Given the extensive global coverage of Prince Harry’s recent shenanigans, I don’t feel the need to detail out the complete scenario that unfolded last week at the Encore Wynn resort. However, examining the meticulous yet rapid PR production brought forth by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority is worth reviewing in great detail. Below is an overview of how the scandal has impacted these brands:

Celebrity Guest Stays for Free: Encore Wynn Comps Harry’s Room
Owners of Encore Wynn made a savvy gamble by waiving Harry’s almost $50,000 room fee. After all, they needed a reason to tell the world Harry stayed at their hotel. Although $50K may be pocket change for the resort, this decision will keep their name in the headlines for a few more weeks and in the minds of Vegas bound travelers.

“Keep Calm and Carry On Harry:” A Vegas Twist
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority (LVCVA) came out with a cheeky rendition of the well-known England inspired phrase, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” Due to the phrase’s already current popularity, this royal spin, “Keep Calm and Carry On Harry,” instantly became viral. Their marketing was smart and creative; they leveraged a classic advertising slogan and made it fit into pop-culture, which easily resonated with LVCVA’s target audience: young adults.

It’s Not Only About Harry: Who Is Behind the Photos?
The LVCVA splurged for a full-page ad in USA Today “scolding whoever leaked the photos.” The ad encourages everyone to stay true to the Vegas mantra, “What Happens In Vegas; Stays In Vegas,” by promoting a spinoff, “Know the Code.” The strategy to leverage their tagline against the individual who leaked the photos was brilliant. They easily slipped their key message into the scandal while using the opportunity to create a new mantra and hashtag, #knowthecode, which has been trending on Twitter since last week’s scandal.

Accidental Grassroots Marketing: We Salute You Harry
Thousands of fans are saluting Harry with their own rendition of the scandalous photos to show their support. Jordan Wylie, a former British Army soldier, started a Facebook campaign that un-intentionally gives positive attention to the military. This showcases that an institute that is known to be traditional includes individuals with a great sense of humor. It’s not often the military is portrayed on personal Facebook pages in a lighthearted way.

European Vacation: Vegas Bound
Virgin Holiday is now offering a vacation package named after Prince Harry that includes an energy drink, sunglasses, comedy disguise, a complimentary brunch, and swimming trunks. This also demonstrates the reach his scandal had on the marketing world. Offering a U.S. destination package to European travelers could be the key to sucking young Brits into the Vegas vortex.

These tactics, intentional or not, all stemmed from a scandal that generated a 123 percent increase in the search term “Las Vegas” on Hotels.com, in only 24 hours after the photos were release. Sorry Harry, your royal mistake has clearly provided opportunities for several brands around the world! That’s the gamble he took when he jetted off to Vegas, and clearly, the Vegas motto is there for a reason.

What other scandals have you seen become marketing successes?

If companies are going to engage with their customers on social media, a crisis communications strategy needs to be in place, and understood, should something go awry. Consistent and timely messages need to be sent via the appropriate channels the company operates in, from its website to Twitter account.

While there are obvious legal, ethical, and reputational issues going on here, Progressive’s social media team is handling this issue with success. Their original tactic of automating tweets may have been a mistake, but within minutes of those posts, they quickly regained their credibility. Here are a few key takeaways from this Progressive Twitter “disaster” that can be implemented into your brand’s social media crisis communications plan.

1. Publicly take ownership of your social media content. In all of its tweets, Progressive includes the initials of the specific team member who is answering a question or responding to a comment (for example, it shows “^SR” to identity that Susan is the person replying). Its team members’ pictures, along with their identifiable initials, are displayed above for quick reference. This puts a face to a tweet, and makes people feel that an internal, dedicated team is answering their questions (and cares).

2. Show your audience that you are taking the issue seriously. Progressive’s official Twitter handle immediately changed its main picture from Flo’s beaming face to the Progressive logo. This conservative move was smart. To have Flo’s enthusiastic smile next to concerned followers asking sensitive questions would appear untimely and careless. While it is difficult to display concern in 140 characters, there are other actions that the company can take, like changing a kitschy avatar or background photo to show fans that the team is indeed taking this seriously.

3. Openly manage the mistake. While no one on the Progressive Twitter team explicitly apologized for the automated, robotic tweets that caused the uproar in the first place, they halted the automation, and answered all responses individually. They also owned up to their mistakes one by one, and were available to accept criticism from their followers.

Aside from your personal position on the issue, how do you think Progressive’s Twitter team handled their mass influx of responses and comments? Is this a reputational/legal issue, or a social media issue? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

While all the events were successful, for the purpose of this post, I want to share an interesting learning experience from the IABC Social Media Workshop, which will serve as a good reminder for social media gurus.

The “70/20/10 Philosophy” was presented and discussed by NYU Professor Robert Noltenmeier. The purpose of the philosophy was to remind us that participation in social media is not about self-promoting, but rather about the exchange of valuable content. A fairly good reminder when we seem to be consumed lately with social networking sites such as Tumblr, Pinterest and Facebook.

According to Professor Noltenmeier, the majority, or the 70 percent, of professional social media participation should not be about you/brand, but rather it should be about information that is of real value. An example provided was posting information about a magazine or blog that would be of interest to your audience. Based on experience I completely agree with this tactic. This tactic will also help facilitate overcoming the writer’s block we often face when looking for things to post about. Tracking down a unique article and re-posting the brand’s thoughts and position will help create engagement and increase your followers. But remember, 70 percent of your social media participation should follow this philosophy, which means over half of your postings/tweets should have nothing to do with you!

The second part of the formula is a clever way to remind us about having an authentic personality. Twenty percent should be about interaction. While this might not seem like a lot, how often are you actually sending direct tweets to your followers, or posting comments on other blogs? Spend a few extra hours a month trying to interact/engage with your followers to showcase your personality and remind them of your presence. I can see how this tactic will provide long-term benefits for me as I continue to build my own professional Twitter following @BreanneMT.

Lastly, the 10 percent part of the philosophy is about self-promotion. Unless you’re life-casting via Tumblr, be sure to tone down your tweets linking back to your website, promoting your new book or event. Based on this philosophy, we’ll know enough about you (or your Twitter handle!) to not feel annoyed.

As a whole, I always appreciate attending lectures, conferences and workshops. Even if it’s a quick refresher, or welcoming a great quote from presenters like Professor Noltenmeier, “You’re not writing to impress people, you’re writing to communicate.” So, in summary: “70/20/10 Philosophy”:

• 70 percent of content should be about other information, not about you/brand
• 20 percent of social media participation should be interacting with your audience
• 10 percent is promotional

What do you think of “70/20/10 Philosophy”? What is your formula for success?

The most discussed topic centered on phone calls. Some of the journalists on the panel welcomed phone calls after being pitched via email, while others said they go to great lengths to ensure their number isn’t made public. One journalist noted that he receives over 100 emails each morning, and most of those are PR pitches that aren’t relevant to him. As a result, some pertinent emails get lost in the shuffle, and a phone call will help make sure the right information is noticed.

Shortly after, a different member of the panel mentioned he also receives about 100 emails each morning but feels that phone calls slow him down from finding the emails for which he wants to read and respond. The panel generally noted that younger journalists tend to adopt this style, while those that have been in the game longer still entertain phone calls.

Further exploring the differences between newer journalists and seasoned pros, the topic of social media was brought up. For this platform, the younger journalists were more open to connecting with PR pros via social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, while the others preferred to only use social media for their personal lives.

As I mentioned earlier, the two schools of thought being presented by the panel got me to thinking about change. Let’s face it; the field of public relations is always changing, so this is nothing new to us.  However, we need to be cognizant of what exactly those moving parts are in order to stay on the top of our game.

So we may not ever move completely to social media pitching just as phone pitching may not ever become obsolete, but we do need to understand that at this point in time with technology, different journalists prefer different modes of communication.

Do you have any experiences with feedback from journalists on how they prefer to be contacted? Share in the comments below!

It’s one thing to want to give a voice to the people, it’s another to let some fringe individuals spout extremely controversial statements from your platform. This week’s curator claims in her bio “… at least I don’t do drugs and prostitution.” Surely, that qualifies you to represent the country and the brand of Sweden. I would think that Sweden would want to highlight the best of its country – focus on all of the amazing culture, history, food and experiences the nation has to offer – rather than provide a megaphone for racist, ignorant commentary.

I actually love the idea of giving the handle over to its citizens – but even the best writers need an editor. These tweets should have been moderated. Some rules should have been put in place regarding comments that could be considered offensive, prejudiced or racist in nature. (What’s next? Posting pornographic twit-pics from this handle?) A simple Social Media Usage Policy and a little moderation could have turned this campaign into a resounding success instead of what will surely become a notable disaster. It’s a shame that a little more forethought and caution could have saved this campaign (maybe it still will) before it brings down the reputation and brand of Sweden in the name of social media democracy.

During Internet Week in New York, I attended a presentation that drove home the point that communicators are overloaded with social media options and sinking under the weight of an endless flow of data. Up on the video screen a chart displayed dozens of interconnected logos—each one representing a hot, formerly hot and soon-to-be-hot digital channel.

“Does this represent your typical workday and the choices you have to make?” the speaker asked.

You could feel the air leave the room—not that there was much to begin with on that muggy New York evening—and sense people slumping in their chairs. Yes, it did represent their typical workday.

It’s all too much, sometimes: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, Vimeo, YouTube, Tumblr, Blogger—and whatever else is next—on top of more quaint but still necessary channels like email, news releases and Web sites. How can a PR professional manage it all and show proof that the time invested in each platform is paying off on the bottom line?

One solution is to first admit to yourself that you can’t possibly do it all and to work with an outside agency that can help you manage your social engagement programs. Such an agency can provide you with the data you need to figure out what’s working, what isn’t and what to report to senior leaders in your organization. By doing so you can spend more time being creative with your overall communications strategies and less time jumping from browser window to browser window, app to app—racing, racing, racing to monitor comments and pin, tweet, post, shoot, edit and wade through mountains and mountains of data.

Working with outside experts isn’t always an option, though. As we’ve heard from top digital communicators—some of whom will be leading sessions at PR News’ June 21-22 Social Media Summit in New York—focusing less on the various modes of communication and more on the proclivities of your target audience will help you learn where to spend your time and energy. Maybe your audience has drifted to Pinterest and maybe you’ve been sitting on a storehouse of images that they will want to repin. Maybe immersing yourself in Twitter is all that’s necessary at the moment. Go where they live online, and commit to the process of finding your own voice.

And when that next, hot platform launches, remind yourself that you have no power to halt technology’s march and that you can’t possibly do it all. And then tell yourself that you can do some things very, very well.

To learn more about the latest social media platforms, register for PR News’ two-day Social Media Summit event which will be held June 21-22 in New York City. The Early Bird Rate ends May 23. 

Steve Goldstein is editorial director of Access Intelligence’s PR News, which encompasses premium, how-to content, data and competitive intelligence for public relations professionals; PR News Online; PR News conferences, Webinars and awards programs; and PR News guidebooks.

When it comes to talking about the efficacy of investing resources in social media, one of the popular comebacks that has made more than its fair share of rounds is, “What’s the ROI of your mother?”

Personally, I prefer the “what’s the ROI of pants,” a question that my friends Katie Paine and Shel Israel have had an enjoyable back and forth about on and offline.

Seeing as how I’m not nearly as smart as Katie or Shel, I’m going to suggest that, instead of equating the measurement of social media to one’s mater (yes, that’s a word for mother) or clothing, you and I lesser mortals focus on what we can actually measure.

1.    Forget about social media. What’s your overall goal?

What many people forget about, in the rush to adopt new social media tools and platforms, is why they were invented in the first place. Social media – and networks – while wonderful technologies, do one thing very effectively: they help people connect.

Remember your strategic plan? It’s ok, I’ll wait while you go dust it off. Now, in there, you probably have something about reaching your target audiences in a Citius, Altius, Fortius kind of way.

OMG. Guess what? Connecting with your target audience is what you need to do! OK, now that we’ve gotten that straight, where are they congregating?

Yup. More likely than not, in some social network or platform. But you’ll have to do your own research to figure out which one(s) exactly. There are plenty of tools to help you do this but, believe me, you’ll still have to put some elbow grease into making sense of what the tools tell you.

2.    What do you need these people to do?

I have a favorite “Burkeism” when I speak/teach/write on public relations/social media/measurement. And that is, “begin at the end.”

