Blog Review: Ragan’s PR Daily (prdaily.com)
(MARK 9049)
Background
Ragan’s PR Daily (prdaily.com) is a daily source of the latest news, insights, advice and opinions created for executives in public relations, marketing, social media and media. Originally launched in 1970 as The Ragan Report, PR Daily is produced by Lawrence Ragan Communications Inc., a Chicago based, family-owned company who for over 30 years have grown to publish over 16 newsletters in addition to producing communication conferences, workshops, and forums held throughout the United States.
Design
The very readable and user friendly home page features a large image of three scrollable stories along the top and then lists about 14 thumbnail images and short descriptions of each article each with a click through option to read more.
Tabs along the top feature themes and stories are organized by subject such as Social Media, Media Relations, Crisis, Marketing, Writing & Editing, Events, Training. In addition to articles, there is also a video tab with various short interview topics that can be viewed. Ragan’s also produces an annual professional awards program and there is an opportunity to participate.
Sharing
PR Daily is well promoted through all platforms and offers many opportunities throughout the site for readers to engage and share. Prominently displayed top right, is an option to become an email subscriber as well as to follow PR Daily on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, RSS and Flipboard.
Every aspect of this home page is appealing and engaging in its layout. Included in each thumbnail are tweet, like and comment options, encouraging instant engagement without even having to click through to the article. Above each catchy thumbnail title is a category which cleary identifies the relevant content, e.g. Reputation Management, Media Relations, Public Speaking etc. A brief synopsis follows below again, to capture your attention. Each article is on average a very readable 500 words.
Once you click through an article, under the title there are easy to find buttons along the top to print, email or share on social media tweet, like, share, youtube, and Pin. There is also a set of the same buttons at the bottom of the post/article and an opportunity to comment.
Articles are updated and posted daily. There are a variety of writers throughout the site and on an ongoing basis who include various communications professionals and consultants. The Ragan team include a publisher, two co-editors and contributing writers, who curate the content.
I subscribe to the email newsletter which sends me a daily emails of the latest articles — essentially it’s the latest blog home page. Because healthcare is of great interest to me, I also signed up for the Health Care Communication News, a daily newsletter with social media articles related to healthcare.
PR Daily’s Social Media Channels
Here’s a brief overview of PR Daily’s social media channels:
Facebook:
Cover photo features and promotes an upcoming seminar
Posts occur every two hours, articles from blog posts
94,081 likes, 4.6/5 stars, 146 reviews
Founded in 2009
Apps are promoted: PR Daily updates are embedded in facebook, Twitter embedded in facebook, Pinterest boards are all embedded in facebook, Welcome, Livestream.
TWITTER @PRDaily
Cover photo features and promotes an upcoming seminar.
33.7K tweets, 6,115 following, 97.5K followers, 3,457 likes, 2 lists
Joined 2009
Observations: Tweets feature the latest articles.
Promotes facebook address in description
YouTube
Observations: Professional development videos, sorted into Playlists. A great video resource with 2,006 subscribers.
Google+
45 followers
Observations: Posts include all PR Daily videos. Some are previews of training videos that require a fee to view fully.
37 boards, 3.2K pins, 8k followers, 137 following
Observations: Sorted by topic including public relations, marketing, social media, crisis communications, branding, etc. Noticed they include a Ragan Office board full of fun photos of office members, their families, their outings.
A social-network aggregation/magazine-format mobile app that allow you to create your own scrollable online mag.
Observations: PR Daily has created 5 magazines and an option to follow any or all of them.
The Crisis Communications Flipboard has 333 articles and 427 followers.
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Each post includes options to save to Pinterest. Once you click through the article it takes you to the website with options to share on any/all platforms.
BLOG POST REPORTS:
A crisis timeline: PR lessons from the Cincinnati Zoo
53 tweets, 194 likes, 152 shares, 10 G+1
The story about the 3-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo received worldwide attention. After debating for 10 minutes while visitors watched horrified as the gorilla dragged the screaming child around the water filled enclosure, zoo officials decided they had to kill the gorilla to safely remove the boy. Critics were divided blaming the mother and also the zoo.
This story was interesting in that it describes the “predictable” news trajectory of these stories. This is helpful to understand when dealing with incident management/business continuity crisis communications in future:
Day 1: news breaks — important for PR to issue a statement immediately
Day 2: news facts include more details, plus a vide that is now trending — PR must issue an update. Media are lining up subject matter experts, third-party validators, background information and planning day two and three stories.
Day 3: news shifts from facts to implications and commentary. E.g. Parenting experts — PR should publish blog posts.
Day 4: media shift to more implications with commentary from Animal rights activities, civil rights activities.
Day 5: media shifted back to the family with police interviews with commentary from law enforcement and criminal analysts, other zoos, animal experts. Public memes begin.
4 types of skills digital marketers must have
49 tweets, 40 likes, 196 shares, 21 G+1
This post speaks to understanding trends and how to make yourself more employable. A year ago, when surveyed, 90% of marketers didn’t feel they could navigate the digital landscape while the writer found that 93% of marketing jobs require digital skills:
- SEO skills: to optimize websites and generate traffic.
2. Mobile skills — optimizing for mobile
3. Social media skills: think beyond fans and followers; target and drive business; be site specific
4. Analytical skills: how to interpret digital marketing efforts
6 ways live videos link TV to social media.
73 tweets, 156 likes, 79 shares, 4G+1
This post speaks to trends and a massive shift in how we communicate via social media with live video — it’s important to be an early adopter and get ahead of the competition!
1. Live video is breaking records — e.g. Chewbacca Mom
2. Live video consumption will increase with the growth of mobile — transition to mobile only consumption.
3. Live videos give brand managers new ways to connect with audiences
4. Marketing proof — better data means better targeting.
5. Innovation is the key to success — live video is a way to restructure the way news content is delivered.
6. Live streaming and videos have changed the way we communicate –content on demand, via mobile and tablet.
Engaging with PRdaily
I commented on several articles on various PRdaily platforms:
I linked through a facebook article about SEO and added a question.
Conclusion
As a Communications and PR Specialist, this site is an extremely valuable resource that offers a wealth of smart, timely, relevant news, information, advice, tips and professional development on a wide range of topics important for both Communications and Marketing professionals in every industry. I frequently share articles from PR Daily on LinkedIn with my network. I also save many articles for future reference to Pinterest boards where I am able to organize under the categories such as Social Media, Graphic Design, Healthcare and Marketing.
“PR Daily is proud to call itself an integral part of that Ragan family — be it the wary red-headed stepchild that we are.
Just kidding. None of us have red hair here.”
-Ragan’s PR Daily.
