As an award winning social media and PR agency at Smoking Gun PR we understand how social media management can become an black hole of time management. As such this week’s infographic looks at how much time the average business spends on social media management.
Thanks to intersectionconsulting.com for creating the infographic.
Public relations consultancies love receiving inquiries about new work. The very lifeblood of our business, without them we wouldn’t have much confidence in the long term future. It’s just a shame not everyone picks up the phone for the right reasons.
Here at Smoking Gun PR we are blessed with a book full of great clients, and it has to be said I consider our experiences in the pitching process to be largely positive. But the same isn’t always said at other agencies, meaning our position is fortunate (if not lucky). And even then I can still think of one or two nightmare examples.
Whilst many companies looking for public relations services do so with courtesy and an appreciation for the time involved in developing a new business proposal, this isn’t a universal truth. You can spend hours if not days, along with a notable amount of money coming up with ideas for standout campaigns. As such it’s more than frustrating when you hear nothing back, or worse still, see startlingly similar concepts rolled out by the requisitioning firm further down the line.
Nobody’s accusing anyone of intellectual property theft, but this kind of behaviour does happen, and will always be noticed by people working in the media. As professionals part of our job involves reading the news. Furthermore, we also expect to be treated like professionals. That means face to face meetings, open lines of communication, and feedback after unsuccessful pitches.
It sounds like a personal rant, but the crux here is anything but. Recent headlines have only served to prove how widespread these headaches actually are. Larry Franks, head of creative and branding agency Beige, was featured in PR Week earlier this month after he announced plans to introduce a new ‘letter of engagement’, effectively committing would-be clients to a contract following a pitch to avoid spending valuable resources on dead leads.
On the flip side, Sports Interactive’s best-selling game Football Manager is a lot of fun, however the same can’t be said for the developer’s attitude towards agencies. After inviting ten to pitch, three of which will need to do so again once the wheat and chaff have been separated, there has been a flood of complaints regarding the scale of the process and legwork required before any agreement to hire. One contender even dropped out, a move that may have been due to the amount of unpaid work involved. So, like I said, this is far from a complaint, and more of a request for what’s fair and reasonable.
At Smoking Gun PR we love stories, whether it’s telling them for brands, reading a good book or watching one unfold on either the big or small screen. This week’s infographic looks at one of the agency’s favourite tales – The Hobbit – and the differences between the races involved in it.
A big thank you to Yahoo Movies who created the infographic to mark the launch of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” on DVD and blue ray.
At Smoking Gun PR, we are always following the developments within the social media sphere, and this week’s infographic looks at the the impact of Instagram dropping its support for Twitter cards has had on both social networks, and what this means for brands.
A hat tip to Column Five for creating this info graphic.
It’s always nice to feel appreciated. And, with a host of professional accolades now proudly hanging from our Quay Street HQ walls, it’s safe to say the work of staff here at this particular Manchester PR firm has been gaining some serious recognition of late.
Last Thursday- February 28th- saw our company claim another two trophies, this time during 2013′s Golden Hedgehog Awards ceremony, which was held at the Etihad Stadium in East Manchester. Thanks to Nissan Shows It Cares we picked up Consumer PR Campaign of the Year, meanwhile endeavours elsewhere were deemed good enough to win the coveted title of Small Agency of the Year, against some truly worthy and impressive contenders. Needless to say then, it’s certainly put a tangible spring in our step, which is fitting really, considering March’s arrival and the sudden onset of warmer weather. Here are a few more details on this most recent success story…
Small Agency of the Year
Winner: Smoking Gun PR
Nominees: iseepr / JAMpr / Refresh PR
Consumer PR Campaign of the Year
Winner: Smoking Gun PR – Nissan Shows It Cares
Nominees: Approach PR – Saving Ilkley Carnival! / Weber Shandwick Manchester & Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) – Welsh Lamb’s Quality Time On-Pack Promo
What a month indeed. Recent weeks have seen us compete for a record amount of new work, and hire two members of staff. All of which suggests Spring could be a particularly exciting time.
First and foremost then, we’d like to welcome a pair of new recruits onboard the good ship Smoking Gun. Following a string of successful pitches we have enough room for Lisa Hollinshead and Kate Williams to join us here at Quay Street, as Senior Account Manager and Account Executive respectively.
Elsewhere, staff have been involved in no less than 14 new business pitches during the last month alone. We like those odds, but prefer to rely on evidence, as oppose to luck. After all, we generated in excess of half a million page impressions across our clients’ social media channels in January, with one of our clients securing almost 70million ‘opportunities to see’ the brand.
That success rate will appeal to many businesses, and work like this also wins awards, with the Smoking Gun team picking up a number of accolades in recent times as a result of its efforts. And with the Golden Hedgehog ceremony taking place tonight, wherein we’re up for Best Small Agency and Consumer Campaign, understandably fingers remain crossed.
