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Interested in PR & Publicity for your business? We share all the best publicity tips, media coverage strategies, and how to launch a publicity campaign.

How Strongly Should You Rely on Trends in Your Marketing

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It seems like everyone these days wants to get in on one hashtag movement or another. Sometimes this is a good thing, like when hashtags stand for solidarity and social change, but often silly hashtags are trending and everyone wants their 15 seconds of social media fame.

Businesses often feel the same way. They see a hashtag, meme or trend that’s popular and utilize it in their own advertising or marketing campaign. The question is this: is this actually a smart thing to do?

The answer is simultaneously yes and no. Hashtags and trends can be great for your business’ visibility and brand image, but they have to be used intelligently.

The Right Way

There is definitely a right way to use a hashtag or trend. The best way to utilize a trend in marketing is to always think the question “does this trend relate to my brand?” If the answer is yes, it’s then up to you to create a marketing tweet, image, slogan or piece of content that ties the two together in an interesting way.

Consider the now trending film “Sausage Party.” This tongue-in-cheek reference can actually add a dash of humor to a grocery store or meat packaging brand. They create a tweet that contains an image of a variety of sausages, also including the text “Have your own #SausageParty tonight. We’ll bring the buns!”

This humorous use of a current pop culture item and brand relevance sticks out in the minds of others. There’s also a dash of personality here – the business shows it is aware and doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is good in the eyes of consumers who want companies to have a human edge.

The Wrong Way

There are three major mistakes a brand could make with trend marketing – relying on trends too much, misappropriating a trend or not integrating the trend into the brand’s concept.

First, it’s important that a business not make trends and hashtags the cornerstones of their marketing strategies. This looks desperate – occasionally is fine, but doing it too often sends the wrong message.

Second, it’s important to understand the context of a trending topic. Businesses have gotten into hot water before for using hashtags and trends in the wrong way. These trends stand for something serious, a business misuses them and they become the target of bad publicity.

Third, the trend has to be related back to the brand in some way. In the above example, it doesn’t make sense for a furniture store to piggyback off of the same trending movie. They have to find a trend that suits their own business, or find a creative way to tie a trend into their own concept. Using a trend without making this connection is sloppy and the marketing strategy will fail.

All in all, trends need to be used with care. Don’t shy away from using trends in marketing completely, but use them sparingly. Make them count and make them clever.

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Style of Business: Richardine Bartee + GrungeCake Magazine

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Technology, trending music and the tragically hip editorials that many are interested in is what GrungeCake has been wonderfully doling out the last time we took a look. Popcan Bonds, Blitz The Ambassador, and Dawn are all in the latest issue of this slick publication that was conceived by creator Richardine Bartee 12 years ago. A true authority on all different kinds of acts, fashion, acts of prowess and humility among artists, and a vibe that surpasses the simple “urban” spectrum, GrungeCake is rolling dominantly across the digital landscape larger than ever. A variety at large collective of reviews, artist management mantras, and presentation of art, people are no doubt paying attention to the diverse and iconic platform.

Recently tweeting that she was delighted about a pair of Vans she received and excitement about teaming up to create a girl powered playlist for Cherrybomb Music, Richardine is an avid personality that has interviewed some of the hottest talent on the globe. With a very targeted and specific taste, this online publication is supportive to artists and cultivates a rich style with just a touch less bling than the other mags and blogs out there.

This month on Instagram The Black Opera claimed that she has been “reppin since conception”, and praised Richardine for her business sense and overall evolution. GrungeCake itself had its humble beginnings as a sparsely circulated twice yearly publication, and now is a full time media offering with coverage of this year’s Cannes event, just for starters. A Mad Max review, a feature on Express accepting Apple Pay, and an article on Beats By Dre’s latest collaboration with MCM are all presented with sharp clarity and wit in the latest written pieces.

The show “Shark Tank” has become wildly popular; it’s premise is all about up and coming entrepreneurs making the ultimate pitch for cash to investors. In her pitch on the program, Richardine suggested a service crafted to bring back some better fundamentals and credibility to the music industry as a whole, that has been suffering a chiseling away at its image over the last decade. Also helping out in the testing of “Audibase,” she tests it out for overall ease of use and debugging; after a few more rounds of investment this will surely be a sweet thing in the industry. A format for sharing longer clips of audio on blogs, websites, and the like, she absolutely recognized the promise and potential of the service that’s still at the drawing board.

Flashback Fridays, awesome playlists, songs of the day, and very introspective reviews are all offered in the music section. Fully pulling off the ability to give news, provide true insight, and upper caliber opinion of what’s going on in the music realm, the overall vibe of GrungeCake is a bit more durable and deep than some. Not possessing the fully plastic theme and presence that some online forums have, there’s a bit more raw goods and catchiness here, much like the way that “Vice” lays down the law. To the point grit and advice within track reviews such as “Would I buy it? no. Should you buy it? If you want to” lean towards the brief, not heady opinions that many are looking for in today’s internet world. What we really commend GrungeCake and Richardine  for is following through on vision; as a child she wanted to do interviews and publicity for figures in entertainment & music. Her vision and success is refreshing as ever, and now she’s the purveyor of an internet hive of pleasantly hip, and skillfully entertaining content.

