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 slump? Not able to find any inspiration for whatever project you might be working on? The tough part of working in a creative industry is that creativity and inspiration cannot always be conjured up whenever you would like—sometimes you need a little help.
PRDaily recent compiled a list of 12 online resources that can help get your creative juices flowing. Some of my personal favorites, from PRDaily’s list and from my own experience, include:
Big Think compiles ideas on science, technology, arts, culture, business, economics, beliefs, and almost any other subject you can think of. Big Think’s mission is to connect the “infinite data points” available on the web (i.e. news stories, tweets, status updates, etc.) and illustrate bigger picture ideas coming from the seemingly constant information stream in the media.
Big Think’s post can help you contextualize what you are currently working on in terms of bigger picture trends, and at the very least, prove for a very interesting read.
Behance is an online portfolio platform for creative professionals across multiple industries. The web presence of Behance’s mission, 99U, is to educate creatives on “best practices for moving beyond idea generation into idea execution.” 99U’s Daily Web Magazine interviews creative professionals known for productivity, providing readers with strategies and tactics to remain creative and productive. A great resource for understanding how successful creative professionals have been able to streamline inspiration into success, 99U is an excellent resource for brainstorming how to better apply yourself in the creative field.
- Fast Company’s co.CREATE
Co.CREATE is a “daily exploration of creativity” in branding, entertainment, and tech. The site’s purpose is to generate daily inspiration from individuals, as well as from a variety of mediums including films, shows, ad campaigns, apps, games, music, and products. An excellent way to get inspired is to see what other people in your field are producing. Fast Company’s co.CREATE, as well as co.EXIST and co.DESIGN, can give you this insight.
PSFK’s tagline is “inspiring creative business,” and the website distributes a variety of articles on how businesses are using design, media and technology. Similarly to co.CREATE, this is a great place to see how other professionals continue to make creative use of the resources at their disposal.
And one that remains a standby for me, although it was not included on PRDaily’s list:
TED is broad in subject matter, but continues to be the gold standard for easily accessible inspiration and information, in my opinion. For those interested in a lifelong education, TED is an invaluable resource. The famed site hosts topics from qualified speakers around the globe on their individual areas of expertise. When browsing TED, you might go from a lecture on the behavioral habits of chimpanzees to a talk about fascinating results from a psychologist’s study about vulnerability. The site causes you to truly admire the work that’s taking place around the globe, and it provides perspectives and information that might be the missing piece to a puzzle you’re trying to solve in your own position.
What are some of your favorite resources when you need to find inspiration on the job?
With the growing popularity and use of social media, companies can use an array of channels to connect with audiences.
However, with the increasing number of social media sites and tools, it can be difficult to establish a meaningful social media presence. The New Year is the perfect time to update and polish your social media accounts. PRDaily recently provided insight on how to update your social media presence for the New Year in “How to improve your social media efforts in 10 minutes” with the four following tips.
1) Add social media links to email signatures and on the company page
Convenience is key. If it is easily accessible people will be more likely to post it or view it.
Most professional communication is done through email, and whoever you are emailing is a potential connection for you or your company. Whether you are emailing a client or a reporter, links to your social media accounts in an email signature will allow contacts to easily access your various profiles.
Another way to provide more accessibility and convenience for people is to add links to social media accounts in a prominent part of the company’s website. For example, online retailers will often have a “Pin it” option next to an item; online articles typically have “share this” options including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
2) Take a survey of your audience
In order for a post to gain popularity on any social media site, it must intrigue or appeal to the audience. Reposts and viral content are organic, and must originate from an intriguing subject. Posts that do not attract readers/ viewers are of less value to a brand. Allotting a short period of time to conduct a survey of your social media following and what topics they’re interested in hearing about can be helpful for improving content.
3) Inform journalists of your clients’ social media
Send any relevant media contacts information about your clients’/ company’s social media sites. This can be beneficial in two ways. First, if a reporter is authoring a piece featuring your client, linking to your client’s social media sites can increase traffic via the outlets’ website.
Second, if a reporter is looking for a quick comment or quote from your clients/ company they can conveniently access one from a tweet or status update. However, if you are employing this tactic, do take the time to ensure that your company’s/ clients’ social media presence is on message and representative of the brand (it should be already!).
4) Update social media profiles
Most social media websites including Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube, have updated features this year allowing you to add personality to a social media profile. Take the time to make use of seemingly small details, such as updating a profile picture—it will add to the appeal and functionality of your page.
As the New Year approaches, there is no better time to re-invigorate your company’s or clients’ presence in social media. PRDaily’s useful tips will help you do this efficiently—maybe with enough time remaining to work on your own New Year’s resolutions!
For more on social media from Communiqué PR, visit:
- Tips, Tricks and Lists: How Short And Sweet is Memorable
- Social media and democracy: What can business learn from election campaigns?
