There’s a reason the saying “communication is key” hasn’t fallen out of fashion. Straightforward and effective communication is the driving force that turns a good PR team into a great one. But PR professionals’ role extends beyond external-facing communications. They must also apply their expertise to the flow of information within their company. According to Forbes, a good company culture built on strong communications can quadruple company revenue. In that sense, every PR team should strive to have exemplary internal communications.

What is Internal Communications in PR?

Internal communications in PR is the sharing of information between departments, teams, and team members within a company. It can take the form of meetings, Q&As, task delegations, newsletters, and check-ins. If we imagine workplace operations as a freeway, then the internal communications is the traffic. Is the flow of traffic quick and efficient? Or is it grid-locked and bumper-to-bumper? Improving this communication is like getting everyone in your company to navigate from the same map and use their turn signals: things go much more smoothly!

Why is Internal Communications in PR Important?

Internal communications in PR is important because it keeps teams organized, ensures consistency across the company, and reduces the stress that confusion or miscommunication may cause employees. In fact, internal communications methods can reduce employee stress and turnover, and increase motivation for the simple reason that employees feel valued and informed.

Because communication impacts workplace operations and employee experience, its effects spill over to client-facing interactions and, eventually, workplace reputation.

Client Communications

Effective communication across your company influences how clients perceive your team and its operations. Receiving straightforward and consistent information indicates to your clients that your team is competent, efficient, and working from the same playbook. It also shows that in times of urgency or high stress, your team can easily organize and handle changes at a fast pace.

Workplace Reputation

Regular communications can reinforce your company culture and values, and promote transparency within the workplace. Not to mention, having avenues for employees to communicate their questions or concerns helps them to feel heard. When employees feel valued and aligned with their company’s vision, you will see the results reflected in employee reviews and external perceptions of your company as a place to work.

Ways to Improve Internal Communications for Your PR Team

Effective information transmission within your company is essential to maintaining a positive workplace culture and reputation.

Here are a few ways your PR team can improve your internal communications strategy:

Assess Your Current Communications Approach

How is your PR team currently sharing information within the company? Is there a strategy for facilitating information sharing between teams and departments? Examine your current strategy and identify any strengths and weaknesses so you can focus on changes that will benefit your team immediately. For candid feedback on your current operations, you can also conduct anonymous employee surveys. Because your communications ultimately affect workplace reputation, your team can also use media measurement to understand how your workplace culture is represented. Comparing your internal employee surveys with an analysis of your workplace reputation can highlight whether any issues are the result of internal or external PR.

Create an Internal Strategy

It’s easy to let communications within your organization slide without a strategy in place. Treat internal comms like your external PR strategy by developing an action plan with designated roles and protocols for each member of your team. Doing so establishes accountability with clearly defined roles, facilitates consistency with a structured plan of action, and ensures that your entire organization receives reliable information.

Share News Regularly

To be truly effective, sharing news internally must move in all directions: with “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication between higher and lower-level employees, and regular sharing across departments and within teams.

To facilitate multi-directional information sharing, your PR team can organize company-wide meetings with executive-led Q&As, and recommend “office hours” hosted by higher-level employees to give entry-level employees an avenue for sharing.

You can also keep the entire company informed by publishing a regular internal newsletter. This isn’t just constrained to company news and updates, but also sharing information on ongoing projects in various departments, any necessary FAQs, and employee successes and achievements.

Encourage Social Sharing

A team that is practiced and aligned on what the brand stands for is in an optimal position to share your company values. Employee brand ambassadors are a great way to optimize the best practices of your internal communications strategy, as this allows a consistent image of the brand to be shared by a trusted resource: your employees!

Your employee ambassadors can project workplace reputation and company culture to the public, which allows your audience to consume an approved image of your brand. Further, having employee brand ambassadors indicates that the workplace is organized, efficient, and unified in its mission, and that your employees are satisfied. They are a testament to your company culture and ultimately stand to improve your workplace reputation.

You can mobilize your employees as ambassadors by encouraging them to share company news, successes, and events on social media. People want to be proud of where they work and offering curated updates on company news through internal newsletters is a great way to give information to employees that they can easily share on their social media platforms.

Use Analytics to Improve Your Internal Communications

When a company is united with a successful internal communications strategy, the employees, clients, and overall brand benefit. By using communications to improve day-to-day operations and employee experience, you can strengthen and manage your workplace reputation.

PublicRelay can help your team take control of your internal comms by tracking how your workplace reputation is represented in your media coverage and benchmarking your progress. Using human-augmented technology, our advanced solution reliably detects sentiment and the complex topics that matter most to your brand.

Click here to learn more!

Firm takes additional workspace at Cavan Digital Hub.
Expansion supported by global and local recruitment drives.

14th March 2022, Cavan, Ireland and Tysons, Virginia in the US

US communications, analytics, and advisory firm PublicRelay has announced plans to increase its local presence in Cavan, Ireland, taking additional workspace to accommodate expanding teams.   On the back of a recent recruitment drive in Ireland and globally, the company confirmed it has secured the entire top floor at Cavan Digital Hub coinciding with a return to office as part of a hybrid working strategy.  Cavan Digital Hub is a premium workspace in Cavan town that provides co-working and private office accommodation.

“The sky really is the limit for PublicRelay as they expand into our top floor space”, commented Leanne Connell, Manager, Cavan Digital Hub.  “They have been a fantastic client since we opened our doors in 2019. The announcement by the company shows their commitment to Cavan and Ireland and is an endorsement of the superb facilities and workspace we have at Cavan Digital Hub”, added Connell.

“We are excited to be scaling up in Cavan with the continued support of IDA Ireland, Cavan County Council and the team at Cavan Digital Hub. Cavan is a great location and the facilities at the Hub and the support of the Hub’s management have enabled us to focus on growing our team here. We have been fortunate to attract some great talent and they have been instrumental to our success in the region.  I’m very confident that our current recruitment campaign will be just as successful.” said Karl Finn, Director of Irish Operations.

An IDA client company, PublicRelay opened its second Irish office in Cavan in November 2019 with just two staff. Numbers have grown to 17 since then with plans to recruit a further 10 over the coming months.  “As we have a 24/7/365 operation here, our set up means we can accommodate PublicRelay’s transatlantic time schedule”, added Connell.  “Our flexible licence agreements, turnkey offices, and modern workspaces suit their way of working in terms of their organisation’s culture and desire to scale quickly”, added Connell.

“This further investment by PublicRelay is in line with IDA Ireland’s strategy of securing investments in regional locations and on working with companies to expand their operations and develop second sites in regional locations across Ireland”, commented James Boyle, Business and Relationship Manager, North-East Region, IDA Ireland.  “This expansion is excellent news for Cavan and the wider North-East region.”

In addition to the company’s presence in Cavan Digital Hub, PublicRelay has an office in Dublin, a corporate head-office in Tysons, Virginia and satellite operations in Boston, Massachusetts, Portland Oregon, and Charlotte, North Carolina.  Chairperson of Cavan Digital Hub Board, Brendan Jennings, Director of Service for Economic Development in Cavan County Council, welcomed PublicRelay’s announcement saying the Board are delighted to support PublicRelay in realising their expansion plans in Cavan Digital Hub and County Cavan.  “PublicRelay are a fantastic example of how a global company can scale and grow in our region and attract highly skilled individuals to work in our County.”

Press queries or interview:

Leanne Connell, Manager, Cavan Digital Hub         
Email: Leanneconnell@cavandigitalhub.ie

About PublicRelay

PublicRelay delivers quality analytics that increase the value and influence of communicators in their organization. PublicRelay’s unique human-augmented technology provides data and insights that prove communications’ impact on business goals, predict media outcomes, and guide future strategy. Known for continual innovation, superior data-driven insights, and exceptional partnership, PublicRelay elevates communications data to the standards of today’s C-suite leaders.  For more information, please visit www.publicrelay.com.

About Cavan Digital Hub

Cavan Digital Hub provides shared facilities for companies in the tech sector, steadily growing a community of tech entrepreneurs and digitally focused companies in the region. Boasting 12,000sq ft of space with a configuration of private offices, hot desks and meeting rooms, the Hub encompasses a range of supports to nurture developing and existing technology-based start-ups and digital entrepreneurs.  With the support of Cavan County Council, Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office Cavan, along with the supply of 1GB broadband from SIRO, Cavan Digital Hub is the perfect space to be creative and collaborate with other innovators.  Collaboration, peer networking and innovation are a part of our everyday. Connecting corporates and start-ups, creating an inspiring atmosphere of knowledge-sharing and peer collaboration, our community is a mix of scaling start-ups, HPSU’s, and corporates. 

Transforming. Supporting. Connecting.  www.cavandigitalhub.ie

Editor’s Note: Our Chief Insights Officer, Mark Weiner, wrote this column for PRNEWS November 2021 issue. The findings cited are based on PRNEWS’s survey of 150 communicators conducted in October 2021. Interestingly, his forecast for predictive analytics became a reality when PublicRelay launched its Predictive Suite in January 2022.

The results are in: The 2021 PR Measurement, Tech, and Talent Survey reveals where we are as a profession and where we’re headed, at least in terms of communications research and evaluation. In this column for Measurement Month, I’m focused on one question, specifically, “What’s the next big thing for communications research and evaluation?”  

The Advantage of Predictive Analytics for PR

Everyone answered this question to share their predictions, but, in an ironic twist, only 12% consider predictive analytics as a “big thing.” How odd that everyone felt comfortable aligning on the future, but only 17-out-of-150 respondents believe that research-based predictive analytics will play an important role.

Perhaps that’s why few PR people work in meteorology.

