Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
In a world where pizzas are assembled by robots and hotel room service can be delivered by a mechanical butler, is it safe to assume that with the help of artificial intelligence and automation we might soon see the demise of the (human) public relations professional?
Selfishly speaking (as both a PR professional and a human), I hope not.
There are technologies available that automate parts of our job in terms of press release distribution and social media posting, to name a few. Platforms like PitchFriendly and Bullhorn provide PR-focused customer relations management (CRM) solutions that allow teams to integrate media activities with email and mobile platforms, receive read receipts on pitch emails, share media lists and pitching notes, and more.
The benefits of technologies like these are clear – they can offer agency- or team-wide improvements around the following areas:
- Collaboration and information sharing – Offering a centralized system where team members can update and access historic details about contacts and pitches.
- Greater efficiencies – Providing a quicker way to find interview notes rather than manually searching through countless notebooks, Excel sheets or Outlook folders.
- Continual output of information – Allowing organizations to post tweets and other content on a scheduled basis, ensuring a consistent flow of content and audience engagement
In an industry that bills by the hour, automating many tasks – particularly administrative ones – makes good business sense. If a platform or tool can save time that might be spent looking up notes from an interview or avoiding people double-pitching a reporter, all the better.
But there are challenges with an automated approach. As with any CRM or database system, the information must be updated consistently by all parties to ensure its accuracy. A database is only as a good as the data that lives within it, after all, and for it to be valuable for agencies and clients, it needs to be a living, dynamic resource that is fed and nourished frequently.
Further, while a machine might be able to send out press releases or social media posts on a scheduled basis, it doesn’t take into account breaking news or other unanticipated factors that require real-world, human interaction and professional counsel. If a client finds themselves in crisis – whatever the issue – there’s no place for automation or templates.
Above all, the most important part of our job is in our title. Public relations. At the end of the day it’s about the relationships we build over time with our very human media contacts, clients and co-workers. Machines might be able to identify which reporter is likely to cover our news, but it can’t craft the story angle or understand the nuances and rapport that has been built with that contact.
And here’s where PR professionals need to up their game against the machines. Too often reporters complain – rightfully so – about receiving irrelevant, generic, untailored pitches from PR contacts that clearly haven’t bothered to do their research and apply some creative thinking in their outreach. In these scenarios, we’re no better than robots simply hitting “send” to hundreds of reporters, which does a huge disservice to those media professionals, our clients, and ultimately to ourselves as PR professionals.
Public relations is a creative field and one that requires us to be constantly vigilant in staying on top of our clients’ industries in order to provide them with good counsel and identify media opportunities that will help grow their business. Automated services like Google Alerts might be able to flag competitive news for us, for example, but it’s our job to take that information, apply our knowledge about our client’s business, and tailor a pitch that will resonate with the right contact at the right publication. That’s where the challenge is, but also the fun and the reward.
No machine can, or should, replace the brain power of a good PR professional. And to be clear, I’m far from a Luddite when it comes to technology. That robot pizza delivery service could come in very handy during a late-night press release writing session!
Is your organization using a tool that helps to automate parts of your PR program? What has the experience been like? We’d love to hear more in the comments – let us know!
The recent New York Times Insider article, “How New York Times Stories Are Like Footballs,” shares a behind-the -scenes look into the editing process of articles, illustrating how stories typically move through the review staff like a football in a strategically designed, somewhat frantic, play.
After reading this article, I wanted to address these editing steps from the lens of a PR professional taking our football (a press release) into the end zone (publication/distribution). Below are the parallels I drew from the editing stages outlined by Steven Rocker.
The Backfielder. Although the “backfield” is commonly known as the area behind the line of scrimmage on a football field, the Times has adopted this title for the individual on their editorial team who reviews the article’s content and value. In PR, I associate this step with when our team assesses an announcement topic before developing the media outreach strategy. We ask questions such as: Is this newsworthy? Why should a reporter care? Why does the company care? How will this change the customer experience? Will this benefit or challenge the industry as a whole?
If we can answer these questions confidently and determine that this is strong news that will benefit multiple audiences, we will give our client the green light and develop a strategy for releasing the news. “No article is released without the approval of a backfielder.” That quote made me laugh…sometimes PR teams must show tough love!
Slot to Copy. After approval is given, a slot editor picks up the article and passes it along to an available copy editor. The copy editor develops the headlines and reads for logic and grammar. For some announcements, our clients will request reviewal of a press release instead of writing from scratch. In this case, we approach the media alert with the same magnifying glass as that used by the copy editor. We ask questions including: Is this headline catchy? Is this sentence a fact or commentary? Should this sentence actually be a quote? We also look to streamline long paragraphs into bullet points that help outline individuals who will benefit and the changes the industry should expect to see.
