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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.

How to Avoid Being a Journalist’s Worst Nightmare

Public relations experts know how important relationships with journalists are. They (and their editors) are often the deciding vote on whether your client gets coverage or not. If you have a positive relationship with a journalist, you will often be their go-to if they have a story relating to your client. However, one bad pitch can send you straight to their blocked list, never to be heard from again.

According to Muck Rack’s “The State of Journalism Today” report, only four percent of journalists in the U.S. believe the relationship between themselves and PR personnel is a “relationship,” while 24 percent believe the relationship is a “necessary evil”. Some journalists dislike PR professionals so much that they have created a dedicated twitter page, @PRGripes, to revel in various pitching failures. 

Below are a few tips to create positive and long-lasting relationships with journalists that I have picked up from various professors, mentors, and those senior to me in the PR industry. Hopefully with a little effort and respect, we can all keep our pitches from being roasted on Twitter.

Value their time

Do your research and determine whether or not your story is in line with a journalist’s beat. You don’t have to specifically mention their previous pieces in your pitch but know what they are and how your story aligns with them. Do not waste a reporter’s time pitching content that is irrelevant to them; you will lose credibility and your future pitches will not be read or considered. 

Keep in mind that journalists work on strict daily deadlines and are often cramped for time and space. Always ask about their deadlines and be quick to answer any follow-up questions they have. If you are offering a source, suggest times where the person is available to talk. This cuts out multiple follow-up emails where the reporter has to ask about scheduling, thus saving everyone time.

Find the story

Most journalists will not simply write about your client because you ask them to. You need to find the story for them and point out why your pitch or press release is newsworthy. If there is ever a way to make a journalist’s life easier, do it. Do not make them search through the bulk of a press release to find a catching story— most of the time they won’t read past the first line anyway. Make the story obvious and call out any hard news, along with how it will impact the reader.

In addition, make sure truth is at the forefront of everything you pitch. The easiest way to get blacklisted by a journalist is to feed them false information. If you are offering a story, provide the journalist with verified information and source notes, if necessary, so they do not have to question you or your client. If you want a positive relationship with a journalist, be a source they can always rely on to provide accurate information.

Perfect your pitch

Crafting your pitch well is essential to ensuring it gets picked up rather than thrown out. Always have the journalist in mind and make it easy for them to read and understand. Most importantly, always make sure to get their name right – using an incorrect name will instantly tarnish your relationship with them.

Keep your pitch clear and concise. Be sure to clearly identify your client’s name, or whoever you are reaching out on behalf of, and be sure to clarify any areas that could be misconstrued. Include statistics whenever you can, or anything else that will prove your point and grab the journalist’s attention. For everyone’s benefit, be sure to emphasize your main point. Use bold, underline, or italics in the title, and state your claim as clearly and concisely as possible.

The last thing you want to hear as PR professional is that you are a necessary evil. Rather than being the name journalists hate to see in their inbox, create a reputation for yourself as someone who values their time and delivers relevant, accurate, and concise information, 100 percent of the time.

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The Culture Map – a Guide to Understand Various Business Cultures

I recently read Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business, a book illustrating the impact cultural norms have on business endeavors. Meyer documents her experiences as a well-travelled program director of cross-cultural management at INSEAD in Paris, as well as the experiences of various global business leaders and how they manage cross-cultural business interactions.

The book essentially serves as a guide, a manual of sorts, providing information on how cross-cultural communication can be more productive with a shared level of curiosity, objectivity, and acceptance of how other cultures do business. The Culture Map analyzes eight key sectors in which business leaders should consider cultural differences to adequately manage those relationships and expand their businesses. These highlighted areas are:

  • Communicating: explicit vs. implicit
  • Evaluating: direct negative feedback vs. indirect negative feedback
  • Persuading: deductive vs. inductive
  • Leading: egalitarian vs. hierarchical
  • Deciding: consensual vs. top-down
  • Trusting: task vs. relationship
  • Disagreeing: confrontational vs. avoid confrontation
  • Scheduling: structured vs. flexible

I was particularly drawn to chapter eight, in which Meyer explains linear and flexible time, on a scheduling spectrum. On this spectrum, linear time (or monochronic time) can be defined as exact, measured time that is viewed as tangible and concrete. People from monochronic cultures consider time to be a classification system that orders life, and therefore must be abided by and respected (i.e., Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan).

