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Influencer marketing is evolving, and so is the way brands measure success. That’s why Meltwater is proud to announce a new partnership with YouTube, integrating YouTube’s Creator Partnerships API directly into our Influencer Marketing platform.

Introducing Verified YouTube Data in Meltwater Influencer Marketing

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

In the UK, the beginning of Christmas is no longer signified by the first real frost or the premature festive chocolate aisle in supermarkets. It isn’t marked by the first advent calendar, or by putting up decorations. Instead, for many, it’s the first airing of Christmas TV adverts that truly signifies the start of the festive season. 

It’s quite miraculous that Christmas campaigns have become central to our routines and traditions. However, the origins of the Christmas ad extend back to Coca-Cola posters in the 1920s, featuring a very stern-looking Santa Claus who looked anything but jolly. Adverts were first shown on British TV in 1955 but focused on seasonal toy promotions.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 1995 that Coca-Cola’s “Holidays are Coming” TV campaign, featuring their iconic red truck, first aired. For many, this is still the most memorable Christmas ad of all time – but it was, instead, the John Lewis Christmas advert which burgeoned the entire genre of festively themed messaging that consumers have come to know and love. Today, we are over a decade into the Christmas battle of the brands – a firm institution of the festive period.

Just this month, there have been 6,500 online news articles on 2019’s Christmas ads, demonstrating the scale of the discussion, which takes place every festive season. Meanwhile, 46,000 people in the UK have taken to Twitter to discuss the release of the big brands’ campaigns. In fact, this year people began searching for the hugely anticipated John Lewis advert in September – two months before its official release. 

It’s beginning to feel a lot like a competition

The festive hype wasn’t created overnight but over a decade of successful John Lewis campaigns, including iconic ads such as “The Journey”, “The Bear and the Hare” and “Monty the Penguin.” John Lewis’ continuing focus on message, emotion and the magic of Christmas established a gold standard of advertising in this space, winning over shoppers with sentimental tales and firmly positioning itself as the guardian of Christmas.

The accompanying acoustic cover songs include five Top 10 hits and two Christmas Number 1s, often promoting new and young talent. Pioneers in producing accompanying toys and merchandise to their campaign, they were praised for their tasteful approach, to an audience who were more than happy to be wooed by Christmas again.

Other brands followed suit, with Sainsbury’s Mog campaign and M&S’ Paddington ad becoming memorable classics of the genre, and soon the Christmas ‘ad-race’ was unavoidable. Over a thousand news articles this month mention Christmas ads in conjunction with the competition surrounding them, and the ongoing fight for consumer’s attention has certainly complicated the process of standing out. 

In recent years, we have watched as John Lewis has caught up with itself. Years of growing expectations took its toll on the retail giant with their controversial “Moz the Monster” campaign resulting in a plagiarism row, after viewers took to social media to point out its similarities to Chris Riddell’s much-loved children’s story.

Although, the controversy around the campaign caused YouTube views to soar. In fact, John Lewis continue to face similar problems this year, as multiple authors have aired their concerns over similarities between their work and this year’s “Excitable Edgar.”

The brand’s 2018 offering featured a collaboration with Elton John for his upcoming Rocketman film release, which left many unsatisfied by the cost of the campaign (a whopping £7million), while others thoroughly enjoyed the tribute to a national treasure. The sentimental mould, fashioned by John Lewis’ earlier ads, has marked their latter offerings as failing to make viewers cry or ‘feel Christmassy’. 

Instead this year, Asda and Sainsbury’s have adopted John Lewis’ original blueprint for an emotive message and have seen huge success – proving that John Lewis isn’t the only retailer who can capture the ‘spirit of Christmas’. 

Over the last couple of years, Christmas ads have undergone some drastic changes in order to reflect the huge disruptions we have seen in the retail sector. With many high street closures and multiple high-profile chains going bust in 2019, viewers have found that big expensive ads miss the mark, at a time when thousands have lost their jobs across the country. The struggling high street is even the theme of Visa’s Christmas offering, as they promote local shopping, while various shopkeepers give their best rendition of Queen’s Somebody to Love. 

Cutting costs of big ad-spends has also become more of a focus – Debenhams has been widely praised for producing their festive ad in-house, saving a huge amount of money for the business. This highlights an important factor for businesses at Christmas: the FOMO effect for brands in the ‘golden quarter’. Consumers reportedly spend £30billion in Q4, and so brands have come to fight for airtime in an over-saturated market. Debenhams proves the importance in joining the race for consumer attention in order to remain relevant – but, this can also be a wonderful opportunity to showcase the talent of their creative teams, rather than outsourcing with a pricey budget. 

