A.wordsmith | Portland PR & Communications

How Brands Can Use Nostalgia

By Natalie O'Grady | Oct 6, 2016

It’s become almost an annual joke that Americans love fall so much. Mid-summer, plenty of your Facebook friends were probably posting about how much they’re looking forward to pumpkin patches, apple picking, and the sacred pumpkin spice latte. The autumn-love is at a fever pitch now that October is here, but just why do we […]

Round Up: How Businesses are Using Pokemon Go

By Natalie O'Grady | Sep 12, 2016

Earlier this summer, Pokémon Go hysteria swept the globe. Fueled by nostalgia and one of the first widespread iterations of augmented reality, the app became the most downloaded app in a first week ever. Groups of Pokémon trainers traversing the streets, phone in hand, became a common sight in many cities, and many families found […]

What Thought Leadership is Not

By Natalie O'Grady | Aug 10, 2016

“Thought leadership” is often considered a buzzword in the marketing and PR world – little more than a spruced up advertisement for a company. However, if your content marketing pieces fit this description, then you’re not doing thought leadership. Thought leadership can be a strong, useful addition to a content marketing program and goes well beyond […]

3 Takeaways from Digital Summit Portland 2016

By Natalie O'Grady | Jul 18, 2016

This past week, I was able to attend the inaugural Digital Summit Portland at the Portland Art Museum. A meeting of the minds among social media, SEO, content marketing, and UX experts, the conference provided a wealth of information and networking opportunities. Speakers from companies like Pinterest, Microsoft, Facebook, and Uber gave me some inspiration for […]

Facebook Newsfeed Algorithm Updates – 3 Things to Know

By Natalie O'Grady | Jun 30, 2016

For a company not even two decades old, Facebook has done a fantastic job integrating itself into the daily lives of people around the globe. It quickly became a hot spot for brands looking to connect to a wide variety of audiences, and public relations professionals have been including the platform in their communications plans […]

Engage, don't broadcast: People hate social media ads

By Natalie O'Grady | Jun 2, 2016

Mallory Benham, a 23-year-old recent graduate, summed up the problem with social media ads in an interview for a recent Harris poll with a quote that’s likely to frustrate many marketing professionals. “I go on social media to see and know what my friends are doing. I don’t want to see ads clutter my news […]

Staffing Updates – New Faces at A.wordsmith

By Natalie O'Grady | May 13, 2016

2016 has already been a great year for A.wordsmith. We’ve started work with some amazing new clients and have exciting plans for the second half of the year. We’ve also brought on some new team members who are helping the firm grow with their talents and passion. In April, Marta Betts joined us as a […]

Should Native Advertising Become a PR Tactic?

By Natalie O'Grady | Apr 15, 2016

Though marketing, advertising, and public relations all play in the same “sandbox,” traditionalists in the world of PR will tell you that the industry doesn’t have much to do with paid placements or marketing pieces. And for the most part, they’re still correct – public relations by definition is about earned media and public perception […]

Public Relations in the age of the Internet of Things

By Natalie O'Grady | Mar 17, 2016

When I was finishing my undergraduate degree program several years ago, one of my communications professors introduced the class to something called “The Internet of Things.” He explained that in the not-so-distant future, we’d be living in what basically amounted to the home in that Disney Channel classic movie, Smart House – refrigerators which has […]

Dealing with Negative Social Media Comments: You Can't Just Delete

By Natalie O'Grady | Feb 24, 2016

Social media allows brands to connect with their consumers on a pretty cool, personal level. When you set up a social media account and get things rolling, it can also be a nice ego boost. Things have been going well on your company’s Facebook page – people are liking, commenting on, and sharing your posts. […]

Nonprofit Social Media: Suggestions for Policies and Guidelines

By Natalie O'Grady | Jan 27, 2016

Working in the world of nonprofits often means getting creative with a tight budget. This means that there aren’t many nonprofits (especially small, local ones) that have money to spare for a full-time nonprofit social media person on staff. While working with an outside public relations agency to fill this need can be extremely beneficial, […]

3 Tools for Staying on Top of News & Trends

By Natalie O'Grady | Dec 18, 2015

Working in public communications means you’ll likely spend a decent amount of time each week perusing news headlines, industry publications, and social media hashtags. In order to best represent your clients and find prime opportunities for coverage, you need to be aware of the top trends and breaking news. This includes public relations news, industry talk […]