Category: Media Relations

B2B Social Media

Back 2 Basics with B2B Social Media

Posted on | by Amanda Reed

B2B marketing is intricate and complex. Your company’s product or service evolves as the end-user’s needs change. The messaging to support it can also be in a constant state of optimization. You launch marketing campaigns, waiting to see what resonates. And managing the sales funnel, with any given lead at a different consideration or decision stage than the next person, can be overwhelming.

The nuances of a stellar marketing strategy make your day-to-day a challenge – hopefully, a fun one. Figuring out where social media fits into the mix can be an exciting endeavor, too. Here are some tips I’ve learned along the way in guiding several B2B companies through their social media beginnings.

Prioritize Your Presence Where It Makes the Most Business Sense

The business case for social media will differ depending on your industry and target audience, but don’t “do” social media just to check a box. Neither should you dive into every channel with the same level of care and intention. While there are benefits to being present on most social channels, allocate the majority of your time to the one that aligns with business goals. Decide which channel(s) will be “table stakes” – where you maintain a basic presence for the sake of brand awareness. Then determine which you’ll focus on for a real contribution to your bottom line.

In many B2B cases, this translates to more of a focus on distributing thought leadership content on LinkedIn or Twitter, and not so much tinkering with Instagram. If you have ambitious sales goals for the coming year, it may make sense to spend less time curating pretty pictures and more time writing long-form content to distribute to prospective decision makers. But, if imagery meets your B2B needs, then by all means, do it beautifully. Just tie your efforts to engagement opportunities and measurable outcomes – it will help you see where your time is best spent, and keep you moving in the right direction.

Strategize Your Content Based on the Audience

While hugely important, leads shouldn’t be the only goal of engaging on social media. I previously mentioned brand awareness. Think, when someone reads or hears about your company, where is the first place they’ll go to find out more? A sales lead may first to go the website and then navigate their way to LinkedIn, ‘following’ your company’s profile for the latest updates. If it’s a potential new hire, they may check Instagram to get a feel for company culture or your community involvement. Twitter users often use their feeds as a daily brief on industry news. What quick content will you offer them there? Will your tweets point to a landing page on your website, a blog post, or perhaps back to your LinkedIn content? The possibilities really are endless, but you should always come back to asking  yourself “what makes the most sense for this audience?”

One thing to note in distributing thought leadership content through social media: find a balance between free and gated content. Securing a white paper behind a download form can bring you qualified marketing leads, but it might also be a hard-stop for those not ready to be sold to yet. So, think of the value you can provide someone before they’re ready to engage with you directly. Then, delight them with helpful content, no strings attached.

Connect Your Social Media to Traditional B2B Tactics

While sometimes you must “think outside the box” for creative content ideas, many quick-win social strategies are right under your nose, including the following best practices:

  • What are you already doing in your marketing that can be further amplified on social media? Think of the tradeshows and networking events you’ll attend this year. What content should you post in the days leading up to the occasion? Is there an event hashtag you can explore, participating in social chatter ahead of time or on-location?
  • Equip your people to magnify the brand on social. After all, we’re more likely to make a purchase decision based off recommendations from people we have common ground with or know personally. If employees organically share your company’s content, adding their own perspective,  those who follow them will trust the content that much more. An easy way to empower employee engagement is sending an FYI email ahead of something being published. Provide ready-to-go language for them to copy and paste. You’re doing some of the work for them, further encouraging them to participate online.

Feeling inspired? I hope so! All of these tips are well and good, but knowing where to begin can be daunting, which is why we’ve also put together a how-to on starting your social media program. Or if you’re interested in exploring the possibilities of paid social, dig into our guide on successful LinkedIn marketing. Social media is just one piece of your overall B2B marketing strategy. When done right, it will help you make real connections and lead to ongoing client relationships.

The Rapid Response Formula – Insight, Data, Speed

Posted on | by Mariana Fischbach

As Talladega Night’s Ricky Bobby avidly proclaims in a pronounced southