Ten years ago the first thing a public relations professional would do to get the word out about a story was distribute a press release. Today that is one of the last things that we do. Like never before, pitching reporters is done underground as long as possible to preserve the exclusivity of the information. Once it hits the wires, it’s a commodity.
When it’s finally time to pull the trigger on the press release, the burning question is which wire to use, the PR professional’s great enigma. Which service I choose depends on the type of content I have to work with, the longevity of the campaign and the client’s goals and budget.
Here is how I think about it. PR Newswire has a storied history with the traditional media. In contrast, PRWeb is a much newer online press release service that focuses more on digital vehicles. PRWeb is inexpensive and its press releases live online for eternity. PR Newswire is more expensive and its press releases have a shorter online shelf life. Marketwire is a hybrid between the two. Marketwire reaches mainstream media outlets and press releases appear on Factiva as well as surface online for five years. And, its system is user-friendly and its staff is helpful.
I weigh the brand attributes and product features of all three distribution services against my media strategy to make my decision. For example, before I launched a media campaign for “The Real Guitar Hero,” Ronald Bienstock, who won a six-year trademark dual with Fender over global domination of the guitar industry, misinformation about the facts of the story had already appeared online, but the mainstream media wasn’t aware of the ruling. I wanted a wire service that was sure to reach traditional media, but it was also important to breakthrough to bloggers as well to clear up the facts of the case.
In this particular situation, I chose Marketwire, but if this had been a keyword focused campaign with less news value and urgency, I would have picked PRWeb.
What’s your decision process for selecting a wire service?
In this dried up traditional media market, the most seasoned media relations professionals are sweating their skills. If you’re finding that pitching the media is harder than it used to be, try the following tips to help keep the ink flowing.
1. Ditch the Mile-long Media Lists
Nothing will prompt a reporter to open an email faster than the word “exclusive” in the subject line. Reporters are fighting for their jobs. Without sources, a reporter is just a writer. An exclusive gives them an edge over the other guy. But, bear in mind that your boss and/or clients might cringe at the notion of limiting outreach. When shrinking your list, be sure to manage expectations.
2. Conduct Real-time Research
Even the best media database services are having a hard time keeping up with who is covering what. As the number of staff at media outlets shrinks, the number of beats per reporter expands. That is why I find the natural language processing search embedded in the Meltwater Press database so intriguing. Within the system, you can use keywords related to the list that you are building to search the topics that reporters are actually writing about, rather than relying on fixed profiles that become outdated faster than ever.
3. Make your Pitch Seasonal
Mainstream media outlets are trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. For the most part, holidays unite us all. Look at the calendar and tie your expertise or product to a timely celebration. Get creative. For example, if you’re promoting a labor and employment law firm, and Father’s Day is around the corner, distribute a media pitch about whether or not employers understand the importance of offering paternity leave.
4. Help Bear the Burden with a Byline
Media outlets are stretched to the max. Many are operating with skeleton crews. Offering to write a byline on a topic that is important, but is not being covered because there’s not enough man power, is a surefire way to get ink.
5. Break-in with Breaking News
It’s not as easy as it used to be to ride the wave of breaking news to position your client as an expert. When there’s less space to be had, stories often run without any third-party experts quoted at all. And, before the story has time to gain momentum, the media is on to something else. But, the bigger the story, and the harder it is for the general public to understand, the more space outlets are willing to allot for experts. If you have an expert who can speak to the next big news story, hit it hard and fast.
6. Follow Reporters on Twitter
Reporters are news and information junkies. As such, they flock to Twitter. Increasingly reporters are tweeting requests for sources. If you have a reporter in your sights, set up a Tweetdeck column on their feed and watch for opportunities to serve up your stories and experts.
7. Be a Twitter Wingman
Twitter is providing an unprecedented opportunity for anyone to build meaningful relationships with reporters. To remind the reporters who I target that my sources are available for comment, I like to retweet their tweets, especially ones with links to their stories. I stay top of their mental Rolodex while helping them drive traffic to their content. Much better than an annoying phone call during deadline hours any day.
8. Check-in with Reporters Without an Agenda
The amount of information flying around the internet is dizzying. When I run across a story that I know one of the reporters who I target will be interested in, I send it to them. They are grateful to get the information they might have missed and appreciate there was no strings attached to it. They will remember you fondly the next time you want something.
9. Intersect Business and Consumer Angles
If you’re promoting a business to business company, approach the media with an angle that has a consumer bent. Media outlets are casting as wide a net as possible to boost readership and increase advertising dollars. Getting a straight b2b story in a mainstream business publication is harder than it used to be. Cherry-pick the b2b topics that will also interest consumers to increase your hit rate.
10. Write a Blog
A blog is a great way to showcase your client’s expertise and/or story ideas to traditional media. If your client has launched a blog, let reporters know that a new resource is available to them. If you’re lucky, they will subscribe and reference the content in their articles.
What have I forgotten? Please feel free to add your suggestions to this list.
Hundreds of discussion topics are proposed via LinkedIn groups every day. In the public relations industry and well beyond, the vast majority of them fail to generate any responses. The ones that do succeed in getting a conversation started stand out like bright flowers in a field of forgotten links.
What makes these select few so irresistible that people can’t help but comment? Following are six ways to spark a discussion on Linkedin.
1. Ask for Real Help
People who are genuine in their request for help typically get it. For instance, one user posted a question asking if she should fork over a media list to a client or protect it like precious intellectual property. LinkedIn users are happy to share their experiences and show off what they know and believe, but they can also tell if someone is asking for help simply to promote themselves.
2. Dish Dirt
If you can tie your intellectual capital to the Tiger Woods scandal or whatever story is dominating the headlines, you have a hole in one. In this instance, you can provide your point of view and ask people to agree or disagree with how you would handle the situation if you were in the newsmaker’s shoes.
3. Invite Plugs
Inviting people to pitch their products or their skills is popular for obvious reasons. Who can resist a free plug?
4. Request Inspiring Quotes
One of the most outrageously popular discussion starters on LinkedIn simply asks people to share their favorite quote. People seem to relish the opportunity to inspire others.
5. Tap Industry Controversy
Right now there’s a debate raging (137 comments) in the “Public Relations Professionals” group about the misperception in and out of the industry that public relations and media relations are synonymous. At the same time, in a Business Intelligence group, the fact that BI has fallen down the priority list of senior executives is gaining stream.
6. Request Twitter accounts
Asking members of a group to post their Twitter addresses generates hundreds of replies, which is understandable. It’s easy to do and many people want more followers.
Just as we consider what makes a tweet retweetable and what makes a blog engaging, we should consider how to successfully ignite a LinkedIn discussion. What has worked for you?
As a social networking consultant, I find Alexa.com, one of the top rankers of traffic to web sites, to be a valuable source of information. Knowing which sites are most influential and how my customers compare shapes my outreach strategy on their behalf. That’s why I found it ironic that a lack of information is what led to a missed public relations opportunity for Alexa.
On Twitter last Friday, the technology reporter for USA Today, Jon Swartz (@jswartz652), was on the hunt for someone from Alexa. He didn’t say whether or not he was working on a story, but that his antivirus software was blocking his access to Alexa.com. He sent a tweet requesting that someone from Alexa contact him. As Swartz pointed out, typically when he throws a request like that out into the Twittersphere, there is fast and furious response. This time, there was nothing but crickets.
Out of curiosity and a drive from my inner reporter, I wanted to see how easy it would be to track down someone from Alexa to alert he or she what was unfolding on Twitter. A major national reporter, probably in the midst of working on a story about their industry, was under the impression that their web site might be dangerous.
I found a page on the web site listing the founders, but there were no Twitter or email addresses to be found. I found their LinkedIn pages by searching Google, but I would have had to upgrade my LinkedIn account to send them “InMail” and who knows when they would have read it anyway.
Just as I gave up, Swartz tweeted that he was moving on to Quantcast and Compete. “Major fail on their part,” he tweeted.
