Category: Services

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Social Media

Posted on February 19, 2014 by hermanoff - Facebook, guest post, Services, Social Media

An avalanche of new opportunities is available on the Internet in the form of social media sites. These sites serve as a strategic public relations and marketing tool to build your brand and target key audiences for your business.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter enable individuals, groups and companies to easily publish, share and interact on the web. By joining a social site, you can discover topics that people are talking about and what they think about your business and how to improve accordingly.

Here is a list of popular sites to give you a quick overview of how each serves its purpose:

Facebook: Facebook is considered the heavyweight of social networking. From uploading photos, to making status updates, which allows users to inform their friends of their whereabouts and actions, is the epitome of social media. It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and family as well as marketing tool. In addition, you can create a fan page for your company or start or join a group related to your company.

Forty-five percent of Facebook’s 45.3 million active users in the US are 26 years old or older. Nearly a quarter of all Facebook users are over 35 today. Facebook is growing in every age and gender demographic. The fastest growing segment is women over 55, up 175.3% as of February 2009.

Twitter: Twitter is considered a more basic format of Facebook. The users known as “followers” are allowed to send brief messages, only limited to 140 characters known as “tweets.” Followers can search by name and follow your daily tweets. There is no limit on how often you can tweet, but make sure the information is related to the company that followers would find interesting and useful.

For example: Your company can use Twitter to inform followers of the latest company news or upcoming events. This is a hassle-free way of disseminating information in a mass message.

LinkedIn: Unlike all the other major social networking sites, LinkedIn is dedicated to helping people connect for business rather than social purposes. It’s useful to search for consultants and contractors and identify people in companies that you hope to do business with in the future. It’s also become a major source for posting professional job openings.

For example: LinkedIn can be used as a socializing platform for you to interact with other like-minded people, especially those in the same industry. It can be used to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits such as colleague recommendations.

YouTube: This site pertains to videos only. Although you may think it has nothing to do with your company, businesses have discovered it’s a great way to provide information to prospects. You can make a video of the products you sell, describe your services or even video testimonials and easily upload them to YouTube.

For example: By using YouTube, your company can embed a watermark so users watching the video know which company and website the video is from. This is another way of building your company’s brand.

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Social Media

It’s free, fast and flexible.

Establish yourself as an expert in a field, while staying on top of your field and your competitors.

Target potential and current audiences without resorting to spam. Since the users make the decision to connect with your company, marketing messages will be anticipated not disregarded.

Engage with user-friendly options such as photos, videos, blogs, and status updates. Traditional media is passive while, social media is interactive.

Market and build your brand while engaging audiences.

Enhance credibility by controlling and communicating directly with the key audiences.

Learn directly from audiences on social media sites such as Facebook. These platforms let the company learn directly what customers are saying about its service and products.

For more information contact, Pam Perry, Social Media Strategist at 248.851-3993 or 248.690-6810.

Do you have a Communication Policy?

Posted on February 12, 2014 by hermanoff - communications strategy, Hermanoff Public Relations, Services

Do you have a Communication Policy?

If you don’t, look out. It could take a bite out of your brand, reputation and damage your integrity — when you least expect it.

To make sure your company or organization is visible, accessible and accountable both internally and externally, you should have a communication policy. It ensures that communications by every employee is understood, coordinated and effectively managed and followed by everyone. Communication plays an essential role in the conduct of everyone’s business.

How you communicate with people not only reflects on you as an individual but also on your organization. It applies to everyone. This is the information everyone must know to carry out their day-to-day work. It is the responsibility of leadership to communicate this information effectively.

A policy provides your constituencies with timely, accurate, clear, complete and objective information – and it is consistent throughout your company.

Social media rules are written and enforced. There are a variety of ways and means to communicate and when policies are set, then there is less HR hassle.

All communication needs are addressed, but these should be evaluated and changed, if necessary. Technology and the way people communicate changes quicker than you can change your socks.

A policy creates trust and confidence and protects the integrity of your company or organization. It provides strategic direction.

If you have a communications policy in your company, congratulations. If you don’t, call Hermanoff Public Relations today. We’ll write one for you so you’ll sleep better and everyone in your company will thank you.

About the author

Sandra M. Hermanoff, APR, S.A.G.E, Fellow PRSA
CEO/President
Hermanoff Public Relations
P: 248.851.3993 F: 248.851.0706
web. www.hermanoff.net
31500 West Thirteen Mile Road, Suite 110
Farmington Hills, Michigan, 48334

Proud to be a Buckeye!

Hermanoff Public Relations is a partner of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the
World’s largest consortium of independently owned public relations counseling firms.

Planning and Prevention Goes a Long Way in Crisis Communication

Posted on October 15, 2012 by hermanoffblog - Hermanoff Public Relations, Public Relations, Services

Just read about a CEO with 8,000 employees who warned his employees that if one of the candidates for president wins, they could lose their jobs. How would you feel going to work every day for that company?

That’s an internal crisis: one that is going to take some quick turnaround time to give his employees a comfort level. Communication is the key – traditional and social media took this story viral.

Then there’s the case of the custom-made steroid prepared by New England Compounding Center, a specialty pharmacy in Framingham, Mass., that has caused the outbreak of rare fungal meningitis from steroid shots for back pain. The steroid was recalled Sept. 26, 2012, but 13,000 people were injected and who knows how many people will die from it. That’s an external crisis: one that should be addressed immediately with an internal crisis issue as well. Again, communication is the key – and traditional and social media are taking this story viral.

If your company experienced either an internal or external crisis, are you set up to tackle it right away? Do you have a crisis team in place with a list of cell and home phone numbers for quick access? Is there an attorney on the team? Do you know how to prepare and handle media inquiries? Who are the audiences you must reach immediately? Does someone in your organization understand how to use social media in a crisis?

Don’t get caught like the chemical company that was asleep when a crisis occurred and lost just enough momentum in communicating with their audiences to eventually put them out of business. There were high stakes, they gambled and lost everything.

Crisis prevention is very affordable and can be a company life saver. The Tylenol case is a prime example. They communicated well with their audiences often and honestly and saved lives and jobs of thousands of people.

Our message is to have a crisis plan in place, hoping you will never need to use it. Any good PR firm will be able to help. At Hermanoff Public Relations we do all of the above – and offer 24-hour crisis counseling.

It’s always better and safer to stay ahead of the curve. And planning for a crisis is just one smart move before the holidays.