Scandinavian Communications wins Global Business Award

15/01/2020By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Content Marketing, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, Strategic Communications

Just arrived from Chile – 1st Place The PRGN Business Power Awards! We are very thankful for The Public Relations Global Network recognizing our work in Scandinavia this year 🙏

If you also like to leverage your business in Scandinavia, don’t hesitate to contact our CEO Christina Rytter at email: cr@scandcomm.com or mobile +4523967733. We are here to help.

Top 5 tips for Crisis Communications in Scandinavia

21/12/2019By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR Tips & Trends, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends, Strategic Communications

By Christina Rytter, Founder & Crisis Communications Advisor

When crisis or change hits like a bolt from the blue it’s normal for even the most experienced executive to feel concerned. Especially when you want to be at the forefront of things. Here are my Top 5 tips on how you navigate successfully through the storm when a crisis or change hits you in the Scandinavian market:

1. Response quick – but well thought out

A quick response is key in a critical situation, because it gives you the chance to handle and control the situation and thereby the outcome proactively with a higher possibility for success. BUT the quick response must be flanked by carefully thought out communications – especially what key messages you need to deliver in the conversation with your different stakeholders.

Scandinavians are very critical and direct – and we don’t hold back with the questions. This apply to both employees, journalists, clients, business partners and competitors. So, you really need to prepare. I find that one of the most effective ways in crisis and change communications in Scandinavia is to draw up and work with different realistic crisis or change scenarios and plan, what to do and say in each imaginary scenario – and which communications channels will suit your messages and conversations with different internal and external stakeholders best.    

2. Get ready for conversation

  • What is your key message? Your communication is clearer, when you only focus on one or few key messages.
  • Who are you talking to? (Your key target group/stakeholders)
  • Which information do the person/stakeholders need?
  • Which situation are they in? Communicate the messages relevant to them, not to you.  
  • Choose your role based on the person/target group. Are you formal or informal? How do you dress? What language and body language do you use? BUT be yourself!
  • Prepare, prepare and prepare.
  • Train, train and train.

3. Take control over your body language

Your body language is your greatest asset, when you know how to control and use it. When you learn to use your body language proactively combined with clear messages, you can be a brilliant and authentic leader and communicator. BUT if you don’t have your body language under control – and that is quite normal in a crisis or change situation, when you might get nervous – then it can work so much against you, that nobody hears what you say. Well-known international studies show, that up to 80 % of people’s perception of you will be from your body language. That is if you fail to control it. Otherwise people listen. Scandinavian will mostly listen – if it’s not to boring. And if you serve beer (or something stronger for the Finns) they will really listen. 😉.    

Control what we see:

  • Posture: Straight back and raised head express security, authority and energy.
  • Choose a suitable grimace for the occasion; Seriousness, enthusiasm or joy?
  • Use gestures that support the message.
  • Firm eye contact exudes security and credibility.
  • If you avoid eye contact it signals insecurity, uncertainty – and thus untrustworthiness.
  • Pay attention to your bad habits and patterns – they especially come out when you are nervous under pressure.
  • Look fresh and well-rested (of cause sometimes that might be a little difficult in a crisis).

Control what we hear:

  • Deep and calm voicing creates trust and credibility.
  • Variation in voice creates dynamism and awareness of the recipient.
  • Talk slowly – without getting boring. It exudes heaviness and credibility.
  • Breath deep and use (rhetorical) pauses.

4. Keep calm
Even the most experienced executive can get nervous under pressure in a difficult crisis or change situation. That is just human nature.

What happens when you get nervous?

  • You protect your body with your arms, turn your back, avoid eye contact, smile stiffly and stave off.
  • You sweat, get pale, get ticks, mess with your hair or perform other unconscious bad habits. What are your bad habits under pressure?
  • You move uneasily; rocks or turns on the chair. Tilting back and forth on your feet.
  • You breathe quickly and superficially.
  • You speak faster and get a sharper and lighter voice.

