It’s back-to-school season and the team at Kimball Hughes Public Relations knows this means changing things up at home for many. For business and non-profit leaders, September ushers in planning season for the year ahead while winding up 2024 priorities. Our team at Kimball Hughes PR is here to help you check off your list of communications initiatives for 2024 and prepare new strategies and initiatives for 2025. We’re just a phone call or email away. Just don’t ask us to pick the kids up from school.
Donald Trump has done more for black people than Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. combined.
Joe Biden finally beat Medicare, so we don’t have to worry about senior citizens anymore.
If grocery stores want me to bring my own bags, they should pay me.
Pat’s is the only place to get a real cheese steak in Philadelphia.
Let’s consider the visceral reactions many would have to the above statements if posted to LinkedIn by their professional connections. The key word here is visceral.
In my view, LinkedIn is not the place for sensitive social commentary. LinkedIn was created to help people present themselves for career opportunities and for professional networking. It has evolved, becoming a venue for creative expression, sharing of expertise and insights, for calling society to action on issues of industry and enterprise, and for holding a mirror up to our workplace lives – all through the lens of the professional. It is not Facebook, where personal perspective, political ideology and countless memes are central. It is not X (formerly Twitter), where reactionaries, visionaries, citizen journalists, political and social elites and the opinionated co-mingle. Nor is it Instagram, where humor and snark co-exist with vacation photos and musical dance routines or humorous pet antics.
LinkedIn, for good or ill, remains a platform for professional discourse with a splash of the personal that should not veer into jarring zealotry. Authenticity is important, but not at the expense of alienating important audiences that might disagree with your personal, beliefs. Courtesy, respect and being a compassionate human must be central to interactions in any professional environment — virtual or in person.
You would not walk into a job interview and begin the conversation with your unsolicited views on abortion. A company-wide Zoom meeting where the boss, or anyone else, shares why her preferred political candidate is the only rational choice could constitute a hostile work environment. No sane person would begin a new business presentation by explaining why their religion is superior to others. And certainly no one enjoys that one uncle who comes to Thanksgiving dinner eager to share his criticisms of your parenting, lifestyle, romantic partner, personal finances or who also publicly shames Aunt Mable’s latest obsession with sequin holiday sweaters.
Many of us were taught that some topics are not appropriate in the workplace or even certain family functions. Most importantly, in professional circles would you want your hard-earned qualifications and accomplishments overshadowed entirely because of the personal beliefs or opinions you share that have little or no bearing on your performance in the workplace?
We counsel clients to always strive for an authentic voice on social media that best reflects the organization or individual’s values and professional strengths. No one should feel the need to contort themselves into something they are not, either in the office or on LinkedIn. However, we live in a polarized world. Adding to the cacophony of militant opinions or strident arguments in a professional setting serves almost no one. This isn’t to say social media can’t be a tool for advocacy; rather, it’s simply that LinkedIn is often not the appropriate platform.
Consider your strongly held views or opinions posted to LinkedIn may negatively impact your employer’s ability to:
Recruit talent
Retain emerging professionals
Win new business
Fundraise
Attract new vendor partners
Hold on to existing customer relationships
Maintain the respect and support of the communities and audiences important to them
Moreover, sharing your personal beliefs on sensitive social topics on LinkedIn might also serve to harm your career. What if employers and others believe those views, however well intentioned, might bleed into the workplace and create potential management challenges with you, your direct reports or with clients?
When you reach for that “Start a post” option on LinkedIn, remember to be thoughtful, kind and intentional. What and how you post on LinkedIn is a reflection of your character, comportment and professional judgement. If you assume future employers, employees, customers and others aren’t going to look at LinkedIn — and maybe do a lot more scrolling than you think before entrusting you with their reputation, careers, money or more — you would be mistaken. A LinkedIn post, especially one written in haste, can do considerable harm. Equally so, a thoughtful and professional piece of content shared on LinkedIn can benefit you, and your employer, greatly. Proceed with caution, respect and offer the grace and kindness you would seek for yourself when engaging on this most powerful of professional platforms. And remember, always, that nothing on the internet ever truly goes away.
