There was no shortage of online marketing, public relations and social media thought leaders at PubCon New Orleans this week. The Big Easy was the digital hotbed where the industry’s top talent huddled IRL for search and social sharing. Sessions, panels, keynotes covered topics on the art and science of using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, Bing and more for online success.

Some of my faves included Florida #BFF Maria Harrison, PPC Player Matt Craine, #SEO Diet Doctor Joe Laratro, NOLA Soul Sister Kirsten Wright, Cheeky Mel Carson, Social Sweet Krista Neher, Web Wonder Woman Rebecca Murtagh, Social Dashboard King Dennis Yu and the PubCon Bionic Blogger Erika Thomas!

Facebook Social PR Secrets Considering less than 5% of fans ever make it back to your Facebook Page after that first “Like”, it’s pretty important to get your brand’s message across and into the newsfeed.  

Follow these buzzworthy tips from Dennis Yu, Alison Zarrella, Will Scott and Krista Neher:

Do

• Crowdsource your content by letting fans contribute.

• Make it exclusive and encourage repeat visits with special fan offers.

• Brand your updates for easier recognition and engagement in the newsfeed.

• Make it memorable by creating patterns and themes for your content.

• Amplify your social media coverage on Facebook by paying to promote posts for more exposure.

Don’t

• Warning from Dennis Yu: When taking advantage of promoted posts in the newsfeed, DON’T do it from the actual post. Set-it up using Facebook Ads Manager or Power Editor Tool and specify targeting and interests for best results.

• When it comes to creating content for your Facebook Page or any social media network: Don’t be B-O-R-I-N-G, warns Bootcamp Digital’s CEO Krista Neher.

PR Distribution Myths Debunked, Truths Told Questions people always ask me about press release distribution: What day of the week is the best day to do a paid press release? Which press release distribution service company is best?

The answer: It depends. And yes…that is a very aggravating and non-committal answer,  I agree! But the answers really depend on your business KPI’s, goals, budget, press release topic and how well it is optimized!

At New Orleans PubCon, Greg Jarboe, Sean Jackson, Jay Berkowitz and moderator Krista Neher reported the truths in social public relations.

“In today’s news world we have 36% less journalists we had 10 years ago,” SEO-PR agency owner Greg Jarboe reminds the PubCon crowd. “In order to  stay in the news, we need to stay in the search engine news and today’s public relations means we are now writing for the public;  not just the journalists.”

When it comes to press release distribution for best reach, the Pubcon PR panel agreed the real players are BusinessWire, PRNewswire, Marketwire and e-Releases. It seems PRWeb has it’s online benefits, but lacks in some of the reach and potential BusinessWire and PRNewsire (e-releases) can offer in getting picked up on news websites such as reuters.com.

Truths

• The reason to do a press release is to get links from the media – the ones you can’t buy, hint, hint!

• Adding multimedia and videos to a press release will increase your exposure, page views, referring traffic, organic traffic and chances for media coverage from other journalists, bloggers and search engines.

• Press releases as a reputation management strategy allow brands to secure more real estate on page one of Google and be proactive in the event of a negative story. (This strategy works best BEFORE negative stories happen)

• Press releases can help your brand rank in Google and Bing also attract more unique visitors

• Optimized press releases distributed online send quality visits (referring traffic) to your website or blog, add a picture or video and get even more!

Myths

• Weekends are not a good day to release a press release. FALSE! Saturdays and Sundays have the least competition for press release distribution and can carry the most opportunity for the public to see the news on Google! Jarboe presented the facts of a case study cased on Get City Dealz. 

• The same strategy works for all brands.

• Press releases are dead.

If you are looking to learn more about how to get more publicity using social media and SEO, sign up to learn about my book:  Social PR Secrets.

The post Insider Social PR Secrets and Marketing Love Shared at #PubCon appeared first on Social PR Chat by Lisa Buyer.