Significant resources are being applied to predictive analytics by savvy research providers who recognize its power to reveal important aspects for planning and activation. Imagine predicting the virality of a news item or a post. How would you like to know where your competitors are headed so you can preempt their position or mitigate any advantage? Consider the advantage of knowing which stories will—and will not – gain traction. How many times have you had to calm a client or an executive over your tepid response to their desire for a vanity press release, or their response to a negative story or a competitor’s announcement?

Why PR Measurement Needs Both Technology and Talent

The pendulum of “what’s important now and in the future” continues to swing. Of course, “near term” and “long term” are important distinctions when contemplating the future, but let’s look at each response to this survey question.

For one, consider the gap between the 5.1% of respondents who believe that what’s most important is “An emphasis on automation, AI and DIY,” versus the 21.7% who chose “A balanced mix of technology and talent.” Could it be that everyone already owns a PR platform? And now that they own it, perhaps they realize that technology in isolation is not the answer (it never was, and it never will be). The question evolves from “which technology?” to “who manages the technology?” and “how do we think about the data?” 

Surprise! Current technology is not a panacea: operators need training – the technology needs training, too. As someone who believes in our uniquely human contribution, I’m encouraged by this phenomenon, and you should be too: it underscores the paucity of talent in PR hiring situations – in the absence of viable candidates, talent trumps technology and you command greater remuneration.

I am encouraged by the lower scores attributed to “Automation, AI, and DIY.” While there’s much more that technology can do, we may have reached the stage where technology development for PR evolves towards iterative refinement. There aren’t many pure breakthroughs left to unleash upon the mass PR market beyond contact databases, media monitoring, and simple media analytics (although I believe that predictive holds great potential). When you consider how the activities most vulnerable to automation and AI are those which are rote and routine, we can see how PR is insulated. How many PR days are so mundane? Given our creative endeavors which require innovative thinking to address chaotic, unpredictable situations, you should have nothing to fear. And, based on the responses, you don’t.

That’s good news: we in public relations are safe from robot replacements and we may look forward to enhancements that make our work easier and faster so we can focus on what we’re singularly capable of achieving.

Communicators Still Want to Quantify PR’s Value

The least surprising responses are two sides of the same coin: “A fully integrated analysis across the marketing and communications mix” and “A solution for quantifying PR’s impact on business outcomes like sales and revenue generation.” A combined 46% of respondents envision this as PR’s next big thing. The two ideas are interrelated because to isolate PR’s impact on business outcomes, we also need to know our relative contribution across the marketing and communications mix.  As such, the second is predicated on the first.

But it’s been PR’s next big thing for 30 years.

The difference is that marketing and communications analytics have evolved dramatically. And here’s where technology shows great potential to boost integrated marketing communications. With cascades of data, business in general and PR specifically can ascend beyond what anyone would have imagined in the past. And these technologies continue to evolve. Now, we have access to lower-cost multi-touch attribution and marketing mix modeling. Multi-touch attribution collects specific user-level data to quickly isolate specific events and assess their impact on conversion (“the customer journey”). Marketing Mix Modeling was first used in the late 1990s. Applying advanced regression analysis, these statistical models quantify the success of marketing and communications activities over time. Unlike attribution modeling, it is much slower, favoring annual or semi-annual analysis and heavily dependent on historical data but it reveals a much bigger picture.

Each in their own way contributes to understanding PR’s impact on business outcomes and explains the ways by which PR interrelates with other marketing agents. When combined, attribution and modeling create an even more formidable platform to accurately quantify PR’s contribution and to inform near and long-term planning and evaluation.

Why ESG is the Next Big Thing in PR

Now for my prediction:  Often the contrarian, I believe that ESG will be the next big thing because it answers so much of what communicators envision for the future. Investment advisory services like Morningstar quantify ESG as a predicate for investment, and they estimate that one-third of all investors factor ESG into their buy and sell decisions. ESG is a function of two elements: a company’s behavior and the reputation it creates for doing good. To a high degree, PR owns reputation. Until now, investors considered reputation to be a “soft asset” that couldn’t be quantified. With the advent of ESG investing, that’s changed. What’s more, compared to attribution and marketing mix models which reveal PR’s ability to generate a few million dollars in revenue, reputation affects billions of dollars in market capitalization. ESG introduces PR to the big money.

PR’s Continuous Evolution

Only time will tell. As is so often true in the evolution of public relations, business, and humankind: the predicate isn’t so much about technology or methodology; it’s about people’s willingness to change. One thing about which we can be certain: our profession continues to evolve and elevate, and these changes will profoundly affect public relations as we know it.

#          #          #

Mark Weiner is a Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations and the author of “PR Technology, Data and Insights: Igniting a Positive Return on Your Communications Investment.”

Originally published in PRNEWS November 2021 issue.

The Client

Founded more than 50 years ago, our client is an international fast-food chain with a significant global presence. The restaurant company is on a mission to provide customers with fast, healthy, made-to-order meals.

The Challenge

In 2021, the company was hit by coverage in a premiere publication followed by a national lawsuit that criticized the quality of its ingredients.

Both instances generated significant press coverage and internal stakeholders expressed their concerns over whether the communications team was doing enough to tackle the negative articles published.

The communications team needed a solution rooted in data that could achieve two things:

1. Help them to determine which articles covering the story required a response, and
2. Enable them to justify their strategy to their C-suite and other internal stakeholders.

Our Solution

The communications team decided to use PublicRelay’s Predictive Alerts tool to flag articles mentioning the lawsuit that had a high probability of going viral (i.e., generating significant social sharing).

As new stories were published, PublicRelay provided the team with viral probability percentages for any negative coverage in near-real-time.

The team was notified of articles likely to go viral once they reached a certain threshold of social sharing set by the communications team, allowing them to respond before the story spread.

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Results

PublicRelay’s predictive solution indicated that the majority of relevant stories had a less than 2% chance of going viral.

Using Predictive Alerts allowed the team to focus their efforts on responding to the stories that mattered and ensure that all the stories being shared included their official statement. In doing so, the team was also able to ignore other, low-priority negative coverage, and avoid stoking any unnecessary fires by responding to coverage that wouldn’t otherwise gain traction.

Ultimately, the communications team succeeded in calming the company’s internal stakeholders during the media crisis by demonstrating that, though the lawsuit was receiving negative coverage, only a few of these stories were actually discussed. Further, the team was able to justify their data-backed approach to responding to the crisis.

The communications team has now incorporated PublicRelay’s Predictive Alerts into their crisis playbook, preparing them to respond meaningfully to PR crises going forward.

Want to learn more about how PublicRelay’s Predictive Alerts can support your team through a communications crisis? Get in touch with our team at solutions@publicrelay.com.

Updated 9/10/2024

Today it is harder than ever to protect your brand. Knowing how to shield your company from mis/disinformation can be challenging. Research from the CHI 2020 conference highlights the prevalence of people sharing stories on social media, despite not reading past the headline, and the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report lists mis/disinformation as the most severe short-term risk the world faces.

With only 23% of Americans feeling truly confident in their ability to recognize fake news, audiences are more vulnerable than ever before. The lack of media literacy – the ability to critically evaluate media content or clearly understand messages – among your target audience may negatively impact your brand if your team doesn’t properly combat it.

If you are not prepared to manage fake news, your audience is more likely to believe stories containing misleading information. But, before charging ahead with a response, PR teams must first understand the distinction between misinformation and disinformation.

What is Misinformation?

Misinformation is inaccurate information shared without the intention of manipulating people. For example, if a news story suggested that a company went under due to the poor financial results they reported in the previous quarter, even if that wasn’t the case, the inaccuracy is most likely unintended. The source of this information may not have been aware it was incorrect and did not necessarily mean to deceive audiences.

What is Disinformation?

Disinformation is false information shared with the intention of misleading people. Falsifying details is problematic and is often used to distort the truth, sometimes for financial or political gain. This is often achieved by concealing the true nature of an article, such as sponsored content disguised as editorial pieces, computer-generated imagery, or misleading headlines.

Managing the Media Narrative

Managing the media narrative is essential to protecting your brand against fabricated news and avoiding long-term consequences. In 2021, a study conducted by NYU indicated that “misinformation on Facebook got six times more clicks than factual news during the 2020 election.” This is in part due to the reward structure that social media platforms like Facebook are built on, according to a 2023 USC study, which found that this structure “plays a significant role when it comes to misinformation spread”. And that’s not even going into the quagmire that is bot activity on social platforms…

If false information about your company goes viral, it can compromise your credibility and the trust your audience has in your brand. With the tendency of fake news to spread on social media, it may feel challenging to control the pace of the narrative, but there are methods you can use to manage it.

5 Ways to Protect Your Brand from Misinformation

Responses to misinformation now fall squarely into the job description of communicators, and even the strongest brands can fall susceptible to rumors. If your PR response is proactive and consistent, you can mitigate the harm caused to your reputation.

Here are some simple yet effective tips for protecting your brand against mis/disinformation:

Build Brand Trust

If you have established brand trust with your audience, they will be more likely to question false narratives about your company. Further, when your team responds with a counter-narrative, your consumers will be more receptive because of the pre-existing trust they have in your brand.

When responding to mis/disinformation, rely on the same components that helped you to build brand trust with your audience in the first place. Authenticity, transparency, and consistent messaging can help you to maintain your consumers’ faith in your company in the wake of false narratives.