At its essence, the press release is home to the announcement’s most important takeaways, with these facts typically placed as close to the top of the page as possible. The press release needs to be straightforward and to the point, so that the target audiences can easily and quickly identify the who, when, what, why and how about the news. Reporters can either repost the press release on their websites, reach out for an interview, or develop their own article weaving in the facts and executive quotes listed in the release.
Touchdown! After the copy editor signs off on the headline, it is sent back to the slot and cleared for publication. Similarly, once we have finalized a press release, we will tee it up for distribution. While the news is in the queue, we will prepare a press list and pitch email to align with the release’s details. Depending on the timeliness and subject of the news, we will sometimes begin outreach before the publish date in order to drive buzz or organize an exclusive.
Post-Mortem. After “the game,” the Times’ newsroom is on standby and “compiles post-mortems.” During this time, reporters are ready to address any issues, mistakes, serious comments or controversies that have stemmed from their piece, as appropriate and necessary. Similarly, with a company’s announcement, we compile coverage recaps and are on high alert as to who is reposting the press release, as well as correct any mistakes that were made while transforming information from the release into an article covering the news. Although you’ve made the touchdown and even won the game, the job is not finished. Professionals who have had to handle crisis communications during the post-mortem period understand this and live it regularly.
As PR professionals, roles shift from being the writer, backfielder, copy editor and even referee. There is no doubt that the responsibilities of each of these positions and the processes of storytelling is stressful. It is important for PR professionals and even clients to appreciate articles such as Rocker’s in order to understand how much thought goes into a standalone story, as well as the sheer volume of stories produced. It is necessary to be thoughtful with outreach and carve out the time to research your pitch targets before you throw news their way.
Lastly, because articles go through just as much – if not more – scrutiny and judgment before they are published, it is important for PR pros and their clients to be thoughtful when contacting a journalist to make corrections. Thank the reporter for taking the time to cover your story, address the issue, provide a recommendation, and be respectful.
You’re busy, we get it. Despite your best efforts to refresh your Twitter feed, sometimes you miss a headline here and there. To keep you updated on all of our clients’ latest and greatest product announcements, contributed articles, funding news and more, we’ll be featuring recent articles in our new series, “CPR Clients Making Headlines.”
Read on to find out what Spaceflight Industries, iPinYou, Dell EMC, Bank of America and our very own Colleen Moffitt are up to lately.
- Congratulations are in order for Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries. Last week, the company announced the successful launch of its BlackSky Pathfinder-1 satellite. KING 5’s Glenn Farley visited Spaceflight Industries’ headquarters to speak to Rakesh Narasimhan, COO of Spaceflight Industries, to learn more about BlackSky’s 60-satellite planned constellation.
- Next time you’re in Bellevue, be sure to stop by iPinYou’s new U.S. office. As Xconomy pointed out, the Chinese digital advertising company is not affiliated with wrestling. (Sorry, WWE fans!) Instead, iPinYou is helping more U.S. companies reach customers in China.
- In Sanjay Joshi’s byline for Health Data Management, he stresses the need to change the 2:1 ratio of research to clinical budgets that currently exists. The CTO of healthcare and life sciences at the Dell EMC Emerging Technologies Division also discusses how information infrastructures are shaping the future of precision medicine.
- At tomorrow’s GeekWire Summit, former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette will take the stage to share his inspiring story as part of the Summit’s Geeks Give Back campaign. Launched in partnership with Bank of America, Geeks Give Back benefits the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, which provides scholarships to underrepresented minorities, women and others who are pursuing degrees in science and technology in Washington state. Last year, Bank of America and GeekWire raised over $500,000 with their annual giving campaign and hope to record an even larger number this year.
- While not technically a client, CPR’s founder and partner Colleen Moffitt snagged the cover of a recent Puget Sound Business Journal issue. Colleen and her former RealNetworks colleagues shared their experiences working at the audio and video software company and dished on their current ventures. Check out Colleen’s blog post to learn more about her time at RealNetworks.
In today’s ever-connected market, internet users can visit a site and be served an ad in the (literal) blink of an eye. On the other end, ad buyers are increasingly on the search for ways to engage with a wider audience. Given this, programmatic ad buying is a key tool for both marketers and advertisers.
Programmatic ad buying refers to the use of software to automatically purchase digital advertising inventory in real-time. Typically, programmatic ad buying leverages big data and online behavioral habits to drive personalized, targeted ad purchases. Because programmatic ad buying technology utilizes advanced algorithms and removes the need for human buyers and salespeople, it makes the purchasing process more efficient, strategic and less expensive.
In late August 2016, Communiqué PR began working with iPinYou, China’s largest programmatic ad buying demand-side platform provider. Although known and highly regarded internationally for its solutions, iPinYou is now focusing on the North American market and is positioning itself to be a brand’s best partner to explore the Chinese market and reach its consumers. Communiqué PR was tasked with driving communication efforts to announce iPinYou’s entry into the United States and securing media placements about the news with key advertising and marketing media.