Vying for the limelight. Retailers have mutually changed their strategy in the ‘airtime race’ by staggering their campaign releases to allow each to have its own impact. Arguably one of the biggest changes in recent years is the content of Christmas adverts. While John Lewis have stuck to their on-brand sentimental message, and many including Asda and Sainsbury’s have continued to follow suit, another camp has emerged. Ikea produced their first UK Christmas ad this year, featuring grime artist D Double E as the voice of rapping kitsch ornaments, but focused on Ikea’s business concept and advertised specific products.

Product-focused adverts. Similarly, Argos’ drumming daddy-daughter duo focuses on the Argos catalogue, and the products you can find inside. In 2019, we’re seeing the beginning of a return to product-focused adverts, where brands advertise their featured promotions and have greater control of their ‘must-haves’ list. If you cast your minds back, this was where the John Lewis advert actually began, with campaigns such as “Shadows”, “The Feeling” and “A Tribute to Givers”. 

Whether adverts continue to follow the patterns of Camp A or Camp B, one thing is for certain. The greatest change we have seen to these campaigns is their medium. It’s now unimaginable to think of a Christmas ad without its accompanying social campaign, but considering Twitter was only launched in 2006, and Instagram in 2010, the importance of social media in the success of a campaign is now more relevant than ever.

While the marketing, advertising and communications departments of organisations globally have had to adapt and update in the switch to social, certain brands have done better than others with their seasonal campaigns.

It will come as no surprise that the pioneers of the Christmas ad as we know it, John Lewis, have led the way in achieving a cross-media campaign. This year, the “Excitable Edgar” ad was teased using a short pre-release video, creating a buzz on social media, while paid advertising has kept it at the top of users’ channels.

A creative social approach has also enabled the campaign to be ahead of the curve, with Edgar Snapchat filters and even a special Edgar emoji on Twitter available in the run up to Christmas. However, simpler approaches have had similarly huge effects in the past. Lidl’s satirical jibe at John Lewis’s Elton advert last year received 26K retweets, as it advertised: “Just because you don’t have £872 to spend on a piano, doesn’t mean you can’t be the next Elton. #EltonJohnLewis ”, alongside a picture of a keyboard and the pun, “It’s a Lidl bit funny”. This certainly goes to show that social can continue to unlock new audiences and will continue to be a growing focus for many winters to come.

Critics are always ready for the discussion on Christmas ads, with an increasing number of people questioning both their purpose and their effectiveness. While yes, a huge sum of money is spent every year on seasonal campaigns, recent releases have proven that this is not actually necessary. By combining the John Lewis and Waitrose offering this year, even the biggest spender is taking cost-cutting measures.

The purpose of these ads is still as evident as ever – to get people talking and securing your brand the airtime it needs in a highly competitive season. Brand loyalty is promoted too, as businesses have an opportunity to creatively express the messages and attributes they want to be known for, and customers affected by these ads have this at the forefront of their brains when they spend. 

Ads continue to be a good driver for footfall, as consumers flock to buy the campaign’s accompanying toy – as we saw with the hugely in-demand “Kevin the Carrot” plush delivered by Aldi last year. Viewers were thrilled with his return this season, as we see the first recurring star of the genre. The ultimate measurement of success in seasonal campaigns is their Social impact, and the ROI of festive campaigns can be hugely impressive.

In fact, John Lewis’ Elton John ad is said to deliver twenty times the return on the company’s original spend in social hits, as it attracted over fifty million views on. This trend continues, as this year’s “Edgar” ad gained 17.3 million views on social media within the first 24 hours of its release, according to John Lewis’ long-time ad partners Adam & Eve/DDB.

