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Should Associations Spend All of their Advertising Dollars on Facebook?

May 27, 2021 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

In the recent U.S. Elections, Facebook decided to pull the plug on political advertising. During this moratorium, an issue arose when it came to what constitutes as political advertising and what is in fact simply news. News story posts that mentioned politics or issues were being blocked and placed in the same category as paid political advertising when, in fact, they weren’t. This raised the question “Is Facebook a media outlet that can decide what it wants to support and censor or are they the free platform they claim to be?”

Facebook has been called out in the past for archiving promoted news stories that cover politics or issues as political advertising. This brought push back from many journalism and news associations. It also raised the question of how much regulation can Facebook enforce on policy issues and associations it may disagree with. For example, if Facebook supports the Go Green initiative, could it eventually censor ads from associations that may represent things it deems harmful to the environment? This then causes one to ask, should associations put all their advertising assets into Facebook?

While Facebook ads can be a good way to spend association ad dollars, it is good to know your options in case policies change or they decide to censor issues important to your association. Google Ads are a viable option for reaching members and policy allies and allows you to tailor your ads to display to a specific audience or audiences. Some are shifting away from Facebook due to privacy and effectiveness issues. A recent survey by Inc. reported that 32 percent of CEO and senior-level executives surveyed said they are now getting less for their marketing dollars with Facebook than they used to, while 27 percent said they mistrust Facebook’s use of their business data.

With increasing advertising costs, noise, and fear of censorship from Facebook, it could be worth looking into alternate ways to spend your association’s marketing dollars. Putting resources into search engine optimization efforts and content marketing can be very effective means to attracting new members, and as before stated, Google Ads is another option for advertising. This isn’t to say you should completely cut Facebook advertising out of your marketing strategy if it works for your association; but it is always wise not to put all your advertising eggs in one basket.

Need help diversifying your digital strategy for your association? Contact us here.

Filed Under: Public Affairs Tagged With: advertising, Associations, associations and social media, Digital and Public Affairs, Facebook, public affairs, social media

Website Development Case Study: North Carolina Aggregates Association

May 14, 2021 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment


The North Carolina Aggregates Association (NCAA) is the leading advocate for the aggregate industry in the state of North Carolina. It is a non-profit, member-driven association that has both producer and associate members. The mission of the NCAA is “promoting the environmentally sound, responsible and economically viable extraction of crushed stone, sand and gravel for use in all types of construction for public benefit and for positive statewide economic development.” North Carolina is one of the largest crushed stone producers in the United States.

The NCAA is a non-profit trade association incorporated in 1964. During the past 60 years, consumption of aggregates per capita has increased from 3.5 metric tons per year to over 10 tons annually. Companies engaged in the production and/or sale of crushed stone, sand and gravel in North Carolina make up the association. Environmental programs in legislation; marketing and public relations; technical specifications, safety and health, air, and water quality; mining and reclamation; transportation and research are all services offered to member companies, specifiers, and users of aggregate products.

With the aggregate industry experiencing renewed optimism,  the NCAA wanted to reflect this by updating their communications with a redesigned website. They wanted the new site to be mobile friendly and present content to their members in a way that made information easy to find while being aesthetically pleasing as well. Arc 3 Communications worked hand in hand with NCAA to create a website that represented their brand and gave them a strong new visual identity. Many features such as a slider of member logos, an interactive calendar of events, easy to navigate menu, and membership sign-up were incorporated to create a successful and informative user experience.

The North Carolina Aggregates Association’s new website resulted in substantial growth in unique visitors and page views to the site. NCAA’s website has provided a new strong visual brand identity for the association that stands out and represents them well. Most importantly, NCAA’s new website has resulted in an increase in member engagement, greater awareness about the aggregate industry among key partners, state legislators, and civic leaders; and more associate membership leads.

Filed Under: Our Work, Public Affairs Tagged With: Associations, Digital and Public Affairs, public affairs, Trade Associations, Website

How to Write a Successful Call to Action for Your Association

October 29, 2020 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Associations Call to ActionWhen it comes to getting members to engage with your content, whether your blog, e-mail newsletter, event sign-up, or donations, your call to action (CTA) goes a long way. According to Associations Now, getting members to engage starts with compelling them to act. It also helps with member recruitment when trying to get people to become members with your association. The call to action is a powerful tool for you to utilize and there are several tips that can help you build ones that are effective and successful in your mission.

What is a Call to Action?

Your call to action is your chance to persuade your current and potential members to do what you want them to do. Think of it as your “Buy Now” statement. You will include this on everything from blogs, to social media posts, to newsletters. As an association, you should also include CTAs on your website copy to recruit new members or get renewals. A well-crafted call to action will have majority of the people who view your content engaging with and completing the tasks you want them to.

Short and Simple, Yet Informative

A good call to action is short, simple, and to the point. You want to make sure that you give enough information to inform the reader and guide them towards the desired action. You want to make sure the benefits are clear, for example:

“Sign up for our newsletter to receive all the latest association news, useful resources, and event invitations.”

Be sure to include easy to follow instructions to complete the action such as a link, a phone number, email address or a form to fill out. This will make it quick and easy for people to complete the action and increase the likelihood they will go through the necessary steps required.

Use Action Verbs

Wording is everything when it comes to the success rate of your call to action. Action verbs go a long way towards leading people to converting. Phrases such as “Sign up,” “Visit us at,” and “Learn more” can prompt people to take the actions you would like them to. Also, using words that show enthusiasm or spark emotion in your members and potential members will help drive action. You should always be willing to be creative with wording and try different methods to find CTA’s that work for your association. The only way to truly know what works is to test your ideas and see which ones are the most successful.

Frequency is Key 

Make sure you are consistent with your CTA. This means including it on anything that your members and potential members will be viewing. Social media posts, newsletters, blog posts, and web copy are a few ideal places to include your CTA. The more your message is put in front of your audience, the better the chances are that your members will take action. Feel free to try different tactics and approaches to find what works best for your goals. Keep track of your results with each campaign so you can decide what is successful and what might not be. Every piece you put out should have a form of a CTA present.

Having successful calls to action for your association involves knowing your members and potential members and being able to craft a message that will drive them to act. Whether it’s signing up for the association’s email newsletter, registering to attend the annual conference, or becoming a new member; each call to action should be creative, specific, and intentional. The more you can provoke emotion or enthusiasm, the more likely your audience will be to take the desired action. Every campaign is unique, so try different tactics to find the ones that works best for your association and start getting results, now.

For more help with your association’s needs sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media, or contact us here.

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Public Affairs Tagged With: Arc 3 Communications, Associations, Associations Now, Call to Action, Content Marketing, Content Marketing and Email, Content Marketing and Trade Associations, CTA, Digital and Public Affairs, Email Marketing and Trade Associations, How To, public affairs, Social Media and Trade Associations, Trade Associations

How to Safely and Securely Use Zoom for Government Meetings

July 14, 2020 By Patrick L. Burns 1 Comment

The video-conferencing app, Zoom, has become a daily tool for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. As cities and state across the country were shutting down to protect against the spread of the virus; state and local governments were trying to find ways in which they could move forward with important meetings while being unable to meet in person.

Zoom became a go-to due to its ease of use; ability to have up to 100 people attend a meeting; and free use for up to 40 minutes. A problem that arose was what became known as “Zoom bombing” where a person or persons gains access to the Zoom meeting by hacking or obtaining the Zoom chat information and causes disruptions to the meeting.

One example of this was during a Kansas City Council committee meeting when a hacker or hackers infiltrated the meeting and began cursing and using racial slurs until the committee was forced to shut down the meeting. Another occurrence was during a Maine’s Children’s Behavioral Health Townhall in which a hacker or hackers gained access and began displaying deeply disturbing and offensive images forcing the meeting to be shutdown.

In addition to Zoom bombings, there have been instances of camera and audio high jacking, in which hackers can take control of a user’s camera or audio device to bug a meeting or even install harmful spyware and malware onto a user’s device.

Instances like these have caused many governments to rethink whether they want to use the platform to conduct meetings. Luckily, there are steps you can take to ensure your government Zoom meeting is protected against these unwanted Zoom bombings. Below we provide a how-to on securing you state and local government Zoom meetings.

  1. Always Password Protect Your Meetings

The easiest way to prevent unwanted intrusion into your government meetings is simple and easy to do; set a password. You have the option to set the password at the individual meeting, user, group, or account level and it is suggested to use a different password for each meeting. In order to do this, log into your Zoom portal and go to the “settings” tab. From there enable “require a password when scheduling new meetings” and Zoom will generate a password each time a meeting is scheduled.

