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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

From JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs, Lloyd’s of London and more, banks are making serious bets on technology innovation while bracing for the impact of the growing fintech sector. Now billing themselves as technology groups, rather than banks, they’re hiring more AI talent and diving deep into data offerings.

"Technology is going to fundamentally transform the banking industry over the coming years." Antony Jenkins former Barclays CEO via CNBC

Do you want to be an investment banker today? Learn to code. Want to be an analyst? Learn to code. A marketer? Sales executive? Product manager? Market researcher? Learn to code.

Having a solid degree and field experience alone are no longer enough to compete for spots at some of the world’s top institutions.

Specifically in the finance sector, firms globally are making moves to embrace the impact of AI and data-driven technologies. Today when you interact with the likes of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, you’re no longer entrusting your cash to banks. Instead, both now bill themselves as ‘technology groups.’ According to the Financial Times, “JPMorgan spends $10.8bn a year on tech, more than any other Wall Street group, and technologists account for about a fifth of the company’s 252,000-strong workforce.”

“Coding is not for just tech people, it is for anyone who wants to run a competitive company in the 21st century,” said Mary Callahan Erdoes, head of JPMorgan Asset Management. “These are skillsets of the future . . . By better understanding coding, our business teams can speak the same language as our technology teams, which ultimately drives better tools and solutions for our clients.”

In a move to better position itself on the tech ladder, for instance, Lloyd’s announced last month a global search for technology talent to fuel their new “Lloyd’s Lab,” designed to “help the insurance giant become even more competitive by securing partnerships with innovative global tech start-ups.”

“This is all about taking us into a technology-driven future,” Inga Beale, Lloyd’s CEO, told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe. “There is huge demand from the market saying, ‘Come on, let’s get talking about innovation.’”

For traditional banks, the threat of innovative and agile startups feels increasingly real. Last year, $58B was raised globally in the fintech space. As well, those fintech companies “don’t suffer from legacy IT systems and can provide banking services 50% cheaper than big banks.” These banks are recognizing they need to transform themselves or risk being left in the dust.

According to the Financial Times, JPMorgan is putting hundreds of new investment bankers and asset managers through mandatory coding lessons, including all 300 new recruits in its asset management division. Overall, a third of the bank’s analysts and associates have taken a coding program.

The team will begin with Python, which will enable them to effectively analyze and interpret large sets of data, with plans of incorporating data science, machine learning and cloud computing in the next year.

The importance of data analysis in the financial industry cannot be understated, as the alternative data industry continues to grow, and the ability to remain competitive lies increasingly in information and insights advantages.

Top financial institutions continue to hire for tech, data science and engineering talent to help them better mine the incredible amount of data they have available, while working to bring their current staff up to speed.

Goldman Sachs prioritizes tech innovation

Over at Goldman Sachs, ‘strats’ have been alive and well for years, working to develop technologies that make the Goldman team more productive.

According to a report on HBR.org, Goldman has repurposed the role of its Strats team (previously known as financial engineers or data scientists) to create a unified engineering front that works with bankers and clients directly, with 2 key goals in mind:

to digitize bankers’ workflows through tools that improve productivity and quality of life

to use technology that is to engage clients in a more modern, data-driven way

The team has also been leveraging external data insights to build apps for specific purposes, like those that “use machine learning algorithms to sift through SEC mutual fund filings to better understand how shareholders relate to each other. In addition, machine learning has been used to analyze the factors that make some companies more vulnerable to activist investors than others.”

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein presented on the firm’s future strategy at the Credit Suisse Financial Services Conference. Technology and innovation was a major part of what he discussed.

“Engineering underpins our growth initiatives,” Blankfein said, reiterating his comments from 2016 that positioned Goldman squarely in the tech space, competing with the likes of Google and Facebook." - Lloyd Blankfien

Back in 2016, the New York Times wrote on then-CIO R. Martin Chavez, who has been spearheading many of these efforts. Their vision was that Goldman will still have the chief product of a bank, but “the ways in which customers get access to that money will rely more on software and less on the bankers who traditionally delivered Goldman’s services.”

Today, the firm’s flagship loan and savings app, Marcus, has received significant traction as a prime example of the innovative technology they are working to develop in order to remain competitive in the face of the fintech revolution.