On the other hand, cultures that live in areas that follow flexible (or polychronic) time view time loosely (i.e., India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, most African countries). In countries following polychronic time, punctuality is not necessarily a priority. For example, nobody would make a fuss if a manager was 20, or even 30 minutes late to a meeting in Nigeria. On the other hand, lack of punctuality is seen as a sign of disrespect in a country like Germany, regardless of the circumstance or informality of the meeting.   

These perceptions of time can greatly affect how businesspeople connect with one another. How can a global team be on the same page and get work done if there are completely different understandings of the same fundamental concepts, like time management? What members of one culture see as normal and acceptable may be perceived as extremely rude in another. As a business professional it’s imperative to be aware of these cultural nuances in order to have successful meetings and healthy business relationships.

This guide is a valuable resource for individuals who would like to gain better insight into how business works in other parts of the world. Business professionals can benefit from taking a step out of their own culture and look objectively into others to become more accommodating, understanding, and able to make inclusive decisions. Although someone’s culture doesn’t automatically predetermine their conduct, understanding the cultural context can be the bridge between businesspeople and perhaps help alleviate frustration with the conduct of others. This understanding promotes empathy and acclimatization.

It can be difficult to step out of our ethnocentricity because our values and norms are heavily rooted in our culture; however, it makes a great difference in collaboration knowing that business customs from other cultures will be different – and there are tools to understand and work through those differences. Prioritizing effective cross-cultural communication when conducting business can strengthen relationships and maintain a shared level of understanding, which undoubtedly will contribute to better communication and relationship building among colleagues.  

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YTD Results for A Place for Mom

Each year, I like to write about A Place for Mom, the largest senior living referral service in North America, and share a summary of the articles about the company and senior living. This year we continued building thought leadership for the company and its executives through a combination of news coverage, placement of content, and pursuit of awards.

For instance, in February 2018, JD Powers developed and distributed a press release announcing the finding of a study measuring the key drivers of satisfaction when selecting a senior living community. A Place for Mom served as one sample source to collect responses, which led to the following articles:

More recently, we worked with Patrick Sisson with Curbed to support his reporting on How intergenerational living benefits the ‘book-end’ generations. This article appeared on June 8, 2018 and included insight into a new report which explores the benefits of bringing seniors and children together under the same roof.

Charlie Severn, vice president of brand marketing with A Place for Mom, contributed to this article by explaining that “when seniors move-in to senior living communities, they want diverse social engagement as part of their day-to-day experiences. Intergenerational programming is an ideal way for seniors to continue learning, be with younger people, and avoid isolation or depression, which research shows is essential to staying healthy.”

We hope this article fuels further discussion and thought about the best way to create intergenerational housing and communities for seniors.

Finally, the content developed by A Place for Mom remained popular throughout the year. Specifically, we placed stories about a range of topics such as senior living and marriage, best practices for staying healthy, how to say no to the power of attorney duty, and more. Links to a few of these articles can be found below:

 

If you have an interest in connecting with someone from A Place for Mom please don’t hesitate to reach out. The company and its executives have a wide range of information and are committed to making it easier for families to find the best housing and care options for their loved ones.

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Round-up: Advice for Selecting a PR Firm

Earlier this month, I fielded an email from an early-stage CEO planning an announcement about the debut of his company and gathering information to inform his process and selection of a public relations partner. In responding to his email, I realized we have written on the topic of firm selection over the years several times for our blog and thought it would be helpful to aggregate the articles here.

Below are five articles that entrepreneurs and leaders at early stage companies can consult about when and how to approach the process of selecting a PR partner.