  1. Use a Randomly Generated Meeting ID

When creating a Zoom account, you are provided with your own personal meeting ID you can use to set up meetings. These are not ideal for use for government meetings; especially if planning on public input attendance. It is suggested you do not make your personal meeting ID public. Once someone has your personal meeting ID it can either be leaked or used to gain access to future meetings; instead it is suggested you use a randomly generated meeting id. You can select this option when setting up your meeting.

  1. Utilize the Waiting Room Feature

The waiting room is normally used for individual interviews or one-on-one sessions, it can be utilized to screen participants as they join before allowing them to come into a meeting. This gives the host greater control over session security and prevents anyone who may have obtained the login information dishonestly from joining.

  1. Disable Participant Screen Sharing, Mute Upon Entry

In order to avoid people showing inappropriate things such as happened in the aforementioned examples, disabling attendant’s ability to use screen share can help prevent that. Unless someone is scheduled to share a presentation or visual, going under the “security” tab during your active session and disabling screen share can help avoid unwanted disturbances. Also remember, as a host, you can choose to mute people upon entry or manually mute or unmute a participant during the meeting.

  1. Lock the Meeting Once it Begins

Once the time for the meeting has arrived and everyone is in attendance who is meant to be there, it is a good idea to “lock” your meeting to prevent others from joining. This can be done once the session has begun by going to the “Manage Participants” tab and clicking on “more.” From there you can click on “lock” and this will prevent anyone else from joining the meeting. It can be unlocked at any time if you need to admit anyone.

  1. Evict Troublesome Participants and Report

If someone happens to come into your meeting uninvited or a participant begins causing trouble, you, as the host, can remove that person from the meeting. This should be done immediately upon noticing an issue. All you have to do is mouse over the participant’s name and with the option pop-up chose the “remove” option. After you have done this you can report them to Zoom’s Trust and Safety team who will take appropriate action.

  1. Keep Your Zoom App Updated

As security and functionality issues arise, patches and updates are regularly released to combat these issues. Each time before using Zoom, you should always check to make sure you are updated to the latest version. This can be done by opening your application, going to your profile and selecting “Check for Updates.” The app will automatically scan and install any updates.

Using Zoom for government meetings is a good way to continue with important policy and public engagement processes during these trying times. Zoom is an ever-evolving platform that continues to take steps towards a more secure meeting experience. Making sure you take all precautions to secure your meetings will help prevent bad actors from gaining access and wreaking havoc. Government meetings are essential to keep state, cities, and counties running smoothly, and Zoom is one means to keep the wheel turning until we can all safely meet in person again.

Filed Under: Government, Public Affairs Tagged With: Advocacy, Arc 3 Communications, Digital and Government, Digital and Public Affairs, Gov 2.0, Government, public affairs, ZOOM

How to Show Your Members More Value During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis Now

April 6, 2020 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

COVID-19 has caused associations across the country to cancel annual conferences and other important member activities to protect the well-being of their members and themselves. With uncertainty as to when large gatherings will be allowed to take place again,There are many ways an association can show their worth and maintain relationships with members and sponsors alike. Below we have listed some ideas that will help you show your value in these challenging times to your members and potential future members.

1. Virtual Meetings and Webinars

Many people have taken to the popular video meeting app, ZOOM, as a way to conduct business meetings and keep things running as smoothly as possible. ZOOM allows multiple people to join in a video conference together where they can choose to share video and audio as they meet with others. There are share screen options so sponsors and members can give presentations they have prepared to up to 100 participants at a given time. This tool can be utilized in a number of ways for your association such as hosting member webinars, association meetings, courses, and other events. This is not the only digital conference tool available, and there are many available if you have specific needs to be met. ZOOM is free to use for 40-minute group meetings or an unlimited one to one meeting. There are premium paid options that allow for longer meet times and more participants. Virtual meetings, webinars, and courses are a great option to keep members engaged and feeling valued.

2. Keep Communications Open

Whether or not you have had to cancel events or not, it is very wise to keep communication with your members and sponsors open during this time. Providing them with updates, news, and plans show them that you are considering them and their well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. A weekly email update is a great way to keep in touch and let your association members and sponsors know if and when things change and what the association’s plan is if they do have to cancel or reschedule an event. If an event is canceled, many members and sponsors may want their money back, or they may be looking for other ways you can get them what they’d hoped to get out of the canceled event. This is where hosting a virtual meet and greet could come into play or scheduling a presentation by your sponsors to the group they had hoped to target at your event. There are many options you can offer before giving an automatic refund that could be more beneficial to your sponsors and members and really show them that you are working your way through the challenge to bring them value. They will respect your dedication and it will strengthen the relationships you have.

