By Danny Sullivan
Supported by the recent news of AOL’s acquisition of popular social networking site Bebo for $850 million, it is clear that the phenomenon continues to be considered an influential and valuable market segment.
And there is little doubt that social networking represents a significant new marketing channel for consumer-oriented products companies. Indeed, there are already many strategies and approaches out there advising on just such a topic, and viral marketing has never been so popular as a result.
But what does it mean for the B2B sector? Are social networking strategies an important PR component for companies selling enterprise software solutions or new server technology?
Well, we’re probably not talking Facebook or Bebo here. As far as I’m aware, these sites don’t yet host large groups of CIOs swapping tales of ROI and disaster recovery strategies.
But social networking extends beyond the realm of those well-known sites, and there are networks catering to members holding virtually every job description known to humankind.
Still, although such networks do present opportunities for PR professionals, any strategy to target them should be carefully considered. You can’t join a networking group and then start spamming everyone with your news releases… well, I suppose you can, but you won’t be in the group for very long!
A consumer product company will seek to generate excitement and interest for its products among social networkers in its target demographic, and a B2B vendor must seek to do the same. And in doing so to a (usually) well-educated and (almost always) sceptical audience, the approach and method must be well thought out.
As with contributions to conventional media outlets, companies seeking to influence such networks must present value to the audience and should not embark on blatant pitches for business. Providing relevant, interesting and thought provoking content is key.
Social networking is all about sharing – and this philosophy must be upheld by those seeking to take advantage of it.
By Linda Forrest
Arguably one of the least favourite tasks that we PR folks must do is database maintenance, ensuring that media and analyst contacts and corresponding contact information (phone number, fax, email, address, etc.) are kept up to date. This is one of those “invisible to the client” tasks that we undertake on your behalf that greatly impacts the effectiveness of your campaign or program, but cannot be seen by the naked eye.
There is a wide variety of database programs that media relations practitioners can use, from software solutions like Filemaker Pro and ACT! to online solutions like Salesforce. One attribute they all share is that the inputted data needs to be kept relevant and up to date in order to be of real value.
Inevitably, people change roles or publications or leave the field entirely while new outlets appear and need to be added to your database. Keeping on top of these changes can be difficult if left for too long. Best practices would suggest that routine maintenance is the best way to stay on top of changes that affect your database.
Because we at inmedia never assume that we have the right contacts already in our database for a new client, we do extensive research at the outset of our engagement to build a relevant media and analyst list, with current contacts and accurate contact information. Still, despite our best efforts, a few of the emails may bounceback when we initially send out the release. We immediately get on the phone to find out whether the contact has moved on, whether the outlet has ceased publication or if there’s a new email address that we should be using. By inputting the new data as soon as we learn that what is currently in the database is out of date, and resending the materials to the corrected address, we ensure that we’re keeping on top of this activity before the task becomes unwieldy.
There is no easy, one-step solution to maintaining one’s database. Even the online media databases that purport to be comprehensive are wildly out of date in areas and unreliable. It’s absolutely imperative that your agency does the legwork to maintain its database so that your materials are reaching the intended recipients in a timely fashion. If there’s a new relevant outlet or contact, they should be added promptly so that the appropriate contact details are in place for when your agency sends out your next news release, is looking for suitable story pitch targets or scanning editorial calendars for pertinent opportunities. It’s not glamorous, but it’s important.
By Danny Sullivan
I’ve been approached by a few companies over the past few weeks, all of whom were offering some PR tool or another designed to make the life of the PR consultant that little bit easier. Often at first glance, these tools seem to offer some snazzy new features, but after you sit down and think “what is this actually going to do for me, and more importantly, my client” you begin to realize that, in many cases, these tools offer little in the way of true value.
Now, of course, I’m not saying that we should all arm ourselves with nothing more than a phone, pencil and paper. Technology is a marvelous thing and there are some great PR tools out there, many of which I use myself, but some careful discernment should be used when making the decision to add a new one to your arsenal.
The technology products and services available to PR folk are many and varied and many of them perform the same or similar tasks as others. Don’t end up in the position where you are paying for three separate tools that all provide the same basic functions. And never assume that some great-sounding features will mean the thing actually delivers on its promise… always try before you buy.
Also, it must be remembered that, while software, web services, outsourced resources and so on can go a long way in helping lower the poor flack’s workload, they still do not understand your client’s stories the way that you do. Putting your faith and your client’s PR program in the hands of a piece of code is risky business.
By all means, use technology, but remember who is supposed to be the expert here.
By Jill Pyle
Last week, I wrote about evaluating editorial calendar opportunities. This week, I’d like to share some tips related to inquiring about editorial calendar opportunities. If you’re unfamiliar with what an editorial calendar is, you can read Linda’s editorial calendar primer.
