Tips from a PR Freshman: How to Navigate the Beginning of College and Get Involved with PR Early!1/2/2024 By: Lexi Blank
Somehow the start of a new school year always seems to sneak up on us. I often question, am I ready? Starting college is a thrilling experience filled with new opportunities, challenges, and the promise of personal growth. As a freshman embarking on the journey of studying Public Relations, you're entering a dynamic and ever-evolving industry. However, starting something new is scary for most. While it is important to do well in classes, the key to success is getting involved and seeing what sparks your interest. Now, how does one freshman do that? Here are a few tips and tricks that I have learned as a first-semester freshman beginning my PR journey.
Embarking on your journey in the PR industry as a college freshman is thrilling! By actively seeking opportunities, building relationships, and immersing yourself in the world of PR beyond the classroom, you'll not only discover your place within the industry but will also gain important skills to excel. College is the perfect time to explore yourself and discover what makes you happiest, giving you opportunities to learn and the chance to shape your future in PR. You are ready! Take advantage of every opportunity and embrace each step of the way. It is never too early to start your journey!
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By: Biying Wang
Whether you are a recent Public Relations graduate or someone who is passionate about strategic communications and corporate affairs, there’s several factors that could dictate your career path and lead you toward working for an in-house public relations department or a public relations agency. Though these options are widely known, it’s important to be aware of what both of these options can offer you as a professional. It starts with this: What is your passion? If strategic communication itself is your passion, then working for a public relations agency is most likely your game as it presents you with an opportunity to work for various markets and industries. If, on the other hand, you are passionate about being in a particular organization or industry, you may be happier working for a company or organization’s in-house public relations department. What is it like to work at a PR agency? Working in an agency means that you work on multiple accounts every day on the job. You might find yourself consulting with a music artist in the morning and brainstorming for a fashion campaign in the afternoon. Similarly, agencies work with clients of differing followings and platforms. You might be working with a widely known influencer or media conglomerate, but also be on an account for a start-up app. This allows you to dip your toes into a variety of industries and explore your passion; this is perfect for someone who has many interests and is simply interested in learning about public relations practices. The fast-paced agency life and its unparalleled atmosphere of constant work enables developing public relations professionals to grow rapidly in networking and experience. An agency’s atmosphere ensures that you will be be surrounded by other PR practitioners. Thus, even if your dream job is not to work for an agency, this option proves to be a strong starting point for any new PR professional. What About In-House PR? Working in-house means you do public relations for one company. With this, you can become extremely knowledgable about a specific platform or industry. If you are someone that knows which industry you want to break into, you may prefer the in-house PR game. However, this can sometimes pigeon-hole new professionals as it limits networking in other industries and this can make it difficult to change paths later down the line. When working in-house, you might have the opportunity to become the face of a brand since PR professionals often act as the company's spokesperson. You would have access to people outside of the communications field, as well as senior management. The former can make you more open-minded, while the latter is crucial for promotions within organizations. With that being said… If your enthusiasm is all about strategic communications, you might find yourself satisfied by working for a PR agency where you can explore different aspects of communications. You would have the benefit of being surrounded by other PR professionals which helps you grow. Meanwhile, If you know where your passion lies, working in an in-house PR department could help you get closer to your dream. In which case, you get to be inspired by people with more diverse backgrounds, not just the PR world. On the other hand, if you are not sure about your niche in the field of PR, starting your career at an agency would give you an opportunity to explore. By: Erin Mayk
