Stuff that PR consultants just do
25th April 2023
Sorting the factual from the fake news
Following my recent piece about fake news, the phenomenon has continued to wreak havoc across the web, including in the recent UK general election. But steps are being taken to help the public to distinguish whether online articles are true or not.
As reported by the BBC, Facebook has launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness […]
#IceIceSurrey the hottest PR tweet
A sense of humour is not something you would generally associate with the police. Yet one particular police force has just shown us that putting a jocular spin on things can sometimes help get the message across about a serious matter.
Surrey Police has just raised a big smile amongst its Twitter followers after it sent […]
Fans furious at O’Hara howler tweets
For those of you who don’t know much about me personally, I am a very proud and fanatical supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers football club.
But I have to say that I was more embarrassed than proud when I recently heard that one of my beloved team’s players had made a monkey out of the club by […]
Tweet delete no PR saviour
For those of you who think that Twitter’s message deletion facility is the perfect get-out-of-jail card against misguided Tweets that you post in haste then think again.
Once you’ve clicked on the ‘Send’ button and released your message into the public domain it could already be too late to remove it before someone retweets your post […]
Use Twitter hashtags at your PR peril
If you’ve ever considered making use of the Twitter hashtag as part of a social media campaign then you’d wise to consider the dangers of hashtag hijacking before putting your company reputation at the mercy of a cynical online community.
Sometimes it can almost seem that for every successful hashtag marketing endeavour there is another one […]
New social media insurance highlights risks to reputation
Imagine that someone hacked into your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account and started posting malicious or derogatory comments using your personal or business profile.
Not only could the damage to your reputation be catastrophic, but you could also face a lengthy uphill battle to regain control of your account and bring legal action against the hackers […]
Time your Tweets for top Twitter results
Ever noticed how some of your Twitter messages generate lots of interest while others almost vanish into the ether with little apparent impact or response?
Well, according to URL redirection and social bookmarking service bitly, the timing of your Tweets may be a far more significant factor than you think.
The company, which provides the default link […]
Twitter worth more than Olympic gold
Following Team GB’s astounding success at London 2012, you’d no doubt expect a long line of sponsors queuing up to sign lucrative contracts with our Olympic medal winners.
And you’d be right.
But if you thought that scale of success at the games was a measure of each Olympic athlete’s earning potential then you’d most definitely be […]
Phoney Facebook Likes undermine PR potential
With a long list of successful Facebook and Twitter campaigns already behind us, social media activity has firmly established itself as part of the service that we offer many of our clients.
But, although we remain keen advocates of Facebook as a public relations tool, one aspect of the social networking site has recently given us […]
Five simple mistakes to avoid on Twitter
Whenever a prospective client approaches us about our services, we always ask them whether they would like us to manage their Twitter account as part of a wider online PR campaign.
Yet you wouldn’t believe just how many times a new client will tell us that, having already tried the microblogging platform, they think that Twitter […]
What’s it going to take to stop people screwing up on social media?
Here we go again – another story about a big news announcement scuppered by a leak on Twitter.
The latest gaffe concerns Birmingham City’s appointment of new manager Lee Clark.
The evening before the Championship football club was due to unveil the former Huddersfield Town boss as its new manager, Clark’s son Jack let the cat out […]
Twitter hashtag trial highlights PR potential
Following much of the recent debate about the future of Facebook as a viable long-term business model, many of us in the PR fraternity have been openly speculating as to where Twitter is planning to take its own rival social networking service.
However, now that the microblogging site has successfully completed the trial of its first […]
How the Beeb got it so wrong
It was the BBC’s perfect PR opportunity to showcase its credentials in a year in which it would play a pivotal role in covering several major broadcasting events.
But after a weekend of endless puerile commentary, inane stunts and dumbed-down celebrity-driven drivel, the corporation’s reputation is once again on the line following an avalanche of complaints […]
Foul-mouthed Facebook bus drivers in PR hot water
We may have seen it time and time before – yet despite all the high-profile stories it is still astonishing to think that many employees are still blissfully unaware of the dangers of airing grievances about their work on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.
And now the latest case to hit the headlines […]
The Twitter campaign PR McDisaster
It is perhaps fair to say that in virtually all forms of marketing, with PR being no exception, some campaigns just don’t go according to plan no matter how well conceived they are.
Sometimes it’s a case of the right campaign, but at the wrong moment.
Sometimes, particularly in PR, you’re never quite 100% sure what you […]