At Wildfire, we work closely with brands to guide them through the world of social media, to create an effective presence that really delivers results. But to the uninitiated, managing a public space to share information, engage with customers and increase brand recognition could sound incredibly complicated – or even worse, expensive!

But actually, when you break down the core elements of running an effective social media offering, it’s really quite straightforward and just needs time, planning and a long term commitment to keep up activity.

How do we know this?

One of our long term clients, set-top box manufacturer and digital giant Humax, has recently been recognised by Get Connected magazine as a shining example of how effective Facebook can be to handle consumer engagement correctly. As the columnist George Cole points out, “the best companies are doing what Humax has done, they are embracing the internet’s potential”

Check out our top five tips for using Facebook to engage your customers, or contact our team to find out how we can help you to devise a social media strategy that works for your business.

1. Post regular updates
2. Reply to criticism as well as praise – face things head on
3. Offer exclusive content to your fans – competitions, videos and savings
4. Keep it interesting – less corporate, more inviting
5. Take part in discussions, encourage your Facebook fans to become a community

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It’s been an exciting year so far here at Wildfire PR with a host of new client wins, great work for existing clients and a top 20 ranking in the PR Week league tables!

We’re committed to finding and training the best talent to ensure we continue to grow and expand and, with this in mind, we are launching a new graduate scheme and are on the hunt for the best young talent to fill this exciting new position.

What we are looking for

We’re after a recent graduate to join our team here in Surbiton (15 minutes from Waterloo) with a keen interest in technology and a genuine desire to join a fast growing, dynamic, well respected and highly motivated team.

The role, as junior account executive, will span B2B and B2C clients and involve liaising with journalists, managing social media campaigns, nurturing client relationships and being actively involved in all account activities.

What you’ll get

In return, we are offering excellent training opportunities to help you develop your abilities and progress your career. We also actively encourage our team to attend events and conferences to build their market knowledge and expertise.

Not only this, but we have an attractive salary package to offer, 20 days annual leave (with more over Christmas and a day off on your birthday), a company iPhone and an online rewards scheme giving money off vouchers and cashback. You’ll also be part of a boisterous and brilliant team here at Wildfire HQ with regular company nights out!

What you need to do

Anyone who is up for the challenge should email their details to recruitment@wildfirepr.co.uk for further details. We’ll be asking shortlisted applicants to attend a workshop day at our offices in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, you might want to check out our website, read our blog or even follow us (and the team) on Twitter or Facebook!

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What if we scraped in at 150? Or didn’t make it in at all? There was some debate about entering the PR Week Top 150 PR Consultancies league table this year. 2009 was a tough year for Wildfire, but how tough was it for other agencies? Then again, you’ve got to be in it to win it! So enter we did.

And when the league table came out we were pretty chuffed to reach number 138. Not bad for a specialist PR shop in Surbiton, Surrey. Then we waited with baited breath for the tech league tables. We are, after all, a tech PR specialist. This is the one that really counts for us. And we were totally blown away to enter the Top 40 Tech Consultancies at 19th position.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not that I don’t think we deserve it. We work bloody hard. We do a great job for our clients. We don’t want to be the biggest agency in the world. But we do want to be the best in our class. And we’ve invested a lot in that goal: getting the right people; doing the right training; embracing the changing PR landscape and getting excited about it, rather than sticking our heads in the sand. We might not be in the thick of Central London, but we are only 20 minutes away. Living the Good Life: lovely offices, leafy suburbs. But totally still in the game.

So now the challenge is to stay there. Improve our performance. Show everyone what we are made of. And there is only one way to do that. Continue to focus on doing the best possible job for Wildfire’s clients. Give them our best advice. Try new things. Work hard and have fun. And I, for one, can’t wait. Those of you that know me, or follow me on Twitter, will be aware the last few months have been a shocker with a slipped disk and spinal surgery. I’ve missed my team. I’ve missed being in the thick of it. But I’m totally on the mend and I have 100% faith in the brilliant team at Wildfire. Our time is now. And it’s going to be another great year for us. Watch this space….

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We’ve really hit the ground running at Wildfire HQ in 2010, so we’re now looking for a fantastic senior account exec to join our growing team.

We want someone who’s oozing creative flair, has a great sense of humour and is eager to work with a driven, but friendly group of PRs who really know their stuff. You’ll also need a minimum of two years experience, with strong contacts in the IT and business press and a passion for digital and social media.

In return, we offer a very competitive salary plus a range of benefits and training opportunities.

If you’re up for joining one of the UK’s brightest and fastest growing young tech agencies, send us your CV or drop us a line or a tweet to find out more.

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We survived!