Once you’ve evaluated the list of available editorial calendar opportunities and created a short list of those that appear to have the highest value, the next step is to investigate. The investigation process requires careful attention to timing and is necessary to develop a clear understanding of the resources you would need to gather to fulfill any one of the opportunities you’ve identified.
Before contacting any editor directly, it’s important be aware of the publications’ typical lead time. It can be very helpful to have a sense of the publication’s timeline for developing, editing and approving content, and to know how far in advance content must be finalized before being printed, or published online. For example, trade magazines tend to have lead times of as much as three months and glossy magazines may require six months or more, while daily newspapers and blogs usually have very short lead times.
In some cases, individual editorial calendar opportunities may have deadlines attached to them. In others, a standard lead time of three months, for example, may be applied. That being said, because editorial calendars are usually prepared by advertising departments far in advance of being issued at the beginning of each calendar year, deadlines may change without notice.
With an understanding of the lead time associated with each of the opportunities you’ve identified, you can reach out to editors at the right time. The last thing you want to do is annoy them with questions about an article they aren’t planning to write for six months. When you connect with an editor, you want to determine if the opportunity still exists and if there are any fees involved, and gain a sense of their vision for the piece. If they don’t have a vision but do know the topic, you want to help them shape the story by painting a picture of who your client is and how you can offer something of value to readers. In order to position your client in a way that makes sense for the editor, you really have to know your client, its technology and its customers inside out. You also have to know why the idea you’re pitching should be of interest to the editor or publication.
When speaking with or emailing editors, you can ask if there is any interest in featuring case studies, bylined articles, company profiles or quotes from industry experts. By making relevant suggestions, you can help simplify the decision-making process for editors. If you learn their plans include incorporating one of these or other elements, you can then make an informed decision as to whether or not it makes sense to pursue the opportunity based on available resources.
By Linda Forrest
In today’s instalment of my series about the various components of an integrated PR program, I will shed some light on the reasons for media monitoring as well as different approaches and tools.
What is media monitoring? Just that – scanning media coverage for specific keywords and issues and presenting them to clients in the format that will best meet their needs. A more in-depth monitoring of the media is called content analysis, a topic that Francis will explore in detail in a future post.
How is media monitoring done? What tools are needed? At inmedia, we subscribe to a broad range of tools and have others at the ready, should specific requirements dictate a need for audio or video copies of coverage. In the main, we monitor print coverage ourselves through tools such as eWatch, Factiva, and Infomart. Should we require broadcast clippings, we use a company called Cision to provide us with copies of the footage. The print monitoring tools to which we subscribe cost a considerable amount. By having your agency do your media monitoring for you, the cost can be amortized over the entire client base that is utilizing the service, allowing clients the benefits of the tools without covering the entire cost. Consumer-grade, user-friendly search engines like Google News do allow for the search of a subset of the media, but do not cover the broad range of domestic and international or subscription-based publications like the tools that I mentioned earlier.
Why do media monitoring? The media are covering key issues that impact your business. If your company hopes to stay abreast of critical issues, competitor activities and its own image in the marketplace, media monitoring can help provide insight into these issues. By keeping up-to-date on current coverage in your space, opportunities can present themselves for your company to get involved in the dialog in the media. We can easily see if the company executives’ expert opinions differ from those of the author, or if there’s a valuable perspective to share, or perhaps an angle not covered in the original story. These timely opportunities are impossible to predict and present good chances for your company to get covered in target media and position your team as experts.
What keywords should we be using in our monitoring efforts? Obviously, the effectiveness of media monitoring can extend well beyond a simple search for your company’s name. At the outset of an ongoing program, if it is determined that media monitoring will be a component of your program, you and your team should work together to develop objectives for your media monitoring in terms of what you’re hoping to achieve. Do you want to be kept up to date on issues in your marketplace? What about regulations that impact your company or its customers? Perhaps you want to ensure that you are aware of competitor news as it happens. Once the goals have been determined, a list of relevant keywords can be programmed into these tools and then reports issued to your agency as coverage occurs, or at set intervals (for example, the start of every work day.)
How are media hits reported to the client? This really depends on the needs of the client and the resources available. Typically, we find that a biweekly report that covers the topics and issues specific to that client meets our clients’ needs, with important breaking news forwarded on an as-it-happens basis. This is variable, based on the client’s needs. With more intensive programs with extensive resources and where there’s a need for instant access to information, we have generated daily reports. At the other end of the spectrum, some of our clients do not have a specific requirement for media monitoring and therefore we only report coverage of our clients, as needed. Make sure to discuss with your agency what works best for you and will meet your requirements.
Late last year, Jill gave some tips on media monitoring in one of her posts. For more specific information than I’ve given here today, reference her tips for maximizing the value of your media monitoring efforts.