2021 was a learning experience for brands everywhere as they tried to navigate a reintroduction into a normal consumer market, post-pandemic. It was a time to learn what a new normal is and to experience how crucial adaptation is in maintaining brand relevance. Brands and companies needed to rely on creativity to maintain their relationships with their publics, while also recognizing the sign of the times. As the year is coming to an end, I thought it was fitting to look at some great and some not-so-great PR campaigns of 2021. Covid-19 presented social, economic and political implications that severely altered how companies had to conduct business. Dove, a popular personal care brand, worked to both promote brand awareness and honor essential front-line workers during the pandemic. Dove’s “Courage is Beautiful” campaign helped redefine beauty standards and aided essential workers. They created an emotional video of images of drained nurses, with mask imprints and rednesscovering their faces, to celebrate their hard work and recognize how beautiful they still are, despite the PPE striations. With a purchase of their products, Dove donated funds to help hospitals acquire more PPE and products for their nurses and doctors. This campaign did good for both the brand and a larger cause. Similarly, Mastercard worked this past June to draw attention to another pressing issue. For the month of June, the company put images of nearly-extinct animals on their cards. With every card sold in that month, MasterCard donated $1 to Conservation International, a nonprofit that works to protect nature and natural resources. These campaigns prove that there are effective ways to both benefit your company and a greater cause. For every good PR campaign, there are several bad ones. In August, Snickers released a video campaign in Spain, in which Spanish influencer Aless Gibaja transformed into a “real man” after eating Snickers ice cream. The sentiment “you are not you when you're hungry,” the classic Snickers tagline, was trying to be portrayed. However, the fact that Gibaja’s voice significantly dropped and he grew a beard led many to call the video and campaign homophobic, as the was seen as “right” once he turned more manly, in comparison to his more flamboyant mannerisms before eating the ice cream. A brand boycott became in place in Spain, prompting Snickers Spain to apologize for the “miscommunication” this video presented. It's important to also note that companies can accidentally accrue negative PR and it's up to them to deal with its ramifications. During a press conference in June, soccer phenom Christian Ronaldo pushed bottles of Coca-Cola out of the camera frame, since he does not drink soda. This may seem like a small motion, but it caused major blowback for the popular soda brand; half an hour after the incident, analysts recorded a 1.6% decrease in the value of Coca-Cola. It is estimated that this resulted in a $4 billion decrease in value. Coca-Cola responded that “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” and did not criticize him for his actions. It is clear to see that in an age with growing competition, it is important to keep your brand relevant andpositive in the eyes of the consumers. PR campaigns can be very effective- if executed correctly. Sources: https://www.pragencyone.co.uk/blog/the-best-creative-pr-work-of-june-2021/https://www.sparkamplab.com/post/pr-campaigns https://youscan.io/blog/reputation-crisis/ By Amanda Byrne
In today's faced-paced technologically advanced society innovations and techniques are revealed regularly and it is especially important to keep up. It's important to be thorough when inspiring change and follow each step. One of the most important steps to create change in an organization is the first phase, creating a strong sense of urgency for the change. To create change in any environment it is important to have a strong sense of urgency whether a person is in a workplace or even dealing with change in their personal life. It is extremely important to be motivated and embrace the change that you want to happen. A lot of companies struggle with creating a strong enough sense of urgency to start the process of creating change 50% of companies tend to fail within this phase. Organizations can underestimate the difficulty of pushing employees out of their comfort zones to embrace change. They can also overestimate how successful they have already been at increasing urgency and fall short. Many executives also lack patience and want to skip to the more involved and later steps of creating change (Kotter, 2015). Executives also can become overwhelmed with the potential downsides of starting the change process like low employee morale or dealing with short term business issues (Glesson, 2018). This can occur when there are too many managers or weak leaders. People tend to think that establishing strong leadership should not be the main focus in the process of change but, if leaders are not distinct and passionate, it will be hard for employees to feel motivated to embrace the change (Kotter, 2015). If leaders of the organization do not attempt to create a strong sense of urgency, employees can feel comfortable and resist conforming to the change (Glesson, 2018). In a leaked Nokia memo CEO Stephen Elop compared his company’s current position to a man standing on a burning platform. The man had to decide whether to jump off of the platform into ice-cold water or burn. Although the man would not normally decide to jump off the platform he was in a dire situation and needed to act with urgency; “...these were not ordinary times – his platform was on fire... After he was rescued, he noted that a “burning platform” caused a radical change in his behavior. We too, are standing on a “burning platform,” and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour...” (Torben, 2017). Having a leader that can dictate the need for a sense of urgency when dealing with a change like Elop is important in inspiring the rest of the employees to also embrace change. Overall, creating a strong sense of urgency is extremely important in inspiring change in an organization. It is an early step in the change process so if it is ignored or overlooked it could harm the result of the process. To create that strong sense of urgency it is necessary to have strong leadership to inspire the rest of the employees to follow the urgency. The beginning of the change process is the best time to establish and identify strong leaders to be prepared for any kind of obstacle or speedbumps that an organization might encounter. Sources: www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2018/06/04/leadership-developments-role-in-successful-organizational-change/. hbr.org/1995/05/leading-change-why-transformation-efforts-fail-2 www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/change-management-need-a-sense-of-urgency/. By Faith Hutson