3. Be Empathetic and Provide Resources 

Many of your members and sponsors are part of companies that are dealing with their own challenges that have arisen due to COVID-19. Some businesses and companies are having a harder time than others in navigating their way through this crisis, so empathy and useful resources are always welcome. Reach out and let your members and sponsors know you are there for them and send along any resources that might be helpful. There is no shortage of useful information for businesses and companies who are working their way through these uncharted waters; sending them this helpful information can go a long way in showing that you appreciate them and are supporting them. Make sure to word your messages in an empathetic and hopeful way to help alleviate stress and let your members and sponsors know we are all in this together.

Help and Hope

As an association, your members and sponsors are what make your association run. They trust you and look to you in times like this for support and guidance. Doing all you can to show your value will not only keep your members happy but will help strengthen those relationships and cause these members to want to stay with you through thick and thin. It is important in these trying times that we all step up and show our value and help one another through. COVID-19 is unlike anything we have faced in recent times and it is taking a lot of hard work and effort to get through. The more we help each other, the easier overcoming this major challenge will be.

For more help with your association’s needs sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media or contact us here.

Filed Under: News, Public Affairs Tagged With: Assnchat, Associations, COVID-19, Digital and Public Affairs, Digital and Trade Associations, Digital Media and Trade Associations, public affairs

How to Know if You Have a Strong Association Website

January 7, 2020 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

Trade associations, like everyone else, have made the move to the digital world. Recruitment, education, events, donations, and industry news are all now shared online through their websites and social media accounts. Many members register through the association’s website and rely on this website for the latest news and updates regarding the association and the industry itself. With this being the case, it is vital for your trade association’s success that your website be secure, up to date, mobile first, and user friendly.  Below we discuss the importance of each of these aspects, and what you can do to make sure your association’s website meets these criteria.

  1. Have a clean, up-to-date website

One of the first aspects that should be considered with your trade association’s website is if it is clean and representative of your association. Outdated websites look clunky and can be hard to navigate for users. If your site is not already on WordPress; we highly recommend making the switch over. Over 34% of the world’s websites are built using WordPress including major industries such as Disney, Sony, and The New York Times. WordPress is the best content management system on the market. It’s ease of use, functionality and affordability make it one of the best CMS systems in the world. A variety of themes, plug-ins, and design elements allow for your WordPress website to be created to your specifications. It is easy to make a site that is user friendly and simple to navigate. Websites built on WordPress look professional, clean, and go far in making sure your members have a positive user experience.

  1. Keep your website safe and secure

In the digital realm, security is of the utmost importance. Your members’ data as well as your reputation may be on the line if your website falls victim to hacking. There are many negative effects an attack on your website could cause. Identity theft, slow speed, having your account suspended, and a complete crash are a few of the big things that can happen; all of which can tarnish or even ruin your reputation. A lot of the time, for WordPress sites, these attacks take place when themes and plug-ins are not regularly updated. Updates are usually released to better the security of a theme or plug-in and leaving yours out of date leaves your website open to bad actors. An easy way to prevent this and stay updated is to have a maintenance plan, this is someone who regularly updates all of your plug-ins and themes, creates backups, and performs security scans. These plans are affordable; and save you time and money in the long run if something were to happen to your website.

  1. Having a Mobile-First Website

One of the most important aspects of your website is that it is mobile first. This simply means that it is optimized to be viewed on mobile devices without losing quality or functionality. Most people view websites now on their smartphones and mobile devices and your website needs to show up looking just as good as it does on a desktop. Not having a mobile first website will not only effect how your visitors see your website on their devices, but also how Google will rank your website. This, in turn, affects where your site falls on the search engine result page (SERP) which is the page you see when you search for your association or related industry key terms on Google. If you are unsure if your website is mobile friendly, simply attempt to look at it on your phone. Make sure to test all of the menus and features to make sure they work and load quickly.  You can also run a mobile test with Google here.

  1. Strong, Timely, Thoughtful Content

When you have a secure, mobile first website that looks amazing, you need to fill it with strong and engaging content that will bring visitors to your site and help drive your membership. Content can take a number of forms including blogs, videos, photos, podcasts, infographics, case studies, white pages, and reviews. It is suggested that you have thought-leadership content that relates to your association’s industry and will be of interest to your audience. Regularly releasing relevant content will not only keep people interested and visiting your site, it will also help your Google rankings. For associations, it is also good to continue to provide your members with good content, so they feel they are getting the value they deserve for their membership. It is even possible to make some content members only or paid content to add the additional value to members. A good content marketing strategy will keep your association’s website timely and relevant.