If you are a business or nonprofit leader, get in touch with Kimball Hughes Public Relations to ensure you have a social media policy and protocols to protect the reputation of your organization and those to whom you entrust. And if you are facing a reputational crisis, prompted by social media or other factors, we also provide Crisis Communications services to help you as well. Contact us at info@kimballpr.com or call (610) 559-7585.
The dog days of August are here, accompanied by late summer vacations, back to school and, if you’re lucky, quieter workdays. This precious, less-demanding time of year when customers, clients and colleagues enjoy some much-deserved time off could be the ideal opportunity to explore ways to freshen up your public relations strategy for the final stretch of the year.
So, what do we see as the secret sauce to spice up your PR efforts before we close out the year?
Video.
HubSpot laid out the reasons why video is the future for marketing in a recent report. We’ll include PR under that umbrella for these purposes. The HubSpot research found 63% of customers surveyed in 2024 watched video content to learn about a product. They ascertained that 89% of consumers want to see more videos from the companies trying to reach them.
And video is not just valuable because people see it and digest it; brands love it because consumers pass it on. HubSpot found that people surveyed were 52% more likely to share video content than other types of content.
It’s not just brands that are noticing this growing consumer interest in video. Social media platforms recognize this too. Just this summer, LinkedIn beta tested a new video tab to piggyback on the popularity of TikTok and Instagram scrollable reels of video content. After testing out the new feature earlier this summer, digital transformation consultant and social media selling expert Ema Roloff wrote, “I can confidently say it will become the most used part of the LinkedIn mobile app. Just like Reels on Instagram, or Shorts on YouTube, the video tab is the spot to get your dopamine hit.”
She went on to explain the new feature will enhance user engagement and community building as users spend more time watching video, connecting with it and are presented with more opportunities to interact. Further, the easy-to-scroll set up encourages users to stay on the platform scrolling through videos and hopefully, sharing those videos.
Working It In
In the world of PR, video can be used to complement and enliven nearly any PR tactics. Consider the following:
Press releasesand product announcements embody traditional PR. While a press release may still be needed for convenient text containing the who, what, when, why and where for reporters, why not make the news a bit more exciting for the consumer? Video can do just that and help to make a more memorable connection with your customer related to your announcement.
Thought leadership prepared as text can also be recycled into video to further the writer’s point either through animation or a casual short video on the topic. It can help to highlight the main points and draw viewers in to want to take a deeper diver and learn more. As much of what we do in PR is based on telling a compelling story for our clients, video can help achieve this goal as it can help to evoke emotion and more deeply engage the viewer.
Issue statements, a tool used by PR pros to get a leader’s expertise out to the media on a certain topic making headlines or breaking news, can also be supported with a video message. A recorded video message by the thought leader could not only be valuable to catch a reporter’s eye, but also for reporters to insert into segments, or to demonstrate the individual is TV-ready.
Social media posts can get a bit stale if a company is always posting the same types of content, whether its graphics, photos or even original articles. Short, original video can help to break up this content and keep the viewer engaged.
Interactive events like LinkedIn or Facebook Lives seem to be the modern press conference. These platforms allow users to host live webinar-like events that can be more easily found among your connections, shareable, cost-effective and a fantastic way to encourage user interaction and promote engagement.
Dos and Don’ts
So, you’re ready to tackle video for your company. What should you keep in mind?
Don’t worry about producing highly polished content. Do produce “relatable and authentic” content. HubSpot found 63% of viewers prefer this.
Don’t publish a full-on made-for-TV mini-series. Do create a brief, thoughtful video. HubSpot found 83% of marketers believe video should be no longer than 60 seconds in length.
Don’t commit yourself to one channel. Do explore and take advantage of the channels your key audience frequents, whether they include LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook.
Don’t assume you can do it all. Do consult a PR professional or agency. While video for these purposes should appear “authentic”, it should not appear sloppy or amateur. Work with PR pros who can help you, at minimum, with talking points, speech prep, with recording and conducting light edits on the video.
Video will play a key role in the future of PR and marketing. Freshen up your approach to PR with the latest channels to share your key messages and connect with your audience to help ensure your brand is meeting your customers where they are.
