Karen’s PR & Social Media Blog

My presenter badge for the World PR Forum in Melbourne

I had the pleasure to present during the research colloquium at the World PR Forum here in Melbourne, Australia. This was an event where many researchers and practitioners came together to talk about some of their research as well as what are some emerging trends they are seeing in practice.

There were several themes that came out of the World PR Forum from my perspective.  First, the growing need for practitioners and scholars to be not only on the same page, but collaborating on solving emerging issues and addressing trends in PR is paramount. This has been of course a growing trend we are seeing in the States, but it was good to see this being discussed in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and even Asia as well.

Second, one of the main things that was discussed at the conference of course was social media.  With the growing reliance and use of these emerging technologies in PR, this was definitely discussed as one of the main things researchers and practitioners in PR have to be aware of.  It was interesting talking with some of the professors from Australia when it came to social media. It was fun talking with some of them about what they were doing in the classroom with social media as well as in their research studies.

Lastly, the theme of transdisciplinary work with PR was also was present.  Everyone discussed the growing role and presence of using not just PR professionals in campaigns or research, but recruit artists, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and systems engineers to be part of the group.  I got the chance to share my experiences with working with psychologists and systems engineers, and everyone was excited to hear about it.

I had an amazing time presenting at the World PR Forum here in Melbourne.  My research looking into various situations and how they are perceived via multiple platforms on food safety was received very well by the conference attendees and organizers.  One of the interesting things I found out about the research colloquium was the fact that there were only a few of us here from the USA. I think that these conferences are wonderful opportunities to share knowledge, gain insights about various PR issues not only globally but also in another country like in Australia, and networking with fellow practitioners and scholars in PR.

Welcome reception for World PR Forum at Eureka Skydeck in Melbourne

I definitely recommend to all of my friends and fellow colleagues in PR back in the States to consider looking at the upcoming World PR Forum as a possible venue to present research in the future. In addition, I felt very welcome by all of the World PR Forum organizers at the conference.  They were professional, kind, and made sure I felt welcome and comfortable during the conference.  Thanks again for a wonderful experience!

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen

Hello from Melbourne!  I will be spending the next few days in Australia for the upcoming World PR Forum.  I will be presenting during the research colloquium tomorrow (still getting used to the 16 hour time difference from Louisville!) – the research I am presenting on is related to crisis communications and food safety messages with social media and traditional media. Should be exciting!

My first day in Melbourne was very good – I was actually surprised how I really wasn’t jetlagged.  After spending about 23 hours flying around the world, I arrived in Melbourne and was able to get settled into my hotel and explore a little bit of the city.  It is a very easy city to get around by walking – which I appreciated after my long day of travel.

Got a chance to explore Melbourne a bit after my long day of travel!

Coffee was indeed my friend today – I had fun exploring around and found a great Gloria Jean’s Cafe where I was able to relax, drink fabulous coffee, and check email and social media.

The last time I was in Australia was when I was ten years old.  My family and I took our first international trip together to Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Fiji, Raratonga, Tahiti, and Hawaii (whew!)  This trip not only was a life changing experience for me personally, but it really opened my eyes to the world in a whole new way.  I do thank my parents for giving my sisters and I the chance to see the world and really gave us the travel bug.  I had many fond memories of Australia and I am very happy to be back for a visit not only as a tourist, but also presenting at a prestigious conference.

Well, I am off to prepare for tomorrow’s conference – will let you know how it goes!  Have a fabulous day and good day mates!

Best Wishes,

Karen

I had the opportunity to present this morning at the Kentucky Society for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing (KSHPRM) Fall Educational Conference this morning at the Kentucky Derby Museum. Churchill Downs is a great place and right by the University of Louisville, and the group of healthcare professionals were very engaged and supportive.  My presentation focused on looking at infographics and what are some defining characteristics, best practices, and resources available.  It was a lot of fun!

My speaker bio for KSHPRM Conference

I had a chance to hear Stephen Moegling of Franklin Street Marketing discuss some of the emerging trends that are going to be impacting the healthcare marketing industry for the upcoming year (very insightful presentation!). Several themes were presented ranging from the rise of second screens (the evolution of mobile devices when it comes to getting information) as well as the rise of DIY healthcare.  You should also check out their infographic series dedicated to healthcare marketing – pretty fab!

