social media | Strawberry Communications: Writing & PR

Research snapshot: Social media in crisis reporting

November 24, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

This week I was invited to share insights from my PhD research at the UTAS School of Social Sciences Work in Progress day.

My PhD project looks at how social media texts produced by members of the public have impacted journalistic practice within the context of crisis reporting. To do this I analysed how social media texts were used as news sources in newspaper reports during three English crisis events between 2005 and 2013: the London Bombings, English Riots and Lee Rigby’s murder.

As disruptive and highly emotive events where knowledge is a premium, crises elevate the importance of media coverage, particularly as an accurate source of information. In studying the way social media texts are used as news sources during such events, my project contributes to the body of work on current journalistic practice in crisis reporting.

Guest post: 5 Tools That Will Boost Your Social Media Marketing

October 14, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

Photo credit: unsplash.com

This is a guest post by Lisa Michaels.

Social media management for businesses requires more effort than it might at first seem. In order to keep your audience engaged, you always need to have new content and activities available. Generating new ideas and publishing content, however, requires almost endless creativity and diligence.

Online tools for social media management can help you speed up content creation and improve the quality of your work. By using them you can accomplish more with less time than you ever thought possible. Here are five tools that will help you manage a successful social media presence.

Buffer

Marketers often face time management and accuracy challenges. Part of the problem stems from logging into every social platform to upload content. During the flurry of daily activity, you can become confused and make mistakes such as posting content to the wrong platform or forgetting to publish posts on time.

What happened to Twitter?

August 17, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

Image from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/epw/4341554771

When I discovered Twitter in 2008 I was a freelance writer and fledgling business owner working from the third bedroom of our home. I was also a new-ish mum looking for different ways to connect with others in the same situation.

I had been blogging for two years already and was an active member of a few online communities for women in business and mums in business. It was one of these online friends who suggested I look at Twitter in 2008, and once I did I saw a whole world open up.

Physically, more than socially, isolated, I set up an account and dived into a few conversations with people I vaguely knew with the aim of building a bigger social network. For the next few years I was a huge fan of everything Twitter because I could have amazing, funny and inspirational conversations with so many people. I followed all my IRL friends, everyone I met at networking events and anyone who wrote or presented anything I was interested in. My #followfriday (or #ff if there were lots of names) list grew week by week until I became overwhelmed by it. The point is, Twitter was the place to be for someone like me.

Storytelling Tools for Your Business

July 27, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

Image credit: unsplash.com

Human beings are social creatures. We love connecting with others and one of the simplest ways to facilitate this connection is through storytelling. Business owners can use that instinctive attraction to stories in marketing, by inviting customers to connect through a form of communication we’re all comfortable with.

I’ve written about the power of storytelling through data, creative writing and advertising already, but in this post I want to share some of my favourite storytelling tools with you.

Social media

Social media has enabled businesses to tell stories in more fun, simple and effective ways than ever before, building on those innate connections I mentioned above. Whether you want to live blog an event you’re hosting via Twitter, share your fundraising efforts for a local charity through boosted posts on Facebook or showcase your online store’s unique style through Instagram or Pinterest, social media is the place to do it. Almost everyone has – and uses – their phones to stay connected all day, every day. We all access various social media platforms multiple times throughout the day, meaning you can be connecting with customers via storytelling on their favourite platform at any time.

Storytelling Through Data

June 1, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

A departure from my usual articles about writing and marketing, I thought I’d share some data analysis with you this month. I wrote about using data to tell a story two years ago and had a great response so thought it was worth revisiting.

For those readers who have been following this newsletter for a number of years you will know I’m now in the third year of my PhD. This is the year when everything I’ve been doing over the past two years is starting to come together and I can see how my project will actually look (it’s about time!).

Where does data fit into journalism?

One thing the uni has been very keen for me to do is interact with my peers. This has a twofold effect in that it helps me build a network around my research interest, but also gets me to step outside my little study bubble and share what it is I’m working on with others. I now research in an office with four other PhD candidates, and last week I was asked to share my research methods with the digital technology special interest group I’m a member of. The data I’m sharing here is what I put together for the presentation.

Before I go too much further, I should refresh your memory on my research topic. I am looking at how journalists use social media texts to report on crisis events. To do this I am investigating three key crisis events from the UK – the London Bombings, UK Riots and Lee Rigby’s murder. These events span an eight-year period between 2005 and 2013, which gives me a chance to track longitudinal developments in journalist’s use of user-generated social media texts as a news source.

6 Things Every Media-Savvy Small Business Owner Should Do

May 3, 2016 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

Photo: unsplash.com

This post is not about the skills you should have to run a business; it’s about what you need to do if you want media attention.

