Can you pitch in one sentence?

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By Chance Shay, Communications Strategist

It seems like we PR and marketing pros are always competing for attention: attention from bloggers and journalists, attention from partners and special interest groups, attention from customers.

As attention spans dwindle, the opportunity (i.e. time) to communicate effectively to these groups is dwindling as well. Long gone are the days when customers see an advertisement and make a purchase decision without texting friends for opinions, checking Yelp reviews, scanning recent coverage of the product and soliciting input from each of their social networks.

Same goes for the era when journalists had 4-5 days to write a single story (reversing the numbers would be more accurate today – 1 day for 4-5 stories). Professional communicators must adapt.

busy-press-media-reporters-journalistsOur job now is to explain why the person should care about whatever it is we want them to care about, as quickly and succinctly as possible. In today’s world of infinite access to limitless information, if you don’t pitch an article, product or concept in one sentence, you’re doing it wrong.

It might seem counter intuitive to the idea that all brands must tell a story, but it isn’t. You must tell your brand’s story in just one sentence. Make people care without wasting a breath or key stroke.

The smart folks at PR Daily put together the helpful list of tips below to make your short pitch even better. You can read the full article here and be sure to check out the screenshot of Wall Street Journal writer Christopher Mims’ recent tweet.

  1. Identify what you want and are offering. Is it an interview, in-person meeting, contributed article or slideshow? Don’t make them guess.
  1. Use hyperlinks. If you’re offering an interview with an executive or other leader, include a hyperlink to a bio of that expert. You don’t have to include everything upfront, but you do have to make it easy for the reporter to get more information if she or he is interested.
  1. Think like a reporter. What is going to interest the specific reporter you are targeting? If it’s a conversation about why a technology hasn’t taken off yet, say so. If it’s commentary about a recent news article, be clear and concise about the executive’s unique perspective on it.
  1. Consider Twitter. Check out Kristen Raymaakers recent post for tips.
  1. Cut—and then cut some more. What can the executive talk about? In one line, make it compelling and short, in both the body of the email and the subject line.

 

5 Essential Elements of Every Community Outreach Plan

community outreach

By Chance Shay, Communications Strategistcommunity outreach

Community outreach is a unique discipline within public relations.

For public agencies trying to change consumption behavior, developers wanting to inform a neighborhood of a change or non-profits hoping to gain support, the challenge is to influence the community as an outsider.

Along with posing additional communication challenges, the major difficulty for community outreach—and its differentiator from other forms of public relations—is that your target audience is typically not interested in what you’re trying to say.

Think about it.

People seek products or services to solve immediate pain points. If there’s no perceived problem, there’s no need to seek a solution. Community members going about their daily lives typically aren’t:

  • Proactively looking to change their behavior
  • Hoping to become informed about something they aren’t aware of
  • Picking up another cause to support

community outreachIn short, the people you’re trying to communicate with don’t know about your project and don’t care.

Clearly, the main goal of community outreach is to make the target audience care, but the “how” is where some organizations miss the mark.

As with all sound communication plans, there is no silver bullet to achieve program objectives. Instead, organizations must develop a strategy that leverages the right content, across the right channels, at the right time.

It’s easier said than done, but to ease the process, here are five crucial elements to developing an effective and efficient community outreach plan.

  1. A good understanding of the target audience

Rule #1 of good communication: Know your audience.

What this really means is to know what unifies the community and what’s important to them so you can effectively tailor your outreach.

Once you know what the community finds important, you’ll be able to communicate how your project aligns with those values. The community is going to ask themselves, “so what?” to any new information thrown at them, and your outreach should always answer that question.

  1. Be proactive

Since you know the community is going to question the information you’re trying to convey, be proactive in explaining what’s in it for them. Seize the opportunity to control messages that will make a first impression. If you don’t, the door is open for detractors and the ill-informed to steal your thunder or create turbulence that will compete against accurate information.

Proactivity is necessary across all channels where conversations in the community are happening. Make sure journalists covering the beat are informed, have a website and social media presence to push information and identify other touch points to utilize. The more information you provide, the more you empower the community to be involved in the process.