Not lovin’ it. That’s the takeaway from McDonald’s recent abandonment of AI for its drive-thru ordering. The fast-food chain’s decision to end its AI experiment speaks to the larger trend of AI not yet being quite ready to solve a host of problems for business.
Artificial intelligence offers the promise of a new and more efficient business environment … just not quite yet.
McDonald’s hoped its AI-driven drive-thru ordering would create more accurate and efficient ordering. However, the tech proved no match for humans in the wild. Background noise, the nuances of human communication and, I imagine, some of the hallucinations AI technology is famous for combined to generate customer-frustrating errors, including one infamous order for more than $250 worth of Chicken McNuggets. While the fast-food chain says it learned from and has plans for future AI implementations, the reality is the Golden Arches sees AI as a future state tool rather than a current operational solution.
Other industries are finding the same.
In an interview with Insurance Journal last November, Insurtech CEO Tim Hardcastle of INSTANDA discussed the challenges of AI transparency, saying the full transformational impact of AI in insurance remained a few years away.
What frustrates consumers — and many business leaders — about AI is really a perception problem. While companies boast about the promise of AI, the truth is we are in a state of ongoing beta testing. Even Google, the defacto leader in online search, is feeling its way through as end-users find significant inaccuracies and false answers to certain queries of its AI search tool.
Where does this leave businesses and the race to AI implementation?
We have been here before. In the late 2000s, businesses raced to adopt social media. “We have to be there” was the mantra, while the reasons for being on these platforms were somewhat opaque. We saw a similar approach during the rise of voice search and voice recognition. And I believe we are in a similar place today with AI.
Absent a new AI tool to promote, some business leaders perceive they are running behind. However, aside from some common and long-standing applications, AI is currently a solution in search of problems.
Don’t misunderstand me. I think AI will eventually change how business is done, radically in fact. Just not yet. We haven’t worked out the bugs. The guardrails aren’t in place. And we haven’t fully mapped the real, day-to-day challenges AI might address, although that has begun.
The perception problem extends to consumers. AI is seen as our flying car, and by God, it’s here and we want it to work.
Neither the technology industry nor others with have messaged appropriately on AI. They haven’t told us this is one big beta test. They haven’t cautioned us to expect errors. Sure, the media calls out egregious examples, but the businesses incorporating AI could also be more transparent. We haven’t set expectations appropriately; we talk about the transformative power of AI and consumers assume we mean now, not in the future.
When the problem is perception, you have to change people’s perceptions.
Business leaders — from fast-food chains and insurance providers to the financial services sector and big box retailers — would benefit tremendously from better AI messaging. Consider talking about what AI can mean for their companies as well as customers, but caution that this is a learning process. Survey your consumers. Offer research. Invite consumers to help you test your new AI tools.
I’m confident a majority of consumers would get it and many would be willing to be part of this great, new digital industrial revolution experiment. But we must call it what it is: an experiment. We must move consumer perceptions of AI as a current silver bullet to a potential, future game-changer.
There’s precedent for this: The Human Genome Project. The public conversation around this 10+ year effort was about possibility, potential and promise. Not a current-state solution to contemporary problems. The messaging, from the researchers, the media and governments, was clear, which set the expectations — and the perceptions — of the public.
We don’t have an AI problem. We have a perception problem, and we have the tools to address it. What we need is for better messaging to meet the moment.
Last week in a New York Times op-ed U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy suggested adding warning labels to social media platforms that would serve as a reminder to parents and teen users to monitor social media use. The Surgeon General’s suggestion is rooted in concerns about the mental health and perceived excessive use of social media by young people. Murthy’s suggestion took the nation by storm because, currently, the only two products in the U.S. with such warnings are alcohol and tobacco products. The immediate result leaves brand leaders to wonder what this could mean for their marketing and communications strategies.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in the op-ed. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours.”