What are you trying to achieve? Higher sales? Lower acquisition costs? A more engaged donor base (for nonprofit organizations) that you can move into your conversion funnel for long-term donors? Whatever it is, that is what you should be connecting your social media efforts to.

Don’t get me wrong. This is not going to happen overnight.

You will still have to invest in a social media team (or consultant/agency) to manage your social media efforts, all the while building community while participating in the conversations that permeate the Interwebz. There is a definite cost to that, because even if many of the tools are free, the human resources are not.

But as you start getting more familiar, more at ease in these mediums, you need to start connecting and correlating your (or, rather, your team’s) efforts, to what, if any, impact they are having on these end-goals.

Focus on what you are trying to get people to do – the actions you want them to take – as opposed to meaningless (in my opinion) metrics such as how many followers you have, the value of a Facebook fan (a terrific read by Olivier Blanchard), etc.

3.    Did it make a difference?

This is the money question. Did your efforts make a difference to achieving your end objectives?

Did your social media efforts result in the actions you need your customer base – actual and potential – to take?

Because action is what makes our businesses tick. Whether it’s a purchase decision, or a referral, or signing up to an email list (for conversion to future customers), we need our audiences to do more than just follow, like and share.

We need them to “do” in real-world terminology. And only by tracking which tactics get more people to do, as opposed to those that don’t work, can we make our outreach programs more effective… and more measurable.

 Shonali Burke is one of 25 women that rock social media. Her business turns your corporate codswallop into community cool. She also blogs, teaches, and cooks.

If you’re new to baseball, this is an initiative that the MLB launched on the first day of the season. Two fans were selected to watch every single game of 2011. That’s no small feat as their total has hit 2,429 games! But they’ve mixed in appearances by celebrity guests, and documented it all through blogs, video, Twitter and Facebook.

The success was immense. According to ESPN, the two celebrity couch potatoes have built a fan base of a combined more than 150,000 fans on Twitter, while also creating more than 300 blog posts and 200 videos (some of which have gone viral). Tweets about the Fan Cave were 45% positive which far exceeds the 15%-20% average.

Now those numbers sound great, but have they had an impact? Even if you ignore the fact that all the material that was created over the past year can be repackaged for further marketing material, there’s a more tangible success. According to the ESPN article, the average baseball fan is 45 years old, but the average Fan Cave follower was 28. That’s reaching a new market, and an impressive feat.

What can be learned from the Fan Cave’s success? Here are three takeaways to keep in mind, when thinking up your next social media initiative:

1. Use Engaging Personalities – The two fans picked to watch the games in the cave knew baseball, could speak and write baseball and people wanted to hear from them about baseball. That goes a long way in encouraging buzz. Assure your representative knows what he or she will be promoting because the fans can tell the difference
2. Experiment – The content coming out of the Cave changed constantly as the MLB worked to find the right voice and encourage more fans. When they found something that people enjoyed, the Fan Cave team jumped on it to utilize the content, while looking for similar opportunities. That assures fresh, interesting material
3. Fund It – Don’t be afraid to put some money behind the campaign. While this largely used social media to continue the campaign throughout the year, the MLB had to fork up rent for a large studio in downtown New York City. They also paid the two fans for their “work” throughout the year. That can be pricey for social media, but if you ask the MLB, they would no doubt say it was worth it

With more than 200 million users on Twitter, it has become increasingly difficult for people and brands to break through the noise that exists between them and their target audience on this medium. While Twitter may not have a ‘groups’ functionally like LinkedIn or Facebook, communities across the platform are able to directly engage and collaborate with each other through regular Twitter chats.

Similar to other types of online chats and forums, a Twitter chat involves a group of online users who use a designated hashtag on a particular day and time to discuss various topics and trends. Whether you are participating as an individual or on behalf of a brand, these chats are an effective way to grow your following and increase engagement with thought leaders in your target community.

Although joining a Twitter chat may seem intimidating, it can really be a beneficial (and fun!) experience when done effectively.  For those of you who have never joined a Twitter chat before, here are 8 things should do to make the most out of your participation:

1)   Find the right chat. Each week, hundreds of groups and organizations host Twitter chats on a wide variety of topics. From event professionals to Justin Bieber fans, there is a chat out there for everyone. Not sure which chat is best for you? Check out this running public Google Doc that keeps track of all Twitter chat schedules.