All of these aspects work together to make sure your association is well represented by your website and has a strong online presence. This helps your membership retention and recruitment, credibility, and overall value. Arc 3 Communications provides everything you need to build, operate, and maintain a professional association website. We also are able to create and put in motion a content marketing strategy that will work for your association including content calendars, content creation, and content program analysis. Our maintenance plans assure your website is safe and secure and all of your themes and plugins are updated. This also includes backups of your website and performance scans to make sure your website is running smoothly and quickly. For help optimizing your association’s website, contact us at pburns@arc3communications.com or call us at 678-348-6024.

For more information visit us at www.arc3communications.com.

 

Filed Under: Content Marketing Tagged With: Arc 3 Communications, Association, Digital and Public Affairs, Digital and Trade Associations, public affairs

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – Instagram, Snapchat and The BuzzFeed Dossier

January 16, 2017 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

buzzfeed-logoDigital and social media are transforming how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations are communicating and marketing to their key audiences.

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs for this week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

Facebook announced the hiring of Campbell Brown, a former NBC News correspondent and CNN prime-time host, to lead its news partnerships team. While Facebook indicated that she would not serve in a role as editor-in-chief, she would work as a liaison with news organizations so that Facebook can better meet their journalistic and business imperatives.

Snapchat announced the launch of universal search to simplify navigation on the platform. This move was clearly to ward off competition from Instagram’s Stories which has hit 150 million users.  Instagram has now offered an advertising product on Stories that has the targeting capabilities offered in Facebook.

Medium, a platform for long form content, announced it was laying off a third of its employees, mostly in sales. CEO Ev Williams stated that Medium would be renewing its focus away from an ad-driven model to one that rewards writers  “on their ability to enlighten and inform, not simply their ability to attract a few seconds of attention.”

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

On DigitalGov, Julia Jackson with the National Institutes of Health explores how social media platforms are becoming one-stop shops for information needs as the platforms become more feature rich and audience share falls away from search engines. Jackson recommends that federal agencies should refocus their attention on content created for social media in 2017 and use the platforms as one of their primary communication strategies.

In Social Media Today, Alan Rosenblatt talks about how public affairs organizations should consider self-publishing strategies to achieve their objectives. Once dismissed by professionals as less worthy than earned media, Rosneblatt argues that self publishing on your own website, blogs and social media is an effective strategy in achieving goals and can have greater impact than placing stories in the news media.

Speaking of effective, self-publishing strategies in public affairs, Associations Now reports on how the American Medical Association created a new content strategy that provided the framework for its website redesign. The new site is easy for its key stakeholders to navigate to content that is tailored to their needs.

Campaigns and Elections

Buzzfeed draws criticism for its publishing of a unverifiable secret dossier on President-elect Donald Trump and Russia. After its posting, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief, Ben Smith took to Twitter to explain how they made the decision. Smith stated that even though “there is serious reasons to doubt the allegations”, he noted that “publishing the dossier reflects how we see publishing in 2017”.

Writing in The Atlantic , staff writer, David Graham agrues that BuzzFeed sidestepped a basic principle of journalism in publishing the dossier. He argues that a reporter’s job is not simply to dump information into the public domain, but to gather information, sift through it and determine what is true and what is not.

On Federalist.com, lawyer turned writer Leslie Loftis argues that BuzzFeed’s decision to publish the dossier may lead to a defamation lawsuit. Loftis argues that BuzzFeed Editor in Chief Ben Smith’s rationale for publishing was the same rationale Rolling Stone’s Will Dana used to justify publishing a fake story that ended in a major court loss in Eramo v Rolling Stone. 

On a side note, Nieman Labs reports on the success of BuzzFeed’s Tasty customized cookbook product which has sold enough copies to make it one of the best-selling cookbooks of the year. Tasty: The Cookbook, a choose-your-own categories, print-on-demand cookbook,  sold over 100,000 copies in the last two months of 2016, earning BuzzFeed an estimated $2.4 to $4 million in sales.