For fun, I plugged Alexa.com into the search box at Alexa.com. How does the ranker, rank? Funny enough, no traffic ranking exists for Alexa.com. But, what it did say about how fast the site loads in comparison to others….”very slow (5.219 Seconds), 83% of sites are faster.” Fitting.
What’s scarier for C-level executives than talking to employees, letting them talk back and addressing their concerns? Unionization.
Senior executives have kept employees at arm’s length over fears about what they might say about the company inside and outside of the firewall. But, now that Congress is on the brink of passing legislation that would embolden unions–the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)–labor lawyers have joined public relations and human resources in counseling companies to engage, embrace and empower employees. While C-level executives might choose to ignore the advice of HR and PR, they are more likely to listen to their lawyers.
Pundits predict that union leaders will succeed in convincing legislators to compress the amount of time that companies have to respond to a union push to organize employees. Currently, after employees express their interest in unionizing, which most do when presented with the opportunity, companies have over a month to make their case for a union-free environment. That could shrink to five or 10 days. Since companies can’t change the culture on the fly, labor law firms are advising companies that the most powerful preemptive strike against unions post-EFCA is an unbreakable bond with employees.
Give employees the information they want about the business, create an atmosphere of openness and make employees feel like they don’t need a union because they are already being heard and helped is what labor lawyers are saying. Internal communications departments are positioned to help C-level executives heed the call.
The impending strength of unions is building the strongest business case for internal communications the public relations industry has ever seen. Executives and employees who are united cannot be divided and authentic communications is the bridge that will bring them together.
A pen can be used to write someone a love letter or to stab them in the eye. Like most tools, “Twitter lists” can be used for good or evil.
Twitter’s new feature enables users to group and label other tweeters for public display or private use. Whether it’s “the most influential” or “the least interesting,” lists have the potential to land companies on the list of “Top PR Gaffes.” Before companies get lost in list bliss, they should think about the following 5 ways lists can lead to trouble.
1. Private Lists are Revealed for All to See
Twitter’s list technology, like Twitter itself, is in its infancy. Evil doers are constantly devising ways to take advantage of Twitter’s technological weaknesses. In fact, we recently learned that hackers have found a way to access private direct messages. It’s only a matter of time before these trouble makers can make private lists public. Be careful not to create a “most annoying customers” list that could be exposed.
2. Private Purchases are Made Public
A Mashable blogger recently suggested that companies create a public list of their customers as a way to reward them through recognition. This reminded me of the time that Facebook was sued for listing the purchases of friends for others to see. If you’re considering publicizing your customer list, make sure you have the expressed permission from the customer to do so, especially if you’re selling sex toys. You could also end up making your customers vulnerable to cyber-stalking. Besides, who wants to list their customers for all their competitors to see?
3. Your Customers Consider you Catty
When I was in the eighth grade, a group of boys created a list of all the girls in the most popular clique and ranked them from 1-10 based on how pretty they were. For many people, the simple idea of these lists is distasteful and potentially hurtful. In fact, many people are choosing to shun the feature all together. If you create lists of the most influential people in your industry, for example, and leave someone off, he or she might hold it against you.
4. You Give Someone’s Location Away
Another suggestion from the Mashable blogger was that conferences create lists of their attendees. There are a host of reasons why someone might not want to be included on such a list. Maybe you’re attending the competitor’s conference or you’re a reporter who doesn’t want to be overwhelmed with requests for meetings. If it’s a conference that’s not work related, such as a yoga conference, your boss could find out why you really skipped work. Again, if you’re a conference organizer, make sure to get permission to post attendees on a public list.
5. Your Company Makes One of the Worst Lists
Companies don’t have to create lists for lists to become a public relations nightmare. What happens if your company makes the “worst customer service” list? Do you sue the list creator for slander? Companies will have to think of creative ways outside of court to appease negative list creators so their names are erased.
Once you slap a label on someone, you’re stuck with a great responsibility. I’m sure we’ll see a plethora of ways that lists can be used to damage reputations. What have I left out?
In response to the epic explosion of social media, companies are moving in two diametrically opposed directions.
