by Hel Reynolds | Jul 1, 2021 | Comms Cartoons, Comms life, Social Media, Social media strategy
Going viral – it’s the dream of attention and love for our brand. But we comms pros are not miracle workers. If the content is important to your colleague/boss/client, but utterly irrelevant to the audience, it won’t fly. You can help them solve...
by Hel Reynolds | Jun 14, 2021 | Social Media, Social media strategy
People tell me that they can’t do humour on social media, or any fun content, because their comms is for an organisation that does important work. “It’s very serious indeed, the tone would be way off if we were to get all jokey” “We...
by Hel Reynolds | Jun 10, 2021 | Community Management
Housing associations on Facebook often have a tough time engaging residents.We work with comms pros who manage Facebook pages that are either:• A negative space where people moan about the organisation’s shortcomings• An absolute ghost town, where you struggle...
by Hel Reynolds | Jun 7, 2021 | Blog post
Comms professionals often ask us how to be more authentic on social media. This desire to be more human and less corporate is great, but people often don’t know where to start. Specifically how can you be authentic on social media? I’ll take you through...
by Hel Reynolds | Apr 14, 2021 | Comms Cartoons, Comms life
I’ve heard a few people say that communications is common sense. It’s not. https://twitter.com/commscreatives/status/1364654765314084866 It could apply to lots of jobs I suppose, but it’s particularly an issue for us, because some of our colleagues...
by Hel Reynolds | Apr 8, 2021 | Comms Cartoons, Comms life
Ever wonder how to deal with procrastination? Me too*. Here’s how procrastinating shows up in my work: https://twitter.com/HelReynolds/status/1309448035886411777?s=20 Lots of people have told me they experience this too. I’ve realised a few things that...
by Hel Reynolds | Feb 26, 2021 | Blog post
Storytelling on social media, like the kind we teach on the Social Media Expert Course,is a special secret weapon for the comms pro. Here’s a brilliant example of it in this fab Instagram post from Herts Police. Herts Police actually have amazing Instagram...
by Hel Reynolds | Feb 19, 2021 | Blog post
You can learn a lots from the best church social media, no matter what kind of organisation you work for. I’ve noticed a lot of church-type content in my homefeeds lately, like this sign in a cathedral that got shared all over social media. Social Media Comms...
by Hel Reynolds | Feb 12, 2021 | Content of the week, creativity, Social Media
I expect you have seen the Weetabix and beans tweet this week, and all the brand reactions to it. And maybe you’ve guessed it: content of the week goes to all the fabulous comms pros from all sorts of brands who got stuck in with a little bit of cheeky humour...
by Hel Reynolds | Jan 21, 2021 | Content of the week, Social Media
We admire cool stuff from brands of all sorts. We’ve noticed: local government has been nailing it lately! So content of the week goes to THREE different local authorities doing COVID comms. But it’s not your ordinary safe stuff, this week, we can look at...
by Hel Reynolds | Jan 20, 2021 | creativity, Social Media
Empathy is one of the core elements to getting your social media content and tone of voice spot on. First off, knowing who your audience is: (it’s not everyone!) – then getting their attention by demonstrating that you know just how they feel. When you...
by Hel Reynolds | Jan 15, 2021 | Blog post
Storytelling on Facebook is one of the most effective skills you can have in your comms bag of talents. And I’m getting my best Miley Cyrus singing ready to tell you that our content of the week came in like a Wrekin ball….. Well a Telford and Wrekin...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 10, 2020 | Content of the week, creativity, Social Media
Winner of content of the week is a Christmas message video: Our Social Media Academy members, Manchester Council, have knocked this out of the park. The Christmas message video is sweet and touching and beautifully animated. What I love most is the text that...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 4, 2020 | Content of the week, Social Media
This week we’re celebrating a cheeky and fun Facebook post from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR)! If it seems familiar, but you can’t put your finger on it, it’s a parody of the Burger King tweet that went viral a few weeks ago. The Burger...
by Hel Reynolds | Nov 26, 2020 | Content of the week, creativity
I want to talk about social media illustration and cartoons in your comms. It seems relatively rare! We see so many social media graphics that are kind of like mini-posters. Designed in something like Canva, or as requested of your fab graphic design team if...
by Hel Reynolds | Nov 23, 2020 | Comms Cartoons, Comms life, PR, Social Media
I made up a word: “commsplanation’. Have you ever been commsplained? It’s where someone who is less qualified than you, or less experienced, explains something to you. They get hold of the tiniest amount of knowledge, and suddenly they’re...