Earlier this month, the Wildfire Byte Night team (Debby, Dan and Danny) packed sleeping bags and longjohns to spend the night sleeping beneath the lights of Tower Bridge on London’s Potter Field.

It is the second year in a row that Wildfire has sent a team to the IT industry’s annual sleep-out in support of Action for Children, so this year – a year wiser – we came fully prepared for London’s crisp, autumn air.

We tried some different fundraising tactics this time around, including children’s facepainting and cupcake decorating at the Surbiton Festival – a bit of an adventure!

But as all the money we raised went to support vulnerable children, it was definitely worth it.

Our clients, friends and family stepped up again this year with donations and help in abundance. Along with the other Byte Night teams we contributed to an incredible £440,000 (to date) for Action for Children.

Thanks again!

picture credit

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You might have read  that Gordon Brown had a few problems with a television interview this week. So, always happy to help, we thought we’d show him how it should be done.

Cue a video from industry magazine PR Week featuring Wildfire’s very own MD, Debby Penton.

In a wide-ranging conversation, the debate covers how to market gadgets to women and the role of women in PR…

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[If overt displays of self-promotion easily offend you then probably best to move on... but hey, we are PRs after all!]

Wildfire has been named as the 13th most active PR consultancy on social networking tool Twitter by top trade mag PR Week.

Whilst the numbers are actually not quite right (91 per cent of our team are actually regular Twitter users), and the authenticity of the study itself has been called into question, it is still nice to be named alongside (and above) some of the industry’s biggest names, including some of the so-called social media/digital ‘specialists’.

Here at Wildfire we incorporate and weave ‘digital’ into everything we do for clients rather than operating in its own little world.

It’s important that all PRs are aware and knowledgable about new digital trends and Twitter certainly falls into this category.

We are excited about the potential Twitter offers for PR and marketing. So, if you aren’t following us already, please do:

@Wildfirepr, @Loullabelle @katiesol @GabiWarren @DannyWhatmough @clairebarb @DebbyPenton @sarahannebray @KMD05 @Lauriefg @nicohop

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The Wildfire Byte Night team were featured in this week’s Surrey Comet – fame at last!

There is still time to donate to help us reach our £5,000 target, go to: Just Giving

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We have been busy bullying friends, family and clients to give generously and they have supported us in their droves. We’ve now passed the £2,000 mark which is fantastic!

A special thanks to Cowplain School in Hampshire who raised £27.46 for our cause at their weekly cake sale. And also to Louise, who will be braving it early on Sunday morning at a local car boot sale. Louise plans to live-Twitter her experiences so keep an eye out for that.

If you haven’t donated yet, there is still time at http://www.justgiving.com/wildfirepr

p.s. a digital wave to our fellow Byters at Lewis – looking forward to roughing it in your company next week…

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On Friday 3 October, five members of the Wildfire team (Debby, Sarah-Anne, Kate, Claire and Danny) will be sleeping rough in London (with quite a few other people in the PR/Media IT industry) in order to raise money for the NCH and help get homeless children off the streets as part of Byte Night.

We’ll be in the fortunate position of only having to do it for one night with plenty of warm clothes, hot drinks and brollies, but plenty of children sleep rough every night without such luxuries so we’d be really grateful for any support you can give.

Donating is easy – just go to http://www.justgiving.com/wildfirepr

Thanks!

Here are some shocking stats about children in care in case you need any further persuasion:

• 60,300 children were in care at 31st March 2006. These youngsters will have dramatically different life chances than other children and young people, as highlighted through the following statistics:
• Children in care are three times more likely to be cautioned or convicted of an offence.
  (Working with children, NCH, 2006 / 2007)
• Children in care are four times more likely to have a mental health disorder.
  (Handle with Care – an investigation into the care system, Centre for Young Policy Studies)
• One in five homeless people are care leavers.
  (Working with Children, NCH, 2006 / 2007)
• Over 30 per cent of care leavers are not in education, training or employment at age 19 compared to 13 per cent of all young people.
  (Dfes Care Matters green paper, October 2006)
• Only seven per cent of young people left care with at least five GCSEs in 2005 to 2006
  (Dfes stats: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000691/SFR44-2006.pdf)
• Those leaving care at 17 or 18 were 50% more likely to be unemployed or out of school than those leaving care at 20 or 21.
  (Dfes Care Matters green paper, October 2006)
• More than a third of new cases of homelessness last year were young people aged under 25. Just under a quarter of people who became homeless over that period were forced to leave their last home because parents were no longer willing to accommodate them.
  https://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2364
• There is a huge percentage of the UK’s youth who are vulnerable to homelessness, unemployment, loneliness and sexual exploitation. Their situation is often the result of leaving residential or foster care or leaving home early because of violence, abuse or family conflict.

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