How does someone with an engineering background end up in PR? Find out as we interview Bob Geller, President of Fusion PR, for our Masters in Marketing series.
Bob is a veteran of tech sales, marketing and PR and has developed best practices for working social media and content marketing into the PR mix. Bob has been covered in publications such as PR Week, PR News and Bulldog Reporter. and writes and speaks frequently on social media, content marketing and PR.
In addition, Bob posts on Flack’s Revenge and Social Fluency and has contributed to CommPRObiz, Ragan’s PR Daily, Cision Navigator, PR Conversations and Handshake 2.0. Bob also wrote a column on content marketing for Maximize Social Business, a group blog that is published by Forbes top 50 social media influencer Neal Schaffer, for more than two years.
The Cision blog recently included him on a list of the top 50 content marketers to follow on Twitter.
Tell us a little bit about Fusion PR and why you are so successful?
We help technology companies build brand, visibility and sales through PR, social media and content marketing.
It is tougher than ever to get heard above the noise - we are successful because help we help our clients succeed in this regard.
There is no magical formula - it gets down to understanding trends and technology, knowing how to tell a good story, and then using the tools we have to gain coverage and earn attention with the right audiences.
What is Social Fluency and where did the idea come from?
Social Fluency is the name of our social media and content marketing practice.
Early on we recognized that communicating via social requires a different approach, skills and tools than traditional PR / media, so we broke out a separate brand and service. We are under the same agency umbrella and the PR and social teams work together to implement integrated marketing campaigns.
You graduated from Boston University. Do you have any fond memories from your days in Boston? Red Sox fan?
Yes, I love Boston and am proud to say that my daughter graduated from BU recently, majoring in marketing. My love of Boston does not extend to the sports teams though!
How did your background in engineering prepare you for your current role?
Engineering school gave me the tech smarts that can be critical when it comes to understanding and representing our clients and their solutions. And it is not just me. The agency’s philosophy is that our teams should be able to walk the walk and talk the talk, i.e. know what they are pitching and be smart about related issues and trends. So we hire people with tech backgrounds, and hands-on industry experience.
What do you feel is the biggest struggle for PR practitioners today?
Mastering how to best adapt and apply our skills amidst the changing media and communications landscapes.
How do you measure success for your PR campaigns?
We use a pretty broad mix of tools, ranging from freely available analytics from Google, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to premium tools, Hootsuite, etc.
Do you have a favorite app?
That is hard to say, I don’t really have one favorite app - but I do use BufferApp quite a bit.
What is next for you and for Fusion PR in 2015?​
We are continuing to build out our NY, LA and Silicon Valley practices and will be launching innovative new services later this year.
Bob is based in New York city. You can connect with him further on LinkedIn and Twitter.
