Tag: media relations

In the last week, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. In-person meetings and events are cancelled, offices and schools are shuttered, the future is uncertain, and it seems there is no “good” news to share.

So, what can professional services companies and economic development groups that aren’t directly fighting the disease do to communicate effectively during this uncertain time?

Here are four PR recommendations to keep in mind:

1. Don’t go dark!

Even though you may believe people are overwhelmed with messages right now, don’t stay silent. Your clients and potential clients are still working (albeit remotely) and will want to know what your company is doing – or can do – on their behalf. Even if you don’t know what will happen in your field because of the uncertainty, communicate what you do know, today. People are craving connections.

2. Social media will continue to spike.

Continue to update your social media channels every week, as people are paying attention as never before. Your posts can be brief and simply let everyone know that you are up and running and how you are helping your clients. You can also highlight people in your business that are going “above and beyond,” as well as strategies for navigating this challenging period. For example, our client Biggins Lacy Shapiro shared insights on the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on manufacturers via LinkedIn.

3. Pitch appropriate content to reporters.

Right now, the news is “all coronavirus, all the time,” so hold non-related news. That said, reporters are seeking sources as they cover all angles of the fallout—including new technology and media tools to help remote workers, companies seeing a surprising increase in sales, and economic development initiatives designed to spur local economies. This week, we’ve shared information with reporters about Topeka’s plans to move its vulnerable homeless population into empty hotel rooms, an Ithaca-based diagnostic company unveiling a new COVID-19 test, and record-breaking traffic on Patch.com.

4. Fill your pipeline of content.

Have you always wanted to blog about a topic related to your area of expertise? Do you have case studies developed highlighting recently completed projects?  How about
an updated bio and company profile on LinkedIn? Are there awards you can apply for based on your firm’s work last year? Now is the time to build your stable of content and plan for the rest of 2020. The crisis will dissipate; use your extra down time so that you are ready when it does.

In short, it can be challenging to manage PR and communications for your company or organization during this crisis. As we move forward – in uncharted territory – be sure you take time each day to communicate with your clients, stakeholders and community.

About April Mason

With a flair for developing captivating storylines, April brings over two decades of experience developing public relations campaigns for clients large and small. Whether it’s a business, community, association or entrepreneur, April generates maximum “buzz” and attention for her clients. She founded Violet PR in 2010 to shine a light on community leaders, developers and designers making a difference in the world.

An expert in economic and real estate development, April formerly served as Vice President for Development Counsellors International, where she managed destination marketing campaigns for clients ranging from Anchorage to Wyoming.

She is proud to have earned a national PRSA Silver Anvil Award for Tacoma, Washington’s “America’s #1 Wired City” campaign. Most meaningful is the opportunity that Violet PR affords April to represent underserved destinations and demographic sectors. She actively partners with women-owned / minority owned businesses and assembles blue-ribbon political / business leader groups to attend groundbreaking restorations of brownfield sites.

Before relocating to New York in 1999, April oversaw award-winning media / marketing campaigns for the Kansas City Area Development Council, an organization she continues to work with today. She holds a Masters’ degree in Journalism/Marketing Communications from the University of Kansas.

As companies seek to attract more clients and investors, a public relations or marketing company may be called upon to spearhead a campaign. What type of firm do you need?

Before reaching out to marketing or PR firms, you should understand the important differences between the two practices. Though PR is considered a subset of marketing, each field has a separate focus: PR concentrates on public perception, while marketing is charged with generating revenue.

4 Key Differences

Although both PR and marketing are campaign-driven and results-oriented, success is not measured the same way. Indicators of PR success could mean extensive news media coverage and social media discussions about your firm. Conversely, marketing success could equate to an increase in leads, prospects and revenues.

When you are deciding which service your brand needs, consider the differences between the two disciplines:

1. FOCUS

A fundamental difference between public relations and marketing is their respective focuses. As we’ve alluded to, marketing covers promotion and advertising of a product or company to generate sales. Public relations focuses on reputation management. The PR practice is about maximizing exposure and positioning a brand as an industry leader – by way of proactive conversations with, and placements in, the media.

