Author Archives: thejackik

5 Quick Tricks on Holiday Posting

Posted on May 27, 2017 by thejackik

Snap! There’s a Holiday around the corner! No, it’s happening RIGHT NOW! It’s today, but I didn’t have anything planned for my business of choice! How will people hear me among the shouting of Holiday Sales? Don’t worry, you can jump on the bandwagon and still have your voice heard, you just have to be savvy about it.

Let’s focus on Memorial Day, as it’s happening in the next few days while I write this blog post.

It is currently the year 2017 and Pirates of the Caribbean (what is it like number 5?) is eating up the airwaves. It’s everywhere, as it was once a staple of the summer opening. TV Commercials, radio spots, and more. Which leads us to our first trick:

1.) Don’t Jump on the Bandwagon, Set Sail on One

Did you see what I did there? No, not yet, because I haven’t explained the tip yet. Here’s what you do, don’t use the tired old trait of Memorial Day (or said holiday). I mean, we’re going to use it, but it’s not going to be your main motif because no one will see that it’s any different. Instead, find something else relevant that is going on. You then get TWO hashtags for the price of one message and your voice is reaching TWICE the audience. Got a tweet ready for Memorial Day or a Facebook post? Pirate. It. Up. They ALREADY have a hashtag: #PiratesLife. So let’s compose a quick tweet, shall we? How about the one I’ll use for this blog post that caught your eye!

“ARRRRGGGGHhhhhh Mateys, I’ve got 5 Tricks on Holiday Posting this #MemorialDay, read about the booty now! #PiratesLife”

Boom. Done. Not only have I had a chance to use the common Memorial Day hashtag (that is inevitably trending) but I’ll stand out in that hashtag for using another trending item! Ergo, use the holiday to your advantage, but don’t drown in it, stand out, and set your own sail against the sea of sales.

2.) Let the Image do the Talking

Instagram, you on it? Maybe not, but I’m not about to tell you to be, what we’re going to focus on is how Instagram combines storytelling with the social media elite. The image I’m using to promote this blog, what’s it tell you (seen right)? A few things, one, I’m vain, there I am in my American flag tank top from the 4th of July last year. Two, I’m branding me, hey, that’s why I’m front and center. Three, we’ve got 5 tricks we’ll be reviewing on Holiday Posting for businesses and brands. What will the 5 tips focus on? Well, probably Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Hashtags…. And something about Pirates of the Caribbean? Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Instagram does the same thing but a little different. Snap a pic of your product/brand/sale with your “twist” like Pirates of the Caribbean (can be as simple as tossing a pirate emoji on the pic on your phone. Then, use your hashtags, ANYTHING that is relevant to your item, brand, and “twist.” Instagram allows up to 30 tags, but that’s not saying you need ALL of those. Sometimes you can google “top hashtags in ‘item desired’” and you’ve got your work done for you. NEVER post on ANY Social media site without an image, Facebook doesn’t like that especially, so get friendly with your camera phone.

P.S. I had a learning curve on IG, you can’t post links there…. So I guess you have to say “link in bio” when you want to promote a link, so don’t forget about that. It’s easy to do, just update your bio link whenever needed.

3.) GO LIVE (Facebook Live)

Facebook is all about YOU generating your own video content because Mark Zukerberg (facebook creator) kinda has a tiff with YouTube. So right now, all the rage is going “live.” Get a few employees ready, your camera phone, and decide what you’ll go live about. Say it’s Memorial Day, you’re a brewery, and you’ve got a special ‘Merica brew, but people aren’t coming through the door. No problem. Knock a dollar or 50 cents off a pint and get ready to go live baby! I hope you’ve got red, white, and blue in your tasting room, oh you don’t? Hit up the dollar store (spend like 10 dollars, maybe) get your current customers that ARE there (call your friends, mate) prepare a sign that says “Memorial Day Special: Red, White, and BREW – one dollar off every pint of ‘special brew name.’”