by Hel Reynolds | Nov 19, 2020 | Social Media
Getting a celebrity to promote your brand has long been a desirable but costly way to get your audience’s attention. Some charities could rely on a patron who believed in their cause, but often celebrities have wanted tens of thousands of pounds for an...
by Hel Reynolds | Oct 29, 2020 | creativity
Creative thinking is not just something we do at work when we’re designing campaigns. We can apply creative thinking to all parts of life and work. I encourage our students in comms teams to spend ten minutes every now and then practicing creative thinking, to...
by Hel Reynolds | Sep 17, 2020 | Social Media
You might imagine that the phrases social media managers hate to hear would be “we’re out of coffee”, or “there’s nowhere to charge your phone”. But there are phrases that strike even more fear into social media managers. To...
by Hel Reynolds | Sep 10, 2020 | Comms Cartoons, Social Media, strategy
I hope you know that you’re not alone if you find your comms strategy dream does not always match the reality. I drew a doodle to illustrate this. If you’re a comms pro, social media manager, or marketing person, you might think, ‘How do other...
by Hel Reynolds | Jun 16, 2020 | Social Media
https://youtu.be/UcXJTWgE7Ck https://twitter.com/i/moments/1272855982054551553
by Hel Reynolds | Mar 25, 2020 | creativity, Social Media
This is a practical guide to maintaining creative social media during the coronavirus crisis. Actually, all of the advice here is relevant at any time, but it’s pretty vital now. There’s loads more I want to tell you, but I’ve brutally edited it down to 5 areas...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 31, 2019 | creativity, PR, Social media strategy, strategy
As a creative PR and comms trainer, I’m often asked, ‘What is the future of PR and communications?’ It’s a fun and daunting topic to explore. Will tech advances change the industry completely? Will robots steal our jobs? How can we change to future-proof our careers...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 19, 2019 | Social Media
Developing an interesting and engaging social media tone of voice is a hot topic for lots of us who look after social media for brands. It’s all very well saying we should be less corporate and more human – but what kind of human do we want to be? Because...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 17, 2019 | Comms life
If you’re anything like me, you do your shopping at the very last minute. And maybe you save time by wrapping your gifts in scrunched tinfoil… just me?! Anyway, if you want to get a little something for your comms colleagues, here are are a few ideas. Make creative...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 17, 2019 | creativity
Take The 31 Days Of Creativity Challenge Unleash your creative side in under 15 minutes a day Our gift to you: an easy programme with 31 quick tasks that will boost your creativity. A lot of people think creativity is just for people like artists, graphic designers...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 10, 2019 | Comms life
Lately I’m lucky enough to have got some help with responding to email enquiries and such like. What a luxury. When I was an in-house communications professional, I was awful, rubbish, utterly useless at: Getting back to everyone who emailed me Keeping my inbox tidy...
by Hel Reynolds | Nov 27, 2019 | Comms life
Being a creative comms person is not the easy option. You create something a little different that you think is pretty good – but you don’t know how it will be received by your audiences, & colleagues It’s emotional. Nerve-wracking. Ever since I...
by Hel Reynolds | Nov 6, 2019 | Comms life
I am seriously concerned about the stress faced by the hundreds of comms and PR professionals took part in a survey, and the hundreds of people I train every year. Results of a survey of 442 people working in the industry have revealed this: We are suffering a PR and...
by Hel Reynolds | Oct 24, 2019 | Comms Cartoons, Comms life
Stress is often seen as part of the job of being a communications, PR and marketing professional. But I don’t think the pressure we face is healthy, or even necessary. Sometimes, the people who love their jobs most, are the most stressed out.My focus is on...
by Hel Reynolds | Sep 24, 2019 | Comms life
It’s National Punctuation Day! So I thought I’d share five more-interesting-than-it-sounds trivia about punctuation. Because I KNOW you comms creatives have a sneaky obsession with punctuation. 1. Do you correctly use hyphens and dashes?I have discovered...
by Hel Reynolds | Sep 18, 2019 | Comms life
How much do you let your inner critic hold you back? Maybe it’s a comms and marketing thing, but we seem to be quite hard on ourselves. We view our own work and ideas as harshly as would a sworn enemy. We let the occasional mistake or sloppy piece of work linger...
by Hel Reynolds | Jul 18, 2019 | Blog post
Hey! I have taken on my first permanent member of staff, and guess what? She’s my big sister! Introducing Lel Reynolds: bringing order, ideas and loveliness to The Comms Creative College! I couldn’t think of anyone better to help me grow my business than Lesley (or...