Examining the social data can help us to see the success in even simpler terms. Meltwater’s analysis of tweets during the releases revealed that the most commonly used emoji when talking about the ads was by far the love heart, with over ten thousand uses compared to just three thousand sad faces. And, guess who still dominates the market? Of course, the most commonly used hashtag is #excitableedgar. It will be very interesting to see where Christmas campaigns go next – but until then, here is Meltwater’s roundup of the 5 most creative ads of 2019:

Nicholas the Sweep | Sainsbury’s | Christmas 2019

Edgar the excitable dragon stars in John Lewis 2019 Christmas advert

Argos Christmas Advert 2019 – The Book of Dreams (60 Second Edit)

IKEA – Silence The Critics - TV Advert 90 #WonderfulEveryday

ASDA Christmas TV Advert 2019 | Radford Music

Bonus throwback – Curry’s #SpareTheAct Christmas campaign

No post about Christmas ads would be complete without a quick trip down memory lane. After all, nostalgia is the name of the season’s game and part of what makes it the most wonderful time of year. Who could forget Jeff Golblum’s performance in the Curry #SparetheAct ads that showed Golblum walking into present-opening scenarios and teaching the recipients of unwanted gifts to act happy about it, despite the fact they didn’t get what they really hoped for. The ads end with the tagline “spare the act this Christmas” – combining the skillful art of storytelling with humour and a key tie-in to Curry’s PC World.

Currys Christmas: Jeff Goldblum - Jigsaw

Want to up your festive advertising game? Contact Meltwater for media intelligence that can help you tell the stories your consumers will love these holidays.

The History of Christmas Ad Campaigns in the UK (and 2019’s top 5)

Tracking KPIs and reporting on them is the #1 most read topic on the Meltwater blog. Here, we discuss for the first time the importance of standardizing this effort across your organization, especially if you’re overseeing a multi-region operation. For a complete guide on KPIs and reporting for PR and social media, read our comprehensive ebook, Everything You Need to Prove PR ROI.

In the U.S., there is widespread acceptance and understanding that key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical for all communications professionals to translate the value of their work and find ways to more effectively execute their campaigns.

When teams are small, it’s easier to keep everyone in the loop on the KPIs vital to your success and to understand how all of your work ladders back to your goals. But once your company has expanded and has multiple regional communications teams engaging with multiple audiences, things become more difficult.

In some regions, standardized reporting and a focus on ROI is not the norm for communications teams. If you are used to being measured on awareness and impressions, the corporate office’s attempt to deploy a standardized dashboard can be seen in a negative light.

That’s why it’s important to align your teams and create buy-in on the reasons behind globally standardized KPIs. Doing so will also highlight how each regional team’s activities can affect the global brand sentiment. With this groundwork in place, comms professionals can amplify team efforts, more effectively deploy resources, and develop a more cohesive brand identity.

When companies expand globally, keeping track of the various communications teams and activities in play can feel daunting, and some groups may fly under the radar. Left unchecked, that means some locations may be underperforming or executing on ideas that may seem like a good idea at the time at the regional level but could be damaging to your brand as a whole (like a campaign serving up a “hot chick” driver from Uber).

Localization is a necessary component of any successful global strategy, but it’s important to remember that each of your local team’s efforts is still a reflection of your brand. This means that you need a brand voice that is flexible but maintains global consistency, as well as a shared understanding of what success means for your company.

Start by briefing your regional teams on your global comms goals and identify the unique opportunities for each region. KPIs will help explain what your company is prioritizing and keep your global team efforts focused, but you should not bundle everyone’s stats into one number.

Your global KPIs are a valuable pulse on your company’s overall efforts, but KPIs could vary significantly based on your region. However, these KPIs are critical to track on both a global and regional level to understand how regional activities are contributing—or detracting—from your goals:

Share of voice: How often your company is mentioned compared to your competitors. Your competitive company list will vary by regions, so there should be company-wide competitors, as well as region-specific.

Sentiment: The tone of the articles and/or social media activity regarding your company. By analyzing region-specific KPIs, your team can understand where a more hands-on media approach may be needed. Also, you may be able to proactively address a pending issue that has come to light in one region before it spreads to other regions, helping to save potential global brand damage.

Key message penetration: How often your company is mentioned alongside key themes. Your thought leadership measurement will likely involve key message penetration, and your team must keep a global lens when picking these themes. Trends may vary significantly from one country to another, and certain words or phrases may not resonate in the same way across countries. Use your regional comms leads as sounding boards on new ideas before developing a global campaign that may be offensive or carry a different meaning across borders.

Whichever KPIs you choose to track—and there’s plenty to choose from, so take your time—you need a system in place to review this data. KPI dashboards are a common way to set up views that are inclusive of both regional and global stats. This ensures you’re looking at the full scope of your data and can then easier know which regions to conduct more follow-up with.