It's no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted almost every aspect of life as we know it–and public relations is no exception. Since quarantine began in March, PR professionals have faced ever-changing challenges and circumstances while dealing with “the new normal”. Many people are no longer doing the typical every-day activities, let alone leaving their homes. This confinement has not only uprooted daily life, but also the trusted PR channels and methods used prior to the pandemic. So how can you ensure that your PR is effective during this time? Figure out which channels of media have the highest engagement. Quarantine has caused a notable shift in the media-intake among virtually everyone. With the majority of people stuck inside, the levels of digital media consumption are skyrocketing. TV usage has increased 48%, internet surfing has increased 52%, and others alike such as social network, online video, and website usage has increased anywhere from 41% to 44%. Even non-digital channels such as newspapers and magazines have seen a steady increase. That being said, now is the time to direct PR right into consumers’ homes. Earned media has become an increasingly popular method during the pandemic because of this reason, as it helps reach a brand’s audience on a more personal level, as well as establishes the brand as trustworthy. Earned media is also a good route in the event that PR/advertising budgets are being cut due to the pandemic-driven economic downturn. Get to know new digital formats and platforms. Professionals in the digital sector have suggested that the pandemic has played a significant role in speeding up the digital transformation of media. Brands are starting to dive into new facets of the digital world, broadening their reach by, for instance, creating podcasts, or launching live streams. Though the media is changing in ways that will allow brands to reinvent their relationship with consumers, it is crucial that PR professionals are ready to take on this challenge, and are knowledgeable of the nature of these particular communication channels. Understanding that a brand’s presence on a platform like TikTok will look much different from its presence on a website is essential to reach the right audiences. Make kindness a priority. The pandemic has not been easy for anyone. People are lonely, stressed, and in need of someone who listens. Rather than ignoring the pandemic’s effects, make them a main component of the message. Conveying a sense of sensitivity, care, and patience to the audience will allow the brand to build trust and loyalty. Sources: How Covid-19 changed Earned Media & PR Web. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://kantar.turtl.co/story/how-covid-19-changed-earned-media-and-pr-web-uk/page/5/1?tease r=yes By Olivia Cammarata
In order to be effective public relations practitioners, it is important that we develop human connections through storytelling. Stories allow us to convey our message while building a strong relationship with our audience. Good stories make us emotional, show us reality and give us hope for the future. During this digital era, storytelling has never been more impactful. By creating digital stories, companies can engage their customers, share the story behind their brand and show the world why they matter. What is digital storytelling? Digital storytelling is the practice of using multimedia on digital platforms to tell stories. Examples of multimedia include graphics, audio and video. Digital storytelling can be done on a variety of platforms such as through social media, websites and advertisements. Why is visual content effective? With the rise of technology and social media, there has been a large shift to visual content. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visual content is proven to be processed by our brains 60,000 times faster than text. By telling visual stories, we can grab and maintain the attention of our publics. Elements of digital storytelling By utilizing the following elements in our stories, we can evoke a response from our audience, keep their attention and create content that tells our brand’s unique narrative. 1.) Point of View According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 92% of people admit to trusting their peers over a traditional advert. By practicing customer-led storytelling and using perspectives from outside of our organization, we can increase our engagement with consumers. People want to choose your brand based on the opinions and stories of their peers. 2.) Use of Voice With the use of different people’s voices, we can create dimension in our storytelling. Telling a story this way allows us to align voices with our own brand. It’s important that your brand gives a voice to people of diverse backgrounds and cultures. 