way to get consumers to get to know the people behind your brand and the work put into how products are made. It can also be used for promotional purposes to get your audience out to events your brand might be participating in or hosting. Show them the venue, talk about activities that might be included, and on the day of the event show them the end result. It may encourage others who didn’t make it to come out next time once they see what they’re missing.

    The best thing, and main purpose, of Snapchat is that it’s to tell stories. Tell your brand’s story, keep your audience engaged by giving them a treat at the end of story such as a discount code. Don’t be afraid to get creative, that’s what visual social media outlets are for. We are storytellers by nature, add your brand’s story to Snapchat.

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