Breaking down regional team silos is an ongoing process that requires active communication. Consider hosting monthly or quarterly meetings for all of your regional comms leads to connect, as well as separate meetings with each individual team and their agencies or freelancers. Because time zones can become complicated, record your meetings and distribute notes and action items so that anyone can access the material and stay focused between meetings.

Following these tips will further help set you on the right track, as well as adopting the right tools like Meltwater to help you make sense of your global data with ease.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to effectively set KPIs, download Meltwater’s PR Measurement: 8 Benchmarking Benefits Crucial to Success for the data-driven KPIs, tools and reporting frameworks you need to deliver the best results on your campaigns.

Globally Standardized KPIs for Enterprise Comms Reporting

Every department is trying to become more data driven, using insights derived from hard numbers to increase efficiency and effectiveness. What sets PR and comms apart? You've already got the media monitoring and reporting tools to make this happen. So how do you use these tools to elevate your role as a strategic business driver? Here we take a look at the mindset you'll need to adopt to get the c-suite to pay attention. You'll also want to read the recent tip sheet we published with Ragan Communications on how competitive benchmarking works, with 8 essential analytic strategies that will get PR invited into the boardroom.

Most comms and PR leaders only interact with top execs when there is a crisis. When a social media debacle erupts on Twitter, or if there’s a failure of a product or service, that’s when you’re called up to the boardroom. In fact, much of the work that comms does—such as media relations, influencer campaigns, and the reports surrounding them—doesn’t often get much visibility with senior company leadership. 

Sure, executives might interact with or appreciate PR when it pays off in the form of a big headline or company mention. However, comms is not usually thought of as a force that shapes the company on a higher strategic level.

Instead, PR/Comms departments should be given a full seat at the table in the C-suite. The trick is to get your C-level officers to see more clearly how vital a role Comms plays. 

How do you accomplish this shift in mindset? The answer is in making your department as indispensable as possible to other departments and the company as a whole. Comms and PR leaders can do this through the strategic use of data, changing the conversation around that data with execs, and others.

Share Your Data—and Insights—with Other Departments

PR pros use media intelligence tools all the time to keep track of their brand. Media monitoring uncovers data about the company, competitors, and industry that can be turned into key insights that inform company decisions. No one is more suited and ready to understand the market than PR pros. They’re not only aware of what’s going on, but how media, experts and customers perceive the company and what they want from it.

Often, PR and comms departments fall into the trap of reporting the same numbers and information to the same people, without any real innovation. Instead of using data to uncover opportunity and insight, they just count up how many times the brand is mentioned. However, with tools that combine monitoring and analytics—and analysts who can synthesize this information into patterns and trends—they could be offering competitive intel as well as insight into emerging market trends before anyone else does.

According to Dino Delic, Director of Solutions and Integration for Meltwater, focus on making your comms team a valuable resource to as many departments as possible. This, in turn, helps you demonstrate that value in concrete ways to executives in the C-suite.

“By making use of insights derived from data, packaged differently for other departments, PR makes itself a valuable resource within the company. By arming yourself with information about what other companies are doing in terms of their marketing and their positioning, you can arm sales with what customers and clients are doing or with what competitors are doing.”

Connect with Executives to Align Your Goals with Theirs

In addition to using media intelligence data to inform other departments, comms should also look for ways to cultivate a relationship with C-suite executives to better understand their decision-making needs and zero in on the types of data they appreciate most. For example, execs may be thinking far down the road, seeking information to help them make long-term strategic decisions. Maybe they need to know why a certain message worked when another one didn’t. PR should be aware of these signals and must be ready to deliver relevant insights. All too often they aren’t in the loop.

By cultivating a truly collaborative relationship based on useful data that helps executives shape and pursue corporate objectives, you can ensure comms doesn’t get left out in the cold.

“It’s a vicious cycle if you will,” Delic says, “where, because (comms isn’t) giving the board information they want, (comms isn’t) looking for the right information and they don’t provide that information. So then the C-Suite and the boardroom have less faith and trust in PR and comms.”

Don’t be afraid to ask executives what information they need most. Does the C-Suite want information on what competitors are doing so they can devise competitive strategies? Do they want to see the latest expert predictions in the space? Perhaps they want a deeper understanding of what a niche audience feels about a product or service. If you can deliver these things to company leaders on an ongoing basis, it’ll help them realize how essential your skills and services really are.

