Communications Tool 6: Frrole

Frrole is definitely my favourite communications tool I have discovered! 'The Social Newspaper' basically sums up the whole website. We all know print media is dwindling away before our very eyes, and this is the new way of news. Based entirely off Twitter feeds, it is the worlds first social news source.It currently provides separate news editions for 55 cities, 6 countries and the world. 

Frrole has an interesting aspect, that it allows news to come from anybody in the world, ensuring that you are always the first to hear it irrespective of where it comes from. Frrole has the ability to select news from general social chatter and then break and then break it down by cities and countries, and categories like sports, travel events, world business, entertainment, etc. Just like a lot of your normal printed news papers in one. 

It's a good website to have on your phone to quickly browse through headlines in the category you're interested in and then read all about it, all in the palm of your hand.

You can also request for updates on specfic stories and get notifications on your phone about new headlines, which is great on the go when you hop on the  train in a rush and didn't have time to buy the paper. This is the revolution!!

^^ This has obviously nothing to do with Frrole, but I thought it was funny!

Thanks for reading

Vanessa x

Comunications Tool No.5:We Name You

I found this website fantastic and innovative. If you are a blogger, or run your businesses social media websites or even articles etc,WeNameYou helps you with the all important headline to grab your specific target audience attention.

We all know how incredibly important a story headline is, if it's not eye catching or interesting enough, people will just move on to something else.
 I found an interesting quote on a website called www.salesbenchmarkingidex.com;
 "The headline is the most important element in all advertisements  It is the telegram which decides whether the reader will read the copy . On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar"

WeNameYou uses various crowdsourcing technologies to quickly survey large groups of people in order to find the text that will have the most impact.

How it Works (ref from the WeNameYou website)

1: We use multiple testing channels in order to get a variety of data for your tests

2: Each tester can only see two headlines in a random order to reduce bias

3: Each option gets tested vs. each other option

4: The results are then combined in order to get the winning result

WeNameYou is a great way for any writer to get help if they have the most annoying writers block. Even if you are thinking of a new name for your business or carrying out a revamp, the website can also put together names for your new business. Simply place in the words that your business is about or if you ant a specific words but don't know what to add to it, WeNameYou does that after a click of a button, and registration of course, and then TA, DA! You have a creative new business name or the headline everyone is talking about.

Thanks for reading!

Vanessa x

Communications Tool No.4: Pinterest and Curalate

There is not many people around that don't know what Pinterest is, but for those of you who don't, here is the 'down lo' on Pinterest.

Basically Pinterest is a like a pin board on your bedroom wall where you pin up your favourite photos or magazine clippings, etc. Pinterest is an online version of that but it also can include videos. You have your own board to 'pin' up anything you want. 

Other Pinterest users can then also 'pin' your photos/videos, but it also traces back to their source.

On your board you can organise your different photos or videos into different categories, such as, your favourite recipes, clothes, brands, etc. I think you get my drift! 

Pinterest uses the same theory of 'following' other users if you enjoy what they post, and also a homepage.

Curalate is a website I think should be essential for any business for measuring the popularity of your brand and products. Curalate measures Pinterest activity, hence why I told you a bit about Pinterest above.

Businesses have thought of a fantastic idea of how to monitor their customers on a personal product specific level. As an example, a consumer may like a brand on Facebook, but they might not like every product that the business offers.

Basically Curalate have developed image recognition technology to find out who is liking their specific product online. It always traces back to the original poster also (as I have said above). It allows you to develop a more personal product based relationship  with your brand loyalists, pick out who doesn't like your products and identify how influential they are and engage with them all in one dashboard.

You can see the new trend in marketing and monitoring your businesses activity is changing dramatically, online monitoring seems to be the way to go!! Thanks to computer engineers who are able to pull off these amazing new websites to keep us all happy!

Thanks for reading!

Vanessa x

Communications Tool Number 3: Things that make you go hmmmm..