As background, iPinYou was founded in 2008, a time when the Chinese ad-tech market was in its infancy, and has since developed and patented new tracking and labeling technologies to help understand consumer online behavior. iPinYou owns a 59.8 percent share of China’s branded programmatic buying market according to an independent third party research company (Analysys International) in China, and Google Double Click, Baidu and Tencent have recognized iPinYou’s platform with a “Best in Class” award. Last December, iPinYou received a $500 million Renminbi pre-IPO investment from its exclusive data partner, China Mobile, along with other investors. Beyond China Mobile, UnionPay and AsiaInfo are also iPinYou strategic partners.
Making a Media Splash
Communiqué PR recognized the news value of the announcement – after all, how often does a worldwide, established company such as iPinYou reveal that they are entering the U.S. market for the first time? Advertisers, marketers and business executives would all be interested in the news, and Communiqué PR and iPinYou worked closely together leading up to the announcement to prepare for the wave of expected news coverage.
The interest in the news was immediate. Publications around the U.S. began covering the announcement as soon as the press release crossed the wire. Advertising and marketing trade publications featured six original articles on the announcement, and the press release itself was picked up by a slew of top-tier media including MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance and The Street, reaching a potential audience of more than 88 million. Highlights from the media coverage include:
- CMS Wire: China’s iPinYou Enters US Market in Partnership with Twitter-Owned MoPub
- Mobile Marketing: MoPub Partners with China’s Largest Programmatic Ad Platform
- AdAge: A Chinese Ad Tech Titan Looks to U.S., Partners With Twitter-Owned MoPub
- Media Post: Chinese Programmatic Giant IPinYou Launches In The U.S.
- Geekwire: Chinese ad buying company iPinYou opens U.S. HQ in Seattle region
- Xconomy: Seattle Week in Review
Communiqué PR congratulates iPinYou for successfully announcing its entrance into the North American market. The company is poised to succeed because it is the link that connects U.S. brands to Chinese consumers, and Communiqué PR is proud to help iPinYou in its entry into the U.S.
As more and more businesses are creating unique content to reach key audiences, we thought it would be helpful to outline some best practices around syndication agreements. Content syndication is the act of giving other organizations the right to copy or republish your work – in the form of print material, video, music or digital content – in exchange for money or attribution.
It is a common practice at many news organizations and television franchises to syndicate their content as a way to extend its lifecycle, reach additional people or to secure incremental revenue from it. Consider Law & Order, the successful legal drama TV series created by Dick Wolf and his franchise.
Law & Order originally aired on NBC, but later the franchise syndicated the series on other cable networks. According to Wikipedia, “Repeats of Law & Order were first broadcast weekdays on A&E beginning in the mid-1990s and are credited with drawing a new audience to the current weekly NBC episodes. As of January 1, 2014, the series is being telecast on SundanceTV, TNT, WE tv, and WGN America.”
Companies producing compelling original content can emulate Dick Wolf and his team. First, they can publish their content on their own website; then, they can offer it to others who might benefit from republishing it. INRIX does this with its real-time traffic data. They provide alerts to their customers and also make this same data available to local broadcast journalists. Zillow too publishes information on celebrity homes and provides some of this same content to news partners.
While some might be skeptical, content syndication is truly not has hard as you think. Consider Alaska Airlines’ blog. A few years ago Halley Knigge, who runs it, produced a story “Flying with Luly: How to pack a wedding dress.” This story featured videos and step-by-step instructions for packing different styles of wedding dresses. This niche content is interesting to a special group of people, brides who are traveling to destination weddings.
The existence of this content spells opportunity for Alaska Airlines. They could offer Brides Magazine an opportunity to syndicate all or part of this story for publication on its website. In exchange for the content, Alaska Airlines would ask for a link back to its website. Alternatively, Alaska Airlines could offer to develop a series of articles providing tips for planning the destination wedding.
As you think about leveraging the content you create, there are a few rules and best practices to keep in mind.
- Be clear on your objectives for syndicating content. Why do you want to syndicate your work? Do you think syndication will help you reach different audiences? Will it help you expand your reach to more people? Will it allow you to build your brand or generate revenue? Will it help with SEO? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you be strategic in your partnerships.
- Identify unique content that only your organization is collecting. For instance, companies such as INRIX and Zillow have compelling and relatively scarce data. Does your company have data that is exclusive and scarce enough that news outlets might be interested in syndicating it?
- Think about the value of this content as it pertains to your potential syndication partner. Who are your partner’s audiences? How would this content help them? It is important to answer these questions before you reach out to potential partners or begin packaging up your original work. Clarity on your partner’s needs will increase your chance of reaching out to the right potential partner as well as your ability to offer them valuable content, which is the first step in forging a successful syndication agreement.