Then what to do?

  • Breathe deeply and plant both feet into the floor.  
  • Lower your talk rate and use (rhetorical) pauses.
  • Open your arms, straighten your back and look up and out.
  • Make and maintain eye contact – possibly look between the eyes if real eye contact is unpleasant.
  • Only smile when it suits the occasion.
  • Sit and stand still.
  • Choose a chair that stands firm. Otherwise you will quite easy start rocking or turn it.
  • If at a presentation: Go consciously among the audience.
  • Avoid carbonated water – so you don’t burp (when you breathe quick and superficially).  

5. Use the crisis to your advantage

When your response quickly and are well prepared, you can turn the difficult situation into your advantage. By working out a carefully thought out message platform with key messages as a first step. And train through the different scenarios with message- and media training, you can navigate successfully through. Get your Crisis Communications Action Plan in order; Who do you need to communicate to as a first step? When and how? If you handle crisis and change like this, people will understand you much better – and even get on your side. When you keep calm and friendly – and communicate in a clear and authentic way you be at the forefront of things. And as always, the most important thing is to prepare – and train, train, train!

Get free crisis advise and learn more about Crisis Communications

Need help with Crisis Communications in Scandinavia?

8 Tips to improve your Instagram marketing

08/12/2019By scandinaviancomContent Marketing, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends

By Christina Rytter, Founder & Trusted Communications Advisor

Instagram as B2B social media is growing at a rapid speed in all Scandinavian markets and the platform has some quite strong business solutions to support your brand building and direct lead generation to support sales. Get my Top 8 tips on how to improve your marketing effort on Instagram:

1. Understand your audience
You gotta understand your Scandinavian audience.  That’s key to success on Instagram. Scandinavians from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland are similar – but not the same!

2. Talk with them, not at them
Ask you Scandinavian audience questions. Always give a quick answer to questions and clearly communicate what you do. That’s a big key on Instagram.  

3. Use relevant hashtags
Hashtags are Instagram’s signposts. Use relevant hashtags, but not too many so it doesn’t look messy and get confusing for your audience. Analyse and test your hashtags, to find out which ones create the best impact for you and your company. Remember to brand your hashtags.

4. Know when to post
It’s vital for the amount of engagement on your Instagram posts, that you post at the right time. Instagram engagement peaks mid-day and mid-week, similar to the other major social networks. Wednesday at 11 a.m. is the overall best day to post to Instagram – followed by Friday at 10-11 a.m. The most consistent engagement is from Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday; go enjoy your day off – few will read your posts anyway 😉. Different industries also can peak a bit more on different times.


5. Create beautiful visuals
Instagram is a very visual platform. So to make it work to your advantage, you need to give your posts a distinctive look with tailored appeal to your Scandinavian target groups. Our vision trumps all other senses. Research has shown that when people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later. Visual branding plays a huge role in not only attracting your clients and stakeholders – but also in making you and your company memorable and creating a positive perception in the minds of your key audience.

6. Add Calls-to-action
When you add Calls-to-action in your posts you get more direct pay-off on your work and have concrete KPIs to measure. When you create an Instagram Business Profile you get the possibility to ad different buttons on your profile besides of working with direct links in your Bio. Use emojis like arrows, hand pointing or the star to direct you audience towards the link. Also, it works well to insert a call-to-action text in your visuals directing people into what they should do next. You can ask them to buy your product, visit your website or get in touch with you.

The key is to be creative, so people take action. Test new versions to see which one engages your audience the most.


7. Tell Stories
On Instagram the best brand storytelling involves telling snackable, visual micro-stories that tie into your brand’s values and purpose. On Instagram it’s the people and the brands who tell the most interesting stories that build the massive audiences. When you use Instagram for a personal account develop a strong brand presence that shows, what you are passionate about in life.