These are some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. What do you think? What are your favorite stories? We’d love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Business Advocacy, Campaign Management, Campaigns and Elections, Content Marketing, Government, Public Affairs, Social Media Audits and Listening analyses, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Relations, Website Development Tagged With: Arc 3 Communications, BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed and Trump, BuzzFeed and Trump Dossier, Digital and Government, Digital and Public Affairs, DigitalGov, Facebook, Facebook and News, Instagram, Instagram Stories, Medium, Snapchat, Snapchat and Instagram Stories, social media, Social Media and Government, Social Media and Politics, Social Media and Public Affairs, This Week in Digital and Public Affairs

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs: Elastic News, Snapchat and Facebook

March 16, 2016 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

SnapchatDigital and social media are changing how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations are communicating and marketing to their key audiences.

Below is a roundup of key stories in digital and public affairs that matter at the top of the week.

Content, Digital and Social Media

Emily Bell of the Columbia Journalism Review discusses how Facebook has swallowed up journalism, devouring news outlets that were born before the digital age. Bell notes that media outlets have lost control over the distribution of their product to Facebook and other social media companies, and that this has resulted in social media companies becoming extremely powerful in terms of controlling who publishes what to whom, and how that publication is monetized.

The BBC reports on their lab project to explore elastic and atomized content structures for news stories. A key aim of the project is to create news stories for people with limited time available to view stories when on mobile and on the go.  The goal is to present news in a quick snappy format while providing the opportunity to explore a deeper understanding of a topic. Content can be created utilizing a set of different content types (photos, text, video) and linking them together with metadata descriptions  of their association and relationship. The BBC believes that the growth of Snapchat among millennials has brought about the need for news stories that are in snackable format.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

At DigitalGov, Tryus Manuel writes on how the quality and quantity of  your content can impact your search engine rankings and how that content appears on search engine results pages (SERPs). While one of the ways Google measures quality is whether or not content is updated regularly, Google also penalizes websites for automated content, pages with little or no content, and SEO tricks such as hidden words or link schemes.  Manuel encourages the creation of engaging content that’s rewarded by Google through the creation of audience personas. The creation of audience personas helps you in developing content that those readers are looking for on search and in the creation of metadata descriptions. In addition, Manuel recommends that creation of content pillars in which you build various content types – photos, images, blogs, video, infographics around a specific piece of quality content.

Ernie Smith of Associations Now discusses how Associations are producing more content than ever before, but they are wasting their time if their content is not optimized properly for their members. Smith discusses how optimizing your content for your audience involves analyzing data properly and creating audience personas to target your specific content to.

Campaigns and Elections

Business Insider reports that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has issued a memo encouraging candidates to incorporate Snapchat into their Senatorial campaigns. The NRSC memo highlights how Snapchat has reached over 8 billion views a day and is a platform that is in the same league as Facebook, Twitter and Google in its importance.

These were some of the reads that matter to us for the week in digital and public affairs. What do you think? What are your favorite stories? We’d love to hear from you.

Filed Under: Business Advocacy, Campaigns and Elections, Content Marketing, Government, Public Affairs, Social Media Relations Tagged With: BBC, Digital and Government, Digital and Public Affairs, Digital Gov, Facebook, Google, National Republican Senatorial Committee, Snapchat, Snapchat and Campaigns, Social Media and Campaigns, Social Media and Campaigns and Elections

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – BuzzFeed, Mobile Websites and Twitter

April 25, 2015 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

buzzfeed-logoDigital and social media are changing how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations communicate and achieve their goals. Below is a roundup of the more interesting stories that we read over the last week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

Gawker reports that BuzzFeed deleted posts under pressure from its own business department. An internal review found at least 3 instances in which complaints from the site’s business and advertising departments led Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith to delete posts by staff. The 3 deleted posts criticized or mocked an Axe body spray ad campaign (a brand of Unilever), Pepsi’s Twitter account and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. Unilever, Pepsi and Microsoft all are major advertisers with BuzzFeed.

TechCrunch reports LinkedIn’s launch of Elevate, a paid mobile and desktop app for social media management. The app suggests articles to its users based on algorithms from its news recommendation services Pulse and Newsle as well as “human curation”. Users are then able to schedule and share those links across LinkedIn and Twitter.  The app will be available to users in the 3rd quarter of this year.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

Ernie Smith, the social media journalist for Associations Now provides an analysis of Google’s implementation this week of an update of its algorithm to favor mobile-friendly websites and its impact on trade associations. Smith provides things for associations to consider as they redesign or retrofit their mobile unfriendly site.  Smith notes the challenges facing associations who have lots of legacy content on their websites.

