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.
According to a recent, particularly fascinating Pew Research Center report, the path that readers take to arrive at a news site reveals a lot about their level of engagement with the outlet and its content. In other words, the amount of time someone spends reading an article or browsing an online site depends largely on how they got there—whether they typed in the site’s URL directly, searched on Google or clicked through from social media.
For the report, titled “Social, Search and Direct: Pathways to Digital News,” the Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project team looked at U.S. Internet traffic to 26 of the most popular news sites. The findings show that direct visitors—those who have the site bookmarked or type the URL into the search bar—are much more dedicated to a website, spending more time on it and engaging with the content more than other types of viewers.
Specifically, among other findings, the report showed that direct visitors to a news site:
- Spend about 4 minutes and 36 seconds per visit—about three times as long as those who wind up on the site via a search engine (1 minute 42 seconds) or click through from Facebook (1 minute 41 seconds).
- View roughly five times as many pages per month on the site (24.8, on average) as do viewers coming through searches (4.9) or from Facebook (4.2).
- Visit the site three times as often as do search and social-media readers.
Interestingly, the findings hold true across all types of sites—from national news outlets to sites like BuzzFeed with mostly search- and social-media driven traffic. What’s more is that viewers tend to be one type of reader or the other—they’re either a dedicated reader of news sites or they’re not—and it’s difficult to get them to change their habits.
So, what exactly does this all mean for PR pros?
The findings suggest that, when you place a contributed article in a target outlet, the individuals you’ll impact the most are the devoted readers who fit that site’s demographic. And that’s good news—you’re reaching the audience you hoped for when you pitched the story. These loyal site visitors will absorb and digest the content more than the guy who just clicks on the link from his Facebook wall.
As a post on Media Bistro’s PRNewser pointed out, this also means that traditional earned media placements are still your best bet for reaching clients’ target audiences. Despite all the hype around alternative forms of content and SEO and social-media strategies, nothing beats old-school editorial coverage when it comes to influencing readers. This relieves some of the pressure of trying to create viral content that generates clicks and search visits—those viewers won’t take as much away from the story anyway as do the site’s everyday readers.
So, it seems that the “quality over quantity” argument holds true when it comes to placing content for clients. Spreading the news via social and SEO tactics certainly doesn’t hurt but, in the end, it’s still more important to build solid relationships with journalists and earn media placements than worry about social-media numbers or search-engine rankings.
For more detailed findings, be sure to check out the full Pew Research Center report here.
Up until last week, one of our clients had four Twitter handles. At first, it made sense—a handle for each unique product and its unique audience. But we soon realized we could build a bigger, stronger social media presence with one handle to encompass it all. We were then faced with a dilemma: How could we make a smooth transition to one handle without losing any followers?
We came up with the following strategy:
1) Update your bios. As an initial announcement, change each account’s bio to let its audience know that the account is moving and to direct them to its new home.
2) Notify your followers. Remind each handle’s followers every day for ten business days that the account is moving by tweeting something along these lines: “We’re moving on March 4! Follow @[name] to continue getting our updates.”
3) Stop regularly scheduled tweets. During the transition period, only tweet reminders about the move from the handles that are being discontinued. All other updates should be tweeted from the new handle.
4) Direct Message followers you might lose. To ensure each account brings all its followers when it moves, reach out to each person who isn’t already following the new account to notify them about the move. An easy way to do this is to export each account’s followers and compare them. SocialBro and Simply Measured both offer this feature, along with other helpful analytics tools.
5) Lock down your accounts. After ten business days, lock down the handles that are being discontinued and update the account bios to let current and potential followers know that the account has moved.
We found this to be an effective way to merge our clients’ Twitter accounts and we’re now well on our way to building a bigger following. Do you have any other tips for easing the transition to a new Twitter handle?
Getty Images recently announced its decision to make some, but not all, of their images free. Nearly 13 million images without watermarks will now be available to the public by simply embedding a code for the image. These embedded images will contain a footer with credit linking to the company’s licensing page.
