Not only that, you can now visualize Twitter account growth or loss (it’s very cool) in a simple graph. There’s more so why not read the latest blog post?
Mark Evans ponders the question of why journalists need social media. We like it because we can keep track of what’s going on and it’s always fun to chat with journalists from around the world.
Social media, digital analyst and public affairs expert Mark Blevis loves using SysomosMAP and Heartbeat to discover what people are talking about in the social space. His blog looks at what’s currently going on, whether it be Quebec politics, the one-year anniversary of Jack Layton’s death or the US elections.
From his blog:
A lot has been written about the role of digital in the current US election, and how it differs from 2008. There are many media pieces and blog posts about which candidate is out-digitizing the others, and others which look at which candidate is the most talked about.
What about issues?
I’ve been using Marketwire/Sysomos Heartbeat to capture and analyze online chatter about the US election and using manually selected keywords to identify key election-related conversations. Based on my analysis, I’ve identified the top six most-discussed election issues during the first 19 days of this month… find out the top six most-discussed elections issues at Mark’s blog.
The Marketwire SEO Analyzer measures how well you’ve incorporated your SEO strategy into your latest press release.
Journalists and investors rely on search engines for information gathering. This is why modern press releases should be written with SEO in mind, so that your news has maximum visibility and relevance for those who are looking for it. The cornerstone of producing content that indexes on internet searches is to target a specific keyword phrase, and work it in at five key points throughout the press release — the headline, first paragraph, multimedia elements, embedded URLs, and the backend of the release.
This week on our Small Business blog we have tips on how to keep your company’s information safe if you use cloud storage. Writer Kelli Korducki asked a few experts about security best practices for cloud.
It’s hard to believe that another month has come and gone and we have some new Editorial Hawk Eye awards to give out.
This month’s winners did an amazing job and catching errors within a release and helped our clients avoid serious fall backs from the mistakes. Congratulations goes out to Deniellie Dy for noticing a financial number in the headline didn’t match the financial number in the first paragraph of a release. She also caught the wrong date listed for a conference call on another client. Melissa Houde from our Montreal office was quick enough to catch the incorrect spelling of a Minister’s name for a release relating to that Ministry.
To get to know our editors better we had them answer some fun filled questions which the graciously answered below.
Denielli Dy, Associate Editor (Los Angeles)
What does Beyond Words mean to you? Beyond Words, for me, means combining actions with words – not just settling with written verbiage, but backing it up with action.
What’s your favourite movie? (500) Days of Summer ♥
What’s your favourite movie quote? “I take pleasure in the details. You know… a Quarter-Pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter become a cackle… and I, I sit back and I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt.” – Troy Dyer, Reality Bites
What’s your favourite colour? White
What’s your favourite day of the week? Friday, it’s my day off. :)
Cat or Dog? Dog
What was the last book you read? Henry and June: From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would that be? Jesus
If you could travel to any region in the world, where would it be? Europe ♥
Windows, iOS, or Android? iOS
If I could eat any food what would it be? I have not tried foie gras, so maybe I’d pick that.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want with you? Cell phone! So I can ask for help and keep myself occupied while waiting. Plus, I can take beautiful pictures of the island and Instagram them!
What would you do during a zombie attack? Play dead, teehee
Melissa Houde, Editor (Montreal)
What does Beyond Words mean to you? That we do such a great job, and offer such great service that it leaves the client utterly speechless.
What’s your favourite movie? I don’t know if I have a favorite movie per se, but I’ll definitely watch any of the Bridget Jones anytime!
What’s your favourite movie quote? This did make me laugh out loud: Mark Darcy: Alright Cleaver, outside. Daniel Cleaver: Should I bring my dueling pistols or my swords? (I suppose that as is it isn’t all that funny, but that whole scene, to me, is comedy gold.)
What’s your favourite colour? It’s a tie between green and yellow :)
What’s your favourite day of the week? Saturday
Cat or Dog? Dog
What was the last book you read? Game of Thrones: A Storm of Swords – Slowly making my way through all 5 books!
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would that be? My Granddad who died before I was born.
If you could travel to any region in the world, where would it be? In Canada: to the Maritimes, anywhere else: definitely the UK and Ireland!!
Windows, iOS, or Android? Neither
If I could eat any food what would it be? Oh dear…. If it was actually good for you, I’d say ice cream.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want with you? A boat
What would you do during a zombie attack? Crap! I knew I should have read The Zombie Survival Guide!
Congratulations to you both and all the other Editors who were nominated in July!
If you haven’t heard, pop princess and sk8ter boi fan Avirl Lavigne and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback are engaged. The musicians were collaborating and dating and Kroeger proposed after six months. This has caused some buzz on Twitter as Canadians went, “What? Seriously?” and then started the inevitable CanCon/Complicated/Nickelback jokes. (more…)
This week on our Small Business Blog we’ve got tips from marketing and branding experts on how to develop and grow your business.
Angelica Moreno, who has managed the well-known household brands Becel, Hellmann’s and Sensodyne, takes us through the 4Ps of marketing – the first in a series looking at how to correctly market your product.