Okay, you’re ready now. When you start Facebook live, use a clever title “ARGH, Memorial Day Special Now!” Give your patrons (friends) a pint (or sample) of the special brew and have every one of them say what they think about it within 10 seconds each (keep it short), near the end, zoom in on the beer and sign you created while saying: “Come on in! Ask for the Red, White, and BREW special for a dollar off your pint!”

Once you’re done, Facebook allows you to “post” the live outing, do that and bing, bang, bum. Pay attention to your comments and messages and you’re on your way to more foot traffic. Be sure that your have your location easy to find on your Facebook page though! An easy way to do that is to follow up with an image with your location on it. So post right after and get back to Tip Two with an image speaking for you. BUT, us millennials love copy paste. So if Google doesn’t know about you yet, be sure to include your address in the post!

4.) Snapchat Is Your First Mate

Dude, if you don’t have a snapchat for your business yet, you are missing out on SO much fun. Actually, at this point, please hire me and let me do it for you? There is SO much to with for snapchat for a relatively cheap price! So let’s get started.

One. Create a snapchat with an EASY NAME to find, if I were to have one, let’s make it DirectingYourBrand. No crazy numbers or signs in there. Next, make sure people know about it! Post about it on your social media and in your place of business.

Two. Get to business. Snap pictures and post them to your story, use the fun filters and capability of “writing” on the picture to your advantage!

Three. “Screenshot” pictures sent to your account and post them on your other forms of social media. That is your fan base telling you how much fun they have there or with your products. Make your customers into your fan base, and they will go rabid for you!

Four. Get a geolocation filter going for your busy times (when relevant for your business). It is super fun to create and set up! And snapchatters LOVE finding new ones to add to their collection. Honestly, lots of us prefer snapchat as our go to camera app even more than our super awesome camera app. The filters do a lot to help that need and want. (See right, that is a geofilter of me at Area 93.3 Kegs and Eggs events on Saint Patrick’s Day.)

Five. Need to learn more about geofilters? Check out this nifty article or email me for more help at directingyourbrand@gmail.com.

5.) Be the Captain of Your Ship

Finally, don’t get discouraged. Not every post will be a gem and sometimes you’ll get feedback. Make sure you’re always respectable to the holiday at one point or another and do NOT jump on sad bandwagons, unless it directly relates to you or your business, stay quiet or respectable for sad things. But aside from that, listen to your audience. See what they like and post more of that stuff! I hate saying “stuff,” but I don’t know what your business is mate, I can only generalize so much. What is most important though is to be proud of your work and your product! Don’t let pride get in the way, you did something amazing! You have an awesome deal for them! Shout it at the top of the crow’s nest and get your specially-crafted message out there.

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Questions? Comment below. Think this was a great read? Share it! Think it was a terrible read? Share it! Think I’m like the worst ever? Well, screw you Captain NoFun.

Thanks for reading!

Next blog? Stealing a Meme and Making it Do the Work for You!

Categories: Branding | Tags: 5 tricks on holiday posting, blogs about branding, brand management, Branding, branding during holidays, content creation, content creation for holidays, directing your brand, facebook live, hashtags, holiday posting, holiday social media, how to brand, how to brand during holidays, instagram, marketing, marketing management, memorial day, pirates of the caribbean, savvy content, savvy holiday posting, snapchat, social media how to, Social media strategy, trending, trending holidays, trending twitter, twitter | Leave a comment

My Favorite Things About London, England

Posted on May 27, 2013 by thejackik

There are many reasons why I adore London, so much so that I firmly believe that two weeks here won’t be nearly enough time to experience all of it. After my first week, I have stitched together a short video telling you why London will be so very difficult to leave on Friday morning.