8. Work with influencers
Adding Instagram influencer marketing into your overall SoMe-strategy can help to increase your brand awareness, grow your followers and thereby drive new leads and sales. Influencer marketing can be quite effective. It removes the barriers of traditional advertising when customers are introduced to your brand from a trusted source. When an influencer recommends your product or service on their channels, it comes across as a trusted recommendation from a friend. Therefore, it can have a huge impact on your brand awareness and sales support.

Visit from our international partners in Poland & Brazil

13/09/2019By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Content Marketing, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, Strategic Communications

Today we had a wonderful visit and Friday Lunch in Copenhagen with our Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) partners and friends from OneMulti in Poland and SMARTPR in Brazil.

The World’s Local Agency
PRGN is The World’s Local Public Relations Agency. We are a connected network of 50 hand-selected agencies working within PR, Strategic Communications and Digital/Social Marketing servicing key markets around the world. As leaders in our respective regions, PRGN agencies offer the “boots-on-the-ground” savvy of a local Public Relations agency, yet on a global scale. Our model allows us to deliver a unique level of flexibility – scaling up or down across multiple markets to meet your business needs. Each PR agency knows its local community and it knows how to help clients connect with their audiences in those regions.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need help in Scandinavia – or beyond with single-point-of-contact.

Read more about PRGN.

Five key learnings from social media crisis

09/08/2019By scandinaviancomCrisis Communications, Public Relations Global Network, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends

By Philip Hauserman, Vice President and Director of Crisis Communications at The Castle Group

In today’s world, there’s no escaping social media – especially when it comes to crisis communications.
I can say this with authority since 99.9 percent of the crises we’ve managed in the past few years have involved one platform or another. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Yik Yak (yes, even Yik Yak, for those of you who remember 2016). Each platform presents its own challenges, of course, but the approach to managing the situation and the response more or less stays the same.

So, what do you do? How do you manage a social media crisis?

Prepare. There’s no anti-virus software that I know of that will quickly and quietly fix a crisis, especially one that is playing out online for all the world to see. Having a plan in place – and testing that plan – before a crisis occurs is the No. 1 step you can take right now to prepare yourself and your organization for that inevitable moment when you hear those three little words that nobody wants to hear: “It’s gone viral!” Part of that plan includes making sure that you know your channels, your passwords, and your team. More than one person on your social media team should always have access to each account, and at least one person should be able to access the accounts from a mobile device. Your plan should also include likely scenarios and template responses – pre-approved messages that can be used in public and/or private message formats. Why is this important? Because a single tweet that goes unresponded to can kick off a digital firestorm that can take over and create a narrative of its own, leaving your organization – and your reputation – behind. In a true social media crisis, you don’t have the benefit of time to run a draft social media response up and down the ladder and through legal before posting. Do that ahead of time and save yourself from the headache that comes with waiting…and watching…a crisis snowball online.

Implement – and abide by – social media policies. Developing guidelines and posting policies for external interaction with your social media channels sets clear expectations for acceptable/unacceptable usage of your organization’s pages. These policies will also give you a publicly stated set of rules to refer to in the event that you have to remove a particularly ugly or vicious attack on your platforms. But don’t, under any circumstances, start deleting or hiding comments – unless they violate said policies. Doing so will make the situation infinitely worse.

Listen, listen, listen. The best way to know what’s going on before, during, and after a crisis is to listen. Monitor your own organization’s channels and that of news outlets that may be reporting on the issue. Pay special attention to trending topics and hashtags on each platform, flagging and screen capturing comments that are particularly concerning and may require priority treatment. Many times, you’ll discover new, and potentially actionable, information just by listening to the conversation. When you do speak, speak with one voice and transmit one message. The style and the exact words of the response may change to fit the platform, but the substance of the response should not. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of eyes just waiting and watching for inconsistencies and errors and tone-deaf or robotic remarks – anything to fan the flames and keep the controversy going. What you say online should be the same thing you said to the reporter who called a few minutes ago, and it should absolutely be the same thing you said to your employees.