However, there was one trend that caught my attention since this is basically where content marketing has been going and how we not only have to be aware of creating meaningful content, but repurpose and curate this information for our followers and audience members through our digital platforms, which Stephen referred to as being guruism. You can read more about it from this report, but it does bring about some interesting points. There are of course mixed perceptions when it comes to the term “guru” when it comes to social media practices. We have to be aware of what are some of the defining characteristics that make people influential not only on what they are creating, but also what they are sharing with their audiences.

Along with brand storytelling (Coca-Cola has done a lot with jumping on board with this trend), what we are seeing is the increase presence of brands not only taking ownership of their content and digital media sites, but also taking ownership as the go-to brand for knowledge and information.  We are living in a day of age where information is readily available to us with a click of a button, tap of an app, or a like on a page. However, one of the challenges we are seeing in PR and other areas dealing with social media is where to go with the most relevant and up-to-date information that is timely, relevant, insightful, and strategic.  These are individual sources that are extremely helpful and useful not only for practitioners, but also students and professors (:)) as well.

Based on this, some of the best resources and brands that have really distinguished themselves in this area not only producing great content, but sharing and marketing it as well, include the following:

• KISSMetrics
• HubSpot
• American Express
• Altimeter Group

In summary, more brands and PR professionals need to realize they have to have the ability to provide their own content and insights in business, but they also have to determine what information is out there and how to share this content in a strategic and organized manner.  Infographics, articles, blog posts, videos, reports, and other documents are just some of the content that can be shared. In order to establish ourselves in the field – whether it is in practice or even in research – we have to position ourselves in an area and provide our own commentary as well as share information and knowledge with others.  Doing these tasks over time not only engages individuals and simulates conversations, but it builds networking relationships that translates into a strong professional online and offline reputation.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen

One of my favorite movies growing up was the classic movie “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” with Robert Morse or here is the Broadway version with Daniel Radcliffe.  There are so many lessons and funny scenes in the movie that are quite entertaining.  However, there are several lessons that can be taken away from this movie that can not only be applied to business, but even social media practices and research.

Like social media practice, getting into social media research does involve some of the necessary digital skills and expertise you see in practice. However, the more I talk with rising scholars and fellow colleagues, there are certain things that need to be noted for those who want to get into this area.  Here are some things I think young professionals who are interested in pursuing scholarship and research with social media need to consider:

• People will steal your ideas for research and implications / best practices. If you have not seen the classic movie and Broadway show “How to Succeed in Business w/o really trying,” you really need to.  Be protective of your ideas for research and work.  One of the things that is featured in the movie surrounds a brilliant idea, and the advice the book gives the main character in the movie Finch is if you can’t think of a good idea, steal one.  This happens in real life as well – you never know when you may see your contributions mentioned in various publications and presentations without a reference.  This happens in social media research – while it is not fair – it is good to be aware of this ahead of time.
• The social media research arena is very competitive and a dynamic field.  Like point #1, everyone wants to be part of social media since there are a ton of opportunities and jobs.  Some will try to prevent you from doing this – whether it is rejecting your paper and then publishing a very similar study a few months later or taking credit for work that is not their own.  These things happen – so it is best to be aware of the current environment you are facing and be able to formulate strategies to address these. Look at the competition featured in “How to Succeed in Business” – as Finch rises up, he gets some support by his coworkers, but most of them are not happy with his success.  Keep this in mind – some people will love the work you do in social media research, and there will be those also who will not like you because of what you are doing.  You just have to be aware of this.
• In order to know how to do social media research, you have to live it.  People may say they are researching or “experts” in social media, but in order to truly be one with social media, you have to live it.  This means more than “I’m on Facebook” – this means you live, breath, and have social media in your DNA 24/7.  You have been a student of the emerging technology from day one and it is an extension of your brand and personality. Like Finch, he was experiencing the overall culture of the business and learning as much as he could to succeed in the business.  It’s not all about social media tools, but rather the experience of being part of social media and how it evolves into a lifestyle.Learning does not stop once you get out of the classroom.
• Separate yourself early on in your social media research:  Be strategic and creative and highlight who you are as a researcher based on your experience, personality, and interests.  Don’t try to be like all of the other researchers in social media. Look at what are some emerging skills and trends people in PR are looking for and see if you can incorporate these in your research. You have to make an independent mark for yourself in the field – this way, you will be memorable and have a stronger presence. You have to make an immediate impression with your research, like Finch did with his actions in the movie.