Categories: Public Relations, Touring London, Travels | Tags: abbey road, baker street, darthing, doctor who, england, food, friends, harry potter, london, london england, london film museum, movie, police box, presentation, props, sherlock holmes, short video, star wars, studio tour, TARDIS, the beatles, touring, tourist, video, video blog, zebra crossing | Leave a comment

Sexual Education Not That Different in the U.K.

Posted on May 22, 2013 by thejackik

US vs UK: Sex Ed Show Down

One of my main hypotheses for this project was that the U.K. would have better sexual health education programs and that they would be communicating more openly with young adults. As of right now, I have interviewed six young adults in London which helped me realize how similar their sex education is to the U.S. On the whole, my interviewees have had semi-comprehensive health classes that teach them about sexual health at different ages. During their junior high years, they are taught mostly about the biology of their sexual anatomy, and gain more knowledge about STIs and unwanted pregnancies and how to prevent them as they age in high school.

I did find some very interesting, slightly contradictory information when I spoke to one California graduate student (26), who is studying abroad here and is dating a young U.K. man (25). She was a great insight to sexual health education in both America and the United Kingdom, which is a source I wasn’t expecting to get. Apparently, at the beginning of their relationship, her boyfriend had very limited knowledge on sexual education and she actually had to tell him and his friends about STI testings and other common knowledge things.

The U.K. also does not offer the HPV vaccine for young girls like we do in the U.S. What’s even more perturbing is that U.K. girls do not begin visiting gynecologist until the age of 21 and only visit every three years! In the U.S. we begin at the age of 18 and visit once a year. Finding out that their insurance will not cover simple doctor visits for routine female checkups blew my mind. It really made me realize that the U.K. may be much further behind when it comes to communicating with youths about sexual health.

This regression in communicating real, applicable sexual health information may be why I have found so many more organizations that are trying to tell youths about their changing bodies and the urges that follow suit. I look forward to applying more of my research to the organizations here in London.

Categories: Public Relations, Sexual Health Education | Tags: communicating, comparison, comprehensive sex ed, information, preventing pregnancies, preventing sti, safe sex, sexual health organizations, the united kingdom, the united states, UK, US, young adults, youths

London, England-an Easily Accessible Land of Fandoms

Posted on May 19, 2013 by thejackik

One of the many reasons I was so excited to visit London, England was because of all the fandom opportunities. You may have never heard of the word fandom, so I have taken the liberty of providing the definition.

Urban Definition

Taken at Sherlock Holmes’ home address: 221B Baker Street

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my top 10 places to visit while here in London, and every single one of them had to do with some sort of fandom that I was a part of. Even after only my first weekend, I can already cross off Big Ben (Peter Pan), Parliament (V for Vendetta), Marylebone Station (The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night), 221B Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes‘ Address), and Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter). While I had some great photo opportunities at each place, there were also many, many souvenir shops within walking distance where I am happily willing to pay a few pounds for London fandom merchandise! (Even if it is made in China.)

One of my favorite moments on the trip was walking about near Big Ben and seeing a horde of school-age students walking around in what we thought were Harry Potter clothes! We thought maybe they were on their way to a play or something. Turns out, their school just sported the same dress style with Gryffindor colors! It was such a shock, because required uniforms in the States do not look like that. All these kids were missing were cloaks and wands! I swear!

The Harry Potter Pseudo Children

I have been incredibly privileged and excited to see all of the amazing places I’ve visited and taken pictures at. While in line, I spoke to the workers at Platform 9 3/4 and I became so excited that I shook! London really is the perfect place for a person of many fandoms to visit, but you’ll need more than a weekend to fit everything in.

Traveling around the city is easy enough as well. So far I have taken the tube every where without GPS and have been pretty successful. My suggestion to you is to figure out where you want to go and see if other places are near it. For instance, 221B Baker Street was a stone’s throw away from Marlyebone Station, and Abbey Road is a tube stop away (even though I haven’t made it there yet). So plan ahead!

