The Byline: PR and Marketing Insights from Eiler Communications

Launching a corporate blog? Here are three critical aspects to keep in mind, conveniently alliterated to enhance retention and recall:

1. Content
One word, Benjamin*, focus. Start the blogging process by thinking about two elements: what you want to say and to whom, and build your blog’s content scope from that vision. If you manage a software company, for example, you might choose to offer a resource for business leaders to learn about trends and new products. Having established your focus, you wouldn’t then decide blog about unrelated topics, like personal experiences, HR issues or the various mental troubles of Britney Spears. Blogs, like businesses, shouldn’t try to be everything to everyone.

2. Connections
The Internet gets more awesome every day. Because widespread RSS subscription availability and neat-o user-aggregated tools like Digg, Del.icio.us and Technorati, readers help boost your blog’s SEO by bookmarking your content if they think it’s valuable. You can also become a bona fide member of the blogger community by creating a blogroll, a list of related blogs you read regularly. Eventually, you’ll build your readership through reciprocated links in the blogrolls of others.

Connections are not all virtual. They also involve those real world relationships you’ve worked so hard to cultivate. Face it, you know people. In fact, you probably know some folks in your industry space who are blazing a trail. Invite them to guest blog or pick their brain in an interview and blog about your conversation. By adding new insights, you’ll build your credibility and grow your reader base.

3. Commitment
Readers like new content. Blogging experts say readers will stop visiting your blog shortly after you stop updating your content. Commit to frequent, regular updates and keep the content coming. An easy way to make this happen (and effectively fit blog maintenance into your busy business life) is to create a blog editorial calendar. Many hands make light work, so bring your leadership team or employees in on it. Make the blog a company-wide initiative.

Blogs take time and energy, but don’t stress. You can vary the length and content of your posts—write a unique post one week and just link to your favorite another week. Variety helps your readers stay interested, too.

Visit these sites to learn about the many buzzwords used in the post:

Lorelle VanFossen, author of Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging, shares how and why to add some of the above-mentioned neat-o tools to your blog in her article, “Adding Del.icio.us, Digg, Technorati and Slashdot Links to Your WordPress Blog.”

Internet security guru Robert Elamb’s article, “Putting a Del.icio.us, Digg, Technorati and Slashdot button into your blog” offers some great overview information in addition to step-by-step bookmark install instructions for those curious about the more technical aspects.

This Datamation article, “The Benefits of Corporate Blogging,” offers a rationale and some practical tips.

Posted by Nicole

I’ve become mildly addicted to Google Trends lately. If you’re not yet familiar, the free tool presents a list of the top Google search terms at this moment and allows you to enter your own terms to measure and compare search popularity around the world and over periods of time. Access Google Trends from your regular Google page (it’s under the “Google Labs“ option, or directly via the link above.

For example, I learned that Dr. Phil’s popularity jumped up in early January. If you’re following the Britney Spears saga (and you probably can’t help it), then you know why this is. Thanks to Google Trends, we also finally have concrete proof that chocolate is more popular than vanilla.

From a PR, marketing, and journalistic perspective, Google Trends can be helpful in a number of ways. It provides a quick pulse read about what people care about around the world (or by region) at any given time and is a great way to identify ways your company, clients or local news sources can fit into the bigger picture of cultural trends.

How could Google Trends be useful for businesses? Well, when I checked on Friday, “operation boot camp” was the #3 search term and “on fire” by Trends standards. This may or may not have been prompted by a story on CNN’s Web site about an Atlanta man who lost 128 pounds through a program called Operation Boot Camp. But people started searching for the topic of fitness boot camps in general.

If you own a gym (or better yet, run a fitness boot camp), this would be a great opportunity to contact your local newspaper or TV station and let them know you can see fitness boot camps are a hot topic on CNN right now, and if they are working on a local story on the topic, you are available as a source to talk about the advantages of boot camp programs for weight loss, and what makes a boot camp different than just hitting the gym.

Google Trends change in real time, so what’s hot today might not be tomorrow. But it’s a great and fun way to stay current.

Posted by Rebecca

I’ve had the pleasure to work with a diverse group of companies to help them become better known in their respective industries. In doing so, our firm has employed every conceivable traditional public relations tactic and some non-traditional ones.

While we’re calling and emailing media, securing speaking engagements, writing byline articles, conducting blogger relations and managing crises for our clients, it’s easy to forget about internal communications. If a company is introducing a new product, hiring a new CEO or going after a new type of customer, we advocate that public relations strategies be integrated with focused, internal communications strategies in order to maximize overall business results.

The disciplines of external vs. internal communications have been so specialized that owners of the functions all too often operate independently. Smart companies integrate the functions. They might not reside in the same department or under the same leader, but they work together to achieve exponentially larger results than either could achieve alone.

Southwest airlines’ Nuts About Southwest blog is a great example of an integrated tactic as it achieves greater online visibility while providing a forum for employees. Greater visibility and presence in cyberspace is certainly a public relations goal, and greater employee engagement is certainly an internal communications goal. Together, they help Southwest achieve the ultimate business goal of growing profits.

Posted by Linda

I came across some great blog posts the other day - some more recent than others.

The first two links are just great how-to lists when preparing for a panel discussion or product demo presentation. Both are important ways to enhance visibility for our companies and selves, but they also put us in grave danger of being really boring. Guy Kawasaki puts our concerns at ease with his two blog posts:

How to Kick Butt on a Panel, and
How to be a Demo God

I have to give a shout out to PR Insights for referring me to these posts, as well as this one, which is hilarious and sad depending on how you look at it: Hacking Cough provides great journalist perspective on how good news releases can be, and how boring they can become if they are ruined with PR/corporate speak.

On a separate note, The Byline has moved up on Brendan Cooper’s monthly list of PR Blogs, which is cool. It’s also good place to check for new/unfamiliar blogs similar to this one, which I encourage you to do.

Posted by Rebecca

It seems simple, right? We’re doing something cool, we want others to be aware of it, let’s send out a news release. While it’s true that frequent media outreach helps to build brand awareness and perceptions, it’s also true that needless news releases can annoy reporters and lessen your chance of productive media relationships.

Here are five questions to ask yourself before you hit the send button (or ask someone else to do it on your behalf):

1. Who, what, when, where and why? (well, that’s actually five different questions, but anyway…) If your release answers all of the above, you’re good to go. If not, reconsider. When one or more of these key facts are absent, it’s usually an indication your “news” is incomplete and wont be useful to journalists or others. Extra tip for success: try to answer all five briefly within your lead paragraph.

2. What’s new? As Larry always says, “three quarters of the word ‘news’ is the word ‘new.’”If you can’t explain the “new” part (product, growth milestone, client win, management team member, certification, award, etc.) clearly, easily and within the first sentence, don’t send.

3. What’s my goal? The old adage, “begin with the end in mind” helps with news releases, too. “XYZ Company is doing something cool over here” is not a very directive headline (or subhead), so it’s important to decide which specific part of the cool thing you want to emphasize. Do you want people to attend an event? Learn about a new product? Be impressed by your dramatic growth (and what it does for your industry and economy)? Note, the goal of your news release is not “to get media coverage.”

4. Why does my news matter? If your news release does not tell readers why your news is important, don’t send it. For example, a new client win means very little on its own, but when this new client win exemplifies your growth, industry expertise/specialization, etc. it’s more valuable.

5. Where does my news matter? Different aspects of your business have different levels of impact. Generally speaking, your news is regional, national, industry-specific or some combination of these. A new product launch release is best suited for your industry because it reaches your target consumers. On the other hand, noteworthy revenue or employee growth might be a regional success story about XYZ Company’s impact on the economy. For tips to leverage your national media outreach, check out my previous blog post, “National coverage for local organizations.”

Once you’ve addressed these five questions, read our “Meet the press” blog post for technical tips to maximize media relationships by meeting reporters’ needs.

Posted by Nicole

We all know that media are moving and changing fast as new Internet offerings are available—blogs, podcasts, the social media of Facebook, YouTube. People are going to new media for their information because of search engines’ speed of delivery and the individual’s rapid access to immediate news.

But what has not changed, according to a recent Forbes.com story, is “The Single Greatest Marketing Tool: the allure of public relations,” which is writer Lisa LaMotta calls “the discipline of shedding benevolent light on a person, company or cause by tapping the news media,” print or online.

“PR offers a potentially huge benefit that advertising does not: third-party approval,” she explains.

The main key to reaching media is to know what audience you want to reach and then driving for stories in online or print media that reach those targets with compelling information (messages) about your business or organization.