  1. Community partnerships

partnershipFind creative, mutually beneficial ways to partner with organizations already serving the audience you want to connect with. These groups have built trust with their members and those they influence, so a partnership serves as third-party validation of your organization, the project and its mission.

The best partnerships are with groups whose purpose aligns with the goals of your project. Determine how your project is complementary to their mission because you don’t want to compete for the same attention.

  1. Engage in-person

The old saying, “advertisements don’t sell products, people sell products” is true for community outreach. Make creating face time with the community a priority in your strategy.

People are skeptical. Face-to-face meetings are important for removing that skepticism and creating personal relationships. Even better, get influencers involved in creating a solution early on so that they become ambassadors for the project and its goals.

Always remember that communities want to be a part of the process, not have something thrust on them.

  1. Be responsive

Being part of the process also means dialogue should flow two ways. Some community input should find its way into the plan. Too often, agencies bring a 95% developed solution to a community and don’t leave room for responsiveness.

The engagement must be early enough in the process to allow for stakeholder input. If you know a component of a project is a perfect fit for the community, engage them in a way that allows them to “discover” that component as a solution. People always love to support their own ideas.

 

Of course, the most important part is presenting a project that is valuable to the target community. Once you’ve identified the value, there are many different techniques and strategies to communicate it effectively. However, you only get one shot at a first impression, which is why it’s always best to call on the communications experts for support.

 

Measuring the ROI of Public Relations: Five Experts Weigh In

By Molly Borchers, Sr. Communications Strategist

Public relations and business growth go together like peanut butter and jelly. The last new restaurant I tried? It was because of a good review I read in a local magazine. The last lip-gloss I purchased was the darling of Allure beauty editors. The last business software I evaluated wasn’t because of some advertisement. It was through word of mouth. And as we often say at my company, PR is the ultimate word of mouth.

In fact, the famed Guy Kawasaki recently came out in support of PR as the way to get the most bang for your marketing buck:

“Brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you’re saying about yourself. People say good things about you when (a) you have a great product and (b) you get people to spread the word about it.”

But despite this advice, I know of many companies who would rather devote their entire marketing budget to advertising. For marketing people, advertising is easier to wrap their hands around. Leads and quantifiable metrics, like click-through-rates and page views, often make marketing people look good in front of their bosses. In advertising, you can often see directly how people are moving through the funnel. With public relations, it’s a bit less tangible.

To further complicate things, actually measuring ROIthe return-on-investment (ROI) in PR is a seemingly herculean task. I hate to say it, but marketing directors and PR folks seem conflicted on measurement. Some are (still) using the antiquated Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) metric. Others come up with statistical correlations that are tailored to each client’s needs. Some are adopting the Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles. Others are measuring tactics like reach and number of placements, rather than outcomes (like increase in sales or website conversions).

So, to help you better advocate for a slice of the marketing pie, I have asked five experts to provide their best practices on PR measurement.

In the beginning, ask “Why?”: Shonali Burke (@shonali), ABC, president and CEO of Shonali Burke Consulting, Inc. knows a thing or two about measurement. She is Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins’ M.A. in Communication program, founder and curator of the #measurePR hashtag and Twitter chat, and owner of the popular blog/community, Waxing UnLyrical. To start, Shonali says that one of the most important questions to ask when trying to figure out how to measure the success (or failure) of your campaign or initiative is, “Why?” Why” are you investing time and resources into a particular campaign? What do you hope to get out of it? Ultimately, your PR efforts should support your business objectives, so don’t stop asking, “Why?” until you get there.

Agree on measurement goals upfront: Shonali says that her biggest challenge in measuring the ROI on PR is that some companies sometimes think of measurement as an afterthought. Her advice is to bring it front and center. In fact, she doesn’t sign contracts until she and her client have agreed on the measurement goals they’re working towards.

Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge) is CEO at Pure Performance Communications, adjunct professor at New York University, and author of five books. She agrees with Shonali on setting measurement goals up-front. But she says you also need to determine in the beginning how to quantify and benchmark progress over time.

