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Like the Facebook IPO?

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

By Robin Russo

Don’t get me wrong – I’m a huge proponent of Facebook, but this little thing called an IPO is starting to bug me – a lot. And I doubt I’m alone in this. “Fans” of Facebook – expected to reach a billion this year – can’t possibly “Like” the Facebook IPO, rumored to happen sometime in the next few months. That’s because those of us loyal Facebook users – who helped make Facebook a success – will not have a chance to take part in what is being called the largest public offering – ever (it already is the largest Internet offering).

So who will get to take part in this record breaking IPO – which stands for “initial public offering” – a term that technically might not apply to Facebook, since it’s been heavily traded for some time in the secondary markets where “private” shares are bought and sold (by the big investment firms that push it toward their own big clients, many of which are foreigners)? In addition to these and other investors in the company, Facebook employees who’ve been anxiously awaiting a chance to sell their shares on the open market will also benefit from the IPO. The “public,” the rest of us, won’t have a prayer of getting our hands on this IPO.

Many of these people will become millionaires from this IPO and don’t get me wrong – I’m all for capitalism and I understand that this is the way it’s done. But something smells fishy to me, and it isn’t just that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg went on national TV and said to the world that he had no intentions of going public – I get it. Facebook has just gotten so big that it’s taken on a life of its own and even he can’t stop it from its true potential. And I know I shouldn’t be surprised, that it was inevitable that this multi-billion dollar innovation would become a public company.

Maybe I’m just a bit naïve, but what’s really bothering me is that this IPO was very calculated – it wasn’t just “Oops, we have more than 500 investors now” – the way it’s being reported. If Facebook goes public by the end of May – as is being reported – early shareholders will be able to sell some shares before the end of the year and, notably, before the expiration of tax cuts instituted during the George W. Bush administration. Now isn’t that a coincidence.

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, social media PR
Posted in Chit Chatter, Facebook, Talking PR, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Who’s Talking?

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

by Alyson O’Mahoney

Here at RL&A, we are a bit obsessed with social media marketing reporting, tracking, monitoring – ultimately, gauging the daily impact of a conversation started, commented responded to, etc. So when Facebook launched a new interactive marketing metric – “Talking About This” – not so long ago, and made it an incredibly prominent feature directly under a page’s fan number, we were a bit like babies staring a shiny object…mesmerized. However, over time, we have grown a bit disenchanted with this number and by telling you this, we hope you will, too (and ultimately, we hope Facebook does away with it!).

From what I have read, this figure is supposed to gauge the past week of a page’s activity related to conversation and interactions, including:

• liking a brand page
• posting to a page’s wall
• liking, commenting on or sharing a page post (or photos, video or album)
• answering a question on a page’s wall
• RSVPing to an event
• mentioning a page in a post
• tagging a page
• liking or sharing a check-in deal
• checking in at a place.

I don’t see advertising mentioned in this list…..but it seems to be the most influential in raising/lowering this number based on our experience. Here’s our own example: two client pages – one has been around for about six months (red box) and has had nice, ongoing organic daily interaction, growth, etc.; the other is a brand new page (blue box) that has invested a modest amount of spending on CPC social ads for its first week of its launch. You can see the existing page has a much smaller percentage of “Talking About This” compared to the page spending advertising dollars in Facebook. You would think the larger fan base would have a higher “Talking About This” figure, but the fact is, this particular week, that brand, though a much larger fan base, had no CPC spending…so is that the key difference here?

A social network, to us, should be measured mostly by organic interaction…and the success of a true social media marketing campaign should reflect this. Based on our own experience, the “Talking About This” snapshot, frankly, seems to be more of a measure of a brand’s cost-per-click (CPC) paid social ad efforts in Facebook and not really the brand’s social conversation prowess. CPC on a social network is not social media, it is advertising in a social media setting, which we highly recommend, but it should not be a number used and displayed second only in importance to total fan base.