For example, J.Crew recently banned its employees from using social networks. Around the same time, Intel issued employees a set of social networking guidelines. But, the vast majority of companies have done nothing at all. Mainly they are paralyzed with fear at the simple thought of arming their employees with branded bullhorns.
Don’t Ban Them, Brand Them!
Inside out public relations is the process of empowering employees with access to external social networks to serve as brand ambassadors.
At a time when customers are talking at you, about you and making conversation circles around you, what is the alternative to turning your PR inside out? Paying a search engine marketing firm a fortune to pretend they are as passionate and knowledgeable about your content and customers as your employees are? Being perceived as inauthentic? Not saying anything?
Social media is a classic case of, “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
7 Steps to Turn your PR Inside Out
During “Free Webinar Wednesday” on August 19 at 1:00 EDT, my colleague, Jeannette Paladino, “Write Speak Sell” blogger and internal communications expert, and I will expand on the following 7 ways that companies can turn their public relations inside out and take their marketing communications to the next level. To register for the event, visit http://www.freewebinarwednesdays.com.
1. Establish Two-Way Communication
The first step for companies that are thinking about turning their public relations inside out is to ignite internal social networking.
Employees who have a vehicle internally to share their complaints will be less likely to air their dirty laundry using external social networks. But, it’s not enough just to let employees talk, it’s critical that management listens and takes action based on employee feedback. Once companies have an understanding of how they are perceived in the minds’ of employees, they will have a clear idea of the messages they need to communicate to their employees about what the company really stands for. Establishing two-way communication will foster a foundation of trust upon which a solid inside out PR program can be built.
2. Survey Employees on Social Networking Habits and Interests
What social networks are employees using, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In? Are their networks comprised of personal friends or business contacts? Are they blogging? What work-related blogs do they read? Do they use email subscriptions or RSS readers? Are they familiar with feedburners and social news sites like Digg? Would they be willing to create specific company accounts and serve as social networking ambassadors for the company? What concerns do they have?
3. Cherry Pick a Pilot Group
Based on the survey data, identify a small group of employees across the organization that are the most eager to be evangelists for the company. Offer employees any additional technical training they may need and address their questions and concerns.
Many employees may feel uncomfortable using their personal accounts to advocate on the company’s behalf. They probably aren’t following the right people for business purposes anyway, and a potpourri of user names is not going to help drive Search Engine Optimization. Work with IT to help employees create branded business social networking accounts and blogs that are threaded through the internal system.
4.Relinquish Complete Control, Reward Employees and Reap the Benefits
Employees won’t want to be handed a script, but general guidelines are understandable. It’s important to strike the right balance between being overbearing and free-wheeling.
If employees feel like they are going to get reprimanded for every little comment, they will feel betrayed because the company is asking for their help. In turn, if employees lack guidelines, Inside Out PR could quickly go awry. When setting social networking guidelines involve human resources and legal. If companies relinquish the need to have complete control, they will reap greater rewards.
While you’re talking to HR and legal, discuss rewriting job descriptions so employers and employees take the responsibility of ambassador seriously and project goals are met. Employers should provide employees incentives and rewards for serving as ambassadors.
5. Work your Wingmen
The key to turning public relations inside out is cultivating a culture of communication from the top down, then the bottom up. Create branded blogs, Twitter addresses and LinkedIn accounts for senior executives and share the content with your pilot group. Senior executives can serve as examples for employees and ambassadors can support them in return.
Everyone who saw “Top Gun” understands what it means to be a good wingman. Ambassadors can comment on the blogs of senior executives, retweet their tweets, share their articles on social networking sites and vote for their content on social news sites. If done consistently, an active flock of dedicated wingmen can collectively propel the company to the top of search engine rankings and to the center of compelling customer conversations. Inside out public relations is an opportunity for companies to generate a sense of teamwork like never before.
6. Hang onto Keywords like Life Rafts
Keywords are like smoke signals that people use to find each other in an ocean of information and interaction. If you are not tying your keywords to your communications, your Inside Out Public Relations program will be adrift.