Measure Data That Truly Informs and Guides Corporate Decisions

Once you have a strong perception of the data signals that company leaders care about, you need to figure out how your data points can help bridge the gaps in their decision-making. This is better than just delivering the “same old” simple reports with data that illustrates reach, and little else—i.e., total number of mentions, number of new likes per week, etc.—with no clear notion of how to connect the data to an outcome.

“Try to find something that breaks that number down and tells your executives not only whether you’re doing a good job but also points the way to what you can do between reports to improve your performance and increase your effectiveness,” Delic says. “The more successful companies that we work with are the ones that are doing more of this.”

However, not every media intelligence tool will provide the same level of service. Delic says Meltwater analysts have been exploring the use of standardized tests. They include “an innovation index, a reputation index, industry leadership index, risk index, all sorts of ‘off the shelf’ options that someone can choose and then tweak to fit a particular situation.”  

No matter what media intelligence service you use, the important step is to begin by collecting the data relevant to corporate objectives, then explore ways to use that data to assist other departments as well as the company’s executives in reaching those objectives.

PR in the Boardroom: Winning Over The C-Suite

If you don’t know who Gary Vaynerchuck is yet, you will soon – because he’ll tell you. The boldly self-assertive businessman who preaches hard work and shameless self-promotion became an online entrepreneurial success and is now sharing his best marketing strategies with the world.

What’s so special about Gary Vee (his abbreviated alias), you may ask? Born into a poverty stricken family in a small former Soviet Union town, Gary arrived in the USA unable to speak a word of English and with no other choice but to work really, really hard. After making it to college, Gary discovered the Internet and rapidly catapulted his parents’ small wine store from a $3 million to a $45 million business – which was only his first step into a prolific career of online entrepreneurship. Today, he is the owner of the hugely successful digital media agency VaynerMedia, three-time New York Times best-selling author, renowned motivational speaker, angel investor and venture capitalist. Gary Vaynerchuk is someone whose marketing strategies you may want to pay attention to.

There are a number of marketing strategies that Gary Vee has referenced in his talks and blog posts, many of which brands can learn from. We’ve put together what we believe to be his top four mantras for marketing success.

This is a piece of entrepreneurial motivation that can apply to anyone: focus on your strengths and ignore the rest. Gary Vaynerchuk admits that he is bad at “99% of things” but focuses his time and attention on the one thing he is good at in order to achieve success. It goes without saying that everyone has different strengths, and Gary urges audiences not to mimic exactly what he does, or what the fashion is, or what Steve Jobs did, but to find your own niche.

Gary promotes engagement through The #AskGaryVee Show on YouTube, where he answers questions about marketing, social media and entrepreneurship directed at him on his blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Maintaining online activity and engagement are marketing strategies that develop a loyal fan base and promote brand awareness.

Posting content on blogs, vlogs, and social media networks is obviously vital and ensuring that you are interacting with audiences and followers is just as important. Don’t sacrifice your content just because it’s the weekend or the festive season. With Meltwater’s social media monitoring tools and engagement platform you can create social media calendars and plan your posts in advance.

Adding to Bill Gates’ “Content is King”, Gary declares, “but Context is God”. Great content is wasted if it is not presented in the appropriate context. Contextualisation means respecting the platform and the audience – this means understanding, for instance, that a woman on Pinterest may be looking to shop, while on Facebook she may be wanting to catch up with her world, and therefore using different marketing strategies on these different platforms. Focus on context and your content’s efficacy will improve as a consequence.

This doesn’t mean blindly creating an account on every social media platform. It means an even more in-depth analysis of where your consumer’s attention is. For instance, Facebook is the most used social media app in South Africa with 14 million users but is considered outdated by fourteen-year-olds because their parents are on it, and are signing up to Snapchat and Musical.ly instead. Focusing on consumer attention and marketing for the year you are in means understanding the demographics of your market and monitoring current conversations and trends.

It’s now 2017 and consumers have too much choice, limited time, and are growing tired of hearing the same thing. To stand out, one has to keep up. Winning the Attention War means marketing for the year you are in and not throwing money into South African marketing campaigns that have failed to demonstrate results.

To illustrate our point, we’ll use the example of social media and television marketing strategies. Television commercials are becoming increasingly outdated on account of fast-forwarded advertisements, as well as the phenomenon of “second-screening” (using one’s phone while watching TV). Further to this, Markerters can no longer count on product placements in the checkout aisle – shoppers are too busy scrolling from news feed to news feed. To successfully market yourself this year means grabbing consumer attention by going to where consumers are – their smartphones – and demanding their attention. Gary Vaynerchuk did so by introducing himself to the world via YouTube, and has since developed a healthy following of 1,37 million Twitter followers. Consumer attention is constantly changing – change with it.

