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.

New Trends in Media: Jeff Vance Harnesses Technology, Creates Personal “HARO” Service

We’ve seen a lot of change in the field of media in the last few years. Traditional print publications have reduced circulation, blogs have boomed in popularity, and social media engagement has become a metric by which to measure popularity for publications.

Journalists and PR professionals alike have found themselves in uncharted territory. While PR professionals now have a wide array of publications to pitch, easily contactable via email, this same phenomenon can be troubling for journalists, who are now inundated with irrelevant pitches.

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) and other similar services have addressed this growing relationship by providing platforms through which PR representatives can better find pitch targets and journalists can more effectively request sources. As this kind of service continues to evolve, we’ve been particularly impressed in recent months by Jeff Vance, a freelance writer covering IT news for publications like CIO, Network World and Forbes. Jeff has developed his own query request Listserv, “Jeff Vance’s Story Source Newsletter.” Essentially, Jeff has created his own HARO service, sent only to subscribers.

After receiving Jeff’s e-newsletter regularly for the past few months, we’ve determined several advantages this type of system can have for journalists:

Specified queries. When Jeff gets a story request from an editor, he can send out a query to his Listserv asking for ideas, pitches – you name it. We’ve seen queries from Jeff on every topic, from ideas for Big Data stories to nominations for “best startup” lists. Jeff is able to format his query however he pleases, with no restrictions on length or formatting – and he doesn’t have to compete with other queries, as one does when their query is listed in a mass email (like in HARO).
Targeted subscribers. If you’ve subscribed to Jeff’s Listserv, you’re probably interested in pitching him – after all, it serves as an update about what he’s working on. Rather than reaching the wide audience that Listservs like HARO reach, Jeff is able to reach a targeted audience that’s already familiar with his beat, publications and interests. As journalists continue to be inundated with pitches, this helps Jeff focus his source requests to a targeted audience, ideally saving time sifting through extraneous emails.
A platform for feedback. Jeff recently took to his Listserv to provide feedback to people who had offered up pitches in response to a recent query around Big Data. Thanking everyone for submissions, Jeff gave tips on what he’s looking for (a story to go along with a source, not just a briefing). Jeff’s advice was to focus on the “why” not just on the “who” or the “what,” emphasizing that for him, this is what makes a story interesting. This feedback is incredibly helpful for those working to improve their pitching style, and helps Jeff’s subscribers customize outreach to fit his preferences, which is beneficial for both parties.

Jeff Vance is clearly at the forefront of a new journalistic methodology, and we’re fascinated to watch as this space continues to develop. In the meantime, we applaud Jeff for his proactive system. The relationship between PR professionals and media should be mutually beneficial– we’re pleased to see journalists and resources like HARO proactively work toward making this ideal a reality.

Jump Start Your Next Blog Post: Helpful Tips from PRDaily

Blogging has become a key way for businesses and individuals to communicate in today’s online world. Blogs can cover a range of subject matter, from business to fashion, and are an excellent tool to give your brand a voice as well as keep people updated on events or important changes.

In order to harness the communications power of blogging, you’ll first need to draft content. This can be a dilemma for many people – blogging requires a succinct and colloquial style of writing with which many people are not comfortable or familiar.

If you’re having trouble crafting posts for your own (or your company’s) blog, Mark Schaefer and Stanford Smith, co-authors of the book “Born to Blog,” recently offered insights into writing effective blog posts that you might find beneficial. I’ve compiled the tips I find most helpful for getting a blog post started below, but I encourage you to read through the entire post here for additional insight.

Start writing

The easiest way to get a blog post underway is just that: Get started. Even if you aren’t sure of the structure you’re going for, start to put words on paper (or screen). Don’t be intimidated if you’ve never blogged before. Like any skill, blog writing is something that you can improve on with time and practice. Also, don’t let the task at hand become daunting – even if you’re not happy with your first draft, getting something down on paper gives you a lot more to work with than staring at a blank page will. Furthermore, the more you write, the easier it will become to find your voice and develop a style of writing that suits you.

Request others’ opinions

Once you’ve started to write, don’t be afraid to solicit the opinions of others about your subject matter or main point. Hearing other points of view and the simple practice of discussing your blog post can help you determine how to effectively get your point across. It never hurts to run a post by a co-worker and adapt his or her insight. This process can also help get your creative juices flowing – a quick brainstorm can do wonders.