Debrief. Clean up. And then start planning for the next crisis. Once the storm has passed, it’s time to clean up. Did you promise any updates to anyone during the situation or event? If so, who needs to hear from you and when? Did your process work? What needs to be improved? Do you need to run through drills based on what your organization experienced? Should you update your policies and passwords? These are just some of the questions to ask yourself and your team before the next storm rolls through.

The Castle Group is our partner agency in Boston, USA.  Article originally published at PRGN.com

SoMe – SO Many Enigmas

05/04/2019By scandinaviancomContent Marketing, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends

Theme: Scandinavians – similar, but not the same

By Eva Helene Kabelmann, Digital & SoMe content Director

Social media cannot be avoided when talking PR and communication. And numbers show that it is practically impossible to succeed if one does not use SoMe in campaigns – those being local, regional, national or international. And thus also Scandinavian.

The Scandinavian markets have some of the highest numbers in the use of SoMe and one could be seduced into thinking that marketing here would be a pure cake walk.
But.
It’s worth having in mind that there are differences, when it comes to which of the SoMe platforms, the four Scandinavian populations are operating on.

Let’s have a look at the four most used social media: Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Linkedin. The four Scandinavian populations all – and to a great extent– use these SoMe platforms, but there are differences in degree:

The Norwegians top the use of Facebook. They also have the highest frequency when looking at the number of SoMe platforms used

The Swedes take first place when it comes to Youtube and Instagram. Despite this, they are in third place when it comes to the number of SoMe platforms used

The Danes top the use of Linkedin. And occupy a second place in the number of SoMe platforms used

As for the Finns the most striking is that they almost do not appear when it comes to the use of Youtube. And the Finns also takes a fourth place in number of SoMe platforms used. Despite this ranking, keep in mind that the Scandinavians – overall – have some of the highest frequencies in use of SoMe.

Small differences, but all relevant to consider when choosing a marketing and / or PR strategy for your next SoMe campaign.

Read more: https://scandinaviancommunications.com/social-media/

Use the small differences in decision making to leverage your business.

14/03/2019By scandinaviancomChristina Rytter, Content Marketing, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media

Theme: Scandinavians – similar, but not the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Eva Helene Kabelmann, Digital & SoMe Content Director 

There is little doubt that the Scandinavian people are often regarded as a slightly homogeneous crowd, where the differences are far less than the similarities. And rightly so, for us Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Finns are very similar to each other both in appearance, behavior, levels of education, mentality, shopping habits – well, you name it. 

But. There are differences. And particularly when it comes to marketing both new and well-known products in the Scandinavian markets, it can make good sense to be aware of the small differences. Because we are not the same. Let’s have a look at some of the differences in mentality when it comes to making business decisions: 

The Swedes enjoy structure and appreciate preparation and effective execution,  and facts, figures and graphs will bring you far.

The Finns are a more reserved people who value formalities and strong factual statements. Body language is seen as a sign of uncertainty.

The Norwegians are a more informal people who value quality over price and do not necessarily enter into tough decision-making procedures.

And then we have the Danes. The most relaxed of the four people, but characterized by the fact that – despite a high degree of un-formality and earthiness – they prefer a direct and executing decision-making process.

Small differences, but all relevant to consider when creating a successful marketing and PR strategy for you next Scandinavian campaign.

Read more: https://scandinaviancommunications.com/why-us/ 

Why should blogging be a part of your PR strategy?

04/01/2019By scandinaviancomChristina Rytter, Content Marketing, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media

By Akvile Vzesniauskaite, Social Media Project Manager at Adverum Communications

Nowadays, PR is much more than media relations, press releases or launch events. PR becomes a modern combination of classical and new communication trends – integrated, 360 degree PR strategy including visuals, digital solutions, and, of course, blogging. Blogs fit the taste of those who are looking for interesting pieces of news, non-traditional recommendations or educational material.  Why else should one integrate blogging into PR strategy?