3.) Dramatic Question Posing a “dramatic question” in digital storytelling allows communicators to express an issue or conflict and hold the audience’s attention. The dramatic question should be answered, or the audience should be able to answer it themselves based on the information presented. The answer to your dramatic question should be a call to action for your audience. 4.) Emotional Content We can all recall a brand’s digital story that brought us to tears. It’s essential that your digital story connects to the audience on an emotional level. Digital storytelling can bring serious issues to life and evoke emotional responses. Emotions can include humor, empathy, fear, anxiety and others. Now more than ever, people want brands to be as transparent as possible. To be successful in public relations, we need to tell our brand story authentically. By integrating these components into our digital storytelling, we can give our customers a voice and develop long-lasting relationships with our publics. Sources: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/6-ways-brands-can-boost-their-storytelling https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/350326/studies-confirm-the-power-of-visuals-in-elearning By Emily Blum
Financial Communications is one of the fastest-growing communications specializations, yet many are unfamiliar with its important communication function. At its core, its goal is to communicate a company’s or organization’s valuation and financial story to members of the investment community and the public in general. Many hear the words “finance” or “investors” and immediately become overwhelmed and shy away from anything stemming from these concepts. However, as society continues to develop and sectors converge into one, the need for transparency between financial professionals and the public has only gained importance. To keep up with this trend, the S.I. Newhouse School of Communication has developed the Financial and Investor Communications Emphasis (FICE) Program to prepare students for the dynamic work environment that they will soon be entering. As one of the students currently in the program, I was fortunate enough to attend the program’s annual benchmark trip earlier this month. Even though it was virtual, my fellow students and I were still able to hear from various leading financial communications companies and network with talented professionals within the field. After two successful days, I was able to reflect on this trip and the impact that it will have on my future career. This was such an enriching experience and I have provided some of the key takeaways from the trip below. 1. Take Advantage of Every Opportunity That you are Given Most of the companies that spoke to us had at least one Newhouse alum who led the discussion. This does not take into account the many other alumni who work at these companies, a fact that was reinforced by almost all of the head of human resources on the calls. Each made it a point to explain the extremely qualified and experienced talent that comes from Newhouse. This made me realize two things. The first being that, as Newhouse students, we are more than capable of delivering high-quality work and excelling at whatever we decide to pursue. Secondly, it also stressed the importance of networking. I am sure we are all more than aware of the Syracuse and Newhouse networks that exist, so it is up to us to utilize them. It also made me realize that the professors and other professionals that we have access to every day are unmatched. Every departments’ professors and staff members are the best of the best and they can be a very valuable tool in navigating the industry and just great people to have in your corner. This is something that must not be overlooked. 2. Key Trends Impacting Financial Communications Just like any other industry, financial communications has been greatly impacted by the events of this past year. This has led ESG to grow into the important role that it currently plays. ESG stands for environmental, social and corporate governance. While it shares many of the same concepts as corporate social responsibility, it takes all of those factors and measures the sustainability and social impact of an investment in a company or business. Therefore, it focuses on “non-financial” performance indicators to help determine the financial performance of the company. This is then of course taken into consideration when it comes time for investors to make the buy/sell decision regarding the company’s stock. These indicators include how companies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and racial equality movements that took place over the summer. In terms of the pandemic, many companies have turned to financial communications for help with communicating the company’s outlook to the employees. This includes everything from explaining expected return dates to the office, communicating with furloughed employees and then sharing this information with the financial community and key stakeholders. As society has shifted to this “new normal”, financial communications have also shifted to meet these new demands. Another indicator relates to the current racial climate. Even before the racial injustices that took place over the summer, many companies had already taken the initiative to create robust diversity and inclusion programs. However, now the focus shifts towards how a company communicates these efforts. A company can lay out an extensive diversity and inclusion plan but if there are no actions to implement it into daily life, it really does not mean much. AXIS Capital, one of the companies that spoke with us, explained that ESG is a balance between moving the needle towards both the company’s goals and the activities currently impacting society. If there is no correlation between the two, the true value behind it is lost. This aspect of financial communications is not going anywhere, so it is important that whatever is communicated with the public is transparent, meaningful and, most importantly, authentic to stick in investors’ minds. 3. Various Avenues Within Financial Communications I also learned that the opportunities within the financial communications industry are endless. The field of financial communications encompasses everything from investor relations to business journalism and everything in between. There are so many different areas to tap into and this was showcased through the many different companies that my peers and I were able to hear from. We went from hearing from Liz Claman of The Claman Countdown on Fox News Business to learning about private equities with TPG Capital. This dynamic provides a very welcoming environment for students to enter when looking for post-graduation opportunities. Personally, this is something that immediately drew me to the career because I want to work in a space that deals with something new every day. Each company explained a different perspective of the profession which left me excited for what is yet to come! 4. Tips When Tackling the Job Search As with any networking event, one topic that was constantly brought up revolved around navigating the job search process. Something that I found to be extremely interesting was hearing from the junior-level staff to gain insight into their experiences and how they landed their first jobs out of graduation. With the current work from home environment, it was reassuring to hear that they were not only successful in finding a job but that the on-boarding process was not overlooked. If anything, they explained that it was actually enhanced to ensure that they felt part of the team even if it was through a computer screen. One major piece of advice given was to stay abreast of the news and happenings within society. This is something that is ingrained in us all from day one at Newhouse, so I was not surprised to hear this from the companies that we “visited.” From a financial communications standpoint, it is important to stay informed on current financial happenings and their relation to the trends currently impacting society as well. For example, understanding the impact that the pandemic has had on the stock market or how the current state of the market has forced private companies to re-think the traditional routes to becoming a public company. Of course, it also important to keep up to date with news about the company’s clients and the type of work that they are currently pursuing to give yourself an edge during interviews. Doing so allows your communication and media skills to shine through at all stages of the job search process. 5. Believe in Yourself Hearing from these companies solidified that this is a career path that I want to pursue. As I enter my last semester of college, I find myself overwhelmed with what the future has in store for me. We are all facing unprecedented challenges and levels of change which only adds to the pressure that any senior normally feels. However, this trip provided me with an opportunity to focus on ways to allow myself to stick out during this process. All of the individuals who spoke reinforced that, at the end of the day, being confident in yourself will take you the distance. Yes, the technical skills are important; but, it is these personal skills that will set you apart from others. Having a sense of confidence and positivity will be seen throughout the interview process and allow for a much more comfortable process overall. The same goes for working hard and putting your best foot forward with whatever you are undertaking. Some of the best advice I received from this trip came from Liz Claman of Fox News Business. She explained that once you get to the top and where you dreamed of being, you’ll quickly realize that it is not always full of the best. Instead, you will see those who believed in themselves. This is important to keep in mind with whatever goal you are tackling. If you can master this, everything else will fall into place. This left me feeling confident in myself, my future goals and eager to take on my last semester of college! If you have any questions about financial communications, the FICE Program or anything else that I have touched on please do not hesitate to reach out to me! You can email me at [email protected] and follow me on LinkedIn! By Caroline Casey