There is no magic to PR. It is a simple process of knowing your audience and messaging and targeting writers who cover the space you are in.

Measurement is an important issue to prove the value of PR. The most common way to measure is “hits,” coverage in online or print media. And there are more subtle messages as well, such as getting your prime messages included in an article. Ad equivalency, or the cost to run ads that cover the space of the stories you get through PR, is another useful way to measure.

Posted by Larry

Beavers work assiduously to build their dams.

They’re never quite satisfied with the type of wood they gnaw, its length, its fit with other pieces of the their dam.

It’s like that with PR.

Most companies are never quite satisfied with their results from PR.

They expect new sales, new knowledge, greater awareness.

They try to do it alone or by telling their PR people or outside counsel how to do the work.

We listen, then design and build sturdy dams. Meant to serve a long time. Meant to be refined to adjust to the river’s flow, more beavers coming into the river, fewer fish to eat.

Our dams are smashing PR programs that help clients move into new markets, introduce new products, reach key people and organizations to create interest and help them decide to go our clients’ way.

We’ve built a lot of dams in 20 years for b-to-b, direct to consumer, financial services, high tech, investor and marketing PR.

We train. We advise. We do. Dams are our only product. How about a dam for you?

We’ll send you an essay on “Reasons Why PR Surpassed Advertising in Business Marketing.”

E-mail me: larry@eilerpr.com

Posted by Larry

Does your PR/marketing person drone on about the upkeep of your company’s Web site newsroom opportunity? That’s likely because they know the majority of journalists research their articles and search for press releases nowadays. According to DMNews, “Corporate Web sites are a key source of information when reporting breaking news when no other primary source is available.” On a news deadline, the company with the most accessible information gets the coverage.

Web site newsrooms are commonplace by now, but you can separate yours from the masses by making it better. Here are five ways to do it:

1. Make sure the newsroom link is obvious from the homepage. If the link to your newsroom is subtle, or worse yet, inaccessible from your homepage, change it. If you were a reporter, how much trouble would you go to for your press release?

The likelihood of media visiting your site is high, especially if preparing for an interview with one of your executives. Approach your newsroom with that in mind. Does your content meet the needs of someone doing quick research about your company? Avoid the temptation to “track” media by requiring a username and password set-up to access your newsroom. It’s annoying, and if information is confidential or sensitive it doesn’t belong in the newsroom.

2. A newsroom is more than your online press release archive. Newsletters, executive speech transcripts, event photos and abstracts from recent media coverage are all appropriate additions. Think creatively about how to keep content fresh.

Post an online media kit to your newsroom for easy downloading. Include the same materials you would in a media folder: executive bios and photos, your latest company news release, a backgrounder or fact sheet about your business and a high-res logo.

3. Remember to date all posted press releases and newsroom items—readers need context. This will also force you to keep content up-to-date. Neglecting to post news as it is released wastes everyone’s time and defeats the purpose of the newsroom. Content should also be easy to navigate. Consider making your content searchable by multiple fields, like date, topic or headline, and available in multiple formats like Word and PDF.

4. Set up an RSS feed so media (and others) can subscribe to your site’s updates. An RSS (Really Simple Syndication), like Feedburner, is free and downloadable as an icon to your Web site. RSS feeds “read” the sites their users subscribe to and send an update when new content is posted. In other words, journalists can subscribe to your RSS and receive a prompt on their homepage when you post a new press release.

Many journalists actually prefer RSS subscriptions to receiving press releases via e-mail, because it allows them to “opt-in” to your news and provides real-time updates. In 2005, Robert Scoble (Microsoft tech evangelist) notoriously blogged that any marketing person who did not add an RSS feed to their Web site should be fired. Harsh. But it’s a valuable tool we should all be using.

5. Identify one media contact in your newsroom and provide his/her contact information on the Web page, not just within press releases. Generic “info@” e-mail addresses or request-for-information survey pages are disconcerting for journalists who may be on deadline and want to contact the right person in a timely fashion.

The moral of the story is to evaluate your newsroom from a journalist’s perspective: someone unfamiliar with your company’s history, leadership and chain of command. Does your site paint a clear picture of your corporate identity? If not, it may be a good idea to do some housekeeping; statistically it is the most popular place people go to learn about your company.

