Unlocking the Benefits of AI-Generated Social Influencers in Canadian Influencer Marketing
Dwayne S.Xavier May 24, 2024 Unlocking the Benefits of AI-Generated Social Influencers in Canadian Influencer Marketing The team at Swerve, a leading digital marketing agency in Canada, has been closely following the advancements in AI and its impact on marketing, particularly in the areas of PR and social media influencer marketing in Canada. AI-generated social influencers will soon have active channels across the social media landscape, potentially rivalling, even overtaking, human-operated influencer channels. The question many of us have is – how do we differentiate between them and how can we use this growing classification of influencers to our and our client’s advantage? AI-generated social influencers are computer-generated profiles designed to simulate human behaviour and content on social media. They are growing so rapidly as they can produce content faster and with fewer limitations than humans can. As a PR agency in Canada, we are working hard to stay up-to-date about the growing practice of AI social influencers, as they have the potential to attract followers, attention and ultimately, client influencer budgets. Here are ten ways for PR professionals to identify AI-generated social influencers: Perfect images: AI-generated profiles often feature flawless images that lack imperfections. Consistently high-quality content: AI-generated profiles consistently generate top-quality content free of errors or inconsistencies. Limited personal information: AI-generated profiles often have minimal personal information such as background or biography. Questionable engagement: AI-generated profiles often display high levels of engagement, which can be difficult to determine as genuine or artificially generated. Lack of personal opinions or emotions: AI-generated profiles typically lack personal opinions or emotions, designed to appeal to a wide audience by being neutral. Rapid growth in followers: AI-generated profiles often experience a rapid increase in followers, optimized for growth and engagement. Few personal connections: AI-generated profiles often have few personal connections, such as followers, friends, or links to other social media platforms. Automated responses: AI-generated profiles often utilize automated responses, such as standardized comments or likes, to interact with followers. Consistent posting schedule: AI-generated profiles frequently have a consistent posting schedule, programmed to generate content at regular intervals. Inauthentic engagement: AI-generated profiles often display inauthentic engagement, such as fake comments or likes, aimed at increasing engagement and followers. We also recognize that PR professionals can leverage AI-generated influencers to our advantage: Targeted audience reach: AI-generated profiles can be optimized to attract specific target audiences, making them an effective tool for reaching and engaging with specific demographics. Improved brand visibility: AI-generated profiles can enhance brand visibility by generating high-quality content and boosting engagement on social media. Amplified brand messaging: AI-generated profiles can amplify brand messaging by creating and sharing content that aligns with brand values and messaging. Lead generation: AI-generated profiles can help generate leads by engaging with potential customers and directing traffic to brand websites. Brand reputation monitoring: AI-generated profiles can monitor brand reputation by tracking mentions of the brand and identifying potential issues that require attention. Generating interest: AI-generated profiles can generate interest and excitement by creating buzz-worthy content. Increased social media presence: AI-generated profiles can enhance a brand’s presence on social media by generating content and increasing engagement. Cost-effective marketing: AI-generated profiles offer a cost-effective solution for influencer marketing, eliminating the need for human influencers and associated costs. Whatever your opinion is of AI-generated social influencers, their rise is inevitable and just around the corner. Examples of AI content across mainstream media, news channels and social media are already widespread and growing by the day. As a PR agency in Canada, our team recognizes we will be ‘working’ with these channels in some way or another soon, and we will continue to update the industry on our findings and approach here on the Swere blog.
Why PR is crucial for a successful SEO strategy
Dwayne S.Xavier May 24, 2024 Why PR is crucial for a successful SEO strategy Public relations (PR) and influencer marketing can be very beneficial in driving your firm’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. While SEO and PR are often seen as separate marketing strategies, they are inextricably linked, and incorporating PR into your SEO efforts can yield tremendous success. Here are four ways to incorporate PR as part of your SEO strategy: Link Building: Search engines prioritize backlinks, which are links from other websites to your site, as a critical ranking factor. Earning high-quality backlinks can signal to search engines that your website is reputable and trustworthy. By leveraging a PR agency’s expertise, you can create valuable content that other websites will link to, which can improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site. Content Creation: Creating engaging and informative content is a fundamental aspect of a successful SEO strategy. High-quality content that resonates with your target audience can be shared and linked to, improving your search engine rankings. A PR agency can help you create content that appeals to your audience and is likely to be shared by influential websites and individuals. Brand Awareness: Public relations focuses on establishing relationships with media outlets, influencers, and your target audience. By securing media coverage and mentions on authoritative websites, you can increase your brand’s visibility and credibility, which can drive more traffic to your site and improve your search engine rankings. Reputation Management: Online reputation management is an important aspect of an SEO strategy. Negative reviews or mentions can harm your search engine rankings and discourage potential customers. PR agencies can help you monitor your brand’s online presence and address negative comments or reviews. By creating positive media coverage and mentions, PR agencies can improve your brand’s online reputation and drive more traffic to your site. In conclusion, integrating PR into an SEO strategy is crucial for success. By earning high-quality backlinks, creating engaging content, enhancing brand awareness, and managing your online reputation, PR agencies can help you improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site. At Swerve, where we specialize in public relations, influencer marketing, and digital marketing, we understand the importance of a comprehensive and integrated approach to marketing, and we are committed to helping our clients achieve their marketing goals.
