Creating A Social Media Plan

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 30th, 2010

Sarah Hartshorn has a good post on Social Media Today that outlines 5 Steps To Create A Social Media Plan. If you are considering including social media in your communications plan, it’s worth a read.

In the past few months, in our Vancouver PR agency, we’ve had the opportunity to develop several social media plans for clients. And Sarah’s first point on picking your marketing objectives is where we always start – although we focus on identifying your communications objectives.

A few months back, we had a meeting with a client in Vancouver…

Viral Video

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 25th, 2010

You may have seen the video of a woman in Britain who, for no apparent reason, picked up a friendly cat and put it in a garbage can. Links to this video were emailed all over the world, it was uploaded to Facebook and YouTube and the clip appeared on a range of broadcast news shows.

Apart from shaking our heads at the cruelty involved – the poor cat was stuck in the garbage for about 18 hours – and the seemingly randomness of this nasty act, there are a couple of…

Crisis Communications In The Age Of Social Media

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 24th, 2010

I read (and reread) The New York Times article on crisis communications with interest. I want to repeat what I wrote yesterday – for anyone who works in communications, this article is worth a read.

I don’t agree with every expert quoted in the piece, but not agreeing is a good thing. It makes you step back and review why you think the way you do.

One of the experts in this article explains that sometimes, there is nothing you can do when a crisis hits except take your hits and get…

AHA Flip Cam Friday

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on August 20th, 2010

In today’s AHA Flip Cam Friday video, Ruth talks about communication. It’s more about what your audience hears, than what you say.

Defining What You Need In A Social Media Consultant

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 18th, 2010

Kevin Barenblat has a great piece on how to choose a social media partner on Imediaconnection.com.  He outlines 10 questions to ask if you are considering working with a consultant or agency for your social media outreach. It’s a good article and worth reading if you are considering bringing on social media assistance.

I think that we, at AHA, bring an interesting perspective and specific expertise to our approach to the social media initiatives that we develop for clients. We are a PR agency, not social media marketers, and we view…

Should An Intern Run Your Social Media?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 17th, 2010

There is a very interesting post on Ragan.com. They ask whether an intern at your organization could – and should – be charged with handling social media. That is a really good question, and one that sparked a great deal of discussion at our Vancouver PR agency.

This is a subject that I feel quite strongly about. I don’t think an intern should run your social media, but I do believe that interns and other junior staffers can – and should – participate in your social media initiatives. We often encourage clients to…

AHA Flip Cam Friday – Negative Social Media

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on August 13th, 2010

In today’s AHA Flip Cam Friday video, Ruth talks about what to do if there are negative conversations about your organization on social media sites.

How To Respond Using Social Media When Something Goes Wrong

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 11th, 2010

There was a great piece online last week at theglobemail.com that gave five tips to Air Canada about how they may have better handled a PR issue that happened recently. While the piece is focused on an incident with the airline, there is wealth of knowledge in here for any organization. It’s worth a read.

From what we understand, a young boy who is fighting a terminal illness travelled to New York City recently to live out one of his life wishes. At some point during his travels, with Air Canada, his wheelchair –…

Social Media Usage

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 09th, 2010

There is a great blog post on edudemic.com that showcases some interesting facts and stats about how people use social media. It’s definitely worth a read.

We often receive calls from potential clients where the person calling is concerned that their organization is late to the social media party.  I think that more organizations than most of us realize are still working out how social media fits into their overall communications strategy. It may seem like yours is the only organization out there that isn’t engaged in social media, but that isn’t the case. I…

PR On Facebook

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 28th, 2010

Love it or hate it, you have to admit, Facebook has created a global online community that offers huge opportunity (and equal risk) for many brands. Recently, Facebook launched a PR on Facebook page that provides some great information on how to use Facebook to connect with your stakeholders, consumers and community.

This is an excellent resource if you are interested in finding out if Facebook would be of value for your organization. And if it is of value, there is lots here that can help you to engage on Facebook.