- Five Facebook Tips for Social Media Managers
Is your company considering hiring on a public relations agency? In all likelihood, this means you will be doing an agency search. This can entail requesting proposals and quotes from a range of agencies found through word of mouth, previous use, or online research. However, once you find a few agencies you think might work for your company, you still have to make a selection.
For someone who is unfamiliar with PR, or who has not worked within an agency setting, it can be difficult to understand what factors might be relevant when selecting an agency. We were very impressed recently when a potential client approached us with an outlined questionnaire. This inspired us to craft a list of five questions you should ask when deciding on a PR agency.
1. Does the agency specialize in a particular area?
If you have a product that is especially complex, it can be helpful to work with an agency that has expertise in your industry. Even if an agency doesn’t necessary specialize, asking this question can ellicit the industries with which an agency has experience and knowledge. It’s not essential that an firm has a great deal of experience in your company’s industry, but it can be helpful, and should be considered in an agency search.
2. Who will be working on your account?
All agencies use a different method of staffing accounts, and it can be helpful to understand how many people will be delivering information to you, and meet the specific person who will be your main contact. Gaining insight into who will be working your account will help you understand what your day to day relationship with the agency will be like.
3. What information does the agency need from you to begin work?
To make your relationship as efficient as possible, it is helpful to send over any materials that might be relevant to your PR agency. Although your PR firm will likely do its due diligence and research your past coverage and other pertinent information about your company, it can be a time saver to cover these bases before you even begin work.
4. How often will the agency update you on their progress?
It’s something you might not think about, but establishing an official rapport and expectations with your agency is important. It’s never too early to set expectations, and it will help the firm’s account team develop a more accurate read on the hours it will spend servicing your account.
5. Can the agency list recent examples of how its team secured results for other clients?
You should be specific about the type of results you are looking for depending on your business objectives. For example, ask for a list or recent articles the agency has placed for clients, recent awards it has helped clients win, or recent speaking nominations the agency has been able to secure for clients.
Your relationship with your PR agency should be mutually beneficial, and this relationship starts when you select an agency. Asking the questions listed above will help create shared expectations for you and your agency, and give you a better idea of which firm will be the right fit for you.
For more on selecting an agency from Communiqué’s blog, see:
When Should a Start-up Business Hire a PR Firm?
Best Practices: Five Things to Consider When Selecting a PR Partner
Client Service and Boutique Agencies
Internal vs. External PR Roles
For more external resources on selecting an agency, look to:
Being Great, Not Just Good (The Council of PR Firms)
Hiring a Public Relations Firm (The Council of PR Firms)
The Counselors Academy’s Guide to Selecting a Public Relations Firm or Consultant (PRSA)
How to Choose a Public Relations (PR) Agency (WikiHow)
10 things to ask before … Choosing a PR firm (Washington Business Journal)
Choosing a Public Relations Firm (allBusiness)
Heather Campbell
Congrats! We made it another year navigating the ever-changing and fast-evolving PR and news landscape. But, before we dive head first into 2013 with PR-related resolutions such as increasing your social media following, finding new ways to measure results, or building deeper relationships with reporters, it would be good to look back at 2012 to relive the biggest news makers that captivated us all.
Channeling the fond memories captured in a high school yearbook, Version 2.0 Communications developed an infographic featuring the biggest news stories of the year and the faces behind them.
Happy New Year from the Communiqué PR team!
“I don’t set trends. I just find out what they are and exploit them.” — Dick Clark
Predicting the news is like predicting the weather. It you don’t like what you see, wait a moment and it will change. That said, a large part of public relations strategy is researching what editors and reporters will focus on in the coming months and developing stories that support their editorial themes. At Communiqué PR we’ve been researching story trends, gathering business predictions and looking at editorial calendars to prepare for the 2013 news cycles. Here’s a round-up of trending news stories we, and other industry experts, expect to see as we begin 2013:
- SaaS and IT security will continue to be strong themes in technology business stories in the upcoming year, according to Thomson Reuters. The company analyzed more than 300,000 media editorial calendars in their MyEdCals database and found that editors at business magazines will be publishing articles that help businesses become more efficient while reducing costs in the coming year. They also predict that editors will dedicate a large amount of space to stories about innovative tools in healthcare technology and educational technology in 2013.
- The workspace of the future is an interesting trend that will gain momentum in the coming year as well. This encompassing topic asks questions like “What will our offices look like in the future,” or “Will we have an office at all?” Many of these articles will be tied to mobile and cloud computing, as well as collaboration tools which enhance our ability to work from home, coffee shops, and kids’ soccer games. Both business-to-business and consumer-focused companies that demonstrate innovation and productivity tools to keep the workforce engaged while away from a traditional office space will have a strong voice this year.