In summary, there are a lot of great and wonderful opportunities out there for social media research.  Explore the areas you are interested in and follow your passion.  Become a student of the technology and make sure to spend a little bit each day improving your skills and expertise in the area.  It is an area that is garnering a lot of attention and focus in academia – which means more people want to get involved which makes it more competitive.  While competition helps evolve the social media research and practice within PR, there are also some challenges we have to be aware of as emerging scholars.  If you are aware of these, you will be prepared to handle them and will be successful.

Hope you all have a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen

One of the main areas we are seeing a lot of discussion in for public relations professionals is not only in the area of social media marketing strategy, but in the area of measurement and evaluation.  In particular, focusing on what metrics to look at for social media platforms.

We will continue to look at Facebook for general conversations and trends, but we will also look beyond and see the seamless integration of other associated platforms like Pinterest and Instagram – but the focus is going to be beyond social media platforms. Instead, the focus for social media practices and research will evolve to focus on experiences – the stories, activities, and conversations emerging from society, communities, businesses, and individuals that share common interests with each other.

To understand these future trends, we also need to discuss how to evaluate the metrics associated with each of these.  Here are some other metrics we should discuss further and determine 1) what is the overall value of this metric for PR and social media campaigns ; 2) how do quantify these results to measure across platforms and industries and 3) what are the best practices for PR professionals to address these advanced social media metrics?

• Value of Images:Pinterest and Instagram are definitely setting the trend for emerging social media platforms as well as raising the issue of how photos and videos are the new currency for social media purposes.  Understanding the types of images and photos has to be considered along with the actions captured, user who has captured this image, comments emerging from images, range of exposure, visual voice + comments associated with the image, etc.  Will location be a key factor in this equation as well? However, some of the traditional means of monitoring and listening to social media may not apply for images, so we have to look beyond these metrics and determine what are going to be the specific ones we focus on for visual social media platforms.Optimization, reach, and shareability are just a few things to consider as well in analyzing these various platforms.
• Value of Stories:  We have seen much discussion related to the concept of storytelling for brands and individuals via social media. While it is important to note that stories are all unique and have to represent the brand on a personal level – there are some associated metrics we can try to quantify that is related to storytelling.  Measuring authenticity, location, engagement in response to the shared comments, sentiment in the comments, timing, context of the story, and voice are just a few we may want to take into consideration and discuss further.
• Value of Emotions:  People are more likely to share their perspectives and voice which images and visuals they like the most – there are some metrics that are similar to traditional social media platforms like FB with likes and follows on both Pinterest and Instagram, but how do we really capture the intensity of these emotions with individuals – do they just like this picture or do they absolutely love it?  Is there a formula to determine if someone likes and comments on a photo – that means they like it more than just sharing it with others?
• Value of Shareability:  We have looked at the evolution of social media to translate to just separate platforms and traditional media to be more focused on converged media – how paid, earned, and shared media are all connected. So, how do we value how certain items are shared across platforms?  With these visual sites like Pinterest and Instagram, separate services are doing this already, including Pinalytics.  My guess is that sites like Bottlenose, Hootsuite, and Tweetdeck along with other paid services like Radian6, Cision, and others will follow this trend as well.  We need to discuss how we would be able to quantify this for clients and in our research as well in social media.
• Value of Influence:  We have seen many discussions related to the topic of influence and whether or not Klout, Kred, or PeerIndex are really capturing what influence is all about? We have to consider various components like audience, communication skills, personality, and other attributes that constitute and contribute to the overall conceptualization of influence in social media. Is influence something that happens on one platforms, or translates across all social media platforms and even offline?  These discussions and associated metrics need to be explored further.

In summary, there are many opportunities to have advanced social media metrics incorporated into campaigns and in research.  However, further discussion needs to occur in order to determine the proper value as well as specific items necessary in order to quantify some of these variables.  With that being said, we should also explore the potential for exploratory research to determine these items first with qualitative research – so mixed method approaches would be good to address these points.

Hope you all are having a great day.

Best Wishes,

Karen