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, PR, Social Media, social media PR
Posted in Chit Chatter, Facebook, Social Networks, Talking PR | No Comments »

RL&A at Shecky’s Girls’ Night Out Event for Beauty Brands

Monday, November 28th, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, a few of the RL&A beauty brands PR team hit the town at Shecky’s Girls Night Out in NYC! We were there on behalf of our client Softlips, which recently won “Best Lip Treatment” for the Shecky’s Beauty at Its Best Awards! Work mixed with play as we hosted fans at the Softlips table, discussed Softlips with both longtime loyalists and people new to the brand and shot some video footage with attendees. Shecky’s attendees also received samples of Softlips in the Shecky’s goodie bags. We took great photos and video that we shared on the Softlips Facebook page; check out our fun on-the-scene video from the event: Click to view

Posted in Chit Chatter | No Comments »

RL&A Meets Bloggers Face-to-Face at SheStreams ‘11

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

By Brittany Oat

We have a network of more than 4,000 bloggers here at RL&A, so it always amazes me that I remember so many details about the bloggers we work with. I can easily match a name with a blog, and tell you how many kids they have without blinking an eye. Despite the fact that the majority of our contact is through email, we get to know the bloggers we work with extremely well. Some of them even feel like close friends…close friends I’ve never met in person!

So, it’s always exciting to attend a blogger event and meet these friends face-to-face! Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the SheStreams ’11 event in NYC. About 200 of bloggers— some new faces and some old faces— attended the event to take part in informative and engaging sessions intended to catapult women and brands into the future of social technology.

While they were there, bloggers had the opportunity to talk with us about the brands we work with in a way they just can’t through email. I was able to sprinkle Lady Anti Monkey Butt Powder into bloggers’ hands, so they could feel how silky it was. And, my colleague Laura was able to actually demonstrate the new dosing features on PediaCare products.

At the event, I also had the opportunity to interview several bloggers for our new “Behind The Blog” video series. We’ll have the first video up soon on the RL&A blog and Facebook page, so stay tuned!

Tags: Beauty PR, Blogger Outreach, Marketing, PR, Social Media, social media PR
Posted in Agency News, Blog Outreach, Chit Chatter, Picture of The Week | No Comments »

Facebook Fan Abandonment Should Be Considered as Measurement of Success

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Facebook Fan Abandonment Should Be Considered as Measurement of Success

Anyone who has a brand page on Facebook wants to create a robust brand community and watch those “likes” grow, but building a fan base should be a strategic exercise focused on quality not quantity. If you are too focused on a quick spike in fan numbers with flashy giveaways that bribe potential consumers to like your page (to enter a contest with a big prize, get some type of big freebie, etc.) as opposed to maintaining a long-term, engaged fan base, you will end up losing those fans fast when the promo ends. Once you begin to really converse with them about what the page is about…not the contest or the promo…but the brand, many of these new fans will likely leave because they got what they came for (the giveaway). This is called fan abandonment.

In fact, a recent stat from ExactTarget, a targeted email marketing supplier, indicates that 26% of consumers say they have “liked” a company because they were interested in a one-time offer, and then “unliked” the brand after getting what they wanted, which means the brand lost that consumer’s attention for continued conversation. In addition, we have seen fan abandonment rate stats reported upwards of 30%…that means 1/3 of the page fans have cycled out!

Behavior such as this is exactly what RL&A wants to avoid for our client pages. We avoid this by not participating in “like” bribery; instead we give fans, new and old, brand content they can engage with that keeps them at the page. This may grow the page a bit slower than the page with the $1 million offer, but it means we attract fans that are more likely to stick to and with the brand. In fact, our average fan abandonment rate for the approximately 15 Facebook pages we manage is less than 9%…in some cases, less than 5%, which is significantly lower than the industry’s averages. If you are going to invest time and money into creating a community, do so strategically for the long-term…and don’t abandon this approach for the quick spikes, because over the course, these fans will abandon you.

Tags: Beauty PR, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, social media PR
Posted in Chit Chatter, Facebook, Social Networks, Talking PR | No Comments »

A Bicycle Brand Should Really Capitalize on this PR Opportunity

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Posted in Chit Chatter, Picture of The Week, Talking PR | No Comments »

What King James Can Teach Us About Social Media Marketing

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

By John Whitcomb, Social Media Manager

Unless you’ve been living under first base, it has been hard to ignore the hype surrounding NBA free agent Lebron James, which will culminate when he announces his decision during a prime time, much-anticipated, various-cities-on-the-edge-of-their-seats press conference on ESPN.