Swerve PR Expands Its Portfolio: Celebrate New Client Wins
May 24, 2024 Swerve PR Expands Its Portfolio: Celebrate New Client Wins The agency is committed to adopting an integrated approach and offering creative solutions that foster growth. Swerve PR, one of North America’s leading public relations and digital marketing agencies, has kicked off 2023 with exciting news that they have been named the agency of record for Childventures, Canada’s premier early learning center. The new mandate will see Swerve expanding its involvement to establish Childventures as a credible voice in early childhood education through a strategic communication program and stakeholder engagement. The move follows Swerve’s recent success, which includes being named a platinum winner in the Marcom Awards 2022 International Competition for the launch of Magic Mixies Magic Cauldron by Moose Toys under the strategic communications category. Swerve PR takes pride in creating meaningful work for leading brands across diverse sectors in the US and Canadian markets, including toys, baby products, food & beverage, retail, education, health & wellness, technology, and consumer lifestyle industries. Andrew Wagar, the President and CEO of Swerve PR, is excited to begin the year with new and promising projects. The addition of new clients and the expansion of the existing client portfolio is a testament to Swerve’s integrated strategy. The agency is committed to delivering high quality creative work across all services, building trusted partnerships between clients and the agency to contribute to the company’s growth. With Swerve’s successful achievements in public relations, content creation, influencer marketing, social media, and events, the agency is dedicated to expanding its range of services in the digital realm and working closely with clients such as StayAbove Nutrition, In-Store Water Systems, and Tineco on implementing integrated digital strategies, SEM optimization, programmatic and paid search. As a full-service agency, Swerve believes in the power of an integrated approach and thoughtful strategies to meet client’s business and marketing objectives. The recent addition of ChildVentures to Swerve’s portfolio highlights the agency’s ongoing commitment to expanding its client base across diverse sectors. With its holistic approach to strategic communications, Swerve is uniquely positioned to help brands build their business and achieve their marketing objectives. As the agency continues to expand its digital offerings, it will no doubt remain at the forefront of the industry and continue to deliver meaningful results for its clients. For a preview of our work and learn more, please visit: Website: Swerve PR Instagram: @swerveprinc LinkedIn: Swerve
A Brief History of Public Relations
May 24, 2024 A Brief History of Public Relations A Brief History of Public Relations and some Great Campaigns in Recent YearsAt Swerve, a PR agency in Toronto, we understand that to stand out in our noisy and complicated world, brands want unique, strategic PR plans that speak specifically to their audience and about their unique selling points. That’s why we create unique creative and strategic plans for each brand we work with. Here are some recent creative and innovative ways brands have used consumer PR to break through the clutter and used creative marketing strategy to stand out in a noisy world. The success and recognition of these campaigns should be credited to the brilliant PR and marketing professionals that created them, but ultimately, and as always, are given to the brands that benefited from them. A Brief History of PRThe first known and widely recognized public relations department was created by the inventor and industrialist George Westinghouse in 1889 when he hired two men to publicize a pet project he was working on, alternating current (AC) electricity. The first appearance of the term “public relations” was in the 1897 Year Book of Railway Literature. Ivy Lee is credited as having used the first press release while he was working with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, addressing an accident, and getting ahead of the news in a local paper. Since the formal introduction and acceptance of PR as a marketing strategy, thousands, maybe millions, of PR campaigns have been launched and have been successful in different ways and have had different impacts on various audiences. KFC “It’s finger-licking good”In an instant, KFC’s finger ‘licking good’ slogan turned from a household phrase associated with anything tasty, into a phrase considered a ‘no-no’ and even insensitive and dangerous, as the COVID-19 pandemic bore down on the world. Instead of ignoring the voices asking for a change in messaging, the PR team at KFC did what they do best and had fun with the situation, blurring out the slogan to read “It’s ****** ******* good”. Having global recognition and brand alignment with your slogan gives you the flexibility to experiment with your message, in new and interesting ways while maintaining your marketing goals. Dove’s Campaign for Real BeautyA survey conducted by Unilever in 2004 brought to light the heartbreaking story that only 2% of women would describe themselves as ‘beautiful’. A key belief that these pervasive feelings of low esteem exist among women was how they compared themselves to cultural standards and expectations of ‘beauty’ as driven by media and marketers. Dove responded with a campaign that caught the world’s attention and that has continued to be successful in changing society’s definition of ‘beauty’ and helped create a movement to put a greater emphasis on self-worth and realistic standards using everyday, normal, women to expand society’s appreciation and expectations about the concept of beauty among women. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was a game-changer in beauty marketing, changing the way brands globally approach, discuss and portray expectations of physical ‘beauty’. Business-wise, the campaign was a massive success with Dove annual sales growing from $2.5 billion to over $4 billion over the first 10 years of the campaign. Sphero BB-8. The App-enabled droidThe global launch of the app-enabled Sphero BB-8 droid in 2015 is considered by many in the children’s toy and consumer electronics industry to be one of the best product launch/character introduction programs in recent history. Swerve had the privilege of being the Canada public relations and influencer marketing AOR for this launch, having already worked with Sphero leading marketing in Canada for more than 3 years and because we represent a strong portfolio of brands in toy PR, tech PR, and lifestyle PR. What set this launch apart was Sphero’s decision to bring all agencies globally together, for a 1-week strategic marketing summit and planning session, in London, England, 5 months before the launch of the product. Together we learned everything there was to know about the product and the character. At the time anything related to the Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie was under extreme embargo, so information on the plot, characters, and personalities was very limited. Using the limited info. we were privy to, the Sphero marketing and AOR team created a cohesive and seamless strategic global marketing plan to launch the product and introduce the BB-8 character in line with the launch of the most anticipated movie in world history, all on the same day, at the same time regardless of time zones, with the same messaging, story, approach and a mix of tactics, strategies, and execution specific to each global region. In just a few short months during the 2015 holiday season, Sphero sold more than 1,000,000 BB-8’s worldwide and it was crowned the season’s undisputed global ‘must-have’ toy. Swerve continued to work with Sphero long past this launch, creating and executing strategic marketing plans for all its new app-enabled gyro toys as well as new versions of BB-8, R2D2, and other Marvel and LucasFilm licensed products.
5 Trends in Communications for 2023
Dwayne S.Xavier August 29, 2024 5 Trends in Communications for 2023 Media in the digital age is ever evolving, and these days, at a faster pace then ever before. A BIG part of our role as communication professionals is to stay on top of the trends to best understand how our clients can utilize these tactics and create clear, targeted brand strategies. These are just some of the communication trends we are keeping our eye on in 2023. Increased use of video communication: With the ongoing pandemic, remote work and virtual meetings have become the new norm. Video conferencing and collaboration tools have seen a significant rise in usage, and this trend is expected to continue in 2023. Chatbots and AI-powered messaging: The use of chatbots and AI-powered messaging services for customer service and support is becoming increasingly popular. In 2023, businesses are likely to continue investing in this technology to provide more personalized and efficient customer experiences. Influencer marketing: Influencer marketing has been a growing trend for several years, and it is expected to continue to be a popular marketing strategy in 2023. Brands will continue to collaborate with influencers to reach their target audience and increase their social media presence. Virtual and augmented reality: Virtual and augmented reality technology is becoming more accessible and user-friendly. In 2023, we may see more businesses incorporating these technologies into their communication strategies to create immersive experiences for their customers. Interactive content: Interactive content, such as quizzes, polls, and surveys, is becoming increasingly popular on social media. This trend is expected to continue in 2023, with more businesses using interactive content to engage with their audience and gather feedback.
Is Earned Media Still Possible?
Dwayne S.Xavier August 29, 2024 Is Earned Media Still Possible? Yes! Earned media is still alive and well in today’s digital age. In fact, it is one of our greatest strengths here at Swerve. Earned media refers to publicity that is gained through promotional efforts other than paid advertising, such as through word-of-mouth, media coverage, or social media sharing. While the rise of social media and digital advertising has certainly changed the media landscape, there are still opportunities for brands to generate earned media. At Swerve we focus on creating high-quality and shareable content, social engagement , collaboration, positive brand experiences, and above all, we nurture our partnerships, relationships and knowledge of the media landscape. The opportunity for earned media has certainly not disappeared, but has become a coveted skillset that should not be overlooked. Targeted coverage requires a strategic and consistent approach. It’s not enough to simply create great content and hope that people will discover and share it on their own. Brands need to actively work to promote their content and engage with their audience in order to generate earned media. FUJIFILM PRINTLIFE was featured on the Marilyn Denis Valentine’s Day giveaway segment ,which aired across 7 key markets including Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener, Montreal, Thunder Bay, Northern Ontario and Atlantic Canada, garnering a reach of over 10 Million impressions. Marilyn was ecstatic when she was surprised with the latte mug with her prom photo and yearbook message. Way to go TEAM SWERVE!
