Winter 2019
Name Dropping
Here's a sampling of what's going on with our clients and staff:

Great Northern has joined the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network, which means they can now help test, design and supply protective packaging in line with Amazon’s Packaging Certification requirements. Read more here.

The Port of Green Bay held a series of public planning meetings in October to help determine the future of Renard Island, a 55-acre piece of waterfront property in Green Bay. The final master plan is now being developed and should be released sometime this spring.

Jake’s Diapers of Kaukauna, Wis. is expanding its reach in the U.S. by adding distribution partners in seven states. Jake’s is a nonprofit ministry solving diaper needs with diapers for babies, children and adults in extreme poverty and disaster situations, whose caregivers have to choose between food and diapers.
 
Susan (Bachman) Levitte has been hired as Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport’s (GRB) Marketing and Communication Manager. Levitte will primarily be responsible for promoting the GRB brand and reputation throughout Northeast Wisconsin, with a focus on increasing airline service and passenger growth.
 
The 2019 NCAA Final Four basketball courts were made with hardwood harvested and processed by Menominee Tribal Enterprises. A special Dedication & Blessing recently took place at Menominee Indian High School to mark the shipment of the courts.
 
Lane reservations are now open for area businesses and individuals to join Packers players, coaches and alumni at the Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley on Wednesday, June 5, for the Packers Give Back Celebrity Bowling Event presented by Nestlé. Proceeds will benefit Wisconsin CASA Association.
 
Congratulations to ATC’s Jackie Olson on her retirement. We’ll miss working with you Jackie and we know the community will miss your involvement as well!

Leonard & Finco Public Relations ushered in the New Year in a new way. Following the lead of the FAA in the Berlin Area School District, we took to social media with a video Milk Challenge . We donated 10 gallons of Wisconsin-produced milk to Paul’s Pantry and challenged other companies to do the same.
Happy Moo Year!  

2019 marks the 60 th anniversary of the Chamber of Marine Commerce . The Chamber was formed in 1959 to provide a voice to customers and ship operators in the St. Lawrence Seaway. Today, the Chamber advocates for policy for their more than 130 bi-national members in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence, Coastal and Arctic regions.
Quick Quote

"The time is always right to do what is right."

Martin Luther King, Jr.
2019 PR Resolutions
Happy New Year! We hope all of our newsletter readers had a wonderful holiday season and 2019 is off to a great start for each of you.

While New Year’s Eve and Day have passed, there is still time to set goals for you and your business in 2019, specifically a public relations resolution.

Here are a few ideas to consider for your 2019 PR resolution:

Reevaluate your public relations and social media strategies. What is working and what should you do differently? What would you like to try? What are your business goals for 2019 and how can PR help you achieve those goals? Take a step back to look at the big picture to consider your options.

Expanding outreach. Expanding public awareness of a brand or business can seem like an overwhelming task but starting small will help you lay the groundwork for future growth. For e-newsletter or email marketing campaigns, promote sign-up forms on social media. Take some time to update your media list with new publications, blogs or outlets, or new reporters in your area. Expanding lists offers the opportunity to reach people who may be unfamiliar with your organization and interested in learning more or help spread your message.

Social media actions. Social media is always evolving, so why not make it your resolution to learn more about a specific area of social media and try it out for yourself. This may include incorporating video into your content, trying ads on a platform you haven’t tried yet, or maybe even testing out a new platform. It is also a good idea to learn more about social media analytics on the platforms your business is currently on to review your followers’ interests and demographics.

There are numerous possibilities of communication outreach throughout the year, so be open to ideas, trends and opportunities!
To hashtag or not to hashtag?
That is the question.
We all know what #hashtags are, but why do people use them? More importantly, should YOU be using them?

The first person to use a hashtag was Chris Messina, a former Google employee. This was his tweet from 2007: “How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp msg?” And so, hashtags were born.

Chris’ suggestion to use hashtags to group words is their essential purpose today. Hashtags categorize content online, usually on social media platforms. For example, you can search for the hashtag #apple on Twitter. A search result list of tweets that include the hashtag #apple would come up. If you or your business chose to use #apple in a social media post, that post could come up in a search results list. So, hashtags are used to categorize content, but more strategically they’re used to extend the reach of your social media post, because your post will show up when people search for that word you’ve hash-tagged. Paying attention to trending hashtags and including branded hashtags in your marketing campaigns can also help extend your reach.

Hashtags are most useful when they’re specific and are targeted to people interested in a specific niche. If you use the hashtag #braid, hairdressers and those interested in hair styling are probably looking up that hashtag and may find your post.

On Instagram, users can “follow” a hashtag and get updates when other users include that hashtag in their posts. Studies show that using more hashtags on Instagram means more engagement. But use 10 or more hashtags, and engagement drops off. Tweets or Facebook posts using more than two hashtags see a significant drop in engagement. Most personal users on Facebook don’t use hashtags because their profiles are set to private and therefore the hashtags in their posts aren’t searchable. That’s why hashtags are more popular on Twitter and Instagram.

To hashtag or not to hashtag? If you choose to include hashtags, make them #specific and don’t use too #many.
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