The blog
Dealing with negative social media comments – dos and don’ts
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...
The comms manifesto
In my opinion, modern and professional communications has nothing to do with spin, lies and propaganda.
This is my idea of what we do.
Social media flow chart for comms pros
* 09/01/21 Social media flow chart - updated for 2021! When I first posted this chart 7 years ago (and more than 52,000 downloads ago!), I had no idea how popular it would be. People have sent me tweets showing photos of it pinned on office walls, and still people...
TikTok comms strategy: 0 – 100k followers in 8 months!
If you want to be inspired and learn loads about how a comms team can blow up on TIkTok, you'll love this interview. https://www.tiktok.com/@helreynolds/video/7091297604272770310 I spoke to to creative communicators from South Yorkshire Fire, Zander Mills and Jack...
Introducing the Comms GOATs!
Who are the people in comms pioneering creative approaches in their work? You may not even know who the comms greats out there are, as they aren’t always very visible while they work away in an in-house job, or behind the scenes working with clients. We are going to...
Find yourself as a comms pro
There’s no right way to have a comms career. You don’t have to feel stuck on a particular path. I did sales, press, comms strategy, social media, websites - before I found social media training, which I love. And maybe my career will turn into something else one day....
Get approval for social media training
If you want to learn new techniques and strategies to improve reach and social media engagement, our inspiring and practical Social Media Expert Programme is the best option. But with limited training and comms budgets, it can be hard to make the case for taking a...
If the comms profession had an advertising budget
This #CommsAds idea was a fun way to show off our new brand style - hope it makes you smile more than you groan! (More about this mini-campaign below). If you would like amazing support and community to go with your creative social media training, head over to our...
The top free online communities for comms pros
This is a list of some cracking comms communities online, that offer support, inspiration and chat about comms issues we have in common. We all need a gang of people who 'get it' to belong to - especially if you work in a small team on on your own as a communicator....
Social media strategy: a guide
We all know we need a social media strategy for our organisations. But when you're a busy communications professional juggling all the work, it's hard to set aside time for strategising. However, investing effort now to plan your brand's social media will dramatically...
Three Twitter tips for comms pros
These three Twitter tips for comms pros may seem simple, but they make a big difference. We comms professionals are often bonkers busy, so we can be tempted to just share a link to a story with the headline as the text of the tweet. But this isn't the best way to get...
Social media interview questions
16 Social media interview questions: prepare to land that dream job Here are some social media interview questions - so you can prepare for before you go in and get that dream job. I asked some of my wonderful network of comms and social media professionals questions...
The comms approval process
If you've been through the comms approval process a few times, you'll know: the pain is real.Getting through layers of people to edit and sign-off a piece of content - whether it's a video, a design, a press release or other copy - it can be excruciating.They'll...
The comms unicorn
The comms unicorn exists!This comms unicorn is often the cartoon people remember me for. I drew it because I can't count the number of times people have said to me 'do your comms magic on this', or 'sprinkle some stardust on that'. Maybe sometimes it can feel like it...
Funny tweets from nonprofit brands
People don't expect funny tweets from nonprofit brands. They think serious, solemn communications is all that's appropriate when our mission is for social good. But as I wrote a few weeks back, humour should be part of your social media strategy, no mater what you are...
Building comms conf idence
Building your confidence is as important as developing skills, if you really want to get maximum impact. I can often be found researching and testing ways to build confidence in comms professionals, as part of my work delivering social media training. At a CommsHero...
Going viral
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 problems, work on...
Why humour on social media should be part of your 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 can't be light-hearted when our...
Pets: the secret weapon of housing associations on Facebook
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 to get...
How brands can be more authentic on social media
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 three examples...
Workshop: Lunchtime Creativity Boost For Comms Pros
LIVE WORKSHOP FOR COMMS PROS: TUESDAY, 1ST JUNE AT 12.30PM Based on the science of creativity, we set you tasks to get you feeling happy, productive and inspired. After the success of our #31DaysOfCreativity challenge, we thought it's time we run another practical,...
Comms is not common sense
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 think they could do...
How to deal with procrastination?
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 helped me as...
Superb storytelling on social media
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 posts all...
The best church social media content
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...
The Weetabix and beans tweet marked an important moment in comms history
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 replying...
Council fun and empathy is content of the week
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 some fun and...
Empathy – the secret ingredient in social media engagement
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 design your...
Powerful real-life storytelling on Facebook is content of the week
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 Council ball,...
Manchester Council’s touching Christmas message video
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...
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s Burger King spoof is content of the week
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 King tweet caught...
Council’s social media illustration is content of the week
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 you're...
The ‘commsplanation’: duff advice from the non comms colleague
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 giving you opinions so...
Cameo celebrities: endorsement small brands can afford
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 endorsement....
Creative thinking for comms pros: brand metaphors
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 make...
Ten phrases social media managers hate
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 celebrate National Social Media Managers...
Comms strategy: when dreams don’t match reality
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 people do amazing...