Look for Signs of Misinformation and Disinformation

Tracking your media coverage can allow you to detect untrue narratives about your brand. Media measurement is an essential tool for observing stories about your brand and its traction on social media. Sentiment analysis is equally as important. It enables you to evaluate content for context, sarcasm, and irony, and with greater accuracy when using human-augmented technology. By utilizing effective media measurement and sentiment analysis, you can detect the early signs of mis/disinformation in coverage of your brand and address the narrative before it spins out of control.

Include Plans for Misinformation/Disinformation in Your Crisis Communications Strategy

An effective communications strategy includes preparation for PR crises, including the spread of inaccurate information. With a detailed crisis plan that provides for various scenarios with appropriate counter-narratives, external and internal points of contact, and trusted media lists, you can respond quickly and effectively. How you act in the first few hours of a crisis can determine the narrative’s impact.

Use Social Media to Evaluate False Narratives

Today, stories that misrepresent brands are most likely to start online. With the help of social media tools, your team can follow false narratives from traditional to social media and monitor how much traction they generate. Predictive solutions, for example, can evaluate the impact of false narratives and help you to identify the stories that warrant a response by determining their probability of going viral. This data enables your team to work proactively and with time advantage.

Own Up to Your Mistakes

If mis/disinformation about your brand is the result of your team’s mistake or a false statement you’ve inadvertently spread, hold yourself accountable and inform your audience. This helps to build brand trust and credibility by demonstrating accountability. Being forthright and transparent when you’ve made a mistake will make your audience more receptive to your response when future incidences of mis/disinformation occur.

A Long-Term Solution to False Narratives

Take a moment to critique your current communications strategy. Is your team prepared to tackle a false narrative targeting your brand today? If not, what solutions or plans do you need in place to make sure people are receiving correct information about your brand?

With a strategy in place, you can protect your brand from mis/disinformation and maintain the trust of your audience. At PublicRelay, our human-augmented technology approach to media analytics makes it easier to track media coverage of your brand and detect misinformation and disinformation in its formative stages. With highly accurate sentiment analysis and advanced technology enabling predictive solutions, you can take a proactive approach to manage your brand.

Click here to learn more!

New Capabilities Enable Communicators to Predict the Future

TYSONS CORNER, VA., (February 1, 2022) – PublicRelay, the leading communications analytics and advisory company, has launched an all-new suite of predictive analytics that is now available to clients. These industry-first solutions build on the company’s rich, accurate dataset to identify articles likely to go viral and predict competitive messaging initiatives before they get traction.

The new offerings shift a portion of the communicator’s job from a reactive role to a proactive one – putting them squarely in the driver’s seat of brand messaging. These capabilities were made possible by recent developments in artificial intelligence, paired with the accurate analysis from PublicRelay’s human-augmented technology approach.

PublicRelay’s new StormWatch alerts provide advanced notice of articles that will go viral in social media. For negative stories, communicators gain time to warn internal audiences and implement a proactive response. Positive stories going viral can get a preemptive boost from the communications team. StormWatch also enables the team to focus on the most important articles and the influencers driving social sharing. Finally, StormWatch can analyze and predict virality for the competition or industry topics to identify opportunities.

PublicRelay’s new Competitive Predictor solution uses complex analysis of media coverage to uncover messages the competition will be focusing on in the coming weeks. The sophisticated platform then identifies the reporters that are the most likely target of that messaging, allowing clients to hijack the narrative or water down competitive messaging. The predictor can also serve as an early warning of new competitor products and marketing campaigns, allowing communicators to become a valuable source of business intelligence to the entire company.

“For years, communicators have been looking for ways to peek around the corner – to know what is coming next – and now we have cracked the code,” said Eric Koefoot, PublicRelay CEO. “StormWatch and Competitive Predictor are the first in a full suite of predictive solutions that PublicRelay is bringing to market for our clients in the coming months.”

About PublicRelay

PublicRelay delivers quality analytics that increase the value and influence of communicators in their organization. PublicRelay’s unique human-augmented technology provides data and insights that prove communications’ impact on business goals, predict media outcomes, and guide future strategy. Known for continual innovation, superior data-driven insights, and exceptional partnership, PublicRelay elevates communications data to the standards of today’s C-suite leaders.

In the ever-evolving world of communications strategies and campaigns, connecting with your audience through social media is now more vital than ever. Because social media offers channels for engagement that traditional media coverage cannot, it’s essential for your PR team to analyze social content to understand the stories and topics that are reaching and resonating with your audience.

But first, you must identify and learn from the individuals on social media who drive the conversations that matter most to your industry.

What is a Social Media Influencer?

A social media influencer is an individual who has established a following on social media based on their reputation of expertise or knowledge in a certain subject. Their content often generates significant engagement (such as views, likes, and shares) when they post to their social channels. And, as Forbes explains, they are people with large followings that can leverage their audiences to promote different products or services. Influencers can range from those specializing in niche topics, like gardening, to individuals with broader appeal, like popular celebrities or public figures.

Why are Social Media Influencers Important to Your PR Strategy?