Posted by Rebecca

Awards are great PR tactics because they build credibility and visibility. Pursuing award opportunities can enhance industry leadership and build your company’s market recognition. Furthermore, awards serve a third-party endorsement of the quality products or services you offer (i.e. America’s Most Respected Companies, Best Places to Live America’s Favorite Cookie, etc.). That credibility accomplishes more than any advertising campaign.

Given the power of awards, it’s also important to understand where to look for them and how to pursue them for your organization. The diverse array of awards available might be daunting at first, but that’s a good thing. Different awards allow you to highlight different aspects of your business. Here’s a quick overview of some of the major award types and how they help you:

Industry awards recognize your company’s excellence within its primary area of expertise. You can apply for these awards for reasons including recent innovation, new product or company growth. Depending on the size of your business, you might be the best darn software development firm in the country, you might fall into the top 50 or 100, or you might fit a more specialized industry award, like “best developer of public transit tracking software” or “best manufacturer of polyester shoelaces” rather than best footwear manufacturer overall. Look to your trade publications and national industry organizations to find these opportunities.

Local media awards allow your company to showcase a strong suit other than its industry expertise. You might be the industry’s best developer of public transit tracking software, but you might also be one of your region’s “coolest places to work,” “best and brightest,” “fastest growing private companies,” etc. Check local business publications for announcements of these awards.

Professional organization membership awards acknowledge your contribution to the community of colleagues in related professions. Detroit’s Automation Alley, for example, has an annual awards gala to recognize the best member individuals and companies. Your member newsletters or the organizations’ websites are a great place to find out more about the awards they offer.

Awards for individuals within your company highlight employee excellence. Often, top-level executives are submitted for these awards based on significant victories, contributions or characteristics. Crain’s 40 under 40, for example, showcases one member of your team, but brings a measure of clout to the business as a whole. Not only that, these awards are often a morale booster; they show you recognize your employees’ contributions. Available on local, national and industry-wide levels, these opportunities can be found through professional organizations and it many trade and business news publications.

Awards for specific activities, generally given by professional organizations, recognize very specific areas of excellence. PRSA’s Silver Anvil Award for Crisis Communications, for example, awards member agencies based on documented strategic development and execution of one specific project. Consider pursuing awards for your web site, a successful ad campaign, company newsletter, new product design, etc.

Awards from clients, like “supplier of the year” and “certified partner,” allow you to demonstrate trends of excellent service—a plus when seeking new business—and help build your company’s recognition through association with other, often high-profile, clients. Explore these opportunities among clients with whom you have a positive, long-term relationship.

If none of these works for you, you can create your own award. This technique brings recognition to companies or individuals you think are doing something good, and it brings you recognition through association. Not only that, you’re also showing your company appreciates the contributions of others; something leaders at all levels do regularly. Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award is a great example of successful award creation. NuStep, Inc., an Ann Arbor-based maker of recumbent cross-training machines, gives its Pinnacle Award to exemplary health and wellness centers each year.

With all these options, the question becomes “where do I begin?” As with all successful PR tactics, some strategic planning with bring you closer to success. Establishing an award pursuit strategy involves three key actions:

1. Set goals! The pursuit of awards should support a defined purpose and work hand-in-hand with your business goals. Decide what you’d like your business to be known for and among whom and only pursue awards that will allow you to meet those goals. If you’re a baker, you might decide you want your bakery to be known locally for its great food and ambiance, and within the industry for its inventive recipes. You would apply for “top restaurant” or “best of” awards in local publications and “croissant recipe of the year” in trade publications. You wouldn’t apply for an unrelated award, like “best campfire sing-along leader,” even if you’re the undisputed champion, because it doesn’t further your business goals. Choosing award opportunities that suit your business makes you more likely to win.
2. Create an award database! Once you’ve defined your goals and audiences, it’s time to do some research. Find out about relevant award opportunities—application processes, deadlines, contact information, etc.—and keep all of that information in one central document. Try building an annual database so you’re aware of future opportunities and you can easily search within your master document for upcoming deadlines and other information. This saves you time in the long run; any additional research will supplement your master document, but you wont have to re-create it until next year. Your opportunity database should be comprehensive enough to allow for more than one award application in a defined period.
3. Apply consistently! You might decide you want to pursue one award per quarter, per year, etc. Whichever time frame you choose, make sure you are consistently applying for, and winning, relevant awards. If you decide to adopt award pursuit as a PR strategy, you should commit to it; make awards as much a priority as any of your other tactics and don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you. This will ensure your business is consistently recognized as excellent, not just a flash in the pan.