Categories: Touring London, Travels | Tags: excitement, fandom, fandoms, london, merchandise, places to visit, souvenir shops, tourist | 1 Comment

A Surprising Find That Lead to More Organizations

Posted on April 28, 2013 by thejackik

Recently I updated my Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How post with key take aways from each portion of my research. What I did not mention was some of the surprises that I had along the way while researching. It was very surprising that the majority of college students would not post on Planned Parenthood’s social media sites because their of the possibility that family members could see the posts. The idea that even at the college level, young adults still feel the stigma that surrounds sexual health is astounding to me. Because of this key finding, and knowing from my previous sexual health education minor, I know how to better focus who and what I want to researching while in London England.

The United Kingdom has some amazing programs that I have recently learned about which are all about creating an open atmosphere around sexual health. The programs are not only about informing youths and young adults about their newly developing sexual life but also encourage parents, guardians, and teachers to understand why it is important to be open about sexual health education. Having the affected public comprehend that if they educate youths about proper protection and protocols than the overall holistic outcome will be well worth while. Brook and Sexpression U.K. aim to inform a younger audience so unintended teenage pregnancy and STI rates lower among this target audience. I still want to speak to people from the London Sexual Health Programme and the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV to see if any of their referrals come from Brook or Sexpression UK and if their has been a steady raise in young adults visiting the clinics.

Sexpression UK logo

Of course, I also want see how all four organizations communicate with youths as well. I believe that Brook and Sexpression UK have programs and seminars which I hope to attend while in London. I cannot wait to get there and find out more about all of these programs.

Brook webpage

Categories: Public Relations, Sexual Health Education | Tags: BASHH, british association of sexual health and HIV, brook, england, london, london sexual health programme, LSHP, NHS, public relations, sexpression, sexpression uk, sexual health education | Leave a comment

Top 10 Places for a Movie Buff to Visit in London

Posted on April 6, 2013 by thejackik

With the London trip only about a month away my excitement builds and I have figured out the places I would like to visit. Obviously anyone who is a tourist in London will have a few “must see’s and do’s” while visiting the magnificent city. I have always wanted to visit London because of the numerous books, movies, TV shows, and plays that take place in the town. My top 10 nearly all have to with movies too, so watch my video and see what they are!

What do you guys think? Did I miss any big ones? Tell me in the comments and let me know where else a movie lover should visit.

Categories: Public Relations, Travels | Tags: big ben, harry potter, london, peter pan, the beatles, touring london | 4 Comments

Don’t Travel with Cape Air

Posted on April 1, 2013 by thejackik

The Beautiful Beach Wedding

Recently I spent a weekend in Key West, Florida for a friends beautiful beach wedding. I had a wonderful experience with Delta Airlines on the way in, but when I flew out of the island I had a much different experience with a different airline.

Flying out to my connecting flight in Fort Myers, Florida with Cape Air, was a day from hell. I had used Priceline.com to book my round trip flight, and Delta was spot on with sending me my confirmation email saying that I could check into my flight. My bags were packed and I was ready for my two flights to make it into sunny Florida. But when the day came to leave the beach front and make it back to chilly Ohio my email inbox was empty. There was not “You can check into your flight now!”

Continue reading →

Categories: Travels | Tags: cape air, customer service, delayed flights, delta air lines, flying to key west, key west florida, poor customer service | Leave a comment

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Posted on March 10, 2013 by thejackik

While researching the communication tactics of Planned Parenthood I want to find out:

Who, What, Where, When and Why

who their target audience is
how they talk to them
what their information is
if their tactics are proving to be a success
how they communicate with young adults
what their thoughts are on social media
if they think social media is worth their time
if their message is being received by young adults on social media

My interview sources include:

An educator of the Northern Ohio Region for Planned Parenthood who works in community relations. ONE KEY TAKE AWAY (KTA)- Educators are invited into high school classrooms, college classes, residential halls, and Greek letter organizations to talk to young adults about Planned Parenthood’s services and also how to practice safe sex and have a healthy sexual life. This is a different kind of open two way communication the organization is providing to its audience.