Social media influencers are important to your PR strategy because they have established themselves as credible sources on topics relevant to your industry with your target audience. Tracking what they are talking about can clue your communications team in on better ways to reach your consumers and create campaigns that will resonate with them. They can also showcase which topics generate the most engagement and provide a blueprint for the types of messaging that draw the best response from your target demographic.

Ways to Identify the Right Social Media Influencers

Finding the right social media influencers takes a bit of craft; unfortunately, there’s no magic list you can simply search (yet)! A large part of condensing your search begins with defining your target audience as well as your communications goals. In other words, who are you reaching out to and why?

Here are three things to consider when identifying your industry influencers:

Shared Target Audiences

Start by clearly defining your target demographic. This requires knowing more about the who in “who is using my product or service.” Major target audiences are often broken down by demographics, including age, gender, race, political affiliation, spending ability, and geographic location. Creating detailed buyer personas for your consumers will also help you to better understand your audience. Once you know your target audience, it will be significantly easier to find the appropriate influencer who has successfully tapped into that same audience. For example, if you sell athletic wear, your top influencers will be vastly different if your target consumers are teenage girls as opposed to middle-aged men, etc.

Relevant Activity

Next, you must find the “movers and shakers” that are garnering traction in your field. A great way is to track hashtags, keywords, and key topics that relate to your brand on Twitter.

Compile a list of the keywords and topics relevant to your industry, as well as key messages important to your brand, like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, etc. The most valuable influencers are those who have not only engaged your audience on industry-specific content, but also on the broader social issues that your brand is concerned with.

You can also use Google Analytics to isolate the top posts (i.e., those generating the most engagement) within the conversations happening on social media about topics relevant to your field.

Social Media Reach and Engagement

When evaluating the influencers responsible for your industry’s top social content, you must consider the following:

First, how many followers do they have? Their follower count indicates the potential reach of each post.

Second, what is their average number of retweets per post? Along with follower count, the degree of engagement they regularly generate is important when considering their pull. Further, retweets indicate that their follower base is active and that they are posting content worth engaging with. Determining a user’s engagement based on this metric requires a full analysis of their published content, so it’s best to have a team doing this work for maximum efficiency.

Finally, what kind of influencers are they? If they aren’t a celebrity, their bio will often tell you what kind of content they post and provide links to their other social accounts. Keep in mind that, while a celebrity may have a larger following, a micro-influencer that specializes in your field will likely reach more people interested in your product or service.

Measuring Influencer Activity

Once you’ve identified the right influencers for your industry, measuring their activity can provide invaluable insights to inform your PR strategy.

In addition to analyzing their posts with the most engagement, the keywords and topics they use are also worth tracking. For instance, if increasing your ESG messaging is one of your team’s priorities, look at how your industry influencers have approached the topic.

By analyzing the top social content, you can learn which aspects of ESG, like sustainability or social justice, your audience reacts to most. And, with sentiment analysis, the tone of the conversations around these subjects reveals the direction and strength of your audience’s views on topics central to your industry.

Observing how your shared audience responds to topics relevant to your brand can guide your messaging campaigns. Influencers are successful not only because of their reputations, but because they have tailored their content and methods to reach their audience. Thus, emulating their activity can help you appeal to that same audience.

Utilizing Influencer Insights

In communications, pinpointing the right influencers means that you can tap into the people leading conversations in your industry and use that information to cultivate a more effective strategy for reaching your audience.

PublicRelay’s hybrid approach to media analytics pairs advanced technology with human analysis to help you to identify your top social media influencers and draw insights that can prime your communications strategy for success.

Click here to learn more!

Communications Analytics and Advisory Company Expands Leadership Team

TYSONS CORNER, VA., (January 5, 2022) – PublicRelay, the leading communications analytics and advisory company announced the addition of industry veteran and thought leader Mark Weiner as its Chief Insights Officer.  In this newly-created role, Weiner will be responsible for enhancing and growing PublicRelay’s insights and consulting practice and accelerating delivery of advanced, data-informed analysis, insights, and guidance. 

Mark brings more than 35 years of experience building premier communications analytics businesses around the world.  Prior to PublicRelay, he served for 12 years as CEO of PRIME Research before transitioning to Chief Insights Officer at Cision following its acquisition of PRIME.  Before that, Mark led Ketchum’s global research practice, and served on the executive leadership team of Delahaye Medialink during its IPO on NASDAQ. 

Mark is a member of The Arthur Page Society and a Trustee for the Institute for Public Relations, which recognized his excellence and contributions to the industry with the Jack Felton Medal for Lifetime Achievement in 2018.  An accomplished writer, Mark’s new book, “Public Relations Technology, Data and Insights” was published in April 2021 by Kogan Page. 