A year or so ago, Murthy issued an advisory on the topic that included specific recommendations for “policymakers, platforms and the public to make social media safer for kids.” Today, there is pending proposed legislation in 30 states and Puerto Rico with many of them already passed. While it’s difficult to tell just what impact such legislation or regulatory changes could have on social media behavior, brand leaders might want to reevaluate the stake young people hold in their social media strategies and how they target them.
Social media marketing & young people
In recent years, social media has taken over as a marketing powerhouse for brands, particularly for those looking to reach younger audiences.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health conducted a 2022 study of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube found that almost $11 billion in advertising revenue was generated by users under 18. The study goes on to note that “Approximately 30–40% of the advertising revenue generated from three social media platforms (Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube) is attributable to young people.”
Concerns around the mental health impact of social media are becoming increasingly top of mind for parents of children and adolescents as well as lawmakers. Murthy notes in his 2023 advisory there is still much to be studied about the broad and nuanced impacts of social media on children and adolescents. For example, “studies point to a higher relative concern of harm in adolescent girls and those already experiencing poor mental health, as well as for particular health outcomes like cyberbullying-related depression, body image and disordered eating behaviors, and poor sleep quality linked to social media use.”
And while the issue continues to be studied, limiting social media use is reported to help with negative mental health symptoms. “Limits on the use of social media have resulted in mental health benefits for young adults and adults … limiting social media use to 30 minutes daily over three weeks led to significant improvements in depression severity.”
Lawmakers are working to make parents more aware of the impact of social media while urging them to restrict their children’s exposure to social media by introducing bills that would create task forces around the issue, set-up kid-friendly design codes, require age verification to log into social media accounts, establish digital literacy courses in schools and more. New York, for example, signed two bills into law last week to limit data collection on minors and to stop addictive feeds, or those designed to recommend content meant to keep a user scrolling.
Making adjustments
With all this discussion, possible change is afoot. Social media already requires brands to pivot constantly to platform updates, changes in behavior and internet trends. Potential legislative or regulatory changes could require even more adjustments.
In this evolving environment, brands might consider the following tips to stay ahead:
Stay updated: With so many looming laws around social media, brand leaders should take time to understand the pending legislation and the potential changes coming their way. Understanding how to stay in compliance and target social media content to younger demographics safely and responsibly will help teams develop a strong strategy that takes into account the principles behind new regulation or legislation.
Be creative: Social media offers brands a quick, direct line of communication with young people. As their behaviors on social media shift, communication may no longer be as streamlined, and some young people may opt out of social media altogether. Brand leaders may have to get creative to fill the gap.
Broaden your strategy: Consider the breakdown of your marcomm budget. In this new regulatory environment, could it make sense to shift dollars from social media marketing to public relations or digital advertising?
Take testing seriously: What works today on social media might not work tomorrow and this is especially true as efforts are made to restrict young people’s access to it. Brand leaders should be constantly testing elements of their social strategies to ensure they are effective in reaching the correct demographics and sparking engagement while remaining compliant with legislation.
Choose the right partners: Consider working with a PR agency that understands the landscape and how best to reach your target audience. An integrated PR campaign could supplement dialed-back social media efforts. Not to mention, a good PR agency will have a reliable crisis communications team ready to protect your brand should your company run afoul of any new social media requirements.
New limitations on social media marketing appear to be a growing reality. Brand leaders do not have to look at related legislative measures as a loss in their social media strategies, but an opportunity to find new, meaningful ways to reach young people. Consider taking a moment to research what social media legislative measures are being taken in the state(s) where your business operates and where your social media strategy or overarching public relations strategy might need adjusting.
Last week, two of my colleagues and I attended InsurTech Insights USA in New York to do a little networking. Having attended for the first time in 2023, what I’ve come to appreciate about ITI is the speed networking.
Like two unassembled IKEA furniture pieces, both parties to ITI’s speed networking meet-up have a purpose. But how do you make the meeting feel natural and unforced? This can be tricky without planning. It can feel a bit like trying to assemble said IKEA furniture while following a vague and sometimes interpretive set of directions.
At ITI, you can use the event app to make connections with other attendees and schedule a series of 15-minute speed networking meetings. The app does all the hard work in terms of schedules and logistics. It’s the human element that is both fascinating and frustrating.