Unless your business revolves around something we absolutely must have, like water or you’re an expert in a medical specialism, you will need some level of publicity to survive. Often that publicity comes in the form of media interest – both from traditional outlets like a newspaper, or newer platforms, like social media.

If you want to get media attention then you need to be media savvy. Here are some tools and tricks to help you along the way:

Be photogenic

Whether a journalist has called asking for your opinion on a big story or you’ve been invited to speak at an event, you will need a good quality, high-resolution photo available. Get it done now, and then when they ask for it you’ll have one ready to send immediately. For more on photos for business PR, read my post A Pictures Tells a Thousand Words.

Spring Clean Your PR Activity

August 27, 2015 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

The days are starting to lengthen, the temperature is rising and gardens are full of pretty blooms. Spring is definitely on its way and the change of season is the ideal time to revisit the way you communicate with your audience.

Throw off the sluggish wintery mood (or is that just me who feels like hibernating when it’s cold?) and think about the renewed messages you’d like to get across and how. I’ve put together a list to help you along.

Publicity: We’re well and truly into the second half of the year now, so consider any publicity you’d like to generate during the remainder of 2015. Are you planning to roll out a new product or service before year end? Do you have seasonal promotions in the calendar? Can you put together something in the lead up to Christmas? Make use of that spring on your step and generate some publicity that will carry you through until the New Year.

Communication: How have your messages been received during the year? Could your newsletter do with some sprucing up, are you utilising your social media regularly or is your website/blog looking a little tired? The words and platforms you use to promote your business and your own personal brand affects how prospects view you. If you have been trying to communicate with your audience using too many methods or in an array of places, it is time to trim what isn’t working and wow everyone with what has the biggest impact.

Networking: It’s easy to get into the habit of staying in when it’s dark and cold outside, but spring means that is no longer the case. It’s time to shake off that stale winter fug and meet some new people. Find some small business networking events to attend, enrol in a course or attend some business workshops to extend your skills. This goes for offline and online activity – it’s great to meet new people and reinvigorate your network in real life and via social media.

Are you excited to get out there and pep up your PR activity? I’m feeling pretty enthusiastic just writing about it.

I’d love you to let me know which aspect of your PR needs a spring clean – and what you did about it. Leave a comment below or share with me on Twitter or Facebook.

Filed Under: Business PR Tagged With: Networking, publicity, small business communication, small business networking, small business pr, small business publicity, social media, spring clean, spring clean your PR activity

5 PR Hacks To Get Better Publicity for Your Business

April 30, 2015 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell 1 Comment

Image credit: Unsplash.com

Marketing your business can be hard work. When you’re not working in your business, you should be working on it, which means doing all things needed to make it tick along nicely and earn you a sustainable profit.

So in the interests of helping out fellow business owners who put their PR activity to the bottom of a very long to do list, I thought I might share some of my favourite PR hacks with you. These are a combination of tools websites and services I use to market client businesses, as well as my own, and I hope you pick up something that makes your life easier.

1. Social media – I’ve written extensively about using social media to promote your business here, here and here, to pick a few posts, because social media should always be part of your PR strategy. You don’t need to be across all platforms, in fact I actively dissuade clients from that approach, but picking two where your customers are and where you feel happy to share updates on a regular basis is enough.

7 Ways to Market Your Business From 1 Piece of Content

March 26, 2015 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell 1 Comment

Image credit: Unsplash.com

Time. It’s something we all say we could do with more of, especially when it comes to marketing our business. So, I’m going to help you out with my tips on repurposing your content and magically turning one piece into seven.

Let’s start with a really simple example of content creation – an email answering a query from a customer. If you think about an email that both explains the reasons behind the customer’s issue and provides a solution, you should have several paragraphs of expertise tied up in those words. This email provides the foundation for much more marketing material.

7 things you can do with your email content:

8 Steps to Excellent Exhibitions

February 26, 2015 By Johanna Baker-Dowdell Leave a Comment

Award winning stand for Switzerland Tourism. Image credit: http://www.traveldailynews.com/news/article/63147/wtm-honours-exhibitors-in-best

Exhibitions are a major marketing commitment – sometimes even the biggest – for a small business so it pays to make your investment work some magic.

The work begins long before you await prospective customers in your shiny newly built exhibition space, but done correctly it can pay big dividends. Any exhibition related marketing activity should encourage prospects to visit you at the show so they can look at your product and meet your staff.

Here are some steps to ensure that marketing hits the right spot:

1. Target the right people

Go through your database and choose the clients and prospects you want to concentrate on. All your exhibition marketing must be tailored for these people.

Join Us on Facebook

Follow Johanna

Recent Articles

Blog Categories