The line between PR and social media has been getting fainter and fainter for a good year or two. The integration of advertising and social media, on the other hand, seems to be a more nascent development, sped on by Facebook and LinkedIn advertising, as well as Promoted Tweets and Trends.

While some advertising agencies have begun experimenting with social media in their ad campaigns (e.g. Trident’s full-page ad showcasing Twitter messages from its customers or the Old Spice YouTube videos created by the ad agency, Wieden + Kennedy, with the help of social media consultants), social media firms seem a bit more cautious incorporating advertising into their marketing campaigns. This may be due to the distrust people generally feel toward advertising, which makes its introduction into a community-oriented social media channel rather tricky.

However, advertising can work especially well in social media due to the high engagement level of social media users. Page One PR has run Facebook ads, Twitter ads, and even placed ads on message boards and newsletters for our clients. The ads we ran can be divided into two objectives: to increase the reach or engagement level of a channel and to increase direct sales and downloads of a product or service.

What worked and what didn’t?

Message boards and newsletters tend to cater to audiences that are not being targeted by traditional forms of PR and marketing. By locating message boards and newsletters that are relevant to a client’s market, we can identify a niche audience that is very likely to be interested in a product or company. Though we may be reaching a smaller audience, it is one that is pre-vetted and predisposed to listen to our client’s message. The target audience is narrow but deep.

In contrast, running ads on Twitter-specific networks garners a very wide audience, but it is one that is primarily interested in Twitter. Even though an ad may be seen by a great number of people and can lead to a huge spike in followers, the viewers are rarely “quality” leads. As a further detraction, we have noticed that a significant number of followers generated from Twitter network ads drop off after a short period of time. The target audience here is wide and shallow.

We’ve generated better results from Facebook ads, though the outcome depends largely on the goal of the campaign and the “call to action.” We’ve found that ad campaigns that keep fans within Facebook’s platform lead to better returns. In one instance, we created and ran an ad to drive new fans to a Facebook Page. The number of fans grew by 44% with a gain of nearly 1,000 in one month and a conversion rate (percentage of people who became fans after clicking on the ad) of 30.3%. In contrast to Twitter network ads, fans generated from these campaigns did not drop off.

However, the results have been negligible for ads that require a user to leave Facebook’s site. We created a Facebook ad to increase attendance to an event. Though a high number of viewers who clicked on the ad ended up purchasing tickets to the event, the total number of clicks on the ad remained relatively low. This could indicate the keyword triggers and other ad filters were too well targeted to appeal to a large enough audience. A second Facebook ad offered a white-paper download from a client’s website, again taking the audience away from Facebook’s site and again leading to unspectacular results.

The last is also an example of what happens when ads are not integrated with an interesting marketing campaign. For instance, we ran an ad in which viewers were asked to share their funniest customer requests regarding a specific product. Perhaps not surprisingly, the results far outshone those from the ad that offered a whitepaper download. At a very basic level, the call to action should be more than just “buy now” or “click here.”

What’s on the horizon?

Social media at its best consists of both give and take – users generate and promote valuable content, while building relationships and engaging with communities. In contrast, consumers of traditional media and search engines are accustomed to a one-way street of communication. Because social media users tend to be more engaged, it signals a greater likelihood that they will interact with an ad, especially one which develops their relationship with a community further.

We’ve found the conversion rates from social media ads have been high, especially relative to more traditional forms of online advertising. In future, we plan to run more ads targeted at driving community interaction, specifically ones that keep an audience on Facebook’s site. We will also begin incorporating LinkedIn ads in our marketing campaigns and continue tweaking our campaigns on Twitter-specific advertising networks to generate better results. While care must be taken to ensure results are not offset by the cost of the ads, we have witnessed enough promise to continue using advertising in our campaigns where appropriate and we see this trend continuing for social media marketing as well.

The duties and qualifications have changed from our previous job posts, so please read this job description in full and only apply if you believe you have the necessary qualifications. We review each application carefully, but due to the high volume we typically receive, we regret that we are unable to respond to each inquiry.

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Interested in working for some of the Valley’s hottest startups and leading technology brands? Currently, we are looking for a creative, clever, and highly motivated Senior Associate who makes the most of every opportunity and wants to make a big splash.

Do you have 2-3 years experience in PR with at least 1 year in enterprise tech? Are you creative and energetic? Do you love to pitch and have a desire to drive awareness for some of the Valley’s most marketable tech companies? If so, come check us out!

