Social Media – Tehama Group Communications

November 13, 2023

De-Influencing: Why it’s important for PR pros

We all know the world of influencers and the ascendancy they have on society, especially with the help of social media apps like TikTok and Instagram where content is spread at a rapidly fast rate. Unfortunately, that comes with content creators getting paid big bucks to advertise a product that may be no good.

Remember the whole Olaplex scandal? When the brand’s products were being advertised all over the media through ads and influencers, just to be proven that their products are harmful, as they cause hair loss, blisters and other conditions that must be treated medically? Without de-influencing, people may have never known about the harmful effects of these very popular products.

De-influencing is an emerging trend, where influencers discourage their followers from buying certain products. Basically, the opposite of influencer marketing.

This trend may occur through a number of reasons, like if the product is harmful, overpriced, or simply not worth the money. People who de-influence may also do so if they are naturally unhappy or unsatisfied with the product as a whole and feel as though other people do not need it.

De-Influencing is becoming more and more relevant, and it falls consistently within the line of work for PR professionals.

PR pros must recognize this trend, as they need to ensure that the products and services they pitch hold true value to their audience, along with identifying when there is a potential problem so they can avoid it and leave no room for error or crises.

Navigating this new world of de-influencing may take some trial and error for those working in the public relations or marketing field. Here are a few tips PR pros and marketers can take in order to operate this trend:

Work with companies that consistently and naturally align with your morals, ethics and values and pitch products that you truly believe are good and worth it.
Listen to feedback from influencers and take what they say into deep consideration.
Know what your audience wants and is interested in; keep these in mind at all times.
Create efficient tactics and procedures for crisis communication and reputation management.
When creating a paid advertisement with an influencer, ensure that they are not overly trying to sell the product, as it may come off as “fake” and receive backlash.

An individual can easily create a 30-second video talking poorly on a brand and their product(s). I’ve seen a handful of videos on my TikTok feed of people convincing the public to not buy something due to a number of reasons, such as the product being a waste of money, harmful, unnecessary, etc. Consequently, these actions can quickly cause harm to the reputation of the brands that are at stake. It is very important that PR pros and those working under influencer marketing/relations are efficient in their reputation and crisis management. They must act fast in handling the situation while using smart and efficient tactics to regain their audiences’ trust, such as releasing timely and genuine apologies regarding the situation, along with their form of action.

In a sense, de-influencing is a positive trend. People are warning the public on certain products that are not worth purchasing. PR pros must use it to their advantage while listening to their audience and feedback and act accordingly.

November 6, 2023November 6, 2023

Networking is your greatest asset

By: Daisy Costilla-Jaimes

Connecting with others and creating chains of networks will be your best asset in the public relations workforce. Creating a database of networks amongst individuals allows you to be involved in new opportunities and allows you to make professional friendships, collaborations, and meet new people not only in your community but also within the professional world locally or globally.

Sometimes networking with your community will open new opportunities in your career development you wouldn’t think possible. Networking is truly the most important component when becoming a successful public relations professional and progressing in the public relations industry because it allows you to connect with your client’s needs to satisfy their goals and your objectives.

I am an Assistant Account Executive working with my team to serve our client, the Multicultural Gender Studies Program. Our job is to inform prospective students and their families of the resources and opportunities available on Chico State’s campus. It is an important objective of my client to highlight the diverse minors, programs, and available opportunities for minorities on campus. As an Assistant Account Executive, I am responsible for curating content for the African-American studies minor. Networking with the community has been a key component in establishing connections that are valuable and essential to my client’s objectives.

For instance, I networked with the Cross-Cultural Leadership Center (CCLC) which is an environment dedicated to minority students where they are able to connect with one another, develop leadership skills, share cultural values, build relationships within the community and create cultural awareness and social change. Through the CCLC I was able to network with the Black Student Union’s (BSU) president, Khalid Hurst, BSU members and members of the National Society of Black Engineers. I was able to be more informed about African-American studies’ resources on campus using networking and how they help minorities such as African Americans represent themselves at Chico State.

Another way to expand your network is through social media such as Instagram, LinkedIn and X, formally known as Twitter. Being involved in social media and creating an engaging platform allows the ability to share information, partake in professional development conversations and create awareness of yourself and your abilities in the public relations field. Through networking with other professionals, you can have a deeper understanding of the industry and have access to resources that are at your fingertips.

By expanding my network within the community, I was able to gain more understanding regarding my client’s needs, objectives, and goals. I not only gained more comprehension of my client’s needs, but I also made professional connections, gained knowledge that will help me better the community, and obtained awareness of the diverse programs that support minorities.

Networking with your community, various organizations, programs, and individuals allows you to expand your web of connections. By expanding your network of people it will allow you to be informed, educated, and knowledgeable of the resources and growth opportunities available to you. Enlarging one’s network will allow public relations students to prepare themselves for the real world and achieve their career aspirations by enabling students’ understanding of how to succeed in the public relations industry.