Who speaks first? How do you start? Should a slide deck be involved? What about business cards (so many opt not to carry them anymore or lose them along with their checked luggage)? What are the takeaways or next steps? Should there be takeaways or next steps? What if you’re late for the next meet-up that starts the moment your current meet-up ends?
What I’ve Learned
For those who participate in these meetups, and some do not, the intentions of both parties are clear. Someone is selling. Someone might be buying. Sometimes both parties are selling. And, sometimes, someone took the meeting simply to be polite.
The good news is it’s a level playing field for insurtechs, insurers, vendors and others who choose to participate.
What I have found to work best is to keep it simple and be direct: Asking the other party to tell you what they do, who is important to them to grow their business and what problems they are trying to solve or what opportunities they are seeking. Always give the other party, when possible, most of the time. And – importantly – listen to what they say. Don’t simply wait to speak. If what you do, provide or sell matches up with their needs, then connect the dots for them. Otherwise, ask them what they would like to know about your business and allow them to guide the conversation. And leave the PowerPoint at home. When you’ve got about a minute left, ask if it makes sense to keep the conversation going. If agreed, exchange contact information.
The number of people I met in 2023 and again this year who said, “I’m not sure how this meeting is supposed to work” was surprising, but also honest and refreshing. They saw the value of the speed-networking meet-up. They simply didn’t have a plan. Maybe the above approach will help in 2025?
What I Suggest
Frankly, I’d like to see a bit more of this type of speed-networking at other insurance industry conferences. Just maybe not at the same volume or pace as ITI (you really do need comfortable shoes and the occasional bathroom break).
Insurance is a business built on relationships. With daily new entrants to the industry and younger generations working to build and nurture their own networks, maximizing in-person opportunities and building relationships are more important than ever. Additionally, as experienced executives begin to retire, some of their industry relationships run the risk of being retired with them. Insurers simply cannot afford for this to happen.
ITI’s speed-networking format can be adapted to serve nearly any organization. For carriers, re-insurers and others, this would be a potentially great addition to all-company staff meetings. For the industry’s many professional associations, speed networking could be a great icebreaker for new as well as existing members. It could also serve the organization to better understand their members and their needs in a direct way. The same is true for recruitment events, fundraisers and alike.
For insurance to innovate and grow into the future, relationships must be brought along as part of the compact. While ITI certainly did not create the speed-networking concept, its application of the concept – in my view – offers a road map to creating and carrying all-important industry relationships into a bright, energetic and exciting future.
Press release wire services are frequently seen as an essential tool for organizations looking to disseminate their news quickly and broadly to the media. To the uninitiated, they can seem like a home run. Perform a search for the company name after posting to a wire service and you may find two or three postings of the release on the first page of your search. But is that really news? Do actual humans see your release? Is it worth the expense? The answers are mixed.
How Press Release Wire Services Work
There are numerous press release wire services like PR Newswire, Business Wire, and GlobeNewswire, and others.
To start, a company must draft its press release and upload it to a wire service. Be sure you understand the guidelines of the wire service you are using. Some have character limits for headlines or require brief, word-count-specific summaries of the content of the release that must be distinct from the text of the press release itself.
Once uploaded, the wire service editorial team will review the content to ensure it meets the wire service guidelines. Editors might suggest edits for clarity, conciseness, or to enhance the overall impact. Additionally, some wire services now reserve the right to reject press releases if they are deemed overly promotional and lacking in genuine news value.
Once approved, the press release is scheduled for distribution to a network of media outlets, journalists, news websites, and other stakeholders. This network often includes both traditional and digital platforms. Please note, there can be a delay of several hours – depending on the service – between approval and actual distribution. If your company requires the press release to be distributed on a specific date or time, please check with the wire service well in advance to understand their specific process and timing.
These wire services will provide a report with analytics on the press release’s reach and engagement, offering insights into its performance and audience interaction. In my experience, few if any of these data points are demonstrably valuable. Look specifically for data that reflect direct interactions with your press release. If you have more than 10 direct interactions via a wire service, I call that a win. Other provided metrics are fuzzier and, often, less valuable.