I'm really glad I came across this application online, called Lanyrd ! It's definitely something I think people working in the PR and Communications world should be looking at.

Lanyrd 'The Social Conference Directory'

The website and phone application has got a worldwide scope. Anyone can sign up to the website or download the application  the theory behind the website is to follow conferences and events that are going on ALL around the world. The world wide aspect is a huge advantage for PR professionals that travel around for various events and want to catch up on a series of conferences they may have missed.

It is as easy as searching the name of the event along with the country it is being held in, and the same goes for a conference. You can then 'track' the event or conference and get notifications to your phone. You can then browse to see who is attending the event, etc.

Lanyrd is a British website but covers world wide events, it is similar to USA's Plancast in that its theory is the same along with the easy set up and fairly plain design. The website and app is integrating Twitter which helps get the events and conferences viral. Clicking on an event will also bring up their Twitter account and related hashtags and also their website, if there is one.

It is definitely a website with a difference! This is definitely a good way to promote an event and get people talking about it, especially when it has the help of Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

Vanessa x

Communications Tool No.2: Social 'Media' Butterfly part3

So my last two entries on Social 'Media' Butterfly was on Twitter and Instagram. I think by now Facebook is no doubt an obvious choice of discussion.

It's no doubt that we all know Facebook is the largest used social media site used. PR professional and marketers crave the promoting on Facebook as it is clearly a successful way to advertise. I am nearly sure the phenomenal social media site takes up a lot of time in an average persons day, getting your daily 'fix' of the craze is just normal at this stage.

'Facebook was launched in February 2004, and as of September 2012 has over one billion active users, more than half of whom use Facebook on a mobile device (wikipedia).' Facebook was founded by Mark Zckerberg and his college roomate from Harvard University. 

It should be inportant to know that any business thinking of marketing their service or brand on Facebook, should always have a marketing strategy, to see what exactly you want out of the social media site and also how your'e going to do it.

A huge advantage of Facebook, especially for small businesses, is that it is free. The social media site provies a webpage for you to promote your business, and create relationships with your customers and also the media. Even if you think the audience of Facebook will not be helpful to your business, it is a free way of promoting, so don't know the opportunity down. Facebook have over 500 million users that access the site daily. This definitely should not be overlooked.

Facebook can really be a quick way to market your company. You will have to have someone constantly monitoring the posts and also the relationships you make on the social media site. Feedback is extremely important on Facebook, monitor this regularly to correct any changes, or get ideas from your customers on Facebook of a new idea or service you are thinking of doing, this will help you see if the idea will be successful, without investing money into something that was never going to take off.
Make sure to reply to customers queries on facebook, building a personal relationship is key to success.


Make sure to add lots of photos on your Facebook page, of maybe press releases or even new products coming out on the market Online competitions are always a win too.

There is also no harm in creating a seperate fan page on Facebook, when someone 'likes' the page then unltimitely more than likely their friends will.

Also help out other businesses on Facebook by commenting on their posts, this will create more business relationships and also maybe create some credibility for your business.

Communications Tool No.2: Social 'Media' Butterfly part2

The last entry to the Communications Tool No.2: Social 'Media' Butterfly part1 was all about Twitter. This entry I will be talking about the new social media craze called Instagram.

Instagram is the new online social networking site with a difference. It is still very new and not a lot of people know about the new fad just yet, so I'm here to fill you in on it. So you can maybe use Instagram as a way to promote yourself or your business.

So how does Instagram work?
Instagram is a creative way to share your photos to your friends and family and those other 'randomers' you meet on Instagram. It allows you to bring out your inner photographer, by having a series of filters to allow you to put a twist or a mood on your photo.
It is similar to Twitter in the way you follow people and they follow you. The more followers you get I suppose is depending on the popularity, creativity and quality of the photos you share on the mobile site. It also resembles Twitter in the way you can hashtag your photos to the Instagram users in the world.
You can download the app for free on your iPhone or Android phone.

Instagram was set up by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, after the quick success of the application, Facebook wanted in on the action and purchased the app in April 2012.