The Calgary Stampede is an annual celebration of the cowboy culture. It’s a parade, rodeo, and exhibition held every July in Calgary, Alberta, and for those who have never attended, the festival itself attracts over a million visitors from around the world.
Born out of a vision from Guy Weadick, a cowboy and entertainer in the US, the first “Frontier Days and Cowboy Championship Contest” in 1912 was created which later became known as the Calgary Stampede. This year the Stampede celebrated its 100th anniversary and during the celebrations from July 6 – 15, most Calgary-based businesses come out in full force to celebrate the cowboy way of life. Our Marketwire Calgary office joined in on the fun, mixing and mingling with Calgary’s finest.
Calgary Team – Raghunath Krishnan, Bernadette Lee, John Robertson, Jay Cloutier, Nikki Weisgarber, Corine Blain
Held at one of the many tents constructed throughout the city during the 10-day festival, the first event was held right beside the famous Stampede Parade route that crosses the downtown core of Calgary. This was a chance for our team to dress in their cowboy/cowgirl best to celebrate with our clients.
Calgary Team is Ready (left/rigt) – Julia Kittelsen, Nikki Weisgarber, John Robertson, Corine Blain
Jay Cloutier showing how business gets done during the Stampede
Happy Clients – Alix from Missing Children Canada, and Sean Beardow from Cohn & Wolfe
Huge Stampede Crowd
A few days later, we hosted a fantastic events for our clients, and later in the evening everyone got a chance to watch Sloan perform under the tent.
Stampede Crowd Gets Ready for Sloan
Calgary Crew takes a well deserved break – Raghunath Krishnan, Julia Kittelsen, Jay Cloutier, Bernadette Lee, Lee Hill, Corine Blain
Our team had a great time helping celebrate the sentinel Stampede. Until next year…YA-HOO!
Recently, in my small-business research I’ve come across an interesting phenomenon: women who shy away from the fact they’re bringing in a buck… or four.
For the most part, I’ve noticed it with respect to women whose businesses involve a community-spirited enterprise. If, the company mission, for example, is more altruistically aligned, the business owner wants to ensure her integrity’s intact with stakeholders.
But, according to experts I’ve interviewed, even some for-profit female business owners tend to hush and blush rather than shake their money-making magic—as if it’s “no big deal” or embarrassing for them to be seen as public profiteers even though their male counterparts seems to toot their horns with dedication. Read more.
There’s been a lot of buzz about Paul Ryan, the Republican Vice-President candidate chosen by Mitt Romney. Community Manager Sheldon Levine took a look at what’s being said:
On Monday, Mark wrote here about Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s choice for his running mate and Vice President. When the announcement hit on Saturday, tweets were averaging 3,746 per minute. Since then, the talk has died down a bit, but Ryan is still a popular topic across the social sphere. Using MAP, our social media monitoring and analytics software, I took a look at the talk about Paul Ryan.
At Marketwire, our amazing teams work hard every day to ensure that our clients receive the best possible experience that is Beyond Words.
Our editors process thousands of releases monthly and sometimes receive a release that contains errors, despite rigorous checking and multiple proofs by the client. Every quarter two editors from North America are honored with our Hawk Eye Award for their amazing eyes and ability to spot errors within a client’s release and correct them before the release is distributed publicly.
June’s Hawk Eyes: Mark Stratford, Toronto and Natalie Leal, Los Angeles
Every quarter we also recognize and celebrate two editors in North America with our MVP award. These editors have gone above and beyond during the quarter in help our clients and offering the industry’s best customer service.
This quarter’s MVPs: Claire Haley, Chicago and Megan Cuthbert, Calgary
To help you get to know them better, we’ve had our award winners answer a few fun questions.
Mark Stratford, Senior Editor (Toronto)
What does Beyond Words mean to you?
I think it means that we provide such uniformly excellent and flawless results that it leaves our customers literally speechless. They would tell us just how great we are, but they can’t – they’re beyond words.
What’s your favourite movie? Life During Wartime by Todd Solondz
What’s your favourite movie quote?
“Oh, for goodness sakes, get down off that crucifix. Someone needs the wood.” From, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
What’s your favourite colour?
Purple
What’s your favourite day of the week?
Saturday
Cat or dog?
Neither. Allergies.
What was the last book you read? Your Wildest Dreams, Within Reason by Mike Sacks
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?
John Lennon
If you could travel to any region in the world, where would it be?
My living room
Mac or PC?
Etch-A-Sketch
If you could eat any food what would it be?
An entire Dairy Queen soft-serve cake
If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want with you?
An iPhone with unlimited juice
What does Beyond Words mean to you?
Beyond Words means you can transmit your desired message using other media besides the written word, such as videos, images, infographics…etc. It’s about taking advantage of the tools you have in this digital age.
What’s your favourite movie? Life is Beautiful
What’s your favourite movie quote?
I don’t have a favorite movie quote. But there are two quotes I would love to share: “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” — Unknown source and “Don’t hate the black and don’t hate the white, if you get bitten hate the bite.” — Sly Stone
What’s your favourite colour?
I don’t have one. I like earth tones.
What’s your favourite day of the week?