Page One PR is a Silicon Valley public relations and social media firm that specializes in enterprise technology. At Page One we’re corporate, but also laid-back and collaborative. People at Page One come from all walks of life. We like that mix and we look for initiative, intelligence, humor, integrity, creativity, risk taking, fearlessness, management skills and a proven track record of success.

We want someone who has experience getting results and can work both independently and part of a larger team. While every day is different, the position will mostly entail the following duties and qualifications:

Job Duties:
• Drive some day-to-day management of one to two client accounts, including running weekly client meetings and oversight of specific account programs from planning to execution to project management
• Forge and maintain relationships with trade/vertical media and business press, as appropriate, both through proactive and reactive outreach
• Gain thorough understanding and knowledge of clients’ business and competitive environment and contribute to development of account PR or social media plans
• Facilitate and manage client press meetings, lead press/analyst tours and/or events; provide constructive feedback and analysis of briefings to clients
• Oversee management and development of client social media channels; compile social media monitoring reports and agendas
• Prepare full range of written materials including press releases, byline articles, ghost-written corporate blogs, client correspondence and reports

Qualifications:
• 2-3 years experience in PR, marketing, communications or media experience, with a focus on the high-tech industry, preferable in an agency
• Solid writing, presentation, and research skills
• Strong media relations skills and demonstrated ability to secure results
• Ability to drive client relationships, e.g. provide strategic and tactical advice, draft and implement plans, form thoughtful analysis, identify proactive opportunities, craft briefing materials, track coverage
• Strong organizational skills and demonstrated ability to multi-task and balance priorities
• Social media experience preferred
• High level of initiative
• BA/BS degree from top university.

Since Page One’s culture is all about great people doing great things, we reward our employees with exceptional pay, in addition to the following benefits:

* 20 days of PTO
* 12 paid company holidays
* Medical, dental and vision coverage for you and your dependents
* Matching 401K (after 6 months)
* Long- and short-term disability insurance
* Life insurance
* Flexible spending account

This position is based in San Francisco‘s financial district. If you are interested in the position and you have the qualifications listed above, email your resume and a cover letter to SA at pageonepr dot com. Use “Senior Associate position” as your subject header. Be sure to include details of your work experience and explain how you would be a good addition to the team in your letter.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond to each inquiry.
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The duties and qualifications have changed from our previous job posts, so please read this job description in full and only apply if you believe you have the necessary qualifications. We review each application carefully, but due to the high volume we typically receive, we regret that we are unable to respond to each inquiry.

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Interested in working for some of the Valley’s hottest startups and leading technology brands? Currently, we are looking for an Associate who has experience getting results and is highly motivated to make the most of every opportunity. If you have at least 1 year of experience in PR with a focus on enterprise tech, love to pitch creatively, and enjoy working with some of the Valley’s most marketable tech companies, then come check us out!

Page One PR is a Silicon Valley public relations and social media firm that specializes in enterprise technology. At Page One we’re corporate, but also laid-back and collaborative. People at Page One come from all walks of life. We like that mix and we look for initiative, intelligence, humor, integrity, creativity, risk taking, fearlessness, management skills and a proven track record of success.

We want someone who is clever and creative and who can work both independently and as part of a larger team. While every day is different, the position will mostly entail the following duties and qualifications:

Job Duties:
* Develop relationships with media, bloggers, industry analysts
* Pitch trade/vertical media and other influencers, both reactively and proactively
* Craft and place stories in the press and blogosphere
* Write both punchy blogs and traditional press releases
* Manage client social media channels on daily basis
* Research industry events and opportunities
* Prepare social media monitoring reports

Qualifications:
* 1-2 years experience in PR, marketing, communications or media experience
* At least 1 year of high tech PR agency experience preferred
* Has secured favorable media coverage for clients
* Successful track record of producing strong results
* Ability to think outside of the box and to take initiative
* Ability to work both independently and cross-functionally across multiple teams and job duties
* Exceptional organization, writing and verbal communication skills
* Strong research skills
* Ability to grasp complex technology
* BA/BS degree from top university

Since Page One’s culture is all about great people doing great things, we reward our employees with exceptional pay, matching 401K and up to 20 days of paid time off per year. The list of benefits includes:

* 20 days of PTO
* 12 paid company holidays
* Medical, dental and vision coverage for you and your dependents
* Matching 401K (after 6 months)
* Long- and short-term disability insurance
* Life insurance
* Flexible spending account

This position is based in San Francisco‘s financial district. If you are interested in the position and you have the qualifications listed above, email your resume and a cover letter to Associate at pageonepr dot com. Use “Associate Position” as your subject header. Be sure to include details regarding your work experience and explain how you would be a good addition to the team in your cover letter.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond to each inquiry.
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A little over a year ago, we delivered the debut issue of the Social Wonders Newsletter. A look through the past year’s topics reveals three main themes – Monitoring, Measurement and Management. While we did not set out with the intention of focusing on these three areas, it quickly became apparent that they form the cornerstones of social media campaigns. Here’s why…

MONITORING – Without it, we wouldn’t know what strategy to develop for a social media campaign and we wouldn’t be able to make a campaign dynamic and actionable.

To build a social media campaign strategy, we need to first conduct an audit just as we would for a more traditional PR campaign. The social media audit consists of four major monitoring-and-analysis components. The first three, which we break down in our September ’09 issue, monitor and analyze where a company (and its product) stands in comparison to its competitors, its market and its current social media efforts. The fourth component monitors and analyzes influencers who are most relevant to a campaign, a process we describe in our March ’10 issue.

But monitoring doesn’t end with the audit process and development of campaign strategy. Once the campaign has been launched, we continue to perform ongoing monitoring in order to identify specific actions and opportunities to proactively engage with target audiences (customers, potential customers and influencers). Ongoing monitoring differs from monitoring during the audit phase in that it leads to specific actionable recommendations that feed back into the creation of strategic content.

MEASUREMENT – Did the campaign accomplish its intended goals? Was it worth the time and resources? Measurement allows us to evaluate the success and value of a social media campaign.

The first question requires a method to identify and report the results of a campaign. To begin, it is necessary to set specific actionable goals for a campaign and to then determine metrics that have a direct correlation to the goals. Those metrics should be used to measure the effectiveness of a campaign. The goals for a Twitter campaign typically involve increasing awareness (of a company, event or product), so metrics that determine the number of impressions and the level of interaction (or interest) produced by a campaign serve as a good indicator of whether goals have been reached. Our June ’09 issue details the metrics that we generally use when measuring the results of a Twitter campaign. However, these are just starter metrics and we should always make sure the goals are really appropriate for a campaign. For example, reaching the largest number of people may be less important than reaching specific people.

The second question of whether a campaign was worth the time and resources addresses the issue of ROI and is unfortunately a much harder nut to crack. Though we would be the first to recognize there’s no simple solution, we offer one way to tackle the issue of measuring social media ROI (especially in comparison to other marketing programs) in our July ’09 issue. We hope to offer more on this topic as we get more hard data from our campaigns for clients.

MANAGEMENT – You’ve completed your audit, developed your strategy, and even determined the metrics for measurement. Now begins the work of producing and communicating content as part of your campaign, a process that can be overwhelming and time-consuming. How do you optimize limited time and resources?

Our debut issue from May ’09 outlines steps to increase the results of a product launch by incorporating social media channels like blogging, Twitter, and video. But how do you manage those channels individually?

For example, many companies struggle to find a process that allows them to publish and promote posts regularly for a corporate blog. In our February ’10 issue, we introduce one method, which follows a publishing model practiced by media companies and which addresses the three main obstacles of corporate blogging: 1) getting busy people to consistently contribute content; 2) identifying relevant topics; and 3) generating enough blog views to justify the cost of time and effort.

With Twitter, the challenge lies in managing the flood of content that is pushed out to the Twitterverse. How do you know what requires a response? Is there a way to minimize the amount of time spent searching for and writing mini-posts to publish? We have found that some tools can ease the process and we provide a guideline to using such tools effectively in our issue from January ’10.

Integrating video into a product launch is especially effective due to video’s visual impact and YouTube’s viral potential. Video can tell the story of a company or a product in a way that cannot be accomplished by the written word (e.g. press release) alone. Unfortunately, producing a video is a foreign process to most companies. Budgets rarely allow for the employment of professional production studios, so how do you make a video that looks professional, yet doesn’t cost tens of thousands? We struggled with the issue ourselves and share some tips we learned in our November ’09 issue.

Want to hear more about our experiences with new social media technologies and the lessons we learn while carrying out campaigns for clients? Sign up for our newsletter

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