Posted by Nicole

The following inquiry was sent to The Byline by one of our regular readers at SOS Community Services here in Ann Arbor. She has allowed us to copy her remarks and use examples relevant to SOS to answer her questions. We’re always pleased to provide PR insights by directly addressing our readers’ questions and comments. Inquiries are always welcome!

Q: What are the best places to look for national press? I know this is sort of a large question, so let me use an example.

But let’s say I want to go bigger. Let’s say I have a story that I think will appeal to a larger audience (like the fact that we are trying to start a social enterprise with homeless families). Where does one begin to look when trying to get more exposure? How does one reach out to large publications? Any thoughts you have would be much appreciated!

A: Obviously, national or multi-national organizations have an easier time obtaining national media coverage than smaller, local organizations. But smaller organizations can and do obtain national coverage. The trick is to tell your story in a way that shows national media you’re worth writing about.

First, it’s important to realize what journalists are looking for. The criteria for newsworthiness are timeliness, proximity, impact or relevance, prominence (is someone well-known or famous involved?), conflict and novelty. The more criteria met by your story, the better your chances of being written about. That being said, there are a few tricks of the PR trade that can help you fit within the editorial scope of your target national publications:

1. Increase your chances by choosing your outlets wisely
Many organizations want to be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal because it’s a widely-read publication. But, it’s not the best fit for every organization. Often it’s the type of audience, not the size that counts. You’re better off reaching an audience that knows and cares about the specifics of your industry. You can build a reputation of thought leadership and expertise among your peers. The added bonuses—the more you reach out to these trade publications, the better relationship you’ll have with trade media, the folks who set industry perceptions, and national reporters, who are reading these trade publications to stay abreast of trends.

SOS’s target media might include publications like Child and Youth Services, a biannual, national trade journal that focuses on the development and treatment of children and adolescents, specifically covering topics like homelessness, foster care, etc.

Every organization knows its top industry publications. As you read up on your industry, keep track of the reporters; monitor what they’re writing about to increase your chances of choosing the best media outreach contact for your story.

SOS might also consider getting attention for its programs in other parts of the country. Nearly all major U.S. cities have publications that address local homelessness efforts, Real Change in Seattle, Spare Change News in Boston, StreetWise in Chicago, etc. SOS could share it’s own efforts to gain visibility and a leadership position among other similar groups.

2. Connect your story to a national trend
National media outlets, especially trade- or industry-specific publications, tend to focus more on trends and current events than specific examples. They want to demonstrate broader impact, making their stories relevant to most, if not all readers. Connecting your organization’s efforts with larger trends is one way to get noticed. SOS might position its news in relation to national homelessness statistics, an increase (or decrease) in community relief programs around the country, etc.

National media outlets use seasonal trends, major industry events (trade shows, etc.) and other timeliness factors to raise awareness. Homelessness makes news more in the winter months, when its effects become more pronounced. National homeless awareness week takes place every November, so national consumer media will likely touch on the issue by raising awareness of plights and highlighting the groups and programs that provide assistance.

3. Fit into the editorial calendar
Most national media outlets have editorial calendars that outline intended story topics for the year. These calendars can typically be found on the publications’ Web sites, most often associated with the “advertise with us” content pages. Once you’ve chosen target publications, check their editorial calendars for subjects that could fit your organization and offer yourself as an expert resource by writing a brief, clearly defined pitch to the contact and letting him/her know you’re available for interviews.

SOS might offer to speak about its programs with the editors of Affordable Housing Finance magazine, who will be writing a piece about “homeless families, the cost to society and how to correct a national disgrace,” called The American Nightmare in January.

Educational Leadership magazine will cover the effects of poverty on learning in its April, 2008 issue; a great place for SOS to showcase its Early Risers program that provides reading, writing and math help as well as conflict resolution, social and problem-solving skill development to homeless children.

For additional insights into the mechanics of dealing with reporters, see Rebecca’s post about understanding media.

Good luck, SOS! Opportunities abound out there. Here’s hoping you go after some of them.

Posted by Nicole