For startup executives interested in the services a PR firm can provide, I recommend Shannon Furey’s recent article, “What Services Do PR Firms Provide? 6 Public Relations Tactics to Help Your Business Grow.”

If you’re not quite ready to secure ongoing PR counsel an article published by Forbes “Four PR Practices To Follow If You Don’t Have An Agency Partner,” offers guidance.

Finally, our book Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR offers more in-depth guidance on everything from selecting your PR team and developing a strategic plan to crafting a compelling story and building media relationships.

Please reach out to me or my team if you are looking for additional guidance or counsel.

 

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The Latest Best Practices in the World of Facebook Marketing Strategies

Facebook, as we know, is a social media platform deeply integrated in individuals’ personal, social and even professional lives; and therefore, is a prime marketing and communication tools used by organizations to engage with target audiences.

A recent study by Buffer and BuzzSumo analyzed more than 43 million Facebook posts from the top 20,000 brand accounts to identify the trends with Facebook user engagement from Q1 2017 to Q2 2018.

The study is one of the largest conducted in 2018 and involved sorting through top companies’ videos, stories and posts. Its findings provide insight that marketers and business owners can use to revamp their social media marketing strategies for 2019.

Below is an overview of the top five takeaways Buffer and BuzzSumo highlighted after analyzing Facebook data over the past year.

  1. Post frequency is increasing, the study found that from Q1 2017 to Q2 2018 there was a 24 percent increase in the number of posts per quarter from 6.5 million to 8.1 million posts.
  2. Total page engagement decreased more than 50 percent, and continues to decrease, which increases the competition in the News Feed each year.
  3. Images (not videos) receive the most engagement; however, average engagement per video, image and link collectively decreased from the year before.
  4. Posting five times per day resulted in the highest engagement and business pages that posted less than one time per day had the lowest overall levels of engagement.
  5. Top business accounts’ engagement levels dropped between 49 to 70 percent, artist pages witnessed the largest decrease in engagement at 70.6 percent followed by movie and media/news pages.

So what can marketers do with this data?

At first glance the results may turn individuals away from utilizing Facebook. However, instead of abandoning the social media platform and potentially the target audience who favors it, marketers can turn these findings into actionable tactics with future social media campaigns.

Share higher quality content. For example, if post frequency is increasing, it is natural for page engagement to decrease because users can only sort through a finite amount of content without losing focus. Businesses can increase page engagement by maintaining high-quality content in a time of increased competition. Social media experts can create higher quality content by understanding Facebook’s new features and the types of posts their target audiences prefer to engage with (i.e. knowing when to post videos over an images, etc.).

Optimize content for mobile use. Another actionable step marketers can take is making content easily accessible from mobile devices. More than 95 percent of Facebook users access the platform from their phones, so the ability to cater to this platform will help to increase page and post engagement. For example, as engagement with videos is decreases, companies can change old practices to incorporate newer video trends such as vertical video viewing or including text on all video content.

Post more than once a day. It is important for marketers to note that as the frequency of posting increases, the overall levels of engagement rise – but only to a certain point. The study found that accounts posting five times per day received an average of 2,466 “engagements” per post; and pages posting 10 or more times per day received nearly half as many engagements per posts (1,202). With that being said, companies should test frequency. For example, consider posting three or five posts per day for a month or quarter, measure engagement levels and then adjust frequency up or down as needed for the next month. Not all companies will have the same pattern because of different target audiences and number of followers, etc. but identifying the sweet spot of how many times to post per day will help business maintain or raise levels of engagement.  

Another battle marketer’s face is the “Facebook News Feed algorithm.” The study also confirmed that the News Feed algorithm favors families and friends over pages, this means that businesses are not only competing with other brands to capture a user’s attention, but also competing with every personal profile, business page and group in the network.

Before marketers begin designing social media plans for 2019, they should asses their company’s Facebook practices and engagement levels, and use this study as a guide to develop a targeted and successful Facebook marketing strategy.