Read out loud

Blog posts should flow as easily as a conversation would. Once you have something drafted, the easiest way to check your blog post’s flow is to read it aloud. Through a simple read-through, you will be able to detect awkward phrases or wording that you may not have noticed in the writing process. Reading aloud also may help you think of additional ideas or points you’d like to make within your post, or of subject matter for a future blog.

Remember: There’s no strict structure

From a young age, we are taught to write with a specific structure: introduction, body, conclusion. While you certainly want your blog to contain clarity of thought, blogs are often read quickly, and people do not always have the patience to read a lengthy introduction. To this end, the most important part of your blog post will be communicating your point clearly – don’t get too caught up in or frustrated by trying to maintain a perfectly structured essay format.

If you’re daunted by the task of creating a blog post, try applying the above tips. Hopefully you will find the process easier, and will be more satisfied with your post and with the writing process in the long run. Good luck!

For more on blogging visit the CPR blog:

Infographic: The Art of Getting Retweets

On Monday, we shared some best practices for curating content on Twitter. Whether you’re curating or creating original content, the Holy Grail of Twitter is having others share your content through the viral power of retweets.

Not all tweets will be retweeted, but as you develop your content, there are some basic practices that you should consider to make your tweets more shareable:

Tweet length: To increase your chances of being retweeted, the optimal length for an original tweet is 70-100 characters. With fewer characters to work with, your message will need to be even more concise and creative.
Timing: Most retweets happen between noon and 2 p.m. To be even more precise, tweeting on Fridays between noon and 2 p.m. can garner significantly more retweets.
Include links and hashtags: According to studies, tweets with these two elements tend to be retweeted more.

To learn more about how you can develop tweets that are more likely to be retweeted, check out the infographic below.

Curating Content Correctly on Twitter

So your business has a Twitter handle. Now what? Coming up with unique content to share with your followers can be challenging for businesses. Creating an effective Twitter presence is a delicate balance between promoting brand content and sharing others’, so that your brand is offering up its own unique material without appearing too promotional.

One way to address this is by curating content from other sources, which is a great way to position your business as a thought leader and remain active and relevant with your followers. In order to do this, you’ll need to both find content that works with your brand’s message, and figure out how you’ll use this content to add to your brand’s Twitter voice. We’ve outlined a few tips we find helpful on each of these steps below.

Finding Content

First and foremost, finding great content to share is essential. You might feel swamped in the amount of information available, and have trouble finding material that fits your brand’s message. Fortunately, there are a number of tools that help ease this process. An article on Ragan.com suggests, “4 time-saving content curation tools,” which includes:

LikeHack. LikeHack is a tool that saves you time by aggregating, curating and delivering the top stories on your topics of interest.
Storify. Storify collects updates from social networks to create a story format that is interactive, dynamic and social.
Pearltrees.Pearltrees is a visual and collaborative library.
- GetPrismatic. GetPrismatic is about creating a newsfeed based on your interests. It’s along the lines of Google Reader and Flipboard.

Curating Effectively

Once you have found content worth sharing, you’ll need to think about how to best go about posting this content through your business’ Twitter. In order to make your posts more interesting, you can go beyond simply sharing by adding your 2 cents and framing the post.

For example: “Our thoughts exactly } Instead of replacing legacy systems, modernize them via @FederalTimes http://bit.ly/19jX5IA.” In this tweet, you know where the brand stands on the article it is sharing. It contributes to the brand’s voice, even though the business didn’t produce the content itself, and helps to frame the article.

At Communiqué PR, we work with a number of clients on their social media profiles. We’ve been working with our client Attachmate for several years on developing and growing their Twitter handles and finding new ways to provide relevant content to their followers. Our strategy has evolved from being very conservative and simply sharing content without taking a stand, to editorializing tweets when curating. Our client, Tom Scearce at Attachmate, wrote the blog, “For Those About to Curate I Salute You,” that offers some good tips.