William Powers and Deb Roy of MIT’s Laboratory for Social Machines provides insights on Medium into their research of the town of Jun in southern Spain. For the last four years, the town has been using Twitter as its principal medium for citizen-government communication. Leading the effort is Jun’s Mayor, José Antonio Rodríguez Salashas  who has been recruiting the town’s 3,500 residents to join the social network and have their Twitter accounts locally verified at town hall.

Speaking of municipalities, the City of Philadelphia unveiled on its website this week a real-time analytics tool showing how people are visiting city websites. This tool may promote better civic engagement between staff and residents.

Campaigns and Elections 

Dave Weigel reports in Bloomberg Politics  on the launch of the app Clear by Ethan Czahor, the former CTO for Jeb Bush’s presidential exploratory committee. The free app which works as an add-on to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allows users to scan their social media for a series of problematic terms that could harm their public reputation in the future. Czahor resigned his position with Jeb Bush earlier this year after it was discovered he had sent tweets disparaging women. Czahor believes that the app can help millennials avoid repeating his fate.

These were some of Arc 3’s most interesting reads in digital and public affairs over the last week. What were your favorite stories? Let us know if there is a neat story that we missed! We’d love to hear from you.

 

Filed Under: Business Advocacy, Campaign Management, Campaigns and Elections, Civic Innovation/Gov. 2.0, Content Marketing, Government, Social Media Relations, Website Development Tagged With: BuzzFeed, City of Philadelphia, Clear App, Clear App and Jeb Bush, Digital and Campaigns and Elections, Digital and Government, Digital and Public Affairs, Digital and Trade Associations, Elections 2016, Jeb Bush, LinkedIn, MIT, MIT and Laboratory for Social Machines, Mobile Friendly Websites, Social Media and Campaigns and Elections, Social Media and Election 2016, Social Media and Government, Social Media and Public Affairs, Social Media and Trade Associations

This Week in Digital and Public Affairs – Hillary’s Logo, Online Video Ads and LinkedIn

April 17, 2015 By Patrick L. Burns Leave a Comment

hillary-clinton-logo-1Digital and social media are changing how government institutions, political campaigns and trade associations communicate and achieve their goals. Below is a roundup of the more interesting stories that we read over the last week:

Content, Digital and Social Media

ZDNet reports that LinkedIn bought Lynda.com for $1.5 billion. LinkedIn’s purchase of the twenty-year-old subscription-based online learning portal is a clear sign of the professional social network’s intention to provide training opportunities for specific career skill sets to its members.

In Forbes, contributor Robert Hof provides a thoughtful analysis of the rise of online video in digital advertising. Hof points out  that TV-like online video ads are driving much of the growth in the ad industry. Hof forecasts that the video ads will make our smartphones more resemble our televisions.

Gov 2.0 and Public Affairs

Ernie Smith, the social media journalist for Associations Now asks the question of whether associations should care about the live-streaming video app Meerkat. Smith points out that Meerkat’s ease of use for live-streaming video makes it a valuable tool for capturing key moments at association conferences.

On DigitalGov, Sara Smith, the Social Media Strategist for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, provides her agency as a case study for the benefits of having social sharing buttons on your government website. Smith notes that NIDA’s addition of sharing toolbars to their website has resulted in a rapid increase in social shares and social media referrals to the site. The agency website is now averaging 20k social shares a month in 2015.

Campaigns and Elections 

Western Journalism and Mashable  report how Hillary Clinton’s  presidential campaign logo quickly became fodder for critics on social media. Clinton’s political critics, dismayed supporters and graphic designer aficionados panned the logo as amateurish and unprofessional.

These were some of Arc 3’s most interesting reads in digital and public affairs over the last week. What were your favorite stories? Let us know if there is a neat story that we missed! We’d love to hear from you.

 

Filed Under: Business Advocacy, Campaign Management, Campaigns and Elections, Civic Innovation/Gov. 2.0, Content Marketing, Government, Public Affairs, Social Media Relations Tagged With: Digital and Campaigns and Elections, Digital and Government, Digital and Public Affairs, Digital and Trade Associations, Elections 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, LinkedIn, Meerkat, Online Video Ads, Social Media and Campaigns and Elections, Social Media and Election 2016, Social Media and Government, Social Media and Public Affairs, Social Media and Trade Associations

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