In addition to all this, our MD Rick Guttridge recently spoke at the Business Show Manchester, offering his social media know-how to all parties in attendance- another way in which we’re looking to share our understanding of best practice and help all businesses get the most out of their PR. Of course a job like this never ends, and with that in mind it’s probably time to sign off, and set our sights on the promise of all March may bring. See you on the other side.
You can’t help but reflect on the last 12 months whilst in the midst of January’s accounting deadline. It was certainly a successful time here at base camp, with year-on-year numbers all pointing in the right direction, and ongoing growth in terms of our client roster. But, with more award nominations, and even more additions to the brand fold, 2013 is already looking even better.
Firstly, it’s our great pleasure to announce Smoking Gun PR is in the running for two Golden Hedgehog Awards. In the northern competition we have been shortlisted in the Best Small Agency of the Year category, along with Consumer PR Campaign of the Year for our work with Nissan, which already picked up the Gold CIPR NW gong for Best Consumer Relations back in November.
As we mentioned last month, our team could also win Best PR and Marketing Agency at the Downtown Manchester Business Awards, so long as the online ballot swings this way. If you haven’t voted already, and would like to show some support, then please click here.
Ceremonies and celebrations aside we’re not content to sit back and relax. Thankfully there has been plenty of work to do of late, following confirmation we will be working with The Kennel Club again after previous efforts for the brand. Record visitors attended the Discover Dogs show we promoted last year, supported by a 25% increase in its Facebook community and improved engagement across its social channels, plus a plethora of targeted media coverage. So there’s plenty of expectation as to what we can now do for the world famous dog competition, Crufts.
It’s also worth noting one of our current ‘could tell you but then we’d have to kill you’ projects features another footballing heavyweight, a signing that will bolster and build on the extensive sports experience staff here at Quay Street already have. And, as a result of these new signings, we have more desks to fill, so follow this link for information on current vacancies at both senior and junior level.
On top of all that, faces from Smoking Gun have also been out and about en masse. In the last few weeks this has included attending the Insight 13 one-day seminar on digital and communication trends, and Search Me, a conference dedicated to SEO, PPC, and all other aspects of search marketing. Plenty of knowledge gained for the future, it’s more evidence that February is set to be our most exciting month yet, albeit these pesky books have to be finished before all that begins…
At Smoking Gun PR we understand the importance of images when communicating our clients’ stories. The old adage of a picture saying a thousand words is truer now than ever before, particularly in the digital sphere. As such this week’s infographic looks at the importance of including images in your online content.
A hat tip to MDGAdvertising for creating the infographic.
At Smoking Gun we’re very conscious that there isn’t a one size fits all plan for social media- it all depends upon what a business is hoping to achieve. As an evidence-focused PR agency we’re constantly evaluating the effectiveness of all channels for our clients, and looking at how businesses and consumers are utilising various networks to ensure we can continue to deliver the best results.
This week’s infographic shows the difference between user and business activity on five of the key social networks and shows some clear opportunities for the future.
A hat tip to Ubervu for creating this infographic.
Image Source: Bigjigs Toys
God bless workplace comedy. Where would we be without a joke here, and a laugh there with which to brighten up the days and improve that sense of office camaraderie? Well, not too far, probably.
Like any social media, marketing, and public relations firm we love seeing examples of innovative and amusing brand exercises. After all, getting people talking about what Company X did is really a win for Company X, unless of course Company X has dumped nuclear waste in The Wash, or committed a similarly deplorable act of negligence and irresponsibility (say, for example, non-payment of tax during an era of national economic strife).
It seems someone working for Bigjigs Toys agrees with our theory and, given the recent headlines in The Drum and elsewhere, understands exactly how to achieve a little coverage from nowhere. More so, the individual responsible also seems to share in our view that something needs to be done about the West Coast mainline tender to ensure First Group never gets another look in. Apparently the 174,455 signatures on a petition to Government weren’t enough.
Cutting to the chase then, the aforementioned maker of fine play things issued a letter to the Department of Transport back in late-December, expressing its interest in bidding for the heavily used route (which includes Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime St. to London Euston). The plan apparently being to run wooden trains on the line, providing a free service to passengers. Better yet, Bigjigs has never recorded a rail accident to date, which is impressive to say the least. Take a look at the note below:
Image source: The Drum
As if that wasn’t amusing enough, a reply was received, in which the Department of Transport outlined some issues that would need to be overcome in order for the bid to be successful. These included conversion to aluminium carriages. Again, the evidence is right here, so click to enlarge:
Image Source: Bigjigs Toys
With column inches claimed everywhere from Metro to Huffington Post, this is a fine case in point to prove that sometimes the smallest, simplest, and least expensive idea can actually hit home in the right places- so long as innovation and originality are evident. A notion that sits well with the Smoking Gun PR mantra, we just wish more organisations could identify and seize such opportunities, in turn making the world a distinctly funnier place.