Why Companies Use Press Release Wire Services
Company leadership will often point to press release wire services as benefiting them in the following ways:
Broad media coverage
Increased SEO for the company or brand
Efficient use of resources
Actual media coverage resulting from a press release wire service is increasingly rare. Journalists are deluged with press releases and pitches daily. Further, because wire services supply the same content to hundreds or thousands of news websites, the uniformity of that content tends to make coverage of the information in those press releases less valuable to journalists seeking their own original story.
The reality is most press releases distributed through a wire service become aggregated content gathered by website algorithms and posted to pages on those sites you would be severely challenged to find natively on those websites. In essence, those releases tend to go into a black hole and are rarely seen by actual humans.
While press release wire services can still provide a slight bump to your company’s search engine optimization, that reality diminishes every year. You see, Google and other search engines tend to downgrade or even exclude repetitive content online, which negates the desired effect of using a press release wire service.
Additionally, while a press release wire service can appear less expensive than an ongoing engagement with a public relations agency or paying for a full-time, in-house comms professional, the reality is wire services are often wire services are not targeted communications tools. While you might pay a PR professional more over time than a one-time wire service fee, the fact is your media coverage will be more targeted and, ideally, more beneficial than simply blasting it out to the universe and hoping someone who may be interested in your services sees it.
However, if your goal is greater visibility in front of the widest possible audience, then you can justify a wire service press release distribution.
Finally, sometimes your leadership team, board of directors or investors simply need to see that your messaging has “gotten out there.” Often, this is the number one reason I have seen organizations employ wire service releases.
Setting Leadership Expectations
Whether using a wire service or not, it is crucial for organizations to set realistic expectations about the impact of their press releases. Not every press release will make headlines or go viral. To maximize press release effectiveness:
Focus on Newsworthiness: Ensure the content is genuinely newsworthy and well-written.
Tailor the Message: Customize the press release to appeal to the target audience.
Follow Up: Supplement the press release with personalized outreach to key journalists and media outlets.
Press release wire services remain a useful tool for companies and nonprofits to distribute news. While they offer benefits, it’s essential to use them strategically and maintain realistic expectations. By balancing the use of wire services with direct media engagement, organizations can enhance their visibility. As a former journalist, I appreciate the convenience and speed these services appear to offer, but my peers in the Fourth Estate also value originality and quality in the content they receive.
Well, once again to the dismay of my three teenage sons, I won the family March Madness NCAA basketball bracket. We’ll just say I do not follow college basketball like they do, but please know that I didn’t pick solely on uniform colors or schools I’ve visited.
One topic I do have a better handle on than my boys is business jargon. This year, Kimball Hughes Public Relations thought it might be fun to explore some of the more over-used business jargon and build a bracket of sorts in the spirit of March Madness. The former journalists and word wizards on our team sure had fun with it. Afterall, as professional communicators, these are words we’d like to see used minimally, if not completely boxed out from content.
Confusing the Point
According to the Harvard Business Review, jargon exists in workplaces because it can reinforce a shared identity, assist in fast and accurate communications among particular groups, as well as to quench an individual’s desire for professional status.
Prospects and clients want to understand what your company does. They do not want to be frustrated by jargon and buzz words strung together. Afterall, doesn’t your company do more than create integrated solutions that optimize efficiencies, drive alignment and build synergies with an omnichannel approach, all while connecting with ecosystems that align with core competencies?
Placing phrases on an About Us page, on a press release or in another piece of content peppered with heavy jargon could lead the client or prospect to leave the page out of frustration, misunderstand your products and services or decide to completely disengage with your company.
Geoff Keast, VP of Sales and INSTANDA, raised an interesting point in a recent interview on insurance jargon with PropertyCasualty360. He noted that when agents or insurers use jargon, the average insurance policyholder does not understand, they run the danger of leaving clients and prospects feeling as though they are being deliberately tricked. In other words, the overuse of jargon can lead to distrust.
Further, Keast noted that in the world of insurance, certain jargon could be doing the industry a disservice. For example, he pointed out that the often-used insurance term “premium” could leave one to interpret that they’ll be paying a higher-than-normal price for the product or services, when a premium in insurance is simply an insurance payment.
