Social Media Influencers vs celebrity Endorsement: Who Wins?

  Understanding the difference between celebrity endorsement and influencer marketing is very important when developing a PR or social media campaign. You may tend to think that the two are the same since they are all supposed to trigger people’s intent to buy a product but that’s not it, the two are very different options for marketers. Understanding the difference is pretty simple, think of the famous people as celebrities and the others who command a huge social media following as influencers.  Celebrities use their fame to get people thrilled about a brand while social media influencers   create  buzz around a product on social media by using the product or just displaying it casually in their content. Most marketers have over the years used celebrity endorsement to generate public interest in a product or service but as the marketing environment is changing, staying true to one marketing strategy is getting hard.  Here are reasons why most marketers are abandoning traditional celebrity endorsement for influencers

Audience Relationships

Most celebrities do not have much of a relationship with their fans as influencers do.  You may find influencers say vloggers initiating conversations, replying to comments and answering questions from their followers on social media. Because of this kind of back-and-forth exchanges they build a credible relationship with their followers and they understand their needs and preferences. Getting feedback is also easy. 

Expertise

 A famous actor or singer doesn’t have to be an expert in dental health  to endorse a certain brand of toothpaste but top-notch influencers usually have expertise in the product they mention and they have spent a lot of energy convincing their followers of their specialization. For a startup focusing on a particular niche it would be advisable to work with an influencer in the niche. Followers see influencers  as  reliable sources of information since they perceive them as containing  a purported expert level of knowledge

Content creation

If you ask a celebrity to endorse your brand, they will entirely depend on the message you give them but influencers are generally specialists in content creation and they will come up with their own content.  You only need to give them guidelines and give them a creative leeway, This means that they may even use creative content delivery strategies that  you may not have thought of.

 Cost

A one off celebrity endorsement may be almost equal to the yearly marketing budget of a startup. But still big companies throw huge amounts of money at celebrities hoping that some of their fame will rub off on them but sometimes it back fires and the money just goes to waste. Also for small startups, the price tag of getting a celebrity to endorse your brand may be too high. Another issue with celebrity endorsement is that the message comes across as forced and unauthentic and the audience is sure that they got paid to endorse the product.

The bottom line here is; celebrity endorsement and influencer marketing should be treated differently since they entail different advantages and disadvantages and each produce different results. Since the advent of social media, many people are spending quite a lot of their time on social media and as marketer it is important to be where your prospective buyers are. This is why influencer marketing has emerged as a viable way of building a brands reputation today.

Advantages of Hiring a PR Agency

Some people tend to think that outsourcing PR functions is only for the large international companies that have vast marketing budgets, but this is not the case. PR is crucial even for startups since it is one of the most cost effective ways of marketing and gaining public recognition for your business. Simple PR strategies can make a huge contribution to the success of any business and that is why you need professionals handling the vital PR tasks for your business. The following are the main reasons why  you need to hire a PR agency no matter how small or big your business is.

Brand Building
Brand management is a function of PR that uses different techniques to increase the perceived value of a brand over time. Most renowned  brands owe part of their success to aggressive PR campaigns that have changed the way consumers perceive the brand. Every communication that PR specialists make with the public is an opportunity to reinforce their clients' brands. This is done through developing strategies and creating brand awareness and identity. Building a brand is not something that happens overnight, as a business owner you should start building your brand as soon as possible and be consistent in your PR efforts.

Generating more media attention

If you hire the right PR agency, your business should be able to get more media attention. PR agencies have vast and well established connections with journalists, bloggers, and influencers. They understand well who to pitch,how to pitch and when to pitch. When your brand is featured in the targeted media outlets, it becomes more visible to prospects. thus generating new leads. PR firms can also help in handling queries from media entities.

 Crisis management

Whether you are aware of it or not, your business is susceptible to a diverse range of unexpected threats, which can badly damage its reputation and have a devastating effect on revenue, credibility, customer acquisition, loyalty, and other important aspects of your business. The key to successfully traversing a crisis is preparation and that’s where PR comes in. PR savvies are trained to react immediately and proactively to mitigate damages of a crisis. By working with a reputable PR firm before a crisis occurs, you can greatly improve your ability to minimize the effect of negative publicity on your business. For example, competitors may spread foul stuff about your business but a PR agency can formulate the best response and correct the image and reputation of your business. 

   Increasing your return on investment
Today, return on investment has become the metric above all when it comes to demonstrating success for PR. there are many ways of measuring ROI e.g. website traffic, social media engagement etc. PR pros use various online tools to measure the impact of campaigns and other activities so as to help you make informed decisions about the effectiveness of PR  strategies. Working with a good PR agency will maximize your ROI in the long run.

Partnering with a good PR agency is like an extension of your team, they all work together to ensure that your business goals are achieved.  Looking at the above, it clearly makes sense to hire a professional to manage your PR functions. This is how brands grow, with layers of conversations about their product over many years. 