It is your own media channel. A blog is a media platform that belongs to a company or brand and provides for the ability to become a digital publisher in a cost-effective way. Having in mind that modern PR – as well as a modern audience – requires engaging content, blogs are the right solution: it allows you to deliver valuable information to a target audience, keeping it easily accessible and building a loyal audience or even a community.

Demonstrate your experience/Showcase your expertise. A blog can help represent a company, brand and create an image of experts working for and with them. If in a blog you regularly share experiences, hands-on insights and experts’ comments, it helps to create a bond between readers and a company/brand or an expert. Of course, to create and maintain such “relationship” with an audience, the blog has to offer useful and interesting information that can’t be found anywhere else. The success also is in the efforts to keep an ongoing dialogue with readers – discussions, FAQs and suggested topics have to be integrated in the content.

Your reputation online. Although sometimes underestimated, your online reputation has a huge impact on how an audience would interact with your brand or services. Nowadays, the web is often the primary source of information.  Many customers choose not to trust a brand if they find a lot of negative information about it online, or no information at all. Having a blog or actively cooperating with bloggers helps to spread relevant information and even block the negative.

A blog can have a positive influence on your websites visibility and traffic. If one of your PR objectives is to increase your website traffic, regular blogging can do wonders. It could have positive impact on website’s SEO score when combined with applicable keywords. Relevant content leads to more hits in search engines and builds higher credibility resulting in better perception of a brand or a company.

Fast way to share news and latest updates. There is one more positive trait of blogging – it allows you to reach the audience very quickly by just posting the information. When creating a PR strategy, think whether you will need to report important news, give advice to customers and clients, share experience or offer audience inspired content. Did you say “Yes” at least once? Then a blog might just be the way to do it.

Of course, such a channel is just a piece of a puzzle that composes a perfect PR strategy. But it is also one of the easiest ones to obtain – so if you still do not have a blog – give it a try (they will be popular for a while…).

Adverum Communications is our partner agency in Lithuania.  Article originally published at PRGN.com

Why Your Business Needs a Blog

17/09/2018By scandinaviancomContent Marketing, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Public Relations Global Network, Social Media

 
By Judy Kuramata, Executive Director of Integrate Communications

Today’s media landscape is becoming increasingly dominated and disrupted by digital. It’s everywhere you turn. On the way to work, while eating breakfast and even when we’re with friends, we are constantly absorbing digital media and the endless amount of information technology provides.

Blogging is a highly-effective content marketing tool; it is no longer a “back stage” room to hold your content. It’s a space for you to have complete ownership over your brand’s story and the way it’s told. There are thousands of ways to target potential customers through blogging. Specifically, you sell context, not products. It’s great if your blog leads to a direct purchase, but more often, a blog’s purpose is to draw potential customers to your website.

So, who does your blog attract? Potential customers may not immediately contact you to purchase your products or services after they’ve read your blog, but search engines and keywords will, at least, draw them to your website.

Offer readers something valuable for free, using relevant keyword phrases they are searching for, and they may turn into a customer down the line.

Plus, when you provide thoughtful, free content, you might end up with completely new customers that you did not foresee. For example, an entrepreneur might be searching in Google for some quick tips on how to market her business online, and stumble upon a blog post written by your PR agency. She’s so impressed by the tips provided that she now wants to hire your agency to help her sell her product. She wasn’t originally looking into agencies, but because your blog provided valuable content, she was successfully converted into a customer.

A mixture of valuable context, consistent messages, effective keywords and timing are very important when getting started on your blog.

Now that you have valuable content, do make sure you have some way of monitoring and measuring your blog’s success. Your blog posts should be shared on your website, as well as your social media platforms. Track how much traffic the post brings to your website, how many ‘likes’ or ‘shares’ you receive on social media and how many inquiries come in.