Writing Slam Dunk Messaging
At Kimball Hughes PR, our final four business jargon terms included core competency, integrated solutions, North Star and synergy, with my vote to position integrated solutions atop that list. The term integrated solutions can certainly sound impressive, but if the content doesn’t explain the type of solutions a company provides and how they can benefit me or my business, what value do those business buzz words really hold?
Other words that made our list are terms we all easily recognize including: alignment, bandwidth, ecosystem, efficiencies, engagement, KPI, leverage, omni channel, psychographics, optimize, scale and viral.
Don’t get me wrong, these terms are essential for business communications. We simply used this amusing exercise to have a little fun and point out this fact: allowing your messaging to get lost in jargon can lead to an airball for your team, missing your key target audience.
Business jargon can and should be used in business communications, but it should not be your only play. For a winning communications strategy, consider:
Reviewing your copy for jargon and ensuring that what you are trying to say can be clearly understood by any member of your target audience.
Rereading any jargon to ensure it will not mislead readers or be misinterpreted.
Sharing the copy with an outsider and asking them to explain what is written.
Flagging identified overuse of jargon and exploring alternative ways to convey the same thought. (Finding fresh ways to explain what you do or to share key messages can help set you apart from the competition.)
Defining jargon terms that could confuse readers upon first reference on the word.
Finally, to ensure your communication fits your audience and conveys your key messages clearly and accurately, consider talking to a communications specialist or engaging a PR agency – preferably one staffed by former journalists or a proven team of writers. Good communicators will find the right words to tell your story in a way that resonates with your audience and delivers results.
No matter where you turn, social media issues are in the headlines.
Just recently, former President Trump’s Truth Social platform had its IPO, legislation to ban TikTok in the United States has stalled in the Senate, and the Supreme Court has expressed concerns related to free speech and state-level social media legislation. On the consumer side, according to TechCrunch, in 2022, TikTok’s monthly active users grew an average of 12% year-over-year per quarter, but this figure fell to 3% year-over-year per quarter in 2023.” Setting aside the politics and social concerns related to these headlines, the social media landscape is actively changing, and businesses will need to reassess how they utilize social media.
Understanding how the social media landscape is changing will require individual users and businesses alike to acknowledge the changes already been made. We are well past the days of Facebook’s monopoly on the social media market, and even traditional influencer relationships have changed with the growth of platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Now, businesses and users are seeing signs that these platforms are under attack, and some are asking if they will go the same route as Vine in 2017, when it was bought by Twitter (now X), and essentially shut down. Looking to the future, there are a few things that social media users of all levels should keep in mind.
Short-form content will remain dominant
While platforms are changing, the content has followed a similar trend — users want short, easy-to-digest content they can share and react to in a streamlined way. This means that even if TikTok is banned in the U.S., or bought by a different owner, other contenders will jump into the vacuum left in TikTok’s wake. Channels like Instagram and X continue to invest in video content, and that content will continue to be short as each brand’s content feeds continue to compete for attention.
Strategy is a must have
When choosing what platform to use, it’s important to consider how consumers interact with it, and how those audiences will then share and consume future content. Is a user looking to reach local business owners or C-level executives? For the former, community platforms like Facebook may still have a place in strategy, while the latter is more likely to capture engagement on LinkedIn. Understanding audiences and their media consumption habits will help users create a sustainable, long-term plan for engagement that makes a difference, despite ongoing changes or regulatory considerations. Reference the Twitter/X evolution as an example of how not thinking through these strategies can impact your long-term social media plans.
Names fade, but content remains king
Like many businesses, the names and identities of those at the top of the industry can change quickly. Facebook knocked Myspace off its throne at the onset of modern social media, and X has taken leaps away from the identity and goals it had as Twitter. While the names on the door may change, the user’s need to engage with relevant content remains constant. Now, as new platforms rise and identities change again, users are looking for the next big thing. While we don’t know what social media’s next big players might be, we can be sure there will be an emphasis on content that can be easily consumed, shared and analyzed.