 

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Rooting for the Underdogs of PR: Trade Media and Vertical Press

I’ve always rooted for the underdog. I love those unsung heroes that work hard day in and day out, often in the background, keeping things moving while others enjoy their time in the spotlight.

This might be one reason why I adore working with trade media and vertical publications.

Sure, there are bigger and more well-known publications, with their circulations in the hundreds of thousands – the popular kids of the media world, if you will. Everyone reads them, everyone loves them – we get it, USA Today, People magazine and The New York Times, quit showing off already!

But for organizations selling products, services or technology used primarily by specific industries, or a niche audience such as hospital administrators, data scientists, farmers, or shipping terminal operators, then bigger isn’t always better when it comes to media coverage. An article in People magazine will reach millions of readers, but if your product or service is aimed at a more specialized audience, you might not have a compelling story at the time for that type of media outlet. People magazine’s reporters for example, need to focus on cover stories that appeal to the broader consumer population.

Depending on their target audiences and business objectives, some organizations are better served by targeting reporters with trade media and vertical press. The good news is that there is a trade or specialty publication for pretty much any topic you can think of (Sheep! Magazine, Model Airplane News, The Peanut Grower, Rubber World and Meating Place are some prime examples), and almost all of these publications are looking for subject-matter experts and or contributed content.

Communiqué PR has successfully secured media placements focused on trade publications for many of our clients, offering best practices, and a deep dive into issues and opportunities for specific industries.

With cloud communications provider Flowroute, we developed a proactive pitch aimed at healthcare publications about how physicians could better connect with their patients, and more efficiently manage their businesses, with the use of text messaging. One pitch resulted in eight contributed article for Flowroute, in publications such as Physicians Practice, Dentistry IQ, Beckers Health IT and CIO Report, Healthcare Business & Technology, and Health IT Outcomes, among others. Flowroute reported a significant spike in traffic to its website as a result of this resulting coverage, demonstrating that vertical press and trade media, while smaller than its mass media counterparts, can pack a mighty punch!

We also were able to generate strong interest from publications focusing on the automotive industry for our client Dell EMC. In this case, we developed a proactive pitch around how the growth of connected cars and autonomous vehicles has led to an exponential rise in the amount of data that car manufacturers need to store and analyze. From this one pitch, we secured articles in outlets such as Wards Auto, Automotive Industries, Autonomous Vehicle Technology and Global Auto Industry.

For organizations looking to pitch trade reporters or vertical publications about their company or product, we offer the following tips to consider:

Focus on best practices/how-to pitches – This is your opportunity to educate readers about your experience in the industry and provide guidance for future deployments or installations. What worked, what didn’t? What surprises came up and how did your organization address them? What three things should potential users know when looking for a solution or product like yours? Asking these types of questions elevates your article or commentary into a thought leadership category – it’s not just showing someone a house but teaching them how to build the house and offering advice for the project along the way.

Now is the time to geek out – Tech geeks and subject matter experts, rejoice! This is your time to shine and show off your know-how. For publications aimed directly at end-users, they’ll want to hear more about the bits and bytes of a product, and why those matter to the industry you’re reaching. In most cases, these readers will know about the “tech speak” or industry jargon that might baffle a broader consumer-focused publication because they speak that language every day. Remember not to rely on buzzwords and to tie that “tech speak” to how it will actually impact an organization’s bottom line.

Shine a light on industry-specific use cases – Almost all publications love case studies and customer stories – it lends credibility to a company and its products when they have actual users in the field seeing benefits and results. It also builds thought leadership for your organization if you can provide some insight into the deployment – its challenges, results, takeaways, etc. It’s one thing to say your product can help companies to accomplish something, but its far more compelling to share how you worked with a customer to accomplish the thing, and how you were able to surpass their expectations.

Have you had success with a media outreach campaign aimed at trade press or vertical industries? What other tips would you offer us? Tell us below in the comments!

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