PR





AHA Creative Strategies is a public relations agency. We’re communicators. We’re social media participants. We’re brand journalists. We use video, video news releases, b-roll, podcasts, photography, articles, news releases, media and blogger pitches, news conferences, media tours, speaking tours, speeches, special events, trade shows, community meetings, annual reports, newsletters and so much more to assist our clients in communicating with their stakeholder groups. (Notice I said “with” – not “to” – that’s very important.) We are in the business of informing, educating and creating conversation. As importantly, we’re in the business of listening and responding.



I mentioned in Monday’s blog post that I would focus on some of the tools we, at AHA, provide to clients and why they are of value. I think before I do that, I should take a step back and define what good public relations is – to us. (I don’t want this blog post to be too long, so next Wednesday I will focus on the specific tactics. Although, I have to warn you, I got a bit carried away – today’s post is a little long!)



Good public relations is working in partnership with clients. Even when it is challenging, we tell them what they need to hear – rather than just take orders and deliver what they want us to. We identify what they need (which isn’t always the same) and we approach what we do with optimistic realism. Timelines, deadlines, client resources and budgets also have to be taken into consideration.



Please visit our blog to read the rest of the post.

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AHA Blog Post - Creating And Maintaining A Good Corporate Blog

When I worked for Maclean’s magazine, we used to have story meetings to decide what got into the magazine and what didn’t. I can remember thinking that it was a shame that so many stories didn’t make it. It was just a space issue. These days, we’re still up against space issues and it is more competitive than ever in getting good stories told.

It is one of the reasons we started our Vancouver PR firm – to help our clients tell their stories in an authentic, engaging manner. Bloggers are a huge part of PR and I think that understanding how to work with bloggers is an important PR skill. Bloggers are different than journalists, but equally important. Just as we wouldn’t approach every journalist the same way, you shouldn’t generically approach bloggers either…

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AHA - Social Media

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.

AHA Take

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 the world from a different perspective. While we work to achieve the campaign goals and objectives, our approach is one that is public relations founded, rather than with a marketing focus. That means that we are also cognizant of any potential risk that might be associated with an organization participating in social media and have the skills and ability to help mitigate and manage that risk in respect to communication.

Social media has blurred the lines between marketing, PR/communications and operations. It provides an opportunity for collaboration throughout your organization. And there are incredible opportunities as well as potential risk attached, so you want to make sure that you are strategic about how your organization uses social media.

One of the questions that Kevin recommends asking is: How will you measure ROI? Measurement is a challenge that communicators have faced for years. Back in the day, we used to measure media clips. Even though that didn’t really showcase the value, it was one of the few tools that we, as PR people, had.  The world has changed drastically and providing editorial/advertising value doesn’t work anymore. It’s important, we believe, to understand what your objectives are and to define how you will measure return on investment (and success) relevant to your objectives. Social media demands that you put the information into context and not just take numbers and minutes on your website, it includes engagement, connection and the development of relationships. It can be measured and it should be – regularly. If you aren’t monitoring, measuring and analyzing how people are engaging with your organization through social media and what value that brings on a regular basis, you can’t refine, adjust and improve. Measurement is important.

What questions do you ask potential social media partners?

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