- Identify the decision maker. To successful place your content, you need to find a manger with the power to place it. This person’s title will vary depending on the organization and the content you have to offer. For instance, in broadcast TV, you might want to reach out to a producer. If you are trying to place content with Brides Magazine, you should start with an online editorial director. Don’t be discouraged if you get bounced from one person to another. Sometimes you have to reach out to multiple managers to find the decision maker.
- Consider the frequency in which you might be able to provide content to your partners. You may want to develop and provide content to your partner once a week, month, quarter or year. Your partner may have formal requirements or they might accept content as you have it. Finally, make sure you have the staff and resources to sustain your program. The last thing you want to do is set up an agreement with a partner only to learn you cannot deliver.
- Put an agreement in place. You want to ensure there are shared expectations on the content you will deliver and when you will deliver it. You also need to know what you will receive in return for providing your partner with the content. Your attorney may want to outline the terms in an explicit letter of agreement or contract.
- Support your partners. When your partner shares your content, it’s good etiquette to amplify their activities by posting links to their site from your social media accounts.
- Know how you will measure the success of your program. According to Dominick Miserandino, CEO of Dysleximedia LLC, “Measuring ROI around content syndication is often something that people overlook. They get overly focused on placement of content without analyzing success.” It is a good idea to have evaluation criteria outlined from the get-go. This might include a number of referrals from a publishing partner’s website, incremental revenue generated from syndicated content or an increase in overall brand awareness.
- Confirm ownership of content. Finally, remember you cannot grant syndication rights for content that you do not own. You must own the copyright before you syndicate content – otherwise, you open yourself up to significant and often thorny legal issues.
With these best practices in mind, content syndication can prove to be a powerful method of boosting your company’s presence and advancing its goals. At Communiqué, we regularly syndicate our blog posts – you can read more about our syndication experiences here. You can also find more tips on how to repurpose original content here. If you have any additional thoughts or tips, feel free to leave a comment below.
As PR professionals, we are often asked to provide counsel or create strategies around social media platforms on behalf of our clients. We all know that social media is an excellent way to engage with target audiences, develop brand voice, establish thought leadership, and share useful content. However, one element has failed to be included in overall social media strategies by an alarming number of brands.
On Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, our client, Rational Interaction, an award-winning, full-service agency based in Seattle, released a report analyzing how major brands were using social media to provide customer service, what they’re calling “Social Customer Care.” Based on the results, you could say that they actually analyzed how brands aren’t using social media for customer care. Astonishingly, according to Rational, 92.5 percent of brands are failing to provide proper customer support through social media.
When collecting data, Rational focused on brands in three verticals – technology, retail and healthcare – and concentrated on the use of Twitter because it is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, way for consumers to interact with brands. While other social mediums have large user bases and brand presence, Twitter has 360 million users and over 67 percent of those users (that’s 207 million users) are looking for customer support from brands through Twitter. The point is, that is a lot of customers you don’t want to be ignoring.
Brands stand to lose a lot when customers go unanswered or unacknowledged. Currently 58 percent of Twitter users never get a response from a brand and ultimately this has an impact on the bottom line, with two-thirds of customers reducing spending with a brand after a poor customer service experience. Not only that, but consumers don’t usually keep their bad experiences to themselves, with 60 percent of Twitter users tweeting about their negative interaction, or lack thereof.
So what’s the solution to this obvious problem? There are a couple of tactics that brands can work into their overall social media strategy. First, consider having a specific support handle for customer service. Keep the main company handle that focuses on sharing company updates, industry trends, and the occasional meme. Then create a completely separate handle for support and questions. Not only will this make it easier to track and respond to all inbound inquiries, it will also help maintain the negative or unhappy comments and feedback in one controlled area.
Another tactic to consider is responding to every customer. Yes, this is a large task, but as demonstrated by the data, a very important one! If you run into a product issue or a problem that affects a number of customers, address it broadly, then focus on each individual. The initial and final response to the customer should be done in a public forum. If the problem is a long, complicated one, move the conversation to a private forum, like direct messaging, but be sure to begin and end communication publically. This allows your other customers to see that you are willing to address the issue, offer help and ultimately, find a solution.
Brands that begin adopting these methods into their social media plans quickly will have an advantage over many brands. Ninety-six percent of customer service requests go unanswered by global brands that lack a dedicated, localized customer support handle, such as Adidas, AT&T and Sephora. Making these changes and implementing a proper Social Customer Care program for your social media accounts has the potential to not only reduce the negative perceptions of a brand, but ultimately have larger impacts on the bottom line. What other important social media tactics would you include in your plan?
Find more data from Rational Interaction’s Social Customer Care report here: http://bit.ly/2bye9iA