2)   Do your homework. If you’ve never joined a particular chat before, it’s important to do you’re your due diligence in understanding the community you are joining. Many chat communities have established their own rules and best practices for participation, so you’ll want to make sure you are in the loop. It’s also a good idea to ‘silently’ observe a Twitter chat before you join it so that you can get a feel for the format and flow of the chat, as well as scope out the key contributors and thought leaders.

3)   Reach out to the chat’s moderator. If you plan on joining a Twitter chat, it’s extremely beneficial to reach out to the chat’s moderator beforehand to see what questions he/she plans on asking. Knowing the agenda of the conversation will help you to determine how you can best contribute to the discussion.

4)   Take the time to prepare. Although Twitter chat conversations happen in real time, the worst thing a person or brand can do is ‘wing it’. Prior to the chat, think about the message you want to get across and how you can do so using the chat’s topic and questions.

5)   Leverage a chat tool. There are several useful social media tools that are designed for participating in Twitter chats. For example, TweetChat and TweetGrid are just two of the many sites that allow you to monitor the chat’s hashtag in real time, while also posting tweets.

6)   Actively participate. Once you’ve introduced yourself to the chat’s participants, don’t just stand by and watch the conversation happen. Find a way to contribute to conversation consistently throughout the chat and take advantage of opportunities to engage with members of the community.

7)   Don’t abuse the hashtag. Keep in mind that the purpose of joining a Twitter chat is to increase engagement and expand your social network, not to promote your product or service. If you begin using the chat’s hashtag in a self-serving or irrelevant way, you will quickly lose credibility and respect among the community.

8)   Keep in touch. Although the chat may only last an hour, the new connections you make can last a lifetime. Therefore, it is important to follow up with those you’ve engaged with and thank them for their insight. If possible, try to take the conversation to another social media platform or offline at the next industry event.

9)   Moderate the next one! Once you have successfully participated in a Twitter chat, offer to be the moderator next time. Moderating a chat opens up even more opportunities for you and your brand (more to come on this in a later post!).

Every once in awhile, media companies pull down the shades and give tips to public relation professionals on how to pitch their journalists. Lets face it; PR folks love this because it gives us an opportunity to refresh our strategy with the outlet. And this refresh can lead to new hits for our clients. What’s not to love about that?

PR Newser recently refreshed their tips, which range from updating your media list to telling your clients “No” when pitching to certain outlets, if the pitch doesn’t fit the journalist’s beat. They consist of more general tips, but would work for PR Newser as well.

This got me thinking, though. Why don’t media outlets include social media in these tips? Social media is everywhere else, but it’s rare to see anything about it in these tips. So, in the meantime, I came up with three tips that could help PR professionals better pitch journalists:

1)   Litter Facebook With Stats: In a recent study by PR Genie, they found that 62% of journalists use Facebook in their reporting. That’s a large group. Besides obviously posting information about a new campaign on the page, you should use the Facebook page to highlight stats that the company wants a journalist to see. It could be stats about the company or stats on a study. But trickling these pieces of information out will help if a journalist sees your pitch then looks at the company Facebook page for more information.

2)   Use Twitter Feeds and Lists to spread press releases: Posting a press release on the company Twitter feed is social media 101. Everyone does it now, but go further, using outlets like MuckRack to post the press release. For a dollar a character, you can post a press release tweet on the MuckRack Twitter list. This is so journalists looking for a quick story can see the press release with a glance in one place, then open it from MuckRack. A great tool, that could be used by more PR pros. This can also satisfy the client, in reaching some journalists that aren’t necessarily a perfect fit for the press release, but still can be reached through this medium.

3)   Interact with a Journalist on Social Media Before You Need Them: This is definitely a long-tail approach, but interacting with a journalist on Twitter or Facebook in a casual way, can help you when pitching. If you create positive interactions (meaning you’re actually helping or conversing with the journalist, not selling something) then they will remember you. So when you send that pitch, and they see your name in their email inbox, there’s more of a chance they will take a look.

Those are my tips, based on what I know about journalists. But, hey, media companies, come on: Help us out with some social media pitching tips as well!