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Facebook; Using the Social Media Application to Engage Current + Future Clients

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Why Facebook

There’s tons of buzz about Twitter, Pinterest, and even using apps like Instagram to promote your business and engage current or future clients. Twitter is growing by the day, and many celebs have already unofficially made the move to it as the preferred way to blast their opinion, or current happenings.

The reason why we’re going to focus on Facebook in this article is that while changing every day; it is still one of the “go to” or iconic hotspots in the social media industry, the one that supposedly “almost everyone” is a member of. Also, with Facebook, business pages upload photos very easily, and video as well. If you choose to allow comments, your friends and customers talk about what they like, what they may buy, and the points of interest of your products.

Get in the Game

I recently spoke with someone who was hesitant to put his business on Facebook because he was looking at the TV channel “AMC”, who has a very prominent Facebook and social media presence.

While looking at the page, he saw a lot of negative feedback. There were fans and other people commenting on posts very negatively, things like, “We don’t give a crap about Mad Men, only Breaking Bad!” Or: “It really sucks that you guys have so many commercials now instead of content!” Let’s look at a few things. AMC, whether you love or hate them, has plenty of content. Trust us. They do. They put money into it, they shoot it, produce it, and it is above average. If a few folks make bad comments, it does not matter. They will be buried soon by other comments and frankly, life goes on with your startup or business.

This individual was afraid to put his business on Facebook because he didn’t have the time to field negative comments and the like such as “Used your business, didn’t do anything for me”. Well, revolutionary brands like Sony and Verizon have had people complaining about them, but they still need an online presence and generate tons of revenue. DO NOT worry about petty folks who comment all day and try to drag you down.

Whatever product or service you’re marketing, eventually as long as you do not have a home office in a dank dungeon and provide some form of reliable craft, these things really do iron themselves out. A lot of business owners are hesitant to get on Facebook because they picture it as just gossip; things they do not care about being updated in the news feed. Sometimes when you are using Facebook to engage clients, it is hard to track the results. Let’s say you run a pet grooming business.

Ideas for Utilizing Facebook

So every third or fourth day, you run pictures of cute pets, and different tips on how to groom them, even at home. You slowly add suggestive advertising, like the fact that your store is running a special or has a great new certified employee. The thing about Facebook is that yes, you have your business phone number on the page and some customers will call directly from that, but otherwise you are passively AND actively marketing at the same time.

That is, you may not know when your business picks up directly because of your Facebook activity; you may not know if a cute picture of pet or relevant post about grooming got them to call. But, since for now, Facebook is free to join, it is imperative to have a business page, add friends, post videos, and reach out in general.

Tips for Facebook

The purveying fear about joining Facebook as a business is some people won’t like your giveaways, sponsors, announcements, and everything that avenue entails. It really will be ok.. you almost have to face the fear of negative publicity, as much as it may remind you of celebrity train wrecks and the like. With Facebook, if you choose you can disable comments, when a storm comes with negativity, you can get back on track quickly. For something like a photography business, Facebook rules.

You can post video, pics, opinions, quickly and it shows up in end user’s news feeds. And that’s the most important quality of Facebook, when someone “Likes” something or posts a response, it shows up in others newsfeeds, directly to their smartphone. We will look at tweeting and others soon…but Facebook is not going anywhere. Keep your business page separate from your personal, and prosper. Well, we know Spock said something like that, but we really do mean it.

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Ideas for Planning a Publicity Campaign

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Publicity Campaign

The word planning automatically fills the mind with thoughts and images of a lengthy to-do list, scattered notes, and paper. If you’ve ever been put in charge of anything, especially a publicity campaign, you can easily feel the pressure mounting as people continually call and email for updates, posing the key question: “How are things coming along?” No fear, it’s a typical scenario that can be managed by carefully planning the steps you’ll take to successfully execute your publicity campaign.

A few guidelines in sorting out where to begin start with a quick Q&A brainstorming session so that you can get an idea of what you need to accomplish. Then, analyze the media to determine which outlets would be more suitable for pitching the story about your product or service. Make sure their subscribers or readers are the type of consumers you can market your product to. Finally, how does the media play a part in your publicity campaign? Will you be inviting them to attend an event or submitting a feature request/media pitch?

Here are 7 planning tips & ideas for your publicity campaign:

  1. Make a timeline or schedule of the product launch and determine when you’ll turn to media for attention. This needs to be thought out and timed at the right moment for your publicity campaign.

  2. Draft a media release and determine distribution outlets (will you use a press release distribution service?) for your publicity campaign.

  3. Research media outlets that serve a demographic similar to your target market and research their past coverage. This is especially important when dealing with magazines, tv networks, radio, and blogs for your publicity campaign.

  4. Determine your purpose for contacting the media (are you seeking live event coverage, a feature, a review?) in the context of your publicity campaign.

  5. Utilize existing business relationships with those individuals who can assist in sharing your pitch with their network of associates and friends for your publicity campaign.

  6. Discuss the possibility of a promotional tour in high-traffic areas where you can come face-to-face with your target audience. It doesn’t have to be state-to-state; it can be city-to-city or smaller; consider visiting college campuses, malls, libraries, community centers, and the like for your publicity campaign.

  7. Create relevant press/media kits and business cards along with any promotional items you wish to give away. Be sure to give them something to remember you by in addition to your wonderful first impression for your publicity campaign.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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