According to a recent report by EY, advancements in new technologies are driving change that will enable banks to:

Better serve customers and increase access

Provide enhanced insights both from a risk management and customer service perspective

These innovations are coming both from internal capabilities and external partnerships, driven by the need to derive insights from the vast amount of data we have available. Today, data scientists and programmers are proving just as valuable as traditional analysts. Is a swift and successful digital transformation of the banking industry the answer to their successful navigation of the coming AI revolution?

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and more double down on tech innovation

Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social networks, with 400 million members sharing 80 million pieces of visual content every day. It’s also the network that accounts for highest engagement per post at over 4%, whereas platforms like Facebook and Twitter achieve less than 1% engagement.

With such eye-catching stats, you would expect companies to flock to Instagram to take advantage of this active, engaged audience. However, only 34% of brands around the world are on Instagram, compared to 80% and 70% on Facebook and Twitter, respectively.

So what gives? To Instagram’s defense, it is still relatively new in comparison to the other networks, and is often seen as more of a niche audience. It’s easy for companies to write off Instagram because they don’t feel that their products or services are “visual” enough, but most industries can find a way to make it work. Some of the most successful accounts don’t outwardly promote their offerings at all, but rather focus on their team, facility, and technology to add a visual appeal to their social presence.

If you’re unsure as to whether or not your company is a good fit for Instagram, or you simply want to take your profile to the next level, take a page from these six brands that are absolutely killing it on the network.

Nasty Gal began its rise to fashion royalty on Myspace (when that was still a thing), so there isn’t a better place to start than with a brand that was launched through the help of social media. Prior to becoming a full-blown ecommerce business (that now has two brick-and-mortar stores in Los Angeles), Nasty Gal relied on social media to follow the latest trends and see what its target audience of consumers was interested in talking about.

As Nasty Gal has evolved over the past few years, they’ve continued their social media dominance, especially on Instagram. The network naturally lends itself to edgy, fashionable images, which is exactly what Nasty Gal stands for. They’re a company with sass and attitude, and that’s what their audience loves about them.

On their Instagram account, you’ll have a visual experience that perfectly mirrors their website, providing brand continuity across platforms. They’ve also created their own hashtag, #NastyGalsDoItBetter, that they share across social networks to add to this consistent image. Nasty Gal’s clothing and accessories are bright, glamorous, and far from ordinary – and they tend to place these pieces on neutral backgrounds so that the products remain the focal point. Keeping the focus on the products themselves prevents distractions, while adding to that luxurious, high-fashion feel.

Key Takeaway: Let your products and services do the talking. Complex backgrounds or landscapes aren’t always necessary to evoke your brand image.

GoPro is the perfect example of a company that doesn’t have an overtly attractive or flashy product, but the nature of the photography industry lends itself flawlessly to Instagram. In most of their posts, you don’t see the product at all, but rather the point of view from the camera.

In addition to creating a highly cravable product, GoPro has successfully created a culture of adventure around their brand. Every image they share begs the question of where you’ll take your GoPro next. Some of these visuals reflect once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like skydiving, whereas others show you how you can incorporate a GoPro into your day-to-day activities.

By using these vivid, adrenaline-inducing images on their Instagram account, they’re able to feature their product without outwardly “promoting” it and saying “Hey, here’s our camera. You should go buy it!”

Even though GoPro is another example of a brand that clearly fits within the Instagram model, it represents a large number of industries that may not have the most beautiful product, but contribute to a thrilling and visually appealing experience.

Key Takeaway: Look beyond your product or service to how your customers use it, and make that a focal point of your Instagram strategy.

Warby Parker is a company that was unknown by many until recently, and they have their social media savviness to thank for their rapid rise in the eyeglass industry. Affordable products, hassle-free returns, and a charitable mindset are all at the forefront of Warby Parker’s social presence, growing their follower base exponentially in the past couple of years.

Their Instagram account shares a combination of original and customer-submitted photos that balance practicality and comic relief in perfect harmony. In many of their images, dogs are wearing their glasses, so it’s safe to say they’re not just a typical member of Corporate America. Other images feature just the glasses themselves to make them the focus of the post, as well as situations where you would likely need your glasses, such as at school or work.