“PublicRelay brings an extraordinary combination of data accuracy, predictive analytics, and actionable insights to the world’s leading brands.  I’m very excited to be part of this mission,” Weiner stated.  “I have led communications analytics and advisory services for over 30 years, and PublicRelay’s talent and technology combine in a unique way to deliver trusted, powerful analysis and insights to its clients.  The focus on quality, innovation, and strategic counsel makes PublicRelay an exceptional partner to CCOs.” 

 “We are thrilled with Mark joining the executive team at PublicRelay.  His experience and level of sophistication are second to none”, added Eric Koefoot, CEO of PublicRelay.  “Mark is a respected leader in our profession, and the addition of his experience sends a clear message that PublicRelay is the best solution in the market for CCO’s and CMO’s who take communications and brand analytics seriously.”

About PublicRelay

PublicRelay delivers quality analytics that increases the value and influence of communicators in their organization.  PublicRelay’s unique human-augmented technology delivers data and insights that prove communications’ impact on business goals, predict media outcomes, and guide future strategy. Known for continual innovation, superior data-driven insights, and exceptional partnership, PublicRelay elevates communications data to the standards of today’s C-suite leaders.

TYSONS CORNER, VA., (December 7, 2021) – PublicRelay, the premier provider of communications analytics to the world’s leading brands, has launched an all-new approach to social media brand analysis. The new solution, available in January, gives unprecedented insight into brand reputation not available through the leading social media analytics solutions. 

For years, the development of social media listening tools has focused on marketers and customer experience teams. But with their focus on brand perception and reputational drivers, communicators have been left behind. Social listening tools reliant on keyword tracking and automated sentiment have failed to accurately capture the nuance necessary for analyzing brand reputation. PublicRelay’s new program delivers the right solution by focusing on the unique needs of communicators and brand marketers.  

PublicRelay’s approach uses the latest in human-augmented technology to provide a deep understanding of brand sentiment and reputational conversations in social media. In addition to tracking the client’s brand, PublicRelay analyzes top competitors enabling powerful benchmarking and competitive comparison.  

The new offering also includes whitespace analysis of the discussions happening around the most important issues of the day, exposing key trends, risks, and opportunities for communicators. For a complete picture, PublicRelay analyzes posts from key industry influencers and the broader marketplace. This enables clients to intelligently engage with the topic, use the most effective messages, and leverage social media in all-new ways to build and burnish their brand reputation. 

“Clients have told us for years that their automated social listening solutions struggle to measure reputational drivers like trust, thought leadership, diversity, and inclusion,” said Eric Koefoot, CEO of PublicRelay. “Our new offering brings rich, accurate analysis to social media, giving communicators and brand marketers a true understanding of brand conversations in social media like never before.” 

As with all PublicRelay offerings, social media analytics can be paired with other analyses and client data to reveal the complex interactions and impacts on brand perceptions, engagement, and even sales. With this insight, communicators can show how their work delivers against business goals. 

About PublicRelay:  

PublicRelay delivers quality analytics that increases the value and influence of communicators in their organization. PublicRelay’s unique human-augmented technology delivers data and insights that prove communications’ impact on business goals, predict media outcomes, and guide future strategy. Known for continual innovation, superior data-driven insights, and exceptional partnership, PublicRelay elevates communications data to the standards

What measures do you use to understand your company’s reputation?

Let’s say you’re using reputational surveys. With the poll results, you can break down public views of your company into various dimensions (e.g., leadership, products and services, vision, culture, etc.) to evaluate your standing.

But how do you know if public perceptions of your company accurately reflect the quality of each dimension, or if they’re the result of inadequate PR?

Take Facebook.

Facebook’s reputation has, without a doubt, suffered over the past few years. According to Axios, the steady decline in the company’s favorability ratings all started when news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in March 2018. Since then, it has been faced with regular negative media attention, from concerns over data protection to claims that the company is aware that its social media service, Instagram, is harmful to teens’ mental health.

Facebook’s deterioration in the public eye has been largely attributable to operational issues and internal information exposed in ongoing legal battles and by whistleblowers.

But what about the company’s reputation as an employer? Consumers have poor views of Facebook as a place to work, but how accurate are public perceptions of the company’s employee experience?

At PublicRelay, we wanted to better understand how well public impressions of a company’s workplace align with how its employees feel. Using data from our employee experience solution, Barometer, and market research firm, Harris Poll, we examined the internal and external perspectives of companies’ workplaces to see what we could learn about employer branding.

What is Employer Branding?

Employer branding is a company’s reputation as a place to work. This differs from the company’s overall reputation which includes its value proposition to customers and instead refers to its value proposition to its employees. Both, however, can be managed with effective public relations.

Though it is most often considered in terms of recruitment and talent acquisition, employer branding is also a facet of companies’ public reputation and plays a role in its overall business success.

Why is Employer Branding Important?

Employer branding is important because perceptions of employee experience can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. In other words, millennials and Gen Z are socially conscious consumers, meaning they consider a company’s practices – including how it treats its employees – when deciding whether to become a customer.