Having Instagram in the hands of Facebook can only mean huge popularity with the site, which has already begun.

I think it was inevitable that they would soon create an online site for Instagram. Just recently created, users of the app can now sign in on the web and browse photos from there. In my opinion I don't think the online version of Instagram was the best idea. I think maybe it has taken away the novelty of having it just on your mobile, but that is just my opinion, they have only just started up their online version and it may well be a success.

Facebook nor Instagram have announced anything yet, but the web page has a lot of room for advertisements. It is something companies should be keeping an eye out for, especially as the site is becoming very popular.

There is also no surprise that celebrities are obsessive Instagram users. It has an edge over Twitter I think because celebrities are taking more and more personal photos and sharing them with the world, bringing to light a more intimate relationship with their fans.

Masses of online clothing brands are promoting new trends and sales via Instagram and it seems to be proving very successful, so it is definitely a new way to promote your business, if that is the target audience you want to reach. It's a new way to market and Instagram is showing that social networking sites can still be a successful marketing tool. Once again you can involve your followers on instagram and have a personal relationship with your customers.

As a communications tool, I think Instagram has a definite edge on other forms of social networking sites. Keep an eye out for when they will allow room for advertising on their web page, because they more than likely will!

Thanks for reading :)

Vanessa x

Communications Tool No.2: Social 'Media' Butterfly part1

Online Communications Tool No.2: Social 'Media' Butterfly will be in different parts. 
This entry is all about Twitter


Social media has become a way of life, whether we like it or not. Too many mothers are on Facebook, and it's just getting a little bit weird! Although for the average person, social media sites are just a way to 'creep' on ex- boyfriends/girlfriends on Facebook, or go on Twitter to follow your celebrity crushes every movement.

PR professionals use social media every day to get the word out about clients, to communicate with customers and to respond to questions or problems. Social media has become one of the most important tools to have in a PR professionals toolkit. 
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and many more are some of the biggest social media sites in the world, and every PR professional has to take social media strategies into account.

Twitter
I haven't totally understood the whole Twitter craze, but I can see that is a very successful way to market.

Twitter has over 8 million visitors per month and over 50 million messages posted everyday. There is a useful method to research the productivity of your business via Twitter. Twitter has it's own search engine, so enter your name or your companies name and it will tell you if there is any positive or negative comments about yourself/company.
Tweeters/twatters, or what ever the correct word is, love a red faced rant, so if they are not happy with your company, they will more than likely want to let the ever growing world of Twitter know about it.

Twitter is great for promoting your company, product or service. Remember when posting any promotional tweets that it must be conversational. This is the best way to get people tweeting, so it will generate more interest and hopefully more followers.
That is why connecting to your followers on a personal level is important, Twitter is all about conversation, so make sure to interact with them as much as possible. 

I think the average person enjoys Twitter as they can follow their favourite celebrities. Celebrities have a very personal relationship with their fans on Twitter and let's be honest it's always fun to watch a celebrity Twitter argument!

Singer Jason Mraz had a very creative way of using Twitter, a way that has never been done before. I'm not sure who his PR team is, but a pat on the back I think is deserved! Jason Mraz asked his millions of followers last summer, "What does 'The Woman I Love' mean to you?" with hashtag #MrazingTheVideo. He received over 10,000 answers, some so good he rewarded them by having their twitter replies shown in his music video.

Mraz has not stopped there, he has created another competition with another social media site Instagram. Jason Mraz has the most followers on Instagram and is making use of it.
The song-writer wants Instagram users to translate his new song, "I Won't Give Up," into one image. The contest asks fans to tag their photograph with #IWONTGIVEUP. He has already received 3,000 images , including one from Selena Gomez and American Idol judge Randy Jackson.

Mraz has shown the intense speed of the social media world, and it's snowball effect is incredible. No wonder it's so important for PR professionals.

Do remember you can only have 140 characters in your tweet, so be creative!!

Thanks for reading :)

Vanessa x