Saturday, because it’s the first day off.
Cat or dog?
Both. I’ve had cats my whole life and I am a staunch defender of cats in the common cat vs. dog debate, particularly when people pass judgment on cats without ever having been too familiar with one (am I taking this question too seriously?!). But I also love dogs, I’ve always wanted one. They seem to make better companions. I just find cats to be so quirky and amusing, and they can display some powerful affection.
What was the last book you read? The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?
Mahatma Gandhi. I think he would have some insights to share. I’d also like to meet White House Reporter Helen Thomas.
If you could travel to any region in the world, where would it be?
I would really enjoy travelling to South America. For starters, there wouldn’t be a huge language barrier in the Spanish-speaking countries. I identify strongly with my Colombian roots but have never visited. I would also love to experience the grandeur of Machu Picchu, learn how to tango in Argentina, see the Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil…and if this wish happens to come true in 2014…go to the World Cup in Brazil!
Mac or PC?
PC
If you could eat any food what would it be?
If you couldn’t tell from my previous answers, I’m having trouble narrowing it down. There is so much food I could think of that’s just the bees knees. It’s a tossup between my comfort food: a Colombian dish with red beans, rice and an arepa (flat patty made of flour) and Middle Eastern cuisine.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want with you?
The romantic part of me chooses my boyfriend. The dreamer in me opts for a unicorn. And my pragmatic side would go with a fully-functional boat.
Anything else you want to share?
I can speak backwards.
What does Beyond Words mean to you?
Beyond Words means that Marketwire’s services go beyond what my department does (we’re all about the words in Editorial!)
What’s your favourite movie? Rushmore
What’s your favourite colour?
Gold
What’s your favourite day of the week?
Cliché, but Saturday
Cat or dog?
Cat
What was the last book you read? Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be?
Marc Bolan of T.Rex
If you could travel to any region in the world, where would it be?
Australia and New Zealand
Mac or PC?
PC!
If you could eat any food what would it be?
Portillo’s Italian Beef
If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want with you?
Ideally, a means of escape!
Congrats to all of our award winners and everyone working behind the scenes in Editorial.
Marketwire recently hosted a webinar called, Stop calling journalists, get them to call you! 10 PR Musts for Business Owners. Lisa Elia, the founder and CEO of Lisa Elia Public Relations took an hour of her time to share her tips about how to lay the proper groundwork so journalists and bloggers are motivated to call publicists for interviews.
The Internet is a wilderness – vast and untamed. In an ever-changing technological ecosystem clamoring for readers’ attention, a press release is one of many pieces of information looking for a strong position among its peers.
With so many options for news, how do you get your company’s release perched at the top of the online food chain? (more…)
The buzz is building about the Closing Ceremonies for the London Olympics. Expectations are high thanks to the success and overall positive response of the Opening Ceremonies. One of the talked about guests are the Spice Girls. Yes, the girl power nineties band is rumoured to be one of the groups performing at the closing ceremonies and people are loving it.
In the last week there has been approximately 45,000 tweets about them.
They’re not the only ones rumoured to be performing on Sunday. Other names include Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Blur, The Rolling Stone and New Order.
People are indulging in speculation all over Twitter:
You’re yawning through yet another boring presentation. Try as you might, you find it really difficult to focus and your mind starts to wander. The presenter seems to care more about what he or she is saying than about what his or her audience is absorbing.
Two non-profits: similar overall goal, different Marketwire solutions
The MasterCard Foundation and Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life reach out to audiences thousands of miles apart. What they have in common – in addition to the desire to make this world a better place – is that they both rely on Marketwire to help them motivate people to take action. But they each use a different Marketwire solution to reach that goal.
The MasterCard Foundation uses Marketwire Heartbeat to monitor its social media outreach efforts. In partnership with the African Leadership Academy, the Foundation ran a social media campaign directed to a unique demographic profile – young African entrepreneurs. Heartbeat provided valuable feedback during the campaign, and the results have helped guide the Foundation’s future campaigns directed at the same audience.
In contrast, Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life directs its messages to general populations in targeted metropolitan areas across Canada. Its goal is to motivate people to take part in its Walks and help raise awareness of its mission at a community level. So its tool of choice is Marketwire’s Major City media newslines, which are a cost-effective way to generate media pick-up. Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life says this plays a huge and critical role in getting people to volunteer and donate.
Read more about these organizations’ success stories and how Marketwire helped them achieve their goals, in the following case studies:
It seemed that everyone on Twitter was watching the game between the Canadian and American women’s soccer teams on August 6. Canadians raged at the 4-3 loss to the Americans and a lot of comments were directed at the Norwegian referee, Christina Pedersen and her controversial call to penalize Canada for holding the ball for more than six seconds. (more…)
You can’t talk about the London Olympics without talking about the British Royal Family. One member, Zara Phillips, is part of Great Britain’s equestrian team, Princes William and Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge are all ambassadors for the games and Zara Phillips’ mother, Princess Anne competed in the 1976 games. (more…)
It’s been a busy summer for the Sysomos team. They’ve been upgrading the MAP and Heartbeat platforms to add the Portuguese language to the sentiment engine.