“The brands that connect with clients in a real way will win.” – Gary Vaynerchuk.

To discover where your consumer’s attention is, contact the Meltwater team.

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Top 4 Marketing Mantras

Using social listening to participate in the ongoing conversation about your brand or industry on social media is the best way to address reviews, whether positive or negative. And remember, the Meltwater's media intelligence platform monitors forums and review sites.

No small business owner likes it when their business gets a bad review. Criticisms posted to Facebook, Google, or Yelp can sting. They can feel personal. What’s more, they can damage your business’ online reputation—causing potential customers to think twice about giving you their hard-earned money.

Still, negative reviews happen, despite your best efforts to make every customer happy. When you see a bad review, don’t panic. Instead, follow these five basic rules.

What to Do When You Get a Negative Review

First, acknowledge it. Ignoring online reviews doesn’t do any good. It might just encourage the reviewer to troll you even harder. Plus, other customers who see the review may wonder why you haven’t taken the time to help the customer with the complaint. The bottom line: Unaddressed reviews look bad.

Keep calm. If it looks bad to leave negative reviews unanswered, it looks even worse to fly off the handle and respond to a customer in rage. No matter how unreasonable you think the customer is being, remember: People are watching. They want to see how you respond. Take some time to cool off, and don’t reply until you’re able to do so without any anger or hostility.

Offer a solution. A negative review presents you with an opportunity to show real customer service skills—and if you can do so effectively, it might end up enhancing, rather than detracting from, your brand. Try to think of some ways to make things right with the customer who’s complaining. Go above and beyond, because again—people are watching!

Flip the script. Negative reviews also provide a great chance for you to reiterate what makes your company great. Saying something like “We’ve been in business for 10 years, and maintain 99 percent satisfaction scores from our clients” can be a great way to emphasize that your reputation is for excellence and that you’re committed to impressing your clientele.

Ask to take the conversation offline. Arrange to speak with the customer privately, over email or phone, to make things right—rather than airing your dirty laundry for all the world to see. If you can turn that unhappy customer into a happy one, you might even ask for them to revise their review accordingly.

Now, there’s just no pleasing some customers—so if you follow these tips and still can’t get through to them, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just focus on providing great service to your other customers, and hopefully winning some positive reviews to offset the bad ones.

This article originally appeared in The Red Ink.

This article was written by Amanda Clark from Business2Community and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

5 Things to Do When Your Business Gets a Bad Review

In the span of ten years, technology and social changes have influenced how public relations students have been taught courses. Social media began to come of age in 2007, and now we see it ubiquitously applied, analyzed, and discussed among businesses, agencies, and professionals in a variety of contexts. Influencer marketing, social media analytics, and personal branding are now common areas of focus for PR pros and students, but this was not always the case. Students today are in the middle of this evolving and dynamic field as they apply for internships while keeping current on the latest trends and campaigns. Educators, as well as the public relations programs they teach, have had to adapt to these expectations and changes to teaching communications.

While some things have remained the same, there are significant differences on how we teach communication today versus ten years ago. Some of these changes are based on the cohort’s expectations when it comes to learning, communicating, and engaging with technology. Millennials, for example, prefer the active learning process and being able to apply what they are learning instead of receiving the information via books and lectures. Each cohort and generation that comes into play have different experiences, expectations, and views that make them unique, which makes sense.

Here are some of the things that have evolved over the past several years for students when it comes to teaching communications.

Many, MANY more channels to consider. Ten years ago, MySpace was still a platform that was covered in class. Now, it is part of the history of social media that is briefly mentioned. Students have to be taught not only how the channels have evolved over time, but the actions that are necessary to take in order to keep up with these channels is even more important. This evolution and keeping up with all of the different channels and outlets has become more challenging with each year, and for students who want to major and work in communications, this has become almost a full-time job for them in addition to going to school, getting experience in internships, and network with future employers. This can be displayed in the table below with the evolution of the Conversation Prism 1.0 (created by Brian Solis and JESS3) and their recent version Conversation Prism 5.0 (created by Brian Solis, Ross Quintana, and JESS3). Educators have a responsibility to prepare students for the growing expectations they will face and what needs to be emphasized in their assignments and internships.