2. AUDIENCE

Marketing seeks to reach customers and investors, while PR builds and nurtures relationships between a brand and its target audiences. Instead of pitching a product or service directly, a PR firm targets key audiences though education, brand awareness and thought leadership. Particularly for a business-to-business (B2B) company with limited resources, PR firms can help develop and sustain a relationship between a firm’s brand and its audiences.

3. SUCCESS

Measurement Both PR and marketing work can be based on campaigns, but each discipline has specific methods of measuring success. Traditionally, a marketing campaign’s success is measured directly through sales and revenue. Marketers work closely with a company’s sales team to identify which tactics drove revenue and adjust tactics accordingly.

Alternatively, PR success is measured by the strength of relationships built between a brand and its key audiences. Specifically, PR campaigns are often assessed by the number, quality and tone of news stories, number of “impressions” those stories generate (average monthly visitors or circulation), and corresponding traffic to a client’s website. Other ways to measure PR success are surveys and focus groups, conducted before and after large campaigns.

4. TACTICS

Another way to view the fundamental differences between the fields is to compare typical daily activities of marketers and public relations professionals:

B2B public relations activities include:

• Reviewing past media coverage and researching target media
• Writing press releases
• Pitching company news and trend stories to media outlets
• Coordinating speaking engagements for executives at industry events
• Prepping company leaders with talking points and media training
• Creating content for blog posts, bylined articles and websites; plus, practices to boost SEO and the way the company “indexes” on major search engines.

B2B marketing activities include:

• Conducting market research
• Designing a logo and tagline
• Creating promotional materials such as websites, brochures or postcards
• Creating paid digital and print advertising campaigns
• Planning activities to promote the product or brand, such as trade show displays at important industry conferences, or sales missions to key markets

The Bottom Line

While both are vital to the operation of a business, PR and marketing serve unique roles. Before
beginning any new campaign, identify your company’s goals. From there, your PR and marketing teams can pursue their respective tasks, often working as a unit to reach new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

It’s important to understand what each practice provides, and it’s equally important to understand the interplay between the two. When public relations and marketing initiatives are coordinated effectively, incredible results can emerge for your brand.

I’ve recently been contemplating ways to promote myself and my “brand” to help my company, Violet PR, gain more exposure as a top boutique public relations firm in northern New Jersey. Since I started the business as a home-based freelancer in 2010, we have grown to include four full-time professionals and several part-time employees based in a hip loft space in downtown Montclair, N.J. As part of our marketing plans, my staff and business coach have encouraged me to do more public speaking, post more on LinkedIn and Twitter, and generally talk about my accomplishments.

This is harder than it sounds. Generally, I’ve shied away from promoting myself – preferring instead to promote my team’s accomplishments using words like “we” and “us” – and avoiding photos with me taking center stage. Part of my rationale has been that I’m comfortable behind the scenes: after all, as a PR person, my goal has always been to promote my clients—not to become part of the story. Also, I genuinely want to give my team, partners and clients credit for their creativity and hard work.

However, after reading my friend Jessica Broome’s new survey about the “self-promotion gap” – which explores women’s fear of promoting their accomplishments – I now  understand there are deeper, cultural reasons why I haven’t felt comfortable doing so.

The 2019 survey of over 1,000 adults found that most women, in fact, avoid talking about their strengths and accomplishments. While 83 percent of women are inspired by hearing other women talk about their successes, seven in 10 women would rather minimize their successes than tell people about them. In fact, 42 percent of women said they’d rather clean the bathroom than talk about their accomplishments!

So why should we care? Well, for one thing, even though more women than men have been graduating from college since the 1970s, men are still earning more money. In 2019, women earned just 79 cents for every dollar that men made, regardless of job type or seniority. Men also dominate the C-Suite: women held just 6.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEO roles in 2019. And male entrepreneurs are the ones getting their businesses funded: CrunchBase reported that only 3 percent of global venture capital dollars went to companies led by a female founder during the first three quarters of 2019.

And in my field, women make up 70 percent of the industry, yet hold only 30 percent of the leadership positions, according to The Holmes Report. Female PR salaries are also lower: in 2017, white females were reported to make about $6,000 less than white males with comparable education and experience. This gap increases with people of color.

So, before you stop reading this post in frustration, there are a few bright spots in the “self-promotion gap” survey. Women aged 18-34 are more than twice as likely as women 55 and older to say they want to stand out. Moms and black women also show higher rates of willingness to talk about their accomplishments.

This gives me hope.

So, in the New Year, as I seek to grow my business and inspire younger women, I am pledging to be more intentional about promoting myself, my brand and my company. Here’s the first one:

In less than a decade, I’ve successfully built a profitable, award-winning boutique PR firm from scratch, without any outside financial help or loans, while always paying myself and my staff competitive salaries.

Whew!

(OK, now I also want to say I have had amazing clients, fantastic staff, exceptional mentors and some good fortune as well along the way!)

To my female colleagues, clients, friends and moms, cheers to a successful 2020!

ABOUT APRIL MASON

An expert in economic and real estate development, April brings over two decades of experience developing public relations campaigns for clients large and small. She founded Violet PR in 2010 to shine a light on community leaders, developers and designers making a difference in the world.

ABOUT THE SELF-PROMOTION GAP SURVEY

The Self-Promotion Gap is a 2019 survey exploring women’s fear of self-promotion, commissioned by Mighty Forces, Southpaw Insights, Upstream Analysis and Grey Horse Communications. Read more at www.selfpromotiongap.com.

The mere existence of YouTube and the ability to easily create, post and share videos across the internet has changed the face of public relations and marketing. As YouTube has become one of the top content curation platforms over the past decade, companies in the business to business (B2B) space are finding more ways to strategically produce content that highlights both their industry and unique services.

According to Alexa rankings of the top 500 sites on the web, YouTube is second only to its parent company, Google, and according to Buffer’s 2019 social report, 62 percent of businesses use YouTube as a channel to post video content. YouTube is a hot commodity for businesses looking to boost organic traffic.

Marketing and PR teams representing B2B companies can utilize YouTube as an educational and search engine optimization (SEO) tool to engage with target audiences. Although
many businesses are aware of the untapped potential of YouTube and what it brings to the table, many companies struggle with pinpointing the right tactics to elevate a business profile on the platform.

How to Maximize YouTube for Business

PR professionals can turn to industry influencers, principals behind B2B projects or interviews with C-suite executives to effectively elevate a business profile on YouTube. Content could include company and branding announcements, thought leadership “vlogging” or even unique commentary from trade shows and various conferences.

YouTube effectively creates opportunities for marketers and PR professionals to leverage their skills to attract a target audience, generate brand awareness or increase a client’s likelihood to come up on search engines. This comes via interactive and engaging content that a public relations firm identifies, creates, leverages and shares across channels.

YouTube can be leveraged as an effective tool for PR campaigns because the video segments are easily shareable among hundreds and thousands of users — perfect for clients
with a limited budget looking to maximize organic traffic and boost their position on search engines.

There are several ways companies and PR/marketing professionals can capitalize on the power of YouTube to create an ongoing B2B campaign, including:

1. COLLABORATE WITH AN INFLUENCER OR “VLOGGER”

It may come as a surprise, but there are quite a few YouTube influencers and vloggers that specialize in B2B industries. These are active contributors bringing commentary to
large-scale commercial real estate projects, feats of engineering and architecture, environmental trends, and more. Collaborating with one who has a strong following will bring organic traffic and brand awareness to an ever-expanding user base.

2. INTERVIEWS WITH MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISTS

If your company has an interesting story regarding a new project, re-brand, expansion, corporate responsibility initiative, or anything that could be considered news,
arranging an interview with a multimedia journalist could be a great way to package your story. These journalists combine texts, images, sound, videos and graphics
to tell their stories. A company could reach a multimedia journalist by offering exclusive interviews with high-level executives and a project/facility tour.

Once complete, you can also reshare that video on your firm’s business YouTube channel, and on other social media networks. There is a good chance that the journalist may
also tag your company or interview source in his/her work, building visibility for the topic area. If posted to YouTube, any mention could direct traffic to your
company’s profile.

3. CREATE YOUR OWN YOUTUBE SERIES

Creating a series of YouTube videos using your staff or with an outside marketing/PR team can also benefit your business immensely.