Social Media Hashtags for Every Day of the Week

Hashtags are no longer a new thing in the social media world but if you are new to the social world then hashtags are something you need to get familiar with. Hashtags are used in almost all social media platforms and they play a vital role in creating attention and categorizing content for your audience. From a user’s viewpoint, hashtags allow people to find content that is relevant to their interests. For business owners it is your chance to be noticed and to establish your company as a voice for certain topics. Knowing when, why, and how to hashtags can transform your social media game and presence immensely.

Daily hashtags can help you decide what to post depending on the tags relevant to your brand. In this post we’ll go over hashtags that are related to days of the week, to help you build you social media presence and grow a relevant following.

MONDAY

Being the first day of the week it is definitely time to  throw an inspirational quote to your audience as they start a new week using the #MondayMotivation. You can also use #MondayBlues to share your low spirited Monday  mood  that almost everyone gets while trying to adjust to the working environment  after the weekend. On the other hand #ManicMonday is for those who have do not subscribe to Monday blues and they always have high energies after the weekend.

TUESDAY

Tuesdays are for personal and professional development. You can use #TransformationTuesday to talk about a new transformation in your business or to unveil a new product. You can also use #TipTuesday to answer FAQs about your business and provide insightful tips that are related to your area of specialization. Tuesdays are also for #TechTuesday, where you can reveal new gadgets that you are using in your business and how they are helping you.

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WEDNESDAY

We are all familiar with the #WomanCrushWednesday which is used to recognize the efforts of women in different sectors. Wednesdays are also for #WisdomWednesday where you can share words of insights related to your business. Also use #wellnessWednesday to share tips on staying healthy.

THURSDAY

Thursday is for the popular #ThrowBackThursday or #tbt , you can use this hashtag to share old and also  recent memories that your audience would be interested to know.

FRIDAY

Everyone dears Fridays;  to join in the celebration  you can tag pictures you post with #HappyFriday. #FearlessFriday is also a good way to showcase different ways that you have overcome challenges in the industry.

SATURDAY

Saturdays are for sending shout outs to your celebrated employees and customers, letting them know that you value them  using #shoutOutSaturday.  This increases their loyalty.

SUNDAY

Sundays have not been left out either #SelfieSunday encourages sharing photos of what’s happening in your world. Use this tag to share more about your business, your employees or showcase a valued customer.

Mistakes in Crisis Management

Reputation is an important element in every organization. The most successful companies today owe part of their success to their good reputation.  A good reputation can be dismantled if there isn’t a proper crisis communication plan to manage crisis situations. Most organizations are caught unprepared when a crisis hits and they end up suffering a more than necessary aftermath.  That is why every organization needs a crisis communication plan. This is a set of procedures used to prepare a business for any crisis that may occur. It includes the steps that should be taken in case of a crisis, how to communicate to stakeholders and who should do what in case of a crisis. Crises comes when least anticipated and if there is no solid plan to tackle the crisis, it may even decrease the organization’s chances of survival. In this post we look at the common mistakes that PR experts make when handling a crisis and how to avoid them. 

1.      Failing to train for a crisis

Having a good crisis communication plan sitting on your shelf is of no use if no one knows how to use it.  Key players should be trained regularly on how to respond quickly, accurately and confidently in case of a crisis. This can be done in meetings where you go through the plan together or by conducting actual simulated crisis drills where every member acts in their prescribed role.

2.      Ignoring social media

The possibility of any crisis event playing out on social media is usually very high but some organizations have botched in building firm relations on social media before a crisis. Nowadays, social media has become a trusted source of news for many people. In case of crisis social media can be an important, fast and interactive conduit through which you can get to your stakeholders.  Apart from social media PR experts also need to learn how to deal with the media so as to effectively pass across their message hence minimizing further harm in the public eye.

3.      Waiting too long to speak up.

When a crisis hits, messages may become hard to craft and you may be tempted to stay quiet about the whole thing but in crisis, silence is not golden. The public expects you to speak up fast. You do not need to have all the answers but you should at least own the problem. Staying silent means that other people may take that opportunity to control the story. Also another common mistake communication experts make is trying to silence others, for example by blocking or deleting negative comments on social media. This makes the people talking about the situation get louder.

4.      Forgetting employees

Employees are the face of the organization and they can be incredible advocates for the organization.  With the right information employees can foster the recovery of an organization from a crisis. Also, customers and other stakeholders may rely on employees to get the truth about a crisis that has hit the organization. Most of the time the crisis communication team is so focused on external stakeholders that they forget communicating to the employees which is wrong.

5.       Ill-defined response team

When coming up with crisis communication plan some PR experts do not clearly outline the structure and duties of the response team.  Also they may assign numerous roles to one person which should not be the case. It is necessary to assess the different duties of each person in the team to ensure no one is overloaded during a critical situation. It is also important to have back up team members so that in case someone is out of office for various reasons, his work will still be done.

The vulnerability of organizations and the number of possible crises seem to grow by

 day and it is up to you to get prepared before it is too late. The best way to avoid these  crisis communication pitfalls is to have a solid communication strategy and a great plan in place.