Application crucial towards understanding. Most PR courses need to be structured to provide opportunities for students to apply what they are learning outside of the classroom. Modern day students are accustomed to searching for information online with a few taps to a screen. With that being said, students are now looking for more assignments, classes, and activities that will prepare them for the real world.

Investing in education beyond the classroom. Certifications, like the Meltwater program, have increased in numbers substantially over the years, and students are looking for these software certifications to stand out from others when applying for jobs and internships. Matt Kushin from Shephard University provides examples of this on his website of some of the assignments he has done with Microsoft and Hootsuite in his social media and StratComm classes, and Emily Kinsky (West Texas A&M), Julia Fraustino (West Virginia University) and Carolyn Kim (Biola University) are incorporating Meltwater in the classroom to prepare students for real world PR.

Real-time access outside of the classroom. Access is especially relevant to how students and professors interact with each other. Students have consistently preferred immediate feedback or results from their work, but expectations of wait time waiting have decreased significantly. They want a response, and they want it now. Students have multiple ways to engage with a professor from email to DMs on Twitter to texting to Facebook posting or Messenger. A few years ago, this wasn’t a common practice. Educators still set forth boundaries and expectations for how they communicate and engage with students in their classes, but we are seeing mass adoption of multi-platform communication for courses. Some host Twitter chats to engage conversations (like Melissa Janoske and Stephanie Madden from the University of Memphis) or live stream using Facebook or Instagram or use Snapchat for lectures (like Ai Zhang from Stockton University).

Emphasis on having a global perspective. As more students realize we are working in a global society they’re looking at study abroad programs, in addition to international internships. They now are pursuing options that include working for PR firms in Cape Town or taking courses at Semester at Sea, or even taking a year to live and work remotely like with Remote Year. Students, along with the credentials these overseas experiences provide, are pursuing opportunities that will help them grow and flourish as PR professionals. Bill Ward took students to Cannes Lions to give them a comprehensive networking experience while exploring a global event. Cannes Lions offers the opportunity for students and educators to learn more about international award-winning campaigns and meet the people behind the campaigns featured on the awards stage.

Understanding the importance of a personal brand. A few years ago, people were only talking about personal branding. Now, it’s a core part of what students are aware of. Who you know and who knows you are important elements to keep in mind when applying for jobs. Many PR courses cover personal branding in the curriculum, and there are even programs that specialize on the importance of this practice. In many cases, students have to venture outside of the classroom to get additional professional opportunities. This can come in the form of internships and job opportunities, like the ones MEOjobs post on a regular basis. Plus, they can network with other students and professionals by engaging in Twitter chat sessions (ex. #SMSports if you want to work in sports and social media, or Deirdre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon’s #PRStudChat), or join professional groups like Social Media Club, or PRSA.

Informal learning environment. Students today want to be part of the engaged and dynamic learning environment, not only as a number on a classroom grade book. They want to collaborate and contribute to the overall discussion, to make a difference with their own perspective, while helping their fellow classmates at the same time. We’re seeing the use of certain trends to facilitate an environment of constant learning, these include group activities, class discussions, and the use of multimedia platforms that incorporate coursework into real-life use.

With all of these changes, there are still a lot of elements that have remained consistent.

Students still need to understand the fundamental skills for PR. Research and writing are still important, and some may argue even more so now since everyone is using text lingo in their correspondences. These are first impression metrics, and students need to know how to approach an employer about a potential internship, or what it means to be professional on and offline, and the importance of applying the findings collected in research.

Networking and professional etiquette. Presenting yourself and making the best first impression is still important. Understanding how to use technology is one thing, but professionals want to work with students who also have the passion, enthusiasm, and commitment to be a great contributor to their team.

Being a lifelong learner. This has not changed for students. Learning does not stop after the class is over and finals are complete–it is often the beginning. Students, especially those in communications, are accustomed to the evolution and changes in the industry for the most part. They only need to understand what to do in order to sustain their efforts, continue building their knowledge base, and skill set for the PR field.

In summary, we have to keep in mind that software and social channels, tools, and programs will continue to evolve. What students need to stay ahead is an understanding of the skills they need to enter the workplace, and what steps they will take to become lifelong learners.

How Far We Have Come in Teaching Communications

Having gone through the process of prepping for and filming case studies this spring, the Meltwater team shares best practices for stellar case studies. Read the post and check out our results for Visit Baton Rouge and the University of Michigan.