We have been paying to use Getty’s services for years, so after hearing that free images are now available, I wondered, what’s the catch?
In the past, Getty images could be Googled and then captured with a screenshot that did not include watermarks. This process of attaining images is illegal. Getty understood that this was taking place and sought to prevent illegal use of images. The company reasoned that by offering some images for free, there would no longer be a motive to use images illegally.
Mashable pointed out that through these new embeds, Getty will have the opportunity for a new source of revenue. Getty will now have the ability to “gather user information and run ads within branded, embeddable frames.” Another potential “catch,” noted by The Verge, is if Getty were to remove the image from public consumption, the embedded image would disappear from where you placed it as well.
As Ragan’s PR Daily pointed out, it is important to note Getty’s terms of use. These embedded images are not for commercial use, including advertising, promotions or merchandising. Furthermore, the terms prohibit use of these images for endorsement or sponsorship.
These free embeddable images, however, enable private users to enhance their work with images, all while doing so legally. As long as Getty does not remove your image and you are willing to bear the credit footer in your image, these high quality, free images are quite the steal. Getty has made it easy for anyone – from bloggers, social media users, and companies alike – to use the power of images to strengthen their piece.
Recently, as I browsed articles on Ragan.com, I came across “What PR courses should teach undergrads,” written by Ed Zitron. The piece caught my attention for a couple of reasons. Earlier this year, we received word that our book, “Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR,” would be used as a textbook at Xavier University for a course taught to juniors. Secondly, we often have college students as interns and, whenever possible, try to hire them.
In his article, Zitron explained that he took a PR course at a major state university and it did not address how to work with the media. He then shared his perspective on the core elements he’d recommend applying to every curriculum, which included a heavy concentration on media relations, especially those related to the relatively new “social” variety.
While I agreed with many of Zitron’s points, I do wonder about his assertion that educators are not teaching the right theoretical information to their students. My experience is limited, but I have found that graduates of the University of Washington—especially those majoring in communications and journalism—are well prepared for their work in PR.
When Communiqué looks for entry-level PR people, our ideal candidates are ones who possess excellent critical thinking and communication skills, not necessarily ones honed at university-level PR courses. I believe a strong manager can provide training around the mechanics of research, the ideal elements and length of a pitch, how to use social media, or any of a number of specific PR elements, but it is much harder to help someone develop intellectual horsepower.
The world of PR needs people who can deal with concepts and complexity comfortably, who are quick at separating fact from fiction, who can find some success at building a strong network and media connections, and who are good problem solvers. While I agree with Zitron that it would be good for PR programs to teach some of these more granular tactical lessons, I think our major educational systems must continue to develop core competencies around critical thinking, persistence, negotiation and communication.
With those skills and some dedication, fine-tuning a successful career in public relations is certainly attainable.
The challenge put forth by organizers of the annual National Day of Unplugging seemed easy enough: Do you have the willpower to unplug and unwind without electronics for a full 24 hours?
I stumbled upon the National Day of Unplugging late last Friday afternoon as I was looking for inspiration for this blog post. For me to say I like a good challenge would be an understatement. Plus, I really needed a topic for a post so I accepted the challenge.
Like for many, planned vacations are really the only time I come close to unplugging from electronic distractions. But even then, while I may not be checking my phone for work email or monitoring feeds for the latest breaking news, I’m checking personal email and constantly scanning Facebook for the latest updates from friends and family.
On the weekends, I check my personal and work email accounts eight to 10 times a day. Add to that the time I spend checking Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and a host of other apps, and I’m on my smartphone, tablet or laptop a good portion of the day. I don’t always respond to work emails, but I like to keep an eye on things just to make sure nothing is exploding or requires immediate attention. With PR, there is an expectation, perhaps more self-imposed, that you are available 24/7. Breaking news and crises wait for no one and you have to be ready to act swiftly when necessary. Plus, seeing what awaits in my inbox makes the transition from weekend to Monday much smoother.
