PRspective

Social media: Ethical guidance

Chicago-based Word of Mouth Marketing Association this month issued new guidelines for ethical, credible word of mouth (WOM) marketing, both offline and online.
 
WOMMA’s guidelines are an essential tool for public relations professionals creating and implementing social media and WOM strategies.
 
The guidelines:

Go beyond the “do’s and don’ts” of basic disclosure, i.e. the U.S. Federal Trade [...]

Social media strategy and goals in Des Moines, Iowa

This is the second post exploring the results of the Business Record/Hanser & Associates 2010 Des Moines Social Media Survey. A full report will be available in March.

Among the 72% of Des Moines organizations using social media, most are looking for attention and leads. Supporting customers is also a majority goal.

However, many have no strategy [...]

Who’s using social media in Des Moines?

As promised, we’re beginning to dive into the results of the Business Record/Hanser & Associates 2010 Des Moines Social Media survey… We’ll start by looking at who’s involved.

When looking at other research on this subject, it appears central Iowa organizations may be a bit conservative in adopting these tools - particularly certain industries and [...]

‘Social Media in Des Moines’ recap (and a look ahead)

Thanks to the more than 70 people who joined us for a discussion of the Business Record/Hanser & Associates 2010 Des Moines Social Media Survey results last Friday. Thanks also to R&R Realty for making space available on short notice when attendance was much larger than expected.
Thanks especially to the Business Record for their partnership [...]

When to use “which” or “that”

As PR professionals, we’re taught to write news releases and other media-facing materials using AP Style because it helps journalists and communications professionals, as well as the general public, to write (and read) the written language with some sense of uniformity.
When writing, it can be difficult to remember all of the little things, like when [...]

‘Social Media in Des Moines’ event

Exploring the results of the Business Record/Hanser & Associates 2010 Des Moines Social Media Survey
Friday, February 5
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
4601 Westown Parkway, Suite 125, West Des Moines (Veridian Building)
Join Hanser & Associates as we dig into our baseline research with:
• Jim Pollock, Editor of the Des Moines Business Record
• Christian Renaud, CEO and President [...]

Word of Mouth Marketing: Measure it!

If it’s hard to measure public relations, then how on earth can you measure far-flung conversations?
Fact is you can — and should — measure word of mouth (and PR, too!). And it’s not hard either. The trick is to focus on measuring what matters most.
So, what matters?
Well, that depends on what’s important in your business, [...]

Word of Mouth Marketing: Activate!

We’ve described what it takes to get your company ready for word of mouth marketing and walked through the process of identifying people and groups that can create and influence important conversations.
Now lets take the next step: activation of amplified word of mouth to transform your organization.
Word of Mouth is happening organically. Amplifying Word of [...]

Word of Mouth Marketing: Identification, please

In our last post, we described what it takes to get your company ready for word of mouth marketing: remarkable products/services and the means to engage customers and support from employees.
When a company is ready for conversations and their effects, it’s time to identify the people and groups who can shape an amplified conversation that [...]

Ready for Word of Mouth?

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association defines word of mouth marketing as “giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easier for that conversation to take place.”
That sounds simple enough, right?
Well, if you think you’re ready, let’s answer three (or more) questions:
1. Do you have remarkable products/services? And if [...]