What are the keywords that your stakeholders are using? How can employees leverage those keywords consistently across channels in their communications? For example, if you’re a consulting company and your target audience is CIOs, use that keyword to find people to follow and the hashtag #CIO when tweeting so the right people find you.
7. Establish Metrics
Metrics will vary depending on the company’s goals for social networking, but in general, your goal is to engage your customers.
Other questions include: Are you on page one of search engines for your keywords? Are opinion leaders outside of the company reading the blogs and commenting? Are you being quoted in mainstream media articles as a result of your efforts? Are bloggers quoting your executives? Are you being invited to speak at events surrounding your keywords? Are you extending the reach of social networks into the real world?
This isn’t going to happen overnight. But with management and employee ambassadors working as a team, you will find over time that the answer to these questions will be, “Yes!”
Ten years ago the first thing a public relations professional would do to get the word out about a story was distribute a press release. Today, that is the last thing we do. Like never before, pitching reporters is done underground as long as possible to preserve the exclusivity of the information. Once it hits the wires, it’s a commodity.
When it’s time to pull the trigger on the press release, the question is which wire to use, the PR professional’s great enigma. Which service I use depends on the type of content I have to work with, the longevity of the campaign, and the client’s goals.
Here is how I think about it. PR Newswire has a storied history with the traditional media. PRWeb is the new media press release service that reaches smaller outlets. PRWeb is inexpensive and their press releases live online for eternity. PR Newswire is more expensive and their press releases live online for a few months. Marketwire is a hybrid between the two.
Marketwire reaches mainstream media outlets online and press releases appear on Factiva as well as live online for one year. And, their system is user-friendly and their people are helpful. I weigh the brand attributes of all three distribution services against my media strategy to determine which wire to choose.
For example, recently I launched a media campaign for “The Real Guitar Hero,” Ronald Bienstock, who won a six-year trademark dual with Fender over global domination of the guitar industry. Misinformation about the facts of the story had already appeared online, but the mainstream media wasn’t aware of the ruling, so I wanted a wire service that was sure to reach the traditional media. But, the story was also very online friendly so I wanted to reach bloggers.
In this particular situation, I chose Marketwire. But, if this had been a keyword campaign for a business-to-business firm with less news value but a long shelf life I would have picked PRWeb.
Having brand ambassadors isn’t enough anymore. Not in this networked world. You need brand believers, people who would use your product or service irregardless of anything in the world you would offer them to do so. A brand ambassador crows about a company because the company told them to. A brand believer promotes a company because he or she can’t help it. Do you have brand ambassadors or brand believers? It all hinges on trust.
As a public relations consultant, I am a storyteller and a matchmaker, regardless of the medium. While the traditional media is shrinking, online communications channels are exploding. As a result, the opportunities to tell my clients’ stories and to make connections for them are endless.
Not only can I expand the reach of my clients’ voices exponentially by using inexpensive online wire services, blogs, Twitter, Ezine, YouTube, etc., I can actually measure my impact like never before by tracking web traffic. By letting go of the old model, I have doubled my value right now and I can prove it.
Think of Google Like a Newspaper
Search engines are like the new newspaper. On the right side are the advertisements. On the left side are the articles. Like in the traditional newspaper world, you can pay outright for your “keywords” to be read through expensive pay-per-click campaigns or you can claim them through creativity and consistency with the written word, otherwise known as organic search engine optimization. In my opinion, since many public relations professionals have yet to embrace SEO as an integral part of their communications strategy, there is plenty of territory left to plant a flag in.
Hang Onto Keywords Like Life Rafts
While some PR people like me find this liberation to be exciting, others feel like they are drowning in an ocean of information and interactivity and want to wish the old model back into existence. To them, I say partner with an SEO firm and hang onto your keywords like life rafts. Since keywords are like smoke signals that people are using to find each other, including print reporters, Keyword Communication is the future of public relations.
Claim Your Keywords and Communicate Consistently Across Channels
What are your keywords? What three things do you want to be known for? Use your keywords consistently throughout the vast network of information and connection channels as a magnetic force to pull customers back to your web site, to propel your brand to the top of search engines and to lead your industry’s conversations.
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