#AGUIDETOPERFECT #SOCIALMEDIAPOSTS.

 

People like to say there's no such thing as perfect, but at the rate customers' attention spans are decreasing, social media managers can't risk posting updates that aren't close to perfection.

What does a perfect social media post look like?
An infographic from My Clever Agency has the answer. It explains in detail what strong, engaging and effective social media posts should include. While we've gone over what good Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ posts look like, this infographic has been updated to include YouTube, Instagram, Vine and Tumblr.
Are you ready to achieve perfection? Here are a few tips as to how:
YouTube:

• Carefully name your files. You want your videos to be searchable, so when you upload a video, make sure the file name includes strong keywords, not just "Movie1.mp4."
• Include a call to action. What do you want viewers to do after they watch your video? Give them instructions in the description section, and include a link to your website.

Instagram:

• Use captions. Add captions to your photos to grab followers' attention and prompt discussions.
• Follow basic photography rules. The graphic recommends following the rule of thirds, which says the subject of your photo should only take up two-thirds of the shot. This will make your photos more visually appealing.

Vine:

• Be still. Invest in a tripod to prevent your video from looking shaky. You don't want to make fans nauseous.
• Master the infinite loop. The goal is to create a video that will seamlessly loop over and over. Try to make your final scene blend smoothly into the first one.

#THECOMMUNICATORS, ARE YOU #CONFUSINGTHESEVERBALCOUSINS? by Jennifer Hanson

Most public relations professionals relay on their spell checkers.

Looking for red underlings to help identity misspelled words can provide a misleading confirmation of accuracy.

If those first two sentences weren’t like nails on a chalk board, you definitely should read this post.

Technology is our friend, right? Well, while we all cozied up to spell-check, it decided we could use the wrong word as long as it was spelled correctly. Here is where you can get into trouble.

No problem, we have a Word to the Wise: Here are five little bandit groups that PR professionals must watch before they undermine the credibility of your professional communications.

1. Accept, Except, and Expect

Accept is a verb that means “to take in.” The preposition except means “other than.” The verb expect means to “depend on” or “await.”

• All public relations pros, except those who are very old school, accept the influence of social media. We expect it to be part of our planning now.

2. Affect and Effect

Affect is a verb meaning “to influence.” Effect is a noun meaning “result.” When used as a verb, effect means “to cause.”

• PR campaigns affect the media in various ways. Understanding is a natural effect of clear communication.

3. Assume and Presume; Assumption and Presumption

Assume means (1) to take upon oneself; to take over duties and responsibilities; or (2) to take for granted or without proof. Presume means (1) to take for granted or without proof; or (2) to undertake without permission.

• We’ve all attended social functions where someone seems to know it all and makes the assumption that people enjoy hearing his vast input. We cannot make the presumption that he will stop talking on his own, unless we have been in his company before and know this is true.

4. Attain and Obtain

The word attain means to achieve, accomplish, or succeed in reaching a goal; obtain means to acquire or get possession of something.

• There can be no guarantee that your public relations campaign will attain its expected results or obtain more clients for your business, although that is always the goal.

5. Assure, Ensure, and Insure

The verbs assure, ensure, and insure all mean “to make certain or secure.” Use assure for people, ensure for things, and insure for money and guarantees (insurance).

• These grammatical recommendations can help ensure you write professional press releases. Although LTPR does not insure you for spelling mistakes, we can assure you that the more professional your presentation—especially when it comes to the accuracy of your word choices—the more success you will have in relaying your message.

These represent just five of our examples. What are yours? 

#THEMARYLANDCANDIDATE'S ATTACK AD #USESPHOTOOFOPPONENT DOING #CANCERSUPPORTPOSE By Matt Wilson.

Students at the University of Maryland are familiar with the online trend of “Zaching”—photographing oneself with arms up and muscles flexed.

It’s a tribute to Zach Lederer, a Maryland basketball team manager who died of brain cancer in March. The meme has become so popular that there’s an entire Tumblr dedicated to photos of people—including master flexer Hulk Hogan—“Zaching.”