It can be quite daunting to be a college or graduate student navigating the current pandemic amidst trying to build networking relationships for post-college plans. With minimal face-to-face interaction with professors and visiting professionals, it’s more crucial now than ever that we make our own efforts to further our knowledge and experience. Despite having the desire to be productive and proactive in our desired fields, many get lost before they begin. Luckily, online resources have made networking and learning much easier for all students and professionals that are ready to further their careers. LinkedIn was founded in 2003, though it has become much more commonly used among the professional world in the past decade. On this social platform made for networking and promoting ideas, jobs, and more, all users have the chance to create their own profiles while researching the market. As a college student, or any person looking to begin building their online presence, it’s crucial to create a LinkedIn account. From there, you can begin following companies they find interesting, role models in their field, or even job alerts that target their specific demographic. Making the account is not the sole purpose of LinkedIn. Use this platform for becoming more well versed in your career field and interacting with others to network and grow your online presence. Job Fairs Any active student most likely receives dozens of emails regarding job fairs, roundtable discussions, and more activities that are aimed to help gain insight from professionals in specific fields. During the pandemic, many of these events have become online sessions that consist of black screens and technological issues. However, this can be used to your advantage. No longer do job fairs require in-person presence. Instead, you can attend many of these events from home or housing on campus. With that being said, there are also fewer intimidating factors involved in speaking to professionals through a computer screen. Sign up for any event you might find interesting, do basic research on the speaker or specific company involved, and prepare at least one question for the speaker/speakers. Following the event, find the professional’s LinkedIn page and send them a thank-you note with a basic introduction. With these tactics, your network will continue to grow while gaining insights into potential companies and mentors in your field. E-Portfolio In most public relations courses, professors stress the need to build e-portfolios early on in your college career. While the task itself is tedious, with adding documents and pdfs, categorizing work and extracurricular pieces, and creating a theme that portrays your character in some unique way, the end result is worth it. By using sites such as Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, or WordPress, creating a website has never been made easier. Truthfully, the hardest part of creating an e-portfolio is sitting down to actually do it. However, it’s important to remember that an e-portfolio is a great addition to any resume, as it can showcase all past pieces of work. Furthermore, websites are a great tidbit to include in introduction or networking emails and notes. By allowing a possible employer or mentor to preview your previous pieces of work, they can see first-hand what you could contribute to their team. Build an Online Presence At one point, there must be an effort made to become professional online. Employers can find just about everything connected to your name on the internet. Therefore, it’s crucial to realize when accounts should be made private or public. Additionally, many people might decide to create second accounts for the sole purpose of professional networking rather than social pleasure. Many social media platforms allow for a user to utilize the “add account” option, in which users can seamlessly shift from personal to professional accounts with a single swipe. After speaking to several professionals that currently work for agencies or in-house departments, I have found that many believe it’s helpful to have public accounts that depict your interests and character. However, there is such thing as too personal. While building your online presence, take into account what you would want your future boss to see. Furthermore, make sure that you have some information online in order for employers to see that you do, in fact, have interests like any normal human being. Make the Most of Your Downtime Right now, we have more downtime than ever. Even as students, we get to complete many assignments and attend various meetings from the comfort of our homes. With that being said, I encourage you to use this time to your advantage.  By Amanda Byrne
A key aspect of creating change and dealing with crises in an organization is establishing and maintaining transparency, especially when it comes to issues dealing with diversity and inclusion. Establishing transparency and communicating honest messages to your consumers helps establish brand loyalty (Faranas, 2018). Transparency is important in communications because it paints a brand as trustworthy, honest, and truthful to its consumers and target market. When dealing with a crisis, transparency is important in gaining forgiveness and understanding from your consumers (Hernandez, 2020). A brand needs to be upfront and admit its mistakes as soon as possible to maintain trust. Instead of ignoring a major scandal and attempting to sweep it under the rug, brands should communicate their accountability, issue an apology, and explain how the organization will adjust, adapt, and change (Faranas, 2018). An example of a brand being successfully transparent was during Rihanna’s Fenty beauty collaboration fashion show, Savage x Fenty. Savage x Fenty released trailers promoting an upcoming lingerie line featuring girls modeling the lingerie with music in the background. One of the trailers featured the song ‘Doom,’ by Coucou Chloe, a song that features verses from the Islamic Hadith, one of the most sacred Muslim texts. Once the trailer was released there was immediate anger and backlash from members of the Muslim