October 10, 2023October 10, 2023

Managing Mental Health When Working With Social Media

By: Carrington Power

“Socials can be a joy- with the right team, fair compensation and an adequate amount of support,” – Miciah Garcia, digital media coordinator at Chico State

It’s no secret that social media has negatively impacted the mental health of many users. Bullying, sleep disruption and unrealistic expectations about appearance are a few aspects of social media that are prevalent and can drain someone’s mental health. Deleting the apps entirely or limiting time spent on the phone can be solutions. However, people working in public relations and other fields that require social media are not always able to do this.

A 2022 study conducted by Opinium and the Public Relations and Communications Association shows that 90% of PR professionals struggle with their mental health.

This can be the result of an overwhelming workload, feeling unfulfilled in a current position or mentally-taxing work.

Chico State’s Digital Media Coordinator, Miciah Garcia, described her experience working as a social media manager for a California racial justice non-profit during the height of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

“It took a mental toll, shaping messaging for socials after George Floyd’s murder, and for following instances of violence and injustice,” Garcia said.

Garcia went on to say that there were a lot of positives occurring on social media during that time, such as an increase in education regarding racial injustice and a highlight in important messages and voices. Despite the heavy subject matter, she focused on the positives of her work and kept a brighter outlook.

Another aspect of mental health struggles in public relations is keeping a healthy work-life balance. Andrew Staples, Chico State’s public relations manager, makes a to-do list for each workday and reviews it at the end of his day. Although there is always more work to finish, there is a feeling of accomplishment when examining the work that you have completed.

“Public relations and strategic communications is not a 9-5 job. There will be times when you are working after hours pursuing a good story or dealing with a bad one,” Staples said, “However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t practice good work-life balance habits.”

Staples also mentions that it can be helpful to set a boundary for when you stop checking work emails and messages.

“…When I worked in the Bay Area in the tech industry, I made a rule not to check my email after 9 p.m.,” Staples said, “That way, I wouldn’t see something come in late and get spun up and not be able to sleep at night.”

Both Garcia and Staples have some advice for students pursuing or about to go into the public relations and communications fields.

“I’d urge any social media professional to try to keep things in perspective,” Staples said, “Understand the negative comments on social media are going to be from people who are passionate and don’t necessarily mean the messaging of a particular post didn’t meet your goals.”

Garcia emphasizes that working as a content creator online can be a positive experience if you work with a good team and are fairly compensated. However, when work begins to seep into your personal life, it’s essential to put limits on what you are and are not willing to do.

“…Give yourself boundaries that protect your mental health, like no phone/computer time throughout your week,” Garcia said, “And on your vacation days/mental health days, I encourage you to completely unplug from work.”

While working in PR and with social media can seem stressful, there are ways to combat the stress through keeping a positive mindset, a healthy work-life balance and setting boundaries. Social media does not always have to seem like a negative thing, taking steps to protect your mental health is essential and can lead to an overall increase in self-fulfillment.

December 11, 2022

Top 3 Essentials For Managing A Social Media Account

By Lauren Shannon

It can be tough to start and manage a successful social media account. If you want to reach people and build a solid following there’s a lot you have to do, which can be overwhelming. Here are the top three essential ways to stay on top of your social media accounts.

Know what message you want to send to your audience

Social media is a great tool used to promote your business but only if you are strategic with what you are posting.

The content you post should send a strong message to your audience about who your company/you are.

Before creating a social media account for your brand, you need to set goals. Do you want to teach your audience something? Do you want them to buy your product? Or do you want them to engage in contests and campaigns?

Tehama Group Communications’ social media account showcases the work our agency produces and the strengths of our team members. It sends the message that we are a hardworking, successful agency and aims to generate engagement with past, current and future clients. TGC communicates this by highlighting three main ideas; the projects we’re currently working on, the clients we work with and our stellar staff. When prospective clients visit our social media pages they are shown reasons why they should choose us for their public relations needs.

Know what type of content you’re posting

The most successful social media pages are ones that follow a cohesive theme and pattern. The easiest way to create a theme is to follow a branding kit. A branding kit is a collection of specific colors, fonts and logos that make up a business’s visual identity. For example, Google only uses specific green, yellow, red and blue for all of their logos. When you apply brand guidelines to your social media, it makes your brand identifiable and consistent. According to WeIgniteGrowth.com, this consistency “is vital for building brand recognition and trust” with both consumers and investors.

After you have your branding kit in place, it’s time to think about what posts you want to create. A social media page should be filled with a mix of hard and soft posts. A hard post is important, relevant and timely, such as announcements for new products and projects or introductions for new team members. Soft posts on the other hand are evergreen, easy to create in advance and can be posted at any time. Industry tips and tricks and general posts about what your company does are just two examples of soft posts.

Create a schedule

Now that you know what message you want to send to your audience, and what content you want to share, it’s almost time to start posting! Before uploading content to your channels, it is good practice to create a schedule. Without a schedule, it becomes easy to lose track of what you’re sharing causing odd posting patterns, and rushed or unproofed posts. No one wants to follow a page that’s littered with typos and random content circulations.

