As the newest crop of interns joins marketing agencies and departments this summer, now is a good time to identify their participation in your brand’s social media efforts.

Over the past few months, many brands have recognized the importance of a social media strategy and have established an active social media presence. Social media marketing takes many forms across organizations and companies – whether it’s an internal function or supported by an agency, whether it’s operated by a single person or by a group of contributors.

Across all industries, a consistent mistake is allowing interns to exclusively manage your brand’s social media presence. Many companies lean on their interns because of their potentially deep knowledge of social applications and ability to stay current with the latest mobile gadgets and technology. However, interns still have a long way to go in learning about these applications from a strategic perspective. Read More...

In the past two months, Facebook has implemented a few improvements to their site. Individual users and companies may have already seen the effect of these changes in their Facebook and Internet experience.

We recently discussed the new community pages that allow users to connect on general topics, brands and interests. Community pages, separate from fan pages, will be populated by user-driven content through status updates and profile information.

Continuing to harness the power of user content, the social network has also created the Open Graph API, which will allow any Web page to have the same features of Facebook pages and make the Web more social.

Watch the newest episode of Good Morning Marketers to learn about these features, including the added “Like” button on fan pages.

What do you think of Facebook’s changes?



To discuss any of these services, contact our team.

This week, Facebook implemented new community pages and phased out the “Become a Fan” option to a “Like” button.

Community pages allow users to connect on general topics, interests and brands and will be updated by importing information from user updates. Facebook users will now be able to link the information in their profile pages to community pages related to their interests.

Facebook pages will still be managed by brands, organizations and personalities. To join a brand or organization’s page, you will now select the “Like” button instead of becoming a fan. Facebook made the switch to the “Like” button because users are familiar with the “Like” feature when reviewing their friends’ status updates, photos and links. According to Facebook, users select “Like” two times more than they click “Become a Fan” every day.

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Public Relations Manager Misty Fry recently presented at the YouToo Social Media Conference hosted at Kent State University on using social media for media relations.

Misty shared best practices for communicating with the media through social networks. To learn more, check out her slides below:

Whether it’s helping Haiti victims, establishing reading programs or volunteering time, companies are becoming more active and vocal about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.

CSR, company standards and activities that address social, ethical and environmental issues, has a strong influence in how consumers view brands. Brandweek recently reported findings from a survey, conducted by Landor Associates, Penn Schoen Berland and Burson-Marsteller, that measured consumer perceptions of CSR. The most significant conclusion is that in a struggling economy, consumers place a higher value on corporate responsibility and transparency.

Consumers feel so strongly about companies positively impacting the environment and community that 55 percent said they would select a product that supports a cause against those that do not. In fact, 70 percent of consumers will pay more for products from socially responsible companies.

Corporate citizenship can be a great addition to your public relations initiatives. Community involvement adds good will and fosters open communication with target audiences such as consumers, stakeholders and the media. Based on survey findings mentioned above, CSR strengthens your brand by managing your reputation and showing your commitment to consumers. Read More...