There’s little question that for many companies, Twitter is good for business.  With more than 300 million user accounts and about 13% of online adults in the U.S. using Twitter there is increasing potential for companies to build relationships with customers, increase brand awareness and drive revenue.  Twitter has become a hotspot for social media-savvy brands, and the best-of-the-best use creativity and a customer-centric focus to engage their audiences and cultivate true brand ambassadors.  But for a brand to truly succeed on Twitter, they must look beyond the number of followers and retweets, and instead focus on the level of engagement they have with the stakeholders who can – and do – impact their bottom line.  Take a look at ten brands that are doing it right.

(more…)

[Note:  This post is the inaugural entry in “The Pulse,” a weekly feature that will explore trending topics, rankings and industry “bests” across a wide spectrum of communication disciplines.  We'll post a new "Pulse" each week through 2011 here at Channel M. ]

Lots of PR and digital agencies do a great job for their clients in helping them to establish a social media presence or build a loyal network of fans and brand advocates.  But fewer do a great job with their own social media presence.  Today’s social media-enabled agency knows it’s not enough to simply amass a large number of followers or broadcast promotional messages on their Facebook page — audience engagement is the currency of the social media landscape.  So who’s doing it right, which agencies are most connected to their communities, and why? 

(more…)

This is Part 2 of a two-part Q&A with communications consultant Shonali Burke, ABC, principal of Shonali Burke Consulting and adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. In Part 1, Shonali talked about about social media and its effect on public relations. In this article, Shonali discusses integrated communications and describes the “hub-and-spoke” approach — both of which she discussed during a recent webinar, “How to Supercharge Your PR Program,” sponsored by Marketwire and HubSpot. (more…)

Award-winning communications consultant Shonali Burke, ABC, principal of Shonali Burke Consulting and adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, delivered a webinar on designing a social media-optimized PR program. This presentation was part of an ongoing six-part series sponsored by Marketwire and HubSpot titled “How to Supercharge Your PR Program.” (more…)

Marketwire’s EVP of Marketing/Editorial Operations/Media Relations Paolina Milana is speaking at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) in San Diego, Wednesday, February 24, 2010, on the Integrated Marketing Forum panel discussion. In her blog post for OMS, she uses a Sicilian quote to highlight the importance of relationships in integrated marketing strategies.