Evaluating Employer Branding

We analyzed companies’ reputations by comparing two data sources using cross dataset analysis: average employee review star ratings and 2021 Axios Harris Poll 100 reputational survey results.

Harris Poll measures corporate reputation across seven dimensions: Products, Growth, Vision, Trust, Culture, Ethics, and Citizenship. In this instance, “Culture” is defined as public perceptions of or a company’s reputation as being a “good company to work for.”

Facebook’s Employer Branding Disconnect

Generally, there was a positive correlation between a company’s average employee star ratings and its Harris Poll reputation score. In other words, companies with positive reputations overall also had high employee star ratings. And vice versa.

But Facebook is an interesting outlier.

Facebook ranked #98 out of 100 companies overall – with a reputation categorized by Harris Poll as “critical” in its condition. This may come as no surprise.

And, though Facebook is rated number 96 on culture – among the bottom ten “Worst Performing Companies by Reputation Dimension” – the company has an average employee review star rating of 4.16 out of 5 stars, ranking number six out of 48 companies evaluated.

The Role of PR in Employer Branding

This finding represents a gap between actual experiences of Facebook as an employer and public perceptions of Facebook as a company to work for.

Its employer branding disconnect indicates that Facebook doesn’t just have an HR or an employee experience problem, but a PR problem when it comes to its employer reputation.

So, what does this mean for PR teams?

How PR Can Improve Your Employer Branding Strategy

Effective public relations can make the difference between good and bad employer branding.

Here are a few ways you can improve your employer branding strategy that will impact public perceptions of your company as a place to work:

Mobilize Your Employee Brand Ambassadors

Consumers view employees as one of the most credible sources of information on a company. Engaging your employees to become brand ambassadors and promote your company is crucial to improving your employer branding. Hearing from employees who are willing to advocate on behalf of a brand can counter any negative perceptions consumers may have formed about the company as a workplace.

You can start by recruiting employee volunteers who are enthusiastic about working for your company. It’s essential that your brand ambassadors voluntarily endorse your company to ensure authenticity. Not only that, but consumers will also be more likely to trust employee praise if it feels authentic.

In addition, be sure to make it simple. Circulate company news internally and promote positive stories and employee recognition with links that allow employees to easily share it with their networks.

Analyze and Respond to Employee Reviews

Employee reviews on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed provide a wealth of information that can support your employer branding strategy.

Your team can analyze your employee reviews to pinpoint your company’s strengths and weaknesses as a workplace and build messaging campaigns from those insights.

Negative employee reviews present an opportunity, too. According to Glassdoor, “7 out of 10 people surveyed indicated they had changed their opinion about a brand after seeing the company reply to a review.” Graciously responding to bad employee reviews and indicating that the company plans to take the criticism on board can actually improve your reputation.

Build a Workplace-Focused Media Campaign

Perhaps your media campaigns have focused on your leadership team or financial results – all important factors to your stakeholders.

But don’t forget to promote your company as a workplace as an essential part of your PR strategy.

Start by asking: what is your value proposition to your employees? And do your employee reviews corroborate it?

From there, build a workplace-focused media campaign that promotes your desired employer branding and highlights your strengths as an employer.

Not only will generating earned media coverage dramatically extend the reach of your workplace campaigns, but it will also improve awareness of your employer brand. Further, partnering with key industry influencers will add credibility to your workplace messaging.

Track Your Reputational Drivers

Start measuring your company’s earned media coverage according to reputational drivers to track how your employer branding is represented publicly. Remember, your employee experience can be exceptional, but if the public isn’t aware of it, then your employer branding may suffer.

By tracking reputational drivers, you can distill your workplace mentions from coverage of other dimensions of your reputation to assess your employer branding. You can also gain a more nuanced understanding of your branding because your coverage is broken down by subcategories, such as compensation, advancement opportunities, workplace safety, etc.

Let’s say analysis of your employee reviews indicate that workers value the advancement opportunities offered by your company. But, upon analyzing your earned media, you learn that coverage of your employer brand focuses on compensation and is neutral in tone. With this insight, you can launch a campaign highlighting your company’s advancement opportunities and employees who have scaled the ranks internally. Then, encourage your employee brand ambassadors to share their stories of advancement and growth within your company.

Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your PR

To truly take control of your company’s reputation, you must first understand it. Facebook’s employer branding disconnect reveals the limitations to measuring your brand with reputational surveys alone.

By analyzing multiple data sources, you can deepen your understanding of your brand reputation and determine whether public perceptions of your company are the result of business operations or ineffective PR.

At PublicRelay, our human-augmented AI approach to media analytics enables you to track the topics, concepts, and ideas that shape your reputation. When analyzed against additional data evaluating your reputation, this 360-degree view of your brand will allow you to develop highly refined and impactful campaigns.

Uncover the insights from your employee reviews and start measuring the earned media coverage shaping your brand today!

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