Avoiding Procrastination

"Do not put your work off till tomorrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn, nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well, but a man who puts off work is always at hand-grips with ruin". – Perses

 At one time I found myself  making mental notes to finish up on an important  task but I  ended up postponing it because I thought there were four days left before  the deadline and it was now time to catch up on my favorite series. The next day I told myself that if I work religiously for two days I can still finish up on the project so I spent whole the day doing other trivial tasks. A day before the deadline my anxiety level was through the roof because I knew that the work needed to be done and I was running out of time.

I know you are familiar with the stress and tension that comes with leaving work to the last minute. More often than not, procrastination is a product of laziness and mostly it comes in two forms: getting distracted while working on a task (when you cannot resist the urge to do something else) and difficulty in starting something.  At first, it may not be a big deal until you find the same thing happening over and over. The next time you find yourself having difficulties starting on something or you hear a voice in your head telling you to check your social media or go get a snack in the middle of an important project, try the following hacks,

Make a well thought to-do list

This will help you keep track of the things you have to accomplish and help you in case you forget something you are supposed to do. Learn to prioritize your tasks and put the important and urgent tasks on top of the list. It is always advisable to start with the important tasks early in the morning when you still have the willpower. Also, avoid multitasking because it makes you feel like you are doing a lot at once but it hinders you from finishing tasks fast and effectively.

Break your tasks into smaller chunks

Some tasks may take many hours to complete and this can be overwhelming and it can also make someone lose the motivation to even start working on them but if you try dividing your work into sets 15 minutes after which you take a break it will be a lot easier working on them.  You can use a simple phone timer to know when it’s time for a break and when to get back to work

Block out distractions

Not having to deal with the temptation of continuous distractions will not only make it less likely that you will surrender to temptation, but it will give you more energy to concentrate  on your work and avoid procrastinating. First you should pick a work space that is good for you. Also, keep away all gadgets that may cause distraction.  Having your phone close to you as you work means that you know that your social media accounts are just a click away and you may be tempted to sneak into them for a minute which turns into hours. There are soft wares such as Rescuetime, AppDetox and StayFocused that you can use to block the internet altogether.

Only do the things you are really passionate about

Sometimes procrastination is not a result of laziness you might be shelving tasks because you do not enjoy doing them. Maybe it’s time to switch careers or find another job and pursue your passion. Also,  you may try making your work fun since we cannot always shun challenging tasks. Take frequent brief breaks in between your working hours to reenergize.

Reward yourself

Once you have successfully completed your work it’s now time to watch that show you have been trying so hard to resist.  You can use that anticipation to push yourself through the pain as you work

Creating a Social Media Strategy 101

When most people hear the terms social media strategy and social media campaign, they often think that the two are the same thing, are they? I hope you said no because they are two very different things. These two terms have been used interchangeably quite a bit but they are complementary, so before we look at how to come up with a social media strategy, let’s first look at the difference between the two.

To start with, a social media campaign is short term, comes after the social media strategy and its main aim is to promote a product or a service. Also, it aims at increasing page views and increasing sales for the product or service.

 On the other hand, a social media strategy is a summary of everything you want to do on social media and what you hope to achieve from the same.  Basically, everything you post on social media has a purpose and a social media strategy acts as a reference point that you can use to measure your success or failure. It is long term and includes specific objectives, a clear analysis of your audience and maps and plans on how to allocate resources. Now let’s see at the steps you need to follow to come up with a social media strategy.

The first things you need are SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time- bound). These goals will guide your actions and make sure you get good results. For example, you can have goals such as to increase brand awareness, to drive traffic to your website, to generate new leads or to boost engagement.

 The second thing you need to do is to understand your audience. Knowing your audience and their needs is key. This will help you to come up with content that is customer-specific, that they will like, comment on and share.  Avoid making assumptions about your audience, you should do your research. Social media analytics can also provide a lot of important demographics about your audience; who your followers are, where they live, which languages they speak, and how they interact with your brand on social. This kind of understanding will allow you to perfect your strategy.  In addition you will also need to research on your competitors and know what kind of strategies they are using, this enables you adapt you strategy accordingly.

Third, you will need to identify key success metrics. It is said that if you cannot measure you cannot improve it.  Here you need to come up with tactics in that will help determine whether your social media efforts are successful. Some of the metrics to consider measuring are clicks, reach,  conversion rates, time spent on website, brand mentions and total shares.

After you have done research on your audience and what they want, the fourth step you need to take is to create engaging content.

Finally, you will need to assess what is working for you and what is not; having a bird’s eye view of your social media will go a long way in putting things into perspective. It is important that you adapt your strategy as time goes by  because in the social world, things change fast. New networks emerge, while others go through major changes. This means that your social media strategy should be a living document that you look at regularly and adjust as needed. Refer to it often to keep you on track, but don’t be afraid to make changes so that it better reflects new goals, tools, or plans.