Don’t just analyze outputs – also benchmark against competition: Aaron Brown (@abrownFMPR), senior vice president at Fahlgren Mortine, says that his method of measuring share of editorial discussion resonates with his clients. This approach requires analysis against key competitors within target strategic areas in a defined set of media. So, if technology is an area of emphasis for the brand, how is it performing on technology-related topics against competitors in the most influential media outlets?

Broken-Silo-2Break down the silos: Deirdre Breakenridge likes making the connection between spikes in PR coverage, website traffic and then conversions to leads/sales, but says it’s important to work closely with other areas of marketing, web and sales to have access to data that may not be readily available. When you break down the silos you can show a more accurate picture of ROI.

Julie Wright (@juliewright), president of (W)right On Communications agrees with Deirdre. She thinks of PR as fitting with the flywheel concept in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. When you are doing many things right across social media, PR, branding and more, you can achieve a better overall outcome than when you take a siloed approach to your communications.

Aaron Brown says, the best measurement approach crosses silos and accounts for earned, owned, paid and shared media. This helps to account for all of the ways target audiences engage with the brand. Failure to incorporate these areas of marketing and communications leads to a measurement report with holes.

Use social media for a two-way dialogue: Jennifer Dulles (@DStreetTweet), president of D Street PR, advocates for social media listening. Today, we can poll audiences, ask people their preferences and see where they are going. It’s a much richer world for measuring results than back in the days when we had to hire a survey research firm for pre and post-telephone surveys. When brands need to measure sentiment or gauge whether opinions changed, they can simply ask.

Give it time: Julie Wright says that moving the needle and making an impact requires a sustained commitment. However, many companies are looking for a one-time silver bullet to timeachieve their communication goals. If you think of communicating with your stakeholders in the same way you think about it with your spouse, you know it is not a process that you turn on and off at will or just give it your all every once in a while. Predictable, consistent and, of course, interesting communication is the key to building trust and relationships with your audiences.

Ultimately, in our data driven world, it’s a challenge to show dollar-for-dollar the value of public relations. But PR does have its benefits, even if we struggle to explain them. Julie Wright said the best measurement tool she ever had was a line out the door at her client’s store after an article hit on their product. How’s that for value?

Originally posted on Huffington Post.

An Ode to AP Style

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By Molly Borchers, Sr. Communications Strategist

As an ode to Associated Press (AP) style, I thought I would write this lovely haiku:

What is red, white and…

Every journalist’s best friend?

The AP style guide

Bad haikus aside, more than two million AP Stylebooks have been published since 1977, and for good reason. AP style provides guidelines for newswriting and is the de facto standard for newspapers, magazines and other media. Originally, it was intended to offer short-form advantages to save scarce print space, such as dropping the Oxford comma (don’t hate) and using figures for all numbers above nine.

ap styleAnyone who works in a journalism related field, public relations professionals included, should be familiar with AP style. You know this already, but unless you curl up with the AP style guide every Friday night over a glass of wine, I bet you could use a refresher.

Here are the most common AP style mistakes we see in press releases:

socks in sandals

  • Capitalizing job titles after a person’s name – that’s a big no-no. AP style dictates that you only capitalize a title used before a person’s name, not after.
  • Using two spaces after punctuation (seriously, if you’re still doing this, stop immediately!)
  • State abbreviations: Did you know that California is Calif. and not CA? If not, you do now.
  • Using Oxford commas – give them the boot!
  • Percentages: To spell out, or not to spell out? According to AP style, write out “percent” in news releases, but using the % symbol is OK in financial tables.
  • While we’re on the subject, the word “okay” should be spelled as “OK.”
  • Numbers: Write out numbers one through nine. Use numerals for 10 and higher. Also, always write out numbers when they begin a sentence.
  • Time: Time should not be spelled out, except for noon and midnight. Using :00 for on-the-hour times is not necessary. Finally, use a.m. and p.m. lowercase.
  • Do not hyphenate a compound modifier when using adverbs that end in -ly, such as a beautifully-decorated cake. It’s correct to say “a beautifully decorated cake.”
  • Dates: Keep it simple – there’s no point in writing “Wednesday, May 13th 2015,” when “May 13” will do just fine.
  • Months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec., and spell out when using alone or with just a year.
  • Seasons: We don’t see much of winter or fall in San Diego, Calif. Yet, we do see seasons capitalized all too often. Although months are capitalized, seasons should not be.
  • Addresses: St., Ave. and Blvd. are abbreviated when referring to a specific address. Road, Court, Drive, Lane, Way and other forms of addresses are not abbreviated.
  • Dimensions: Spell them out. Depending on your choice of measurement, a football field is 100 yards, 300 feet or 3,600 inches long.