Larry Hogan, the Republican nominee in Maryland’s gubernatorial race, was clearly not so familiar with it, nor was anyone on his staff. A photo of his opponent, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, doing a “Zaching” pose made it into an attack ad which dubs Brown “the most incompetent man in Maryland,” a parody of Dos Equis’s “the most interesting man in the world” ads. 

The Maryland Democratic Party called the use of the photo “a despicable ad politicizing the struggle of recently deceased cancer victim,” The Washington Post reported.

The Hogan (Larry, not Hulk) campaign is pleading ignorance, saying they had no idea the pose was anything but hubris.

“All they saw was two guys flexing their muscles,” spokesman Adam Dubitsky said of the ad’s creators. “We didn’t get it.”

The photo was posted to Facebook in May without any caption to contextualize it. Other times the campaign had posted the ad, there were captions tying it to Lederer.

Even so, the campaign is sticking by the ad, and won’t be swapping out the photo. Dubitsky said Brown and Democrats should be responding to the ad’s claims about spending and incompetence rather than the use of a photo. 

#THEPRLESSONS FROM #REMODELINGPROJECT By Paige McDaniel

Since February, I have spent nearly every weekend remodeling my boyfriend’s cabin.

A pipe burst on Valentine’s Day weekend, and a $12,000 insurance claim turned into new windows, doors, flooring, drywall, decks, interior and exterior paint, landscaping, and quilts.

I have taken the lessons from the remodeling process and have applied them to my Monday-Friday job. Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. There’s always more you can do.

One extra little adjustment can be made or perfected, and another decorative pillow can spruce up old furniture. The same concept can be applied to public relations. Your marketing strategy will never be completely done; a proper public relations strategy will always require a little attention and adjustment.

2. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

My boyfriend quickly got immersed in all the makeover possibilities; a new bathroom project escalated to a full renovation of the house in a matter of weeks. In public relations, there is always another opportunity to pursue, but it’s important to focus on what must be accomplished rather than spreading yourself too thin.

3. Communication is everything.

We have had bad luck when it comes to communicating with our contractors. They say they will call but don’t, they tell us they completed a job but didn’t, and they show up when it’s convenient for them instead of working according to our schedule. When it comes to public relations, communication must be consistent and clear so that everyone involved knows what is happening and when.

Readers, please offer any other parallels you see between PR work and home remodeling.

#HOWFAKETWITTERFOLLOWERS CAN #DAMAGEYOURBRAND.

Didn’t we learn anything from Manti Te’o?

Surely you remember the former standout Notre Dame linebacker who was publicly embarrassed—and worse—last year when Deadspin revealed the dead girlfriend he’d been mourning in the national news media was not real.

It was a major PR crisis. The revelation came just before the NFL draft, and the ensuing scandal and questions about Manti’s motives helped deflate his draft status.

His “relationship” started with a fake Twitter profile in 2011. You would think that would be a powerful cautionary tale for any public figure tempted to flirt with online fakes.

Yet, this month, Politico published an article about notable elected officials with huge fake Twitter followings: President Obama, Sen. John McCain, and Gov. Chris Christie, to name a few. The writer speculated that overzealous campaign workers eager to impress their bosses purchased “bots” to artificially inflate followings.

What’s the benefit of a fake follower for a politician? A bot can’t vote. And if they’re retweeting your messages, it’s likely only to a bunch of other bots who can’t vote either.

As the article points out, there are tools easily accessible to the media, the public, and to political enemies that can estimate the percentage of fake in a Twitter following. Whether you’re a politician or a business owner, the odds are good that you’ll be exposed.

So far, it hasn’t hurt the politicians much, but then, they have little credibility left with the voting public anyway. It’s far riskier for business owners.

That’s why it worries me that so many of them and/or their marketing consultants continue to buy fake followers. Just last week, I had to tell a new client that his previous social media marketing firm had built him a Twitter following that was almost 90 percent fake. The client wasn’t happy to learn that all those followers could do nothing to help his business.

Because people are still falling for the idea that there’s value in thousands of followers bought dirt cheap, let me be clear: Fake Twitter followers are useless.

They can’t go on a date with you, vote for you, use your product, hire your service, or read your book.