Blogging requires strategy and implementation planning just as any other traditional marketing method does. By developing a target audience, creating the right content, being consistent and tracking, blogging can be a highly effective marketing tool for your business.

Integrate Communications is our partner agency in Japan. Article originally published at PRGN.com

How to Keep Your Business Safe from Social Network Threats

17/08/2018By scandinaviancomCrisis Communications, Public Relations Global Network, Social Media, Strategic Communications


By Dominique Biquard, Founding Partner of IDENTIA PR

Social media is a very powerful tool for business. It is a platform for businesses to showcase their strengths and build a community of followers. Unfortunately, that same power can translate to major damage in the event of a crisis. Social media gives publicity issues the fuel to escalate to a full crisis in mere minutes. This type of crisis can cost millions and seriously damage the reputation of the company or institution.

Crisis communication is a very important piece of a PR plan. The best crisis management practices enable quick mitigation of crises, and general crisis prevention. To survive a PR crisis, it is crucial to come up with crisis prevention and a crisis communication plan during times of peace.

Road map and clear action plan

Crisis communication strategies should include escalation paths to cover all contingencies. In the event of a crisis, it is essential to count on an internal response flowchart and alert. The crisis flowchart must specify who should be contacted within your organization according to the different scenarios. Your social networks and the people who handle them must keep their contact information detailed and updated.

Most of the time, negative comments and feedback can be managed with normal PR efforts and social media management. With adequate training and planning, it is possible to mitigate reputation issues before they evolve into major issues. The key is to be very involved in your online presence and preparation to act fast.

A model of an escalation path in a crisis management plan could be as follows:

1. The Community Manager/Customer Support responds.
2. The Community Manager/Customer Support responds according to the crisis plan.
3. The head of the crisis committee is involved. If necessary, content is created and monitored.
4. The crisis committee responds, and the executive team is involved. Content is generated and monitored.
5. The executive team responds. Content is generated and monitored.

Eight steps to manage a social media crisis

1. Acknowledge
Don’t let them catch you by surprise. Your first response should always be “yes, we know something has happened” even if you have no answers on the issue yet.

2. Put out the fire
Using a pre-approved response, act first in the social network or platform where the crisis broke out. Pinpoint where it is escalating fastest, and search for the way to tone it down.

3. Apologize sincerely
The communication should feel sincere, in a simple ⎼not technical or legal⎼ language.

4. FAQ
Maintain a central location where the public may find all communications, information and content related to the crisis: acknowledgement of the crisis, details of the event, photos or videos, how the company found out what was happening, actions taken in response, contact information, etc.

5. Set up a place for complaints
Try to keep all complaints in one place that you can actively monitor (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). If the conversation unfolds in a place we control, it will be easier to monitor, moderate and analyze.

6. Know when to take it offline
Social media crisis management is not about winning, but damage control. Some people will be angry enough not to be convinced of anything we may say.

People often join the crisis simply because it is easy to do so from a keyboard. Offering a telephone number to answer complaints may subdue some voices. We must be sure that the customer support staff has all the crisis information and guidelines.

7. Prepare the spokespersons and employees
It is imperative that ALL employees be informed about the crisis. Whether by email, text message, intranet or meetings, you must keep your employees at least as knowledgeable as the public. They are all potential spokespersons.

8. Take advantage of the calm after the storm
Analyze what happened: How did it happen? Could it have been anticipated or avoided? How did we respond? What should we change? Analyze all the situations and the public reactions.

It is rightly said that everything related to social media is chaotic, complex, difficult to handle and control. The conversation flows with or without our participation. But it also grants us the opportunity to give our opinion in real time, without depending on third parties willing to publish our version. If we employ proper planning and prevention measures in our crisis communication plans, the storm will calm down, and we will be able to put it under control faster and at a lower cost.

IDENTIA PR is our partner agency in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Article originally published at PRGN.com