A Few Tricky Words

  • dictionaryToward: The car comes toward you, not towards you. You can walk forward, upward, backward and downward, but never forwards. If you’re following me, these words do not have an “s.”
  • Farther vs. Further: Farther refers to distance, while further refers to time or degree. “I walked farther in order to further my geographical studies.”
  • Email: This word recently changed spelling, but if you’re using a computer, you should know that “email” is no longer spelled “e-mail.”
  • WWW: The Internet and Web should still be capitalized.

I don’t have room in this blog post to list all the rules, but hopefully these helped you correct a few mistakes. If you want to master writing for the media, dust off your (up-to-date) AP Stylebooks for a refresh!

 

Dear Journalists, We Can Explain: Things PR Pros Want You to Know

letter to the editorBy Erica Schlesinger, Communications Strategist

If you’ve been in the media relations game long enough – on either side – you’ve seen many a blog, article, and social media post lamenting the mess-ups of PR professionals. There are different ones here and there, but most tend to center around incessant follow-ups, not understanding beats, mass emails and the dreaded… dun dun dun… follow-up phone call!

follow up callNow, don’t get me wrong, journalists – those things are annoying, misguided and a mark of poor (or no) research. So I assure you, I feel you. But I also assure you that for every off-base pitch or umpteenth follow-up you get, there are more carefully-crafted notes from PR pros trying very hard to make you happy. We read your media profiles, we catch up on months or even years of your articles, we make notes about your beats and interests in our media lists and we set ourselves reminders in our calendars to follow up a sane amount of times over a reasonable timeframe.

I asked my conscientious colleagues, some of whom have multiple decades of experience in the field, to share their top things they want journalists to know. Here’s what they had to say:

“PR people are accountable to their clients and/or employer and have a job to do. Part of our job is avoiding speculation and hypotheticals being printed in the media. Another is respecting confidentiality, which might include personnel issues, financial data or a legal matter. We want to provide timely and accurate information to reporters but do sometimes have to hold back. In most of my interactions, the media do understand that and are also just doing their job. We also spend time crafting our pitches to target a reporter’s beat and interests. We are not blasting off topic story ideas, and we welcome feedback from the media to help us improve. We know the media get a gazillion pitches per day, but we crave your feedback and value your time.” – Julie Wright, President

 

“I think a lot of journalists assume we want to insert ourselves or take over their process when we just want to be sure they’re getting everything they need. Journalists often want to talk to the client, but the client is busy running a business and doesn’t have the time to send images, headshots, product fact sheets, etc. Our job – and desire – is to make the journalist’s life easier. Journalists also tend to assume we just want our clients to spew talking points that mean nothing but sound great. The reality is, our clients are passionate about their product. They live and breathe it. We know the best interviews are when they convey that passion in an authentic way, and that’s what we try to help them do. The only difference is during crisis management when showing hot-running emotion – compassion being the exception – isn’t the most helpful for anyone involved.” – Chance Shay, Communications Strategist

 

“I think one thing everyone in the industry forgets is that a lot of PR people were once media and vice versa. So, many of us do ‘get’ what it’s like to be a journalist and what they need to make a story a good one. Also, most of us get the benefit of a good relationship and will often go out of our way to help a journalist. PR people can help with leads or connections that can prove useful and often have their finger on the pulse of what’s hip, new and trendy in a number of industries. Smart media professionals can use their PR contacts as solid resources for story ideas.” – Shae Geary, Senior Communications Strategist

 