Some “digital marketers” say their value is in the status and credibility a huge following conveys. That might have been true in the early days of Twitter, when the legitimacy of a following couldn’t be verified with an online fake following tool. But social media users are getting savvier and more discerning: Not only can they see through scams and fakes, they avoid the perpetrators like the plague.

In business (and politics), credibility offers far more benefits than any false following can. That crucial credibility can take a big hit if your competition uses one of those fake follower-checking tools to expose you and your brand. You’re going to look just as fake as the bots you bought.

Instead, invest time in building a legitimate legion of Twitter followers who depend on what you (or your clients) have to say every day. As we move forward in the social networking game, engagements are really what you’re after. When you can get that user to take action (like a communication that can lead to a date, a vote or a purchase), you’ve done an effective job executing on a social network.

At speaking engagements around the country, I teach business owners that if they want to build a legitimate Twitter following, the basics of marketing still apply:

1. Identify your target demographic

2. Create content that appeals to your target demographic

3. Engage with (tweet at, follow, retweet, favorite, etc.) that target demo

4. Work hard every day repeating steps 2 and 3

As with anything else in marketing or life, if you stick to the basic rules and don’t take shortcuts, you can achieve sustainable success.

If only that were true in politics. 

#THEFEDERALSTUDENTAIDORGANIZATION #APOLOGIZESFORI'MPOORTWEET.

There’s a fine line between funny and insulting, and it appears that the Twitter account for FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, crossed it with its very first tweet.

The Tuesday night tweet blasted out the message, “If this is you, then you better fill out your FAFSA,” with an image of actress Kristen Wiig saying, “Help me. I’m poor,” underneath. It’s a screenshot from the movie “Bridesmaids.” 

Students who rely on financial aid to pay for college took umbrage at being called “poor,” and a few hours after the tweet went up, FAFSA deleted it. 

The Department of Education also issued this statement to Consumerist:

We apologize for this insensitive Twitter post, which flies in the face of our mission of opening doors of opportunity for every student. It was an ill-conceived attempt at reaching students through social media. We are reviewing our process for approving social media content to ensure it reflects the high standards we expect at the U.S. Department of Education.

Even so, there’s no denying that the tweet and the apology were actually somewhat successful in drawing attention to FAFSA. As of Wednesday afternoon, the account had more than 65,000 followers. 

#20JOBSOPENINGS IN #THEPRANDMARKETING #WORLD.By Alan Pearcy

Baaaaaawk, bawk, bawk, baaaaaaaawk.

Not to be deliberately antagonizing, but I'm calling you out, PR candidates.

Yum! Brands is hiring a public relations manager to watch over all aspects of the company’s day-to-day external communications on behalf of its KFC division.

Based in Kentucky, the position is responsible for fielding press inquiries, drafting communications, creating and executing brand media initiatives, and working with the company’s marketing and social media teams to help drive content for the popular chicken chain.

Also tasked with providing counsel to stakeholders, franchisees, and local market operators regarding company crises and reputation management, applicants must be comfortable working under pressure.

So if you’re not too chicken, click here to apply.

Not the job for you? See what else we have in our weekly professional pickings:

• Co-editor, PR Daily—Ragan Communications (Ill.)

• Multimedia journalist—Detroit Lions (Mich.)

• Social media specialist—O’Reilly Auto Parts (Mo.)

• Integrated marketing communications manager—Motorola (Md.)

• Community manager—IndieFlix (Wash.)

• Manager, internal communications—Children's Hospital Los Angeles (Calif.)

• Content editor—Bodybuilding.com (Idaho)

• Communications advisor—FedEx (Texas)

• Public relations coordinator—University of Iowa (Iowa)

• Public relations intern—Turner PR (Colo.)

• Communications assistant—Roger Williams University (R.I.)

• Public relations director—VF (N.Y.)

• Corporate communications director—Omaha Steaks (Neb.)

• Senior specialist, public relations—Alzheimer's Association (D.C.)

• Public relations and marketing account executive—Full Circle PR (Fla.)

• Online marketing intern—BeenVerified (N.Y.)

• Director of public relations—City Colleges of Chicago (Ill.)

• Market specialist—Dairy Farmers of America (Mo.)

• Communications manager—Seattle Public Schools (Wash