As the role of social media in shaping politics and opinions has rapidly grown, businesses and individual users should pay attention to how the platforms are changing and being regulated. While it is impossible to predict every change that may come to a platform, social media users can be prepared by having a strategy and recognizing the kinds of quality content that remain popular on a given platform. By developing and sharing good content, users will remain at the top of social media home pages, regardless any changes to the platforms.
We live in a TikTok world with countless Americans (me included) drawn to dramatic online videos of real-life joy and sorrow. How many of us have turned to our phones to watch one brief-but-compelling video, only to find 10 minutes or more have passed as we watch video after video? And those videos filled with relatable, emotional moments, are often the most compelling.
In 2018, Melanie Sanchez was recorded at her college graduation taking a cell phone call from an employer offering her a job. The video went viral, and we all shared in Melanie’s joy. One of my favorites was from about 10 years ago. Marina Shifrin posted an interpretive dance resignation video for her employer. It was fun, with a bit of dark humor, and showcased her creativity in the process. The video went viral. Marina hit the talk-show circuit and even landed a book deal.
Of course, there are also heartbreaking videos. Brittany Pietsch made headlines a few months ago when she recorded her Cloudflare layoff-via-video, showing us the dark underbelly of not only remote work but also how poorly some employers plan these challenging discussions. There are too many examples like Brittany’s, and not enough of those like Melanie.
For employers, however, there are lessons to be learned as we continue to break new ground in a world of hybrid and remote workers. The biggest lesson from a communications perspective is to be human and humane in these discussions of hiring and firing.
When Hiring
Check the Tech: Before you dive into the conversation, make sure the technology platform you’re using works for all parties. Shaky or delayed connections create misunderstandings and frustration. Don’t proceed if the tech fails or is of such poor quality that the messaging you wish to convey is at risk. This step applies to both the hiring and the firing process.
Be in the Moment: Video meetings are part of the new normal of workplace cultures. Treat them like in-person meetings. Greet the candidate and be warm and conversational. Work to maintain a high level of eye-contact by looking at the camera when speaking and listening.
Set Expectations and Don’t Let Suspense Linger: Be transparent about your process upfront. Outline the steps in that process and your approximate timeline clearly. And if you are calling to offer the position to the candidate, be upfront rather than leaving them waiting to know if they have been selected. No one needs to be on pins and needles across an entire conversation waiting for the big reveal at the end.
Record with Consent: If you plan to record the interview to share with colleagues or even for your own internal review, ask for the candidate’s consent first. Show respect for their privacy. And remember, in some states and jurisdictions, it is illegal to record someone without their consent. Parties who break these laws can face serious legal consequences.
When Firing
Privacy First: In addition to checking the tech as noted above, privacy is critical. This is a devastating moment for the employee being released from your employ. Both you and the employee should be in a private setting.
Be Empathetic: Job loss ranks alongside death and divorce as a major life stressor. Demonstrate kindness and empathy as best possible. Acknowledge the hurt and distress of the moment.
Be Direct: Clearly communicate the decision to end the person’s employment without mincing words. However, be kind in the process. Avoid jargon or corporate speak; simply act like a human and treat the person with respect.
Provide Resources: Your human resource representative should join the employee’s manager or supervisor on the call. The manager or supervisor – someone who knows the employee and his or her work product – is there to discuss the decision and provide feedback, while the HR rep should explain any severance package, unemployment benefits, health insurance options (if applicable) and any other services the organization plans to offer following separation. At all times, the employer should be respectful and be sure to truly hear the employee while still keeping the call focused and brief.
As employers continue to hire digital natives, the likelihood of a business matter like hiring or firing becoming click-bait for the rest of us rises exponentially. Millennials and GenZ are the first truly digital generations whose lives online are rarely separate from their offline experiences. So, employers would serve themselves well to consider those hiring phone or Zoom calls or the difficult layoff discussions via Teams or speakerphone might take on lives of their own online. These discussions could put your organization’s reputation on the line and even threaten your bottom line.
Remember, these discussions have the potential to become tomorrow’s headlines. Plan accordingly.
PR Matters 