- Data, data, everywhere. In 2012 we spent a lot of time producing it, gathering it and analyzing it. Now what will we do with it? In 2013 look for stories about how the ability to capture and analyze data flows are improving lives by improving healthcare, warning about destructive weather disasters and linking people together to build stronger communities.
- In terms of general news, the economy, Medicare reform, environment and climate change, immigration, globalization, and veteran’s issues will continue to dominate political coverage. In fact, the Poynter Institute’s News University is highlighting courses on these topics to train journalists and provide background and tips for covering these issues.
Of course, this is far from a comprehensive list. What are your predictions for the business news trends in 2013? Please let us know and we may feature them in a future blog.
Sources:
Trends 2013: The Biggest Trends in Business for 2013, Entrepreneur Magazine, Dec. 3, 2012
Report Tags Top Consumer Trends for 2013, CNET, Dec. 13, 2012
20 Tech Trends That Will Define 2013, Fast Company, Dec. 20, 2012
2013 Editorial Calendar Trends in Technology, Healthcare and Education, My Media Info Blog, Dec. 7, 2012
2012 was certainly an exciting and interesting year in the United States and around the world (see Google’s year-end wrap up video here).
At Communiqué, 2012 saw our clients’ businesses continue to grow – and we were excited to drive awareness around their stories. We added new clients to our roster, achieved significant results for new and existing clients, added to our team, and blogged. It was a busy year. For more details on the year’s highlights see below:
Client work
- Communiqué PR added seven companies to its client roster in 2012: BlueBin, Inc., CENTRI Technology, Kymeta, Medio, Smartsheet, Sprig Health, and SR Education Group.
- Attachmate increased its industry thought leadership with the placement of two bylined articles: 1) Data Center Journal, “BYOD and the Impact on IT,” August 2012, and 2) Enterprise Systems Journal, “Going Mobile: Introducing Your Mainframe to Modern Tools,” July 30, 2012. Get more information here. Additionally, ZDNet referenced one of the company’s blog posts in a recent article, “BPM’s uncertain role in modernizing legacy applications,” November 5, 2012.
- A highlight of 2012 for The Omni Group was another great year at MacWorld 2012. For the event, we secured 17 onsite briefings with both tech trade and Apple-focused publications such as Ars Technica, Macworld, GigaOm, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), Technologizer and The Register, among others. Executives with the Omni Group shared their 2012 vision and the product roadmap in these meetings; see here for more.
- Medio, a 2012 addition to our client roster, hit the road for an analyst and press tour in November . CPR secured 12 meetings with press and analysts on Medio’s behalf. There is significant interest in the work that Medio is doing around predictive analytics and the feedback from analysts surrounding the value Medio is offering was overwhelmingly positive.
- Communiqué PR helped Smartsheet, with its funding announcement. On December 3, the company announced $26 million in funding. Through targeted outreach, and in partnership with Smartsheet’s savvy internal team, we were able to secure 15 articles in print publications, as well as a mention in an interview with Dierdre Bolton on Bloomberg TV.
- We worked with RPI to garner industry recognition for its personalization storefront. Additionally, RPI partnered with well-renowned Cheezburger and the Madison Park Group to create a truly LOL-worthy line of holiday cards. We helped share the news, securing six articles across several industries.
- Mobidia Technology, Inc. gave journalists the inside scoop on mobile usage this past August—and they reciprocated with seven stories mentioning the company.
- We helped The Shops at The Bravern leverage PR so effectively that we essentially worked ourselves out of a job—the right way.
Agency achievements
- This year, Communiqué updated its internal office space. We added new, stand-up desks, new chairs, and painted a wall orange to match our branding. The new space looks fantastic!
- Communiqué added some amazing PR professionals with diverse and deep experiences to our growing team in 2012, a marker of our continued expansion as a firm.
- Our book, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR, had another successful year on Amazon.
- We posted 130 blog posts during the past year; the top four by viewers were:
- Think Before You Tweet: Twitter Don’ts That Can Damage Your Brand
- Fun Tools to Create An Infographic
- Building a Trusted Brand: Five Values from the Pros
- Doing Well By Doing Good – Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
- Brand Awareness & Adoption: How Much Time Does it Take? Renee Gastineau, an account director at Communiqué PR, addressed entrepreneurial marketing as part of a panel at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. Renee joined GeekWire’s John Cook and PR consultant Margo Meyers in speaking with an MBA class about the value of PR for start-up businesses.
This was a fantastic year at Communiqué PR. We continued to work toward our mission of helping clients move product, sell services and grow brands through high-quality strategic communications programs. Helping clients reach their business objectives is why we do what we do, and we are proud of the results our team and our clients were able to achieve in 2012.
From all of us at Communiqué PR, Happy New Year!