community. This especially received a lot of backlashes because the Muslim religion is very modest, and the video featured women dancing in lingerie, so people viewed it as insensitive and inappropriate. Fenty Beauty claimed that the Savage x Fenty team is editing the video and replacing the song with something more appropriate. The brand continued to say that it has, "nothing but the utmost respect and love for the Muslim community,” and explained that the brand was built on promoting and embracing diversity and inclusion" (Narayanan, 2020). Rihanna, the face and founder of Fenty Beauty, also issued her apology over the Savage x Fenty show social media pages. Rihanna stated, “I would like to apologize to you [Muslim community] for this honest yet careless mistake. We understand that we have hurt many Muslim brothers and sisters, and I am incredibly disheartened by this” (Narayanan, 2020). She continued to state that she thanks her fans, consumers, and the Muslim community for their forgiveness and understanding and assured that it will not happen again (Narayanan, 2020). Rihanna also replied to direct messages from fans explaining how truly sorry she was for this honest mistake. She engaged in civil discussions with members of the Muslim community to understand how the trailer made them felt. Because of their quick and transparent response to this scandal, the Savage x Fenty show was forgiven by most of its fans and target audience. The brand was honest, communicated its accountability, issued an apology, and explained how the organization will change. Works Cited Faranas, L. A. (2018, June 25). The Importance of Transparency in Public Relations Strategy. Retrieved November 03, 2020, from https://mill.agency/content/the-importance-of-transparency-in-public-relations-strategy/ Hernandez, M. (2020, August 12). How Communicators Can Help Brands Create Real Change. Retrieved November 03, 2020, from https://www.cision.com/us/2020/08/how-communicators-can-help-brands-create-real-change/ Narayanan, A. (2020, July 10). Rihanna Issues an Apology for Savage x Fenty Scandal. Retrieved November 03, 2020, from https://www.indigomusic.com/whats-up/rihanna-issues-an-apology-for-savage-x-fenty-scandal By Olivia Cammarata
In order to be effective public relations practitioners, it is important that we develop human connections through storytelling. Stories allow us to convey our message while building a strong relationship with our audience. Good stories make us emotional, show us reality and give us hope for the future. During this digital era, storytelling has never been more impactful. By creating digital stories, companies can engage their customers, share the story behind their brand and show the world why they matter. What is digital storytelling? Digital storytelling is the practice of using multimedia on digital platforms to tell stories. Examples of multimedia include graphics, audio and video. Digital storytelling can be done on a variety of platforms such as through social media, websites and advertisements. Why is visual content effective? With the rise of technology and social media, there has been a large shift to visual content. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visual content is proven to be processed by our brains 60,000 times faster than text. By telling visual stories, we can grab and maintain the attention of our publics. Elements of digital storytelling By utilizing the following elements in our stories, we can evoke a response from our audience, keep their attention and create content that tells our brand’s unique narrative. 1.) Point of View According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 92% of people admit to trusting their peers over a traditional advert. By practicing customer-led storytelling and using perspectives from outside of our organization, we can increase our engagement with consumers. People want to choose your brand based on the opinions and stories of their peers. 2.) Use of Voice With the use of different people’s voices, we can create dimension in our storytelling. Telling a story this way allows us to align voices with our own brand. It’s important that your brand gives a voice to people of diverse backgrounds and cultures. 3.) Dramatic Question Posing a “dramatic question” in digital storytelling allows communicators to express an issue or conflict and hold the audience’s attention. The dramatic question should be answered, or the audience should be able to answer it themselves based on the information presented. The answer to your dramatic question should be a call to action for your audience. 4.) Emotional Content We can all recall a brand’s digital story that brought us to tears. It’s essential that your digital story connects to the audience on an emotional level. Digital storytelling can bring serious issues to life and evoke emotional responses. Emotions can include humor, empathy, fear, anxiety and others. Now more than ever, people want brands to be as transparent as possible. To be successful in public relations, we need to tell our brand story authentically. By integrating these components into our digital storytelling, we can give our customers a voice and develop long-lasting relationships with our publics. Sources: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/6-ways-brands-can-boost-their-storytelling https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/350326/studies-confirm-the-power-of-visuals-in-elearning |
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