“PR pros and journalists need each other. In the age of information overload, we can help journalists do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. And I promise, some of us do have interesting and intentional things to say! It’s really hard for me to see Tweets disparaging PR people when I just finished writing an entire article for a journalist because he was too busy to write it himself, or saying we can’t meet basic deadlines when I have a whole system in place to ensure I always do just that. I get it – when you see a cringe-worthy mistake, it can put a bad taste in your mouth. But most of us do put effort and care into what we send you.” – Molly Borchers, Senior Communications Strategist

 

“If we don’t hear otherwise from you, we’ll assume our pitches work for you on some level. If the approach doesn’t, but you’re interested in the news itself, let us know. I’ve received emails simply saying, ‘Hey, this is cool, but my deadline is always X day – can you send to me another day of the week next time?’ or ‘My lead time is a little longer than most monthlies – in the future, get the info to me four months in advance.’ It’s quick feedback that’s appreciated, and we’ll take heed. And if you’re not interested, let us know. We won’t follow up. But I’ve had media people on many occasions say, “Yes, I love this idea, I’ve just been swamped – thanks for reminding me” after circling back. We don’t want to annoy you. Oh, and unless the situation truly calls for it – I won’t call you. Promise.” – Erica Schlesinger, Communications Strategist

journalistBoth media and PR experts are under lots of pressure, day in and day out. There are deadlines to meet, pieces to write and people to please. So no sympathy needed, no snark involved – let’s just keep it copacetic and make great stories happen, together.

PR pros, what would you add to the list?

Journalists, what do you think? Do you find most PR pros you deal with are worthy of a bit of a break – or still don’t get it?

 

The Perfect Media List – First Step in PR Success

media list

media list

By Rhiannon Seider, Business & New Media Specialist

Media outreach is often the bread and butter of a public relations program. Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into a successful campaign, but if your content isn’t shared, it doesn’t matter how great it is. The first step in spreading the word is a solid media list.

Why Media Lists Matter

The media list is arguably the most important part of any media outreach program. It is essentially a go-to database of contacts for every outlet you want content published in, and a well-researched media list can be the difference between a decent campaign and a great campaign.

media listAs every organization is different, every media list should be different. The target audience and messaging should be used as a guide to build a customized list. The more aligned the contacts on the list are with the program goals, the more likely you are to be successful.

All About the Research

The first step in building a perfect media list is research. Every contact included on your list should have the potential to cover your pitch, and the way to ensure this is through diligent research.

media listAn online database is a useful tool for finding the publications that you want to target. While a database can be a huge help, it should only be used as a starting point for building a list. Most publications, especially larger ones, have multiple reporters who cover the same beat, so finding the right contact is largely up to you. Taking the time to read each publication to figure out which contact is right for your client is essential.

A few questions to keep in mind when researching a publication:

“Who has written about my client in the past?”

“Who has written about their competitors?”

“Who covers topics that are most aligned with my client?”

If you take the time to answer those three questions, you are putting yourself and your client at a huge advantage.

Organization is Key

A media list is bound to get long, so keeping it neat and organized is important. The time spent researching different types of publications and outlets should be reflected in your media list. If you have your list organized according to publication type and size, it will be easier to find the correct contacts when you need them.

disorganizedHaving your media list organized can also help you spot gaps in your list. While a list may look full when all of the contacts are grouped together, once you start segmenting it out, it is easy to identify the areas in which you’re lacking.

Another important element is a section to add notes about each contact. While notes are not necessary for every contact, it is helpful to know which contacts have written about your clients or their competitors. You can also add in anything else you know about the contact that may aid you in the pitching process. Mentioning that a reporter is particularly unfriendly towards PR people, for example, can help your colleagues prep for a call or tailor an email to address the person in the best possible manner.

Great PR involves forming relationships with the press, and keeping notes in your list can help build and maintain those relationships.

Stay Up-to-Date

Creating the perfect media list is a lengthy process that is never completely finished. It is important to consistently go through and update your list. In such a fast-paced media landscape, publications and contacts change rapidly, and you need to make sure your list reflects these changes. Updating contact information and adding notes can go a long way to make sure your media list is relevant.

A great media list requires a substantial amount of time and effort, but, when it is done right, it can become one of the most important tools you can have.