by Hel Reynolds | Mar 11, 2019 | Blog post
I’ve mentioned before on this blog that great comms takes courage – but this is a really quick post to say well done to creative comms professionals out there.Because, our job isn’t as easy as it looks to others. No matter what we say in interviews, doing...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 12, 2018 | Blog post
I want to share some podcasts to inspire comms, PR and marketing pros, because it’s often hard for us to slot in learning, or CPD of any kind, into our schedules. I listen to about 5 hours of podcasts every week, I learn SO MUCH from them while I get ready to go...
by Hel Reynolds | Nov 2, 2018 | Blog post
On Monday, I won Freelance Social Media Marketer Of The Year at the Social Media Marketing Awards! I’m super chuffed, especially since I was up against some incredibly talented social media professionals. ‘But, hang on’, you might be thinking, ‘You’re a social media...
by Hel Reynolds | Oct 2, 2018 | Social Media, strategy
These days during huge news events, we are all scrolling through social media to find out the latest updates and see photos of what’s going on. As Princess Eugenie’s upcoming wedding is fast-approaching, I think about the local council’s communications team. What a...
by Hel Reynolds | Sep 25, 2018 | strategy
The first time I was asked to get creating a communications strategy, I was super intimidated by the task. It seemed so important and I had no idea what to include until I’d spent about four hours Googling the topic! I don’t see much written about the experience of...
by Hel Reynolds | Sep 4, 2018 | Blog post
I’m sharing some advice for a career in communications as part of the second #CommsCreative challenge: to blog useful tips for other communicators (read more about the challenge here). I’m now old enough to have enough bags of experience to fill all of...
by Hel Reynolds | Aug 30, 2018 | creativity, Social Media, strategy
We can make a real difference to the impact of our comms by working to a creative communications strategy.The thing about being involved in your organisation’s strategy is, it’s all so serious, and the results can often feel conventional and just STANDARD.But we are...
by Hel Reynolds | Aug 20, 2018 | Blog post, creativity, Innovation, PR
Ever have that feeling when you see something so nifty, and simple that you wish you’d thought of it? That was me when I saw this very creative communications strategy template from Sarah Yates, Broxtowe Borough Council’s brilliant Corporate Communications...
by Hel Reynolds | Jul 25, 2018 | Blog post, creativity, Innovation, Social Media
Have you signed up to the The Creativity Coffee Break newsletter? Sign up now! Every week, I send an email newsletter with comms stories, ideas and tips. It can be easy to get snowed under with work and get into a a habit of doing things the same way. The...
by Hel Reynolds | Jun 13, 2018 | Blog post
It’s amazing how invigorating it can be to get out of the office to learn and network with other communications professionals. Yesterday I loved hosting the NHS Confederation’s Communications Conference 2018, and I’m so grateful to share some...
by Hel Reynolds | May 30, 2018 | Blog post
Busy UK housing communications professionals rarely get time to meet other comms teams to compare teams and work experiences. So in early 2018, I asked PR and comms practitioners in the sector to take a short survey, where they could honestly answer how work is for...
by Hel Reynolds | Feb 10, 2018 | Blog post
The modern communicator is asked to turn their hand to lots of techniques, and if you want to be prepared for all sorts – here’s my guide to the 13 things you need with you at all times in your communications kit. To save that TLDR feeling, I just drew them to...
by Hel Reynolds | Jan 24, 2018 | Blog post
The subject of dealing with negative social media comments crops up in almost every social media training course I run, so I thought I’d share my simple dos and don’ts to make things easier. So, this is how to handle unfavourable posts people might tweet your...
by Hel Reynolds | Dec 10, 2017 | Blog post, Twitter
Yes, public sector tweets can be exciting and interesting! In the public sector, we often have small, or no, budgets for social media. But our organisations do amazing work and our communications teams have bags of talent. I salute communications professionals in...
by Hel Reynolds | Aug 3, 2017 | Blog post
Public engagement is something all public services do, and many do badly. This is an opinion piece on crap apps, and what makes useful public consultation, along with some genuine questions about the role of the politicians, that you might be able to help me...
by Hel Reynolds | Jul 10, 2017 | Blog post
Posting text and video bilingually to social media sites is possible, but not simple! This is a practical post on posting to social media for audiences that speak more than one language. I work with many organisations in Wales that post bilingually, and I...
by Hel Reynolds | Jun 1, 2017 | Blog post
I have written The Comms Manifesto, partly because I want something I can show people when they have the wrong end of the stick about what I do. Modern and professional communications has nothing to do with spin, lies and propaganda. This is my idea of what we do....