As a PR professional and a rabid student of social media, I have followed this story with interest because of the rumors of Lebron possibly announcing his decision solely via Twitter. Yesterday this seemed even more likely when a new handle @kingjames sent out its first tweet announcing it was live. So it is understandable that many in the social media industry had their Twitter feathers ruffled when he opted to make use of live TV – yes, that box in the center of your family room with the DVR on top – to make his announcement.

I think it proves that even though social media is all the rage, it is PART of the marketing plan and not solely the only answer. Here at Robin Leedy & Associates, we always look at the overall messaging picture and make sure that a social media effort makes sense for a brand before we recommend it to a client. There are some key factors to consider before just jumping on the bandwagon and each one needs to be weighed with the positives and the negatives of a brand joining a particular medium….and providing enough resources to manage each medium.

Social media is more than just using the tools, it is developing the strategy to make sure you are not just a voice in the wind. As for King James, despite the lure of social media, his team decided that a traditional press conference during prime time would have more effect and in the sports world having a two-hour special on ESPN seems to be the right move.

Now if only he makes the right decision and joins the Knicks!!!!

Posted in Chit Chatter, Social Networks | No Comments »

Thanks to Social Media PR, Your Communications Team is Even More Invested

Friday, June 11th, 2010

By Anne Carlantone

The other day, I was really stressed at work. That’s not unusual for anyone, but the source of the stress was much different than it would have been years ago. The source of the stress was not my boss, my client or even a reporter – it was a less-than-happy Facebook fan (or “liker,” as we say now) of one of my clients’ brand pages! I felt an urgent need to help set things right for this person, not only because it’s in my client’s best interest to do so, but because this person is very active on the page and, in a way, I feel like I know her.

As professional communicators, identifying our audience is half the battle. We spend a lot of time discussing our “targets” and analyzing who our clients’ consumers are. We spend time on focus group research, segmentation studies, etc., and those things are still important. But I don’t think anything has ever “connected” us on a personal level like social media has.

For instance – when a client’s product is placed in a magazine article, we know that a huge number of people are seeing it, but we can never really be sure what the reactions from the readers are. On the other hand, if it’s featured on a blog, there is generally a long list of personal comments to give us an idea on how the product is being received and a reaction to how it’s being presented. As we grow in the management of Facebook pages for our brands, I am constantly amazed at the valuable information we get from the people who “like” our brands…in a matter of minutes. None of this is scientific by any means, but it’s real-time, and well, “real!”

And in turn, as professionals, we feel even more accountable and invested in our clients’ products. If a product isn’t working out for someone, or if there is a problem with product availability in a particular market, they let us know, and we genuinely want to connect them with the information they need. We’re not just discussing our targets…we’re truly interacting with them.

Posted in Chit Chatter, Facebook, Social Networks | No Comments »

Networking: The Single, Greatest Lesson I Learned in School

Friday, June 4th, 2010

By Nicole Egan

I recently graduated Iona College with a Master’s degree in Public Relations. Although I was taught many lessons in each of my classes, one of the most important lessons that I learned wasn’t found in my textbooks. Regardless of the subject matter, every single teacher stressed to us the importance of networking and how this will affect our future.

The administration, as well as the faculty, reinforced the idea that networking is a vital skill that every student should be involved in. Internships, teachers, sites like LinkedIn, etc. are all great ways to network and can be instrumental for future jobs for yourself, friends/family, or provide great opportunities for your business. Everyone you encounter in all walks of your life can somehow play a role in your life – now or in the future.

I’ve noticed the power of networking outside of the classroom at my job here at Robin Leedy & Associates where we help our clients engage in social networking PR, as well as traditional media relations. Whether I’m networking with editors of magazines or bloggers, it’s all about the relationships you can build. You never know who whose path you’ll cross, so it’s important to treat everyone respectfully and not burn any bridges. Returning calls and emails promptly, is just one way to show someone that their communication means something to you – even if just to say, “Thanks. Happy to help you.” It takes only a few seconds or minutes of my life, yet that communication could someday be very important to me.

The value of networking is immeasurable, and to me this lesson was worth the cost of my graduate school tuition. If you want to join my network, you can find me on LinkedIn. I look forward to networking with you!

Posted in Chit Chatter | No Comments »

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