We’ve outlined a few best practices to keep in mind when curating content on Twitter:

Make it relevant. This should be a no brainer, but make sure that the content you are sharing is relevant to your followers. When selecting content, consider your audience.
Don’t be afraid to rearrange. Just because a tweet is arranged a certain way doesn’t mean you have to keep it. You can cut the tweet down or put the link up front to encourage followers to click sooner.
Take a stand. Add in your opinion, funny comment or provocative statement to help frame the tweet. This helps to provide context and draw followers in. Make sure to separate the editorial comment from the title of the article or retweet you are sharing. Tom suggests using the “ } ” symbol.

Curating content on Twitter is a great way to add to your brand’s online voice, and create a Twitter presence as a thought leader, not simply as self-promotional. We hope the above tips are helpful as you work on your own brand’s Twitter presence.

What tools do you use to find content for your own social media platforms? Are there any best practices for curating content that you’d add to our list?

3 Ways to Take Advantage of LinkedIn’s Publishing Model

The New York Times recently profiled professional networking leader LinkedIn in a June 16, 2013, article titled “LinkedIn Builds Its Publishing Presence.” The article points out what you may have noticed if you’re an active LinkedIn user: The network is no longer just a place to post your resume and call it a day. Rather, LinkedIn has developed a host of interactive features users can (and are) taking advantage of, some of which include written content.

This content, which LinkedIn started offering in October, is produced under the umbrella of “Influencers,” a select group of leaders that post about various topics through LinkedIn (similarly to a blogging platform). Influencers range from Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard, to Charles Duhigg of the New York Times, and offer insights on subject matter from career guidance to lifestyle tips.

There are several ways you can make used of LinkedIn’s now fully developed, content-oriented platform:

Apply to be an “Influencer.” If you think that your experience and interests qualify you to be an influencer, reach out to [email protected] to make your case (or do so on behalf of your CEO or other executives with your company). Accepted influencers will have the benefit of reaching a large audience through LinkedIn’s platform, and being featured can contribute to a person’s perception as a thought leader, as they’re listed among the likes of Bill Gates and Richard Branson.
Find fodder for blogs and media pitches. Look to what other industry influencers are writing about; it may spark a creative idea for a blog post, campaign or pitch that you can use around your own brand.
Add your own take. Even if you’re not an official Influencer, you can still share Influencer content and provide your own commentary to your network. This provides an easy way to keep your own, or your company’s, LinkedIn page active, updated and fresh.

LinkedIn is shifting into the contributed-content model we’re seeing across various platforms, including official media sources like Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Not only does this model provide you with a chance to offer your own voice, it gives you a vast pool of curated content from industry experts. Consider taking advantage of this resource, whether for your own brand’s social media and blog content, or for your own thought leadership within your network.

For more on LinkedIn from Communiqué PR, see:

Setting Business Standards for Social Media

With the advent of social media, a very thin line sometimes separates our business and professional lives. Just ask the Central Intelligence Agency, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, recently issued new guidelines for the use of social media among its agents (because clearly spies need to be careful about that sort of thing).

The CIA is an extreme example, but any business can be put under the microscope for a tweet or post that may appear to be a little inappropriate or too casual. Social media gives businesses a direct and immediate communication line to consumers, which can be of mutual benefit to a business and its customers, like quickly solving customer service issues or promoting short-lived sales opportunities. However, it’s important for businesses to understand how to ride the fine line to ensure its communications remain as professional on social media as other marketing channels.

Below are four communications guidelines for keeping your constituents happy to see you on their social media platforms:

Post a reasonable amount of times – don’t flood newsfeeds. This number could be different depending on the business, but keep your social media posts to things that are relevant and timely for consumers. Consumers may “like” a business, but will quickly click “unlike” if the number of posts becomes a nuisance.
Thoughtful, well-written content is just as important on social media channels as any other. Good grammar is a first impression that helps a business remain credible.
Take time for regular moderation to ensure content is timely and relevant and issues are quickly addressed.
Listen. When a consumer takes the time to connect with a business, this is a chance for that business to shine among all customers. Respond directly and clearly to feedback and always give consumers the benefit of the doubt. It may seem scary to have such a public forum, but a business can benefit greatly from simply showing they are listening and trying to resolve issues for customers.

This Forbes article also provides a great set of do’s and don’ts to help businesses avoid social media pitfalls.

How has your business achieved success using social media? Or, do you know of a business that is a good example of professional social media skills? Please share it here!

Insights for Leaders Navigating Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.