Beyond the products they sell, Warby Parker is also known for their “Buy a Pair, Give a Pair” initiative, where they donate a pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair that is purchased. So far they’ve donated over one million pairs of glasses, and they’re not stopping there. Using social media platforms such as Instagram is a great way to get your customers on board with a cause that is close to your heart, while also adding a more human element to your social presence.

Key Takeaway: Don’t take yourself too seriously, and let your followers see the human behind the brand.

FIJI Water sells a very basic product with a high-class feel. Water may not seem like an industry that would have much to contribute to the visual nature of Instagram, but the company crushes that notion – and then some. While staring at images of water bottles would likely get boring pretty quickly, FIJI Water’s profile is a nice blend of product placement and beautiful scenery from around the world. The company’s means of differentiation is that their water is bottled directly at the source of a natural aquifer in Fiji, and their imagery of bright blue water and serene landscapes plays perfectly into the FIJI Water brand.

Their Instagram photos show everyday situations where you would be likely to have a bottle of water by your side, fitting this “luxury brand” into a consumer’s daily regimen. They also emphasize the importance of a healthy lifestyle, often featuring a bottle of their water alongside a home-cooked meal or someone engaging in physical activity. There’s been a huge push among the medical community to replace high calorie, high sugar beverages with water, so FIJI Water uses this to their advantage.

A potential point of contention with the brand is their price. However, despite the fact that their water sells for two or three times the price of their competitors, you don’t really get that feel from their Instagram account. The way they position their brand makes them welcoming and relatable, giving them a voice in a relatively monotonous industry. FIJI Water is the perfect balance of luxury and leisure, and represents a viable strategy for many luxury brands that are afraid of alienating potential customers.

Key Takeaway: Luxury brands can still be approachable.

It’s football season, so how could I not talk about the NFL’s Instagram account? Most sports enthusiasts on Instagram probably already follow the NFL, as the account serves as a central location for anything and everything you need to keep up with the league. Even though we all have teams that we are unequivocally devoted to (Go Bills!), the NFL covers each team fairly and in an engaging way.

In addition to traditional means of following the sport, the Fantasy Football craze is at its prime. Instagram serves as a perfect platform for the sports obsessed to gather and recap the happenings of the week.

The NFL’s Instagram posts include highlights, promos for upcoming Sunday and Monday Night Football games, scores, player stats, and much more. It’s evident that the league’s fans are at the forefront of their social media strategy, and if you happen to miss a game, you can just check out their Instagram account for everything you need to know to get caught up.

This is a perfect example for brands that don’t provide a tangible product to consumers, but rather an experience or entertainment. Companies can effectively utilize Instagram by playing off of consumer emotions, telling a story, and giving them a VIP-like experience.

Key Takeaway: You don’t have to sell a physical product to have a place on Instagram.

Yes, you read that right. The company that sells aluminum foil and wax paper is not only on Instagram, but is a poster child of how to do it right. Since Reynold’s Wrap is closely tied to the food and beverage industry, they emphasize the variety of creations you can make with their products. They even have original recipes on their website, which they feature a link to in their Instagram bio and in the text of individual posts.

But the most captivating part of this account is that each image connects to the next one, so when you look at several next to each other, it looks like one large image. Other brands have caught on to this idea, but it’s interesting that a company with seemingly little to offer the visual community of Instagram has made such a name for itself.

In addition to their creative approach, Reynold’s Instagram reflects larger ideals of health and wellness, as well as the importance of sitting down to have a meal with family and friends. They subtly evoke these concepts throughout their images and the prominence of their recipes across social networks.

Key Takeaway: Even the most “boring” of brands can be a social media game changer.

With Instagram on the up-and-up, social media marketers are still figuring out how they can make it work for their company. The above brands cover a wide variety of industries and product/service offerings but all have made a name for themselves on the network, which goes to show that practically anyone can get involved. Most importantly, it comes down to staying true to your brand and having a good mix of promotional and non-promotional content.

Instagram is a platform for people to create personal connections and gain insight into the life of someone else, so keeping that in mind when creating the perfect image or video is critical. But if you can provide a human feel and add life to something that might not initially seem “exciting,” you’ll effectively give Instagram users what they’re looking for.