Any company that provides a service, especially if that service involves the Internet, (and what service doesn’t include the internet these days?) should be assembling case studies. And, if you’re going to produce a successful one, you’ll need to start with a great customer interview. When expertly guided, customers will hand you a case study on a platter by answering just a few questions. With a good interview, the case study will write (or in the case of video, edit) itself. But if your customer interview falls short, you’re stuck doing a lot of research, trying to connect the dots, and piecing the case study together on your own.

Sometimes it’s a writer who conducts the customer interview, other times a product marketing manager, or even an experienced sales rep. For a video case study, it might be a professional director. Whichever role you happen to have, along with being well-informed about your company’s service(s) and your customer, here’s some customer interview tips:

Don’t be shy. Make sure your customer talks about you.

Given the chance, people usually feel most comfortable talking about what they know best—themselves. It’s human nature, so don’t expect customers to be any different, even when they’ve agreed to an interview that’s supposed to be all more about you. For example, when describing their own products and work processes, customers are likely to go into great detail; when describing yours, they will probably be more inclined to generalize and skip to the next topic. 

Before we look at strategies for nudging your way into the spotlight, remind yourself why you’re working on case studies to begin with. The goal here is simple: get a customer who uses your product to say nice things about it.

To help ensure this happens, start by asking yourself what you want these case studies to focus on. Make a list and be sure to put the most obvious item at the top: your product. You’d be surprised how often the transcripts to case study interviews never mention the company whose conducting the interviews’ product or even its basic functionality. Add to the list your product’s key benefits and everything that sets you apart from the competition. 

Keep the list short, so you can glance at it during the interview and make sure that the customer touches (in their own words) on the points that matter most to you.

All customer case studies follow a tried-and-true, feel-good formula: (a) Meet the sharp, successful customer, who (b) finds him or herself facing a truly herculean obstacle, until (c) your product or service arrives on the scene to save the day.

Your case study is designed to make it easy for someone who is still considering your product to put themselves in your customer’s shoes, imagine themselves on a similar journey, and reach a similarly happy ending. To establish this basic narrative, start by asking your customer: What challenge did you face? Why did you choose our product/service to overcome it? What results have you achieved using our product? These are your core questions.

But for readers to connect with your customer and relate to their experiences, remember, you’re not actually talking to a company, you’re talking to a person. Encourage your customer to share specific examples and recall anecdotes from their personal point of view. By asking the right questions, you can help bring out their natural storytelling abilities while steering them to provide details that will showcase your product’s key strengths.

Ask about the company’s biggest challenges. Then personalize the question by rephrasing as: What was the most frustrating part of the job that you were able to solve when you started using our product (or service)?

Ask about the impact your product has had on the company as a whole. Then get more specifics by asking your customer to list their favorite feature and describe their day-to-day routine interacting with your product.

Don’t be afraid to go for high drama. You can ask: Did our product help you avert a crisis? Did our product enable you to do something you never thought was possible? What did you find most surprising about our product after you started using it? Has our product shifted the way you perceive your job function?

Don’t forget to ask for measurable improvements (in time, money, manpower) and attribute them to your product’s specific features.

Since you’ve already written your questions down, there’s really no point in keeping them a surprise.

In fact, to help your customers prepare, and help you get the best possible interview, send them your core questions and a list of five optional ones with the instruction to choose the three they feel they can answer best.

Ask them to jot some notes down and send them back to you, or set up a preliminary call to review them together. You can then let them know what you’ll want them to elaborate on in more depth. 

If you’re conducting a video case study, send guidelines for how your customers should dress. You can keep it general, for instance, “business formal” or “evening wear,” or get more specific like, no patterns and no white tops. If customers have objections, be honest. Let them know that you’re going for a specific aesthetic and that these guidelines will help you achieve it. 

You may need to adjust the questions to hit on the specific features and benefits your product or service offers, but as tempting as it might be to just wing it, don’t. Prepare for your customer interview, and ask your customer to prepare a little too.

The Meltwater Blog

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Globally Standardized KPIs for Enterprise Comms Reporting

PR in the Boardroom: Winning Over The C-Suite

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Top 4 Marketing Mantras

5 Things to Do When Your Business Gets a Bad Review

How Far We Have Come in Teaching Communications

3 Customer Interview Tips for a Great Case Study

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Managing your Global Brand’s Digital Footprint: Deciding on a Multiple VS Single Vendor Approach

Key Lessons from Asia's Best Social Media Campaigns of 2019

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