A Chair of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio. ONE KTA- Planned Parenthood must be aware of the big picture in a short term manner. Considering how PP could be de-funded and closed in certain areas after a bill passes they need to still provide accurate sexual/medical health information to their audience

Seven students found through Facebook that will fill out a Questionnaire via email about Planned Parenthood that are ages 18-22. ONE KTA- Even though they were college students, most of them would prefer to not communicate with PP on social media like Facebook or twitter. They would prefer to use the internet or the texting service.

One personal friend who is a health client of Planned Parenthood. ONE KTA- PP needs to always be updating their website, since clinics can be closed down pretty fast, PP needs to remove those clinics from the webpage. If a youth would have traveled all the way to the closed down clinic, and they were nervous to begin with, they may not take the time or have the resources to Google where the next nearest clinic is.

A PR Agent from a Cleveland area PR Agency who has worked with non-profits before. ONE KTA- Create a Facebook app that a viewer could use without having to click “like” on PP’s Facebook page that could debunk myths about sexual health AND Planned Parenthood.

Categories: Public Relations, Sexual Health Education | Tags: communication strategies, communication tactics, planned parenthood, public relations, sexual health, young adults | 1 Comment

Communication Strategies for Sexual Health Organizations

Posted on February 24, 2013 by thejackik

This semester I plan on studying the communication techniques between an organization that focuses on sexual health and young adults (18-21). The two organizations I will be focusing on are Planned Parenthood in the U.S. and the London Sexual Health Programme in the U.K. I am curious as to how these two organizations communicate information about safe sex, unwanted pregnancies, and STIs to this age group and how they educate them about the services provided.

I set out to learn about the comparisons and contrasts between the two organizations, how well their form of communication works for them, and if their differences can be applied to the other company. I believe that this kind of in depth analysis is important because of how low America is ranked when it comes to knowledge and education around sexual health.

For years Europe has been rated at the top of this spectrum of sexual acceptance which is one reason I am interested in this certain analysis. What makes the United Kingdom both a great and a bad choice for this is the fact that it is so similar to the United States. But the United States is a big place, so I am concentrating on Ohio in particular. An analysis of a similar country to the United States is a perfect stepping stone to begin what would be a difficult journey that is building a better sexual understanding for the United States.

Categories: Public Relations, Sexual Health Education | Tags: communication strategies, london sexual health programme, planned parenthood, public relations, sexual health, young adults | Leave a comment

A Movie Maniac Hoping to Help Youths

Posted on February 6, 2013 by thejackik

Who is Jacki Krumnow? That all depends on the day and the time of the year. Currently, I am a graduate student focused on a future trip to London, England in May of 2013. I will be studying sexual health campaigns focused on teenagers to help build a foundation on my future graduate project.

In the future I might be in California or Arizona beginning my career as a public relation practitioner. I hope to work for a non-profit like Planned Parenthood or a division of the National Park Foundation. And every day I am a lover of film and television. My dream job would be to work for a film or television studio as a PR agent, thus incorporating my passion and my career into one. This blog is here to show you what I am doing throughout graduate school in public relations. And my other blog, Reel Thoughts of Jacki K, is about movies and television. I write reviews and report on any upcoming entertainment news that I find interesting to myself and possible readers.

One of the things I love about being a student is the structure it brings into my life and the ability to constantly grow as an academic. Being a graduate student gives me the opportunity to expand my knowledge in ways I would not be able to do on my own. I am thankful for having the chance to not only go to a top 200 rated university but also be a part of the Global AD and PR course and participate in a trip to London. I believe getting an European opinion on sexual education and health program will bring a unique and substantial outlook for my future career because Europe is much more advanced in teaching about sexual health.

Categories: Public Relations | Leave a comment