This article was written by Kim Speier from Business2Community and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

6 Companies That Are Killing It on Instagram

The Coronavirus Pandemic has had a quick and fast impact on the way we live our lives. People around the globe have been asked to stay home as much as possible and practice social distancing. Now, more than ever, there is a need to quickly and effectively adapt, transform, work together as a team and manage crisis situations and communications across the board.

Watch this webinar on How to Upskill Social Media and Comms to Think Fast and Act Now.

Those who can, are working from home. For many, remote work is a very new experience. And, school and business closures mean many are having to work from home while sharing a space with loved ones. This means it is essential to ensure that projects run smoothly and collaborations can still ensue.

Klear’s Influencer Management Tool –  want to help you make a smooth transition to remote work, and have outlined some of their top 5 features that will help teams manage their influencer campaigns while working from home.

1. Influencer CRM: Keep The Whole Team Updated on Project Status

Working from home does pose its own challenges, like not having immediate access to a coworker. Especially when you work in a team, you may need to ensure that you have everything mapped out in front of you; what project you are working on, when the project is due, and roadblocks that depend on your coworkers.

Klear’s CRM is a great way to see the status of your entire influencer campaign at a glance. Their CRM has some built-in features that help the entire team stay aligned and maintain clear communication:

Notes: Team members can directly share feedback regarding specific influencers in a campaign. Do you like them, love them, would you never want to collaborate with them again? Add a note so everyone on your team knows how you feel. Everyone with access to Klear can view your notes.

Owner: Don’t step on any toes, even from the safety of your home. The owner tab within the CRM lets you know who’s managing communication with a specific influencer. This way everyone on the team knows where responsibility lies.

Agreements: Klear helps users avoid emails by allowing most communication to happen within the Klear portal. You can send and sign influencer agreements within Klear, and easily see the status of an agreement (signed or pending).

Remember, when most communication is digital, there is a lot of subtexts. Less is usually not more, so write detailed notes so no one misinterprets you.

2. Influencer Tagging: Let Your Team Know Who You’re Interested In

Klear’s influencer search engine is a great tool for you and your team to find the perfect influencer for a new campaign. If you’re used to tapping your coworker on the shoulder and scooting over to a friend’s desk to review a profile, influencer tagging will help you maintain the same workflow. Once you’ve identified an influencer you want to collaborate with, or that have enjoyed collaborating with, simply tag the influencer.

Tags are color-coded and can have names. For example, if you see an influence that would be perfect for you #RedLabel campaing, give the influencer a red tag and name it “red label”. All influencers under a specific tag will be listed together and accessible for the entire team to view.

Though it doesn’t feel the same as enjoying a coffee together while your review potential influencers, influencer tags will at least ensure that everyone is on the same page. Influencer tags also ensure you are your teammates aren’t doing extra work of vetting the same influencer.

TIP: Klear recommends giving your tags funny names to lighten the mood.

3. Download & Share PDFs: Influencer Profiles and Campaign Reports

Now that you’ll be having meetings and projects syncs over Zoom or other video chat platforms, it’s important to come prepared and easily share information with your coworkers. Klear lets you easily download PDF files of influencer profiles and campaign reports, so all of your important information is visible and easy to digest on one document.

Influencer profiles are great to share with coworkers or clients when vetting a potential candidate. Profiles can be downloaded to a one page PDF file, and includes important metrics including True Reach, Klear Score, audience demographics, top content and more.

Campaign Profiles are a great way to review and share the success of a campaign once it’s been completed. Reports included Total Post, True Reach, Engagements, and EMV. Campaign reports also offer a breakdown of each individual influencer’s performance. This is a great resource for the entire team or important stakeholders to get a full picture of how a campaign progressed.

TIP: Review campaign PDFs together with your team during a video chat, so everyone is seeing and reviewing the same information in real-time! 

4. Content Approval: Know Which Influencer Content Will Go Live

Of course, it’s always essential that you review influencer content before it goes live. Whether you are in the office or working from home. But, it’s important to remember that your entire team has access to this tool. Share submitted content with your coworkers so everyone knows what is scheduled to go live, or so others can give feedback on the content you’re not feeling 100% on.

TIP: If an influencer submitted content that you love, let the rest of your team know. Right now everyone needs some good news and some light-hearted content. 

5. Feedback Portal: Keep Everyone Involved, Not Just Team Members

Working from home can feel lonely. Especially if you’re part of a dynamic team that is used to brainstorming sessions and sharing feedback. If you miss getting feedback from coworkers, even those not immediately involved in a project, try using Klear’s new feedback portal.

Separate from notes in the CRM, which is for Klear users. Their feedback portal lets users easily receive feedback from those without access to Klear. This is a great resource for agencies looking to get a client’s input, or larger organizations looking to keep other departments in the loop.

Reading Tip: Does Working From Home Work for PR and Marketing Agencies?

Simply send a link that invites a collaborator to share feedback on every influencer and relevant content. All feedback is private between you and your collaborator.

TIP: When feeling overwhelmed, ask for feedback, even from people who aren’t completely relevant to the project. It’s also a nice way to touch base with co-workers you wouldn’t interact with during your daily tasks. 

NOTE: This blog post was written by Lena Young, the Director of Communications from Klear.

#WFH: 5 Ways To Manage Your Influencer Campaign While Working From Home

Today’s consumers spend an average of 2:24 hours on social media daily—an increase of five minutes over 2019. For younger demographics, the numbers are almost certainly higher. Meltwater’s Dino Delic called these numbers staggering, before adding that being a social media influencer now ranks as the number two career aspiration for youths 11-16 years of age. This suggests that understanding your audience in the digital age is only going to grow more important.

Peeling the onion on all things digital fell to three industry experts in Chicago on March 5. Davitha Ghiassi of Red Havas, Natasha Vuppuluri of Zeno Group, and Eric Sawitoski of Legacy spoke to the imperative for marketers to create strategies that address consumers’ evolving needs. What follows here is only a small sample of what they discussed.

Influencer marketing isn’t “dead,” it’s evolving

When social media posts are now marked sponsored and audiences rightly suspect that influencers are being paid, it’s easy to be skeptical about the quality of the content. And yet it’s hardly fatal. Davitha Ghiassi and Natasha Vuppuluri agreed that in the current environment it’s more important than ever to vet influencers to ensure they authentically represent the brand. Ghiassi’s employer Red Havas distinguishes between three types of influencers, including content creators or co-creators, content distributors providing access to an audience, and online narrators offering media appeal. Just as the market has evolved, so have the influencers, who are no longer so one-dimensional. She cited the founder of Momma’s Gone City as a current example of an influencer-distributor who’s become both a narrator and an authentic content creator by blogging about products that have real value in the influencer’s life.

Creating proof points around your brand’s purpose is now a much bigger deal

Ghiassi said that Red Havas conducts an annual global study where they differentiate between three types of benefits, including the functional (does a product or service do what it’s supposed to), the personal (does it enhance a person’s life), and the collective (does it enhance a person’s community). After trailing the other categories for years, the collective benefits have now achieved parity. Ghiassi says the takeaway for brands is about showcasing purpose, whether to individuals or to society at large. Influencer marketing remains a great way to do this, provided you partner with people who share your company’s values.

If you are looking to begin working with social media influencers, we created a Marketer’s Guide to Social Influencers to help you work with social influencers to reach a larger audience.

Your own content is still central to your credibility

Eric Sawitoski referenced a finding that 82% of Gen Z believe companies need to produce content relative to them personally, while half think that most content is of little value. The content you create internally remains a bedrock in establishing credibility. He cited his own company as evidence. Soon after Legacy started publishing intellectual property, there was a significant uptick in calls from the media asking Sawitoski and his partners to speak as experts. “This leads into an influencer model, where people want to hear what you have to say.”

A rigorous brand audit goes a long way toward warding off worst-case scenarios

Vuppuluri’s Zeno Group conducts workshops with communication pros of various levels and functions and asks them what they would miss most if their company were to disappear tomorrow. Follow-up questions include what they imagine their consumers would miss most. This steely look at worst-case scenarios forces companies to arrive at their true values. Among Zeno Group’s key findings is that younger consumers want to view brands as friends that share their values, but that even one serious misstep will result in the brand being canceled. What at first glance appears warm and fuzzy is anything but that.

Ghiassi said that Red Havas uses what they call 4C modeling to produce actionable intel that feeds more effective campaigns. This involves a close examination of a product’s category, competitors, consumers, and culture. Ghiassi said the insights are derived from a combination of sources, including social listening, the social platforms themselves, free research, and media communication platforms such as Meltwater. These insights are converted into different types of content, pillars, themes, amplification tactics, and influencer partnerships. The strategy and execution all flow from the initial research.

Not sure where to get started when it comes to influencer marketing? Download our Marketer’s Guide to Social Influencers for tips on how to begin building out your plan.

Best practices include making the most of your assets

Aside from being authentic and purpose-driven, what are some other prescriptive measures companies can take to connect with an audience? Ghiassi and Sawitoski talked about leveraging media assets across multiple formats. Even if you feel you must be on TV because that’s what your older clients understand and demand, make sure it’s not at the expense of your younger prospects and customers. Everyone agreed that too many brands create for one channel and don’t tailor the story they're telling to other channels. Given your resource limitations, you need to create an asset that can live on different channels in a variety of formats. Sawitoski suggested using event-based advertising—he referenced a 2020 Super Bowl commercial—as a way to initiate a conversation that you then take to your other channels. Finally, be aware that if and when people watch TV, they're often also engaged on their smartphones. The trick then is to tell a visual story knowing your audience may not be giving you their full attention.

Along with understanding your audience, it's about understanding the platform

A so-called elephant in the room was younger people’s current fascination with the social media platform TikTok. 41% of the platform’s audience is comprised of 16-24 year-olds. Ghiassi observed that much of the fascination lies with young people’s desire to be creators. “So give them a challenge that aligns with that story you’re also telling on TV. If you can think that way, you can nail any channel.”

Natasha Vuppuluri observed that her company’s name derives from the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium. Zeno is reputed to have said that everyone has two ears and one mouth so that we might listen twice as much as we talk. Zeno Group’s motto to “be fearless, not reckless” means listening carefully to clients and data before acting. Building on Vuppuluri’s advice was Davitha Ghiassi, who recommended never forgetting that social is a two-way street. “Your audience is literally telling you what they want. They're giving you that intel.” Measuring that in the many ways outlined above, including through social platforms as well as through media platforms such as Meltwater, is a good path to success.

We're all problem solvers, Eric Sawitoski said. When you look for an agency partner, you're looking to either change someone's behavior or amplify the amount of change. Cold, hard numbers are a source of inspiration for him. “If you can’t measure it, don’t do it.” He cautioned against “faux success,” where people spin results to fit a desired narrative. Nowadays, there’s so much information that marketing and PR teams can use to prove the ROI of their efforts, there’s almost no excuse for not tracking the results of a campaign.

How to Connect With Your Audience in the Digital Age

Online feedback is great. It helps provide validation for the work we do, it helps us to course correct in areas where we can improve, and it gives us a general idea of how we are doing in the market. It’s direct feedback from the client base that has valuable applications as we run and grow our businesses.

The problem is that sometimes online feedback isn’t great. Negative feedback, while helpful in the right context, can damage a business’s reputation, it can harm relationships that the business has cultivated with the public, and sometimes, it is just unpleasant in general. According to ZenDesk, 90% of consumers’ buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. Fortunately, there are several ways businesses can take negative online reviews, social media comments, or negative articles and mitigate the damage. It’s even possible to turn the situation into a net positive.

Not all types of negative feedback are equal. Some negative comments are genuine and well-deserved, while others are intentionally destructive. Learn to distinguish between the types before you move forward:

1 – Actual Problems and Constructive Criticism

Some feedback addresses an actual problem that a customer, patient, or user has found with your product or service, and often meant merely to bring it to your attention. While a public comment exposing a weakness in your organization does not paint you in an ideal light, these reviews and comments can be genuine opportunities for your organization to improve and to engage with the public. Some users may even include potential solutions to the problems themselves. Take these suggestions with a grain of salt, because often, the public is missing key information about the industry. Still, listen to each suggestion and consider whether or not in can work. Often, this kind of feedback can provide effective solutions.

Sometimes, if a customer’s experience is not ideal, they will respond in anger, actively attacking the organization. While the attack itself may not be merited, the issue that upset them in the first place could be very real. If there is a problem that can be solved, take the message to heart without taking the criticism personally. Situations of this sort can go very poorly, but if handled properly, they can also do a lot to build goodwill.

As the saying goes, “Some people just want to watch the world burn.” Some people have no valid reason to be upset, but they will attack an organization just because they get a kick out of stirring the pot. In fact, 28% of Americans have admitted to trolling. In a similar category, some unethical companies will post negative feedback about a competitor, even if it’s untrue, as an opportunity to build public opinion on their own product or service as a competitor.

After determining what sort of negative feedback you’re dealing with, it’s easier to determine the best course of action. If the negative comment or review was merited, always make sure to respond—but be careful how you do. Make sure that you respond in a positive, constructive fashion, and never in anger. Keep the conversation polite, and if the situation warrants it, offer to take the conversation offline. This way, you can delve deeper into the issue without allowing things to escalate online, as well as preserving the customer’s privacy.

When you respond, keep your response brief but personal. In the case of a negative review, acknowledge any mistakes you have made, and if there is a reasonable way to make things right with the customer, attempt to do so. While a business shouldn’t feel obligated to apologize, a polite response and a willingness to go the extra mile can turn an upset customer into a loyal one who may even become an advocate for your organization. Once the situation has been resolved, indicate so on the site where the review was made in a comment.

In the case of trolling, on the other hand, the situation changes. Usually, a troll is trying to bait you into a conflict, which never helps your image. They generally don’t care about fighting fair or even being honest. One more time, do not engage with a troll. Ignore this sort of feedback and, if necessary and possible, simply remove this sort of comment as soon as possible. If the comment or review is on a third-party site, contact the site owners and present your case. Just know that sometimes, sites will refuse to remove content, in which circumstance, the best option is to just ignore it and move on.

Whatever the reason for the feedback, keep one thing in mind: the Internet is fairly permanent. Make sure that your responses are rational, polite, and diplomatic. If you keep your interactions with the public as positive as possible, you can turn the negative reviews around and build strong relationships and a loyal customer base.

This article was written by Robert Cordray from Business2Community and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

How to Appropriately Respond to Negative Reviews Online

My first PR job came in the form of an internship in the University Affairs office. I was beyond excited on my first day; here I was, a student, and I was getting paid (a very small amount) to work in PR – an incredibly awesome achievement! And it was, at first. I quickly learned that some tasks, like sorting hard-copy press clippings, were dreadfully boring and highly inefficient. I dreamt of a day that the process could be automated, I had no idea how robust and customizable monitoring would become 20 years later - in a world of social media and living online. So much so that today’s technology leads to better public relations, and takes the grunt-work out of simple tasks, when used properly.

PR software offers highly customizable editorial and social media monitoring that makes it possible to think beyond monitoring as a scorecard to measure campaign success.  Monitoring your brand’s media exposure is imperative, but if you’re only looking at your own clips and metrics you’re missing out on an opportunity to better understand your brand’s perception in the market, what your competition is up to and your place in your industry. Media monitoring can even be a powerful asset as you plan strategy and it’s an amazing ad hoc research tool.

As I explored this concept I talked with a few agency friends about how they see companies use media monitoring today. From what I gather, many companies simply don’t know about the media monitoring available today, don’t know much about their customizable power and some get too comfortable with the “we’ve always done it this way, why change?” mentality.

“While several companies have invested in technologies and services that provide deeper analysis of their media coverage, some are still relying on simple Excel trackers,” comments Jenna Martin, Account Director for Kaplow PR. “I think it ultimately comes down to available funds and executives’ preferences for receiving measurement information.”

With that, five less conventional yet HIGHLY USEFUL uses of media monitoring:

1. Understand Your Brand’s Perception and Exposure

Using online monitoring to understanding your brand’s exposure in online media allows PR to step beyond simply grading PR efforts; and to rather offer its organization useful business intelligence. With today’s software and a few minutes of work you can access the basics (e.g. recent articles, clip counts, media reach/circulation) and dig deeper to compare your results to your competition, gauge the sentiment reflected in your media coverage, understand where you’re being covered geographically. Sharing this type of brand information is appreciated by virtually every department of a company, offering PR a way to contribute in new ways.

2. Let Editorial and Social Media Monitoring Tools Aid Strategy

If your life in this industry is anything like mine you often find yourself preparing to promote products or services that you wouldn’t have expected. Sometimes you might be pitching a product or service you know little about, which can be a problem. In these cases media monitoring tools are your best friend. Before you can think about campaign strategy you must understand the product/service you’re promoting and a quick look at related media can be a lifesaver.

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