One of the easiest ways to schedule posts would be to create a table with three columns: date to be posted, caption and graphic to be used. This allows you to visualize what your feed will look like. Another way to manage posts is to invest in a social media management tool such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite These tools allow users to monitor and schedule content to all social media accounts at one time. They also offer several other features such as campaign planners, analytic tools and performance trackers to save time and improve “the effectiveness of your social campaigns,” according to Forbes.

Now that you have a message you want to send to your audience, know how your content is going to communicate it and have created a schedule, you are ready to become a social media manager!

January 29, 2018September 28, 2022

Social Media Best Practices

Collage of smaller pictures that contain coffee, the back of a woman's blue curled hair photos and the road

Social media is invaluable to organizations these days. Posting on Instagram and Facebook are ways to reach audiences of all ages. People are frequently visiting social media platforms on their phones and this gives organizations an opportunity to advertise. It is an excellent opportunity for organizations to stay relevant to their publics. Constantly posting updates, information and photos is a way to reinforce your presence.

Here are a few steps to a great social media feed:

Step 1: Be entertaining but not over the top.

Step 2: Inspire your audience to talk, engage and converse.

Step 3: Provide your audience with information that is useful to them.

How to accomplish those tasks:

Choose a theme and stick with it. Many companies center their content around certain colors or styles of posts. Try to keep your photo quality, colors, styles and content consistent. This allows followers to recognize your brand easily.

Use relevant hashtags to make your content discoverable.

#MotivationMondays #MeetmeMonday
#TransformationTuesday #TipTuesday
#WisdomWednesday #WellnessWednesday
#ThrowbackThursday #ThankfulThursday
#FridayFunday #FeelGoodFriday #FlashbackFriday
#SaturdayShenanigans #ShoutoutSaturday
#SundayFunday #SelfieSunday

Use day-of-the-week hashtags because it gives the company a reason or excuse to post a photo. This draws attention to your company or your cause.

Show followers behind-the-scenes footage of the company work atmosphere. This allows followers to feel as though they are close to the company because they get an inside scoop.

Keep captions short. Posting interactive captions will engage the audience and get them involved, getting them to feel like they know the company. This can bring people into the cause. Keeping captions short also makes it easier for people to read the whole thing.

Post highly visual images. Highly visual photos gain the most traction. Look for photos that are appealing to look and attention grabbing. These types of photos encourage viewers to stop scrolling and check out your posts.
Engage with followers by liking, commenting and responding! This benefits both followers and the company because it is a way to partner and get the brand or name out there, thus expanding the audience.

Avoid:

Trendy Slang (Bae, On fleek): Trendy slang is unprofessional and makes it appear like you are trying too hard to be cool. Additionally, not everyone will know what it means, ultimately minimizing your reach.
Posting too often. Aim to post two to three times a week. Posting too often can cause users to grow weary of the overflow of content.

Written by Christa Boyton

September 20, 2017September 28, 2022

5 Ways to Stay Out of Trouble on Social Media

You know this scenario all too well.

You are scrolling through your camera roll on Sunday morning and find photos from last night of you with your roommates at the bars. You think you have found a photo that is totally insta-worthy. That is when you should stop, drop and ask yourself, “Is this acceptable to post on social media?” Here are some guidelines to consider.

Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your future employer to see.

You are sadly mistaken if you think employers read your application and resume and leave it at that. Social media is not a full representation of who a person is. However, when employers are sifting through hundreds of applications, it is something that puts a face and personality to your application. Make sure you take advantage of your online persona and craft it into someone that people will be pining to hire. Or, risk employers moving on to the next applicant because your online image is unprofessional and sloppy.

Privacy online is a myth.

You might think you are safe if you have your accounts on private, but there is always a mutual friend who can show someone of importance your posts on social media. Screenshots exist. You should assume the worst when posting something risky on social media, whether it is a photo on Instagram or a tweet.

Keep it neutral.

It should go without saying, but you should not post vulgar language or insensitive viewpoints on social media. You are entitled to your opinions. Just be ready to own up to the consequences for posting politically heated views or language that you wouldn’t want your grandmother to hear you say.

If you hate your job, complain to your friends in person. Don’t blast it on social media.

First of all, your current employer could see it and fire you. You might not care about it at the time, but think about how it could affect you when you are looking for a new, better job. If other employers see you complaining freely and publicly, they might not think you are the right person for their company. Who is to say you won’t start bad mouthing them once you get the job?

Showcase your personality.

Professional social media profiles shouldn’t lack personality. Just because you are refraining from posting unprofessional content doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share photos from your life or let your humor seep into your captions. Your social channels should leave a good first impression. Keep them clean, but make sure to make them interesting. Most importantly, make them reflect who you are and what you stand for.

Written by: Victoria Agius

How important it is to track social media analytics to develop, grow and extend your brands reach.