So what did I do for 24 hours without my mobile appendages?
- I went on a walk with a friend (hastily scheduled before my 24-hour electronics fast) and even took off my Fitbit activity tracker.
- Rather than draw culinary inspiration from the dozens of recipes I’ve saved on Pinterest or from one of the nine food/recipe apps on my tablet, I turned to my many cookbooks gathering dust in the kitchen.
- I got lost in a book and read the newspaper, savoring the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink. I even caught up on last Sunday’s New York Times, which sat atop a pile of other barely touched Sunday editions. Reading the actual newspaper gave me a greater appreciation for the journalists and staff who produce them. As newsrooms continue to shrink and circulation numbers dwindle, I felt compelled to support the industry that we as PR people rely on so heavily for success, so I renewed my home delivery subscriptions to the Seattle Times and the New York Times (after I was able to plug back in).
- I worried that I was missing something urgent for work or with friends.
All in all, I lasted 23 hours and 50 minutes. I had to make one exception to my no-electronics rule to find an email containing information for a friend’s father’s memorial service, which I did look for first in the obituaries section of the newspaper. In my book, supporting friends wins over austerity almost every time.
Now in its fifth year, the National Day of Unplugging starts at sundown on the first Friday in March. In a field like PR it is difficult to completely unplug without a little pre-planning to lessen one’s angst, but I’m planning to observe National Day of Unplugging again to remind me of the distractions that keep me from connecting with my environment and my community.
Could you live without your smartphone, tablet, laptop or any other electronic device for 24 hours?
If they’re in the tech industry, they had better learn.
Too often in the tech world you hear about a divide between engineering or product management teams and groups like PR or marketing. It’s easy to see why this could be the case. You wouldn’t ask your PR team to be fluent in Python or C++ any more than you would ask your engineering team to study AP Style.
But to successfully tell your company’s story, to represent the brand and pitch the product, your PR team does need to be fluent in said product’s function, its value to customers, and the intricacies of its operation. And yes, if your company is making hardware or software, your PR team should be using it!
This is true at companies large and small, but can be especially impactful at startups or small businesses where product development roadmaps can change suddenly and dramatically, leaving little time for a ramp-up on technical know-how and lingo.
How can your PR team get a handle on the technical details of your product?
- Get hands on. Wherever possible, your PR team (whether in-house or agency-side) should use your product daily. As we’ve written about previously, the team at Communiqué PR uses Smartsheet—our client’s product—to manage many of our day-to-day projects, track deadlines and to keep an eye on how busy each of us is. There’s no better way to understand your client’s or your company’s product than to make it a part of your daily routine.
- Let PR and product teams collaborate early and often. You already have a tremendous technical knowledge base under your roof: your product development teams. Working with cross-functional teams is a crucial component of success at any modern business. So to keep your PR team in the loop, make sure they have plenty of chances to interact professionally and casually with your developers, engineers and product managers. A two-way flow of information between these teams helps everyone learn about the product, internal processes and each other. Building bridges between these teams can help prevent a panic on your PR team next time a product launch is cancelled, specs change, or you ship a new version of your API ahead of schedule.
- Your PR team should speak your product’s language. If a reporter asks your PR team about your SDK, API or IDE, they need to be able to answer—or at least know who to ask. Tech PR teams need to be able to translate industry jargon into easily understandable language—I call this the “explain-it-to-your-mom principle.” But to do this, they need to understand the jargon themselves. This comes from spending time immersed in your product and from consistent collaboration with product teams.
- Understand the competition. It’s not enough that your PR team has a working knowledge of the product. They need to know what you’re up against, inside and out. This means sending your PR team to industry conferences and trade shows, staying on top of press and analyst coverage of competitors, and being able to answer intelligently, “Why is your company different?”
Don’t let your PR team’s eyes glaze over next time the conversation turns technical. In this industry, the product is everyone’s business, and your PR team should have a deep understanding of it as well.