Engaging videos could include:

• Exclusive interviews with C-suite executives discussing a new project or company news.
• Panel discussions with executives and industry experts debating the latest industry trends or predictions.
• Create short recaps of major industry projects; incorporate team members that were close to the project.
• Post recap videos featuring company booths and clients attending speaker engagements or trade shows.

These videos can be produced regularly, semi-regularly, quarterly, or be largely dependent on project news. The more you populate a video platform or social
media profile, the more likelihood that it will reach potential clients or partners.

If you’re posting videos directly to YouTube, be sure to incorporate relevant keywords in a video’s title, tags and description. Using relevant keywords can increase views and build traffic because these words target audiences searching for similar content.

Web audiences are vast, and marketers have a real chance of reaching ideal demographics – should a few parts align. These include consistency of posts/videos and a unified/creative message. (Some type of marketing push behind the “launch” is equally beneficial.)

In Closing

There’s no question that YouTube will continue to expand in popularity in 2020 and beyond.  The above tips can help business owners in the B2B space maximize their company’s YouTube presence to reach more potential clients.

With due time and a solid foundation in visual media, you should expect to see results as your company publishes engaging content and interacts with a
user base, even if that user base is not extensive at the start.

Today, companies and organizations rely heavily on public relations agencies to widen brand awareness through news coverage, social media, an active blog and targeted messaging across platforms. Yet, how do you maximize results from the start?

Here are three things you can do before you formalize a relationship with a PR agency to ensure a successful beginning:

1. Set a Series of Goals

It is important to set aside time to think about your initial goals for the PR campaign. Why do you need PR? What media outlets do you want to be featured in? Do you want more traffic to your website

Also, what important news announcements, deadlines and milestones are coming up for your organization?

With this information in hand, your PR agency can clearly understand your expectations and can work closely with you to prioritize strategies, objectives, tactics and outcomes.

If you’re not exactly sure how to set specific goals, don’t sweat it—your PR agency can guide you through the process. However, just being prepared to discuss what you’d like to achieve with the PR program will help amplify results.

2. Know Your Budget

Though you may not know exactly how much you can spend on an outside PR agency, it’s very helpful if you can establish a budget range before you get too far into the negotiation process with a PR firm.  This way, you can quickly weed out firms that are too expensive for you and avoid significant “back and forth” with prospective agencies seeking to guess your budget.

Most PR agencies work on a monthly retainer basis, but others can price programs based on a project fee or an hourly rate (which is often the most expensive route).

A budget range will also help your PR agency develop an optimal plan for your organization, set measurable objectives, and identify tactics that will best move the needle.  From there, you should ask your agency for weekly / monthly updates on the campaign, and for a progress review after the first 3-6 months.

3. Come Prepared

You know your company best – and it’s important to share detailed information about your company or organization with the PR team upfront.

For example, if you have multiple logos, existing branding guidelines, a mission statement, photography and video, recent press releases, and bios on your firm’s leadership, make sure to provide these materials during the first month of the PR campaign. Your new PR firm will also ask questions about your marketing plans for the year, including trade show visits, speaking engagements, award opportunities and project milestones.

This will help the public relations professionals get up to speed quickly, avoid duplicating efforts, and avoid producing content that conflicts with your guidelines.

In Closing

These initial steps will help lay a solid foundation for a new PR campaign. From there, you should expect to see specific results over the course of the campaign, whether it be media coverage in your “most wanted” news outlets, increased engagement on social media, or revamped website copy that draws in prospects.

Learn how companies can benefit from working with a boutique PR firm.

Bigger isn’t always better. Today, we have seemingly infinite options when it comes to choosing a PR firm when launching a brand or company. But if you’re not promoting the next superhero franchise or publicizing a global company, do you really need to put down the money for a large firm?

For most organizations, a boutique PR firm with the ability to develop creative campaigns for each client is often a stronger option. Boutique PR firms tend to have smaller teams so they can be more personal and adaptable—something a larger firm may not be capable of.

What makes a boutique firm different?

1. ACCESSIBLE LEADERSHIP

Do you know the CEO of your current PR firm? With an exceptional boutique firm, you will. A smaller company means a more personal connection, including with the executive team. When a campaign is pitched to you, the team who pitched it will be the team who executes it. In larger firms, it’s common to “bait and switch” clients—you may have no idea who will be working on your campaign until it begins. A smaller firm will be present and accessible in a way that a larger firm could only dream of. Check out what can be offered by a boutique firm.

2. ADAPTABLE AND FLEXIBLE

The larger the company, the slower it can be to adapt. The more people involved in your campaign, the more minds need to be made up when something changes, and that can be to your detriment when a new idea comes to the surface. With a smaller firm, you’re dealing directly with the people in charge, and they can quickly turn around a new idea. They will also be able to rapidly develop skills or knowledge needed to execute new initiatives, whereas larger firms can have significant issues doing the same. Smaller firms are also less risk averse, so you’re more likely to end up with a campaign that is unexpected, surprising, and most importantly, cool.

3. COST EFFECTIVE

A common issue when starting a new company or attempting to scale up for the first time is that budgeting for a PR firm can be a huge barrier to entry. The initial retainer can be $10,000-$20,000 a month (and up) for large firms, and if you add more services such as social media, you will be paying more. Of course, there are great reasons to go with a big firm, but if you do not need the full force of a large PR firm behind you, why pay more? A boutique firm’s retainer will likely be less than half of that of a large firm, and you will receive full, attentive service by a team you will come to know well.

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT

Choosing the right type of PR firm to work with becomes much easier when you can see the specific differences between a boutique PR firm and a larger one. At the end of the day, the most important thing is your alignment with the firm you hire and how they go about doing their work for you. If you feel you need personal attention, faster turnaround, and a reasonable budget, a boutique PR firm may be the strongest choice for you. Still not sure? Let’s chat.

Want to get a favorable news story about your organization in your local business journal, industry trade magazine, or national news outlet—but don’t know where to start? A good public relations agency will understand how to initiate, build and nurture relationships with reporters so that your company or organization can get featured regularly in the news.

Here are six tips that we rely on to build trust with reporters:

1. Identify the right media outlets for your message

The first step is to carefully identify which media outlets will be likely to have interest in your company’s story. If you have a story about a new green real estate development, for example, then identify journalists and news outlets that cover sustainability projects. The Internet makes it easier than ever to ensure that you don’t reach out to the wrong reporter and waste their time.

2. Brevity is key – especially for online news

Particularly when working with digital reporters, keep in mind that online articles are written for a diminished attention span. When readers consume a digital article, they can lose interest quickly, and many may never finish an article. This means that the articles are typically succinct and need a compelling lead in order to resonate. Your pitches should be written in a similar fashion—brief, with bullet points.

3. Be persistent, but not pushy

PR professionals know that we need to be persistent to cut through the clutter (many journalists receive hundreds of emails each day), but never too pushy. We typically send emails, with the occasional phone call, when suggesting story ideas to reporters. Follow up is essential, but when a journalist says “no” – then it’s time to politely move on.

4. Be aware of deadlines

Be aware of a journalist’s deadline and respect it. In today’s digital landscape, journalists are under more pressure than ever to produce stories quickly – and will expect sources to respond as soon as they reach out. Often the experts quoted in news stories are the ones that can call a reporter back immediately with an “on the record” comment. And of course, be upfront if you can’t get a reporter answers before their deadline.

5. Never mislead a journalist

This may seem obvious, but if you don’t know the answer to a reporter’s question, don’t make it up! Misleading a journalist can result in inaccurate reporting – which, ultimately, is a blight on the reporter’s reputation. Further, the more facts and figures you can provide about your industry, trends and projects—the better. Journalists love to cite data in their news stories.

6. Help a reporter when you can

A relationship with a reporter should be a two-way street. As such, when a reporter reaches out for a quote or statement about a trend in your industry, supply it without delay—even if it won’t necessarily benefit you immediately. If you are uncomfortable being quoted about a sensitive subject, you can ask to speak “on background” and provide context around an issue.

In short, taking time to form relationships with reporters will absolutely help your company earn more (and better) news coverage. This will not be an overnight process, but with a concerted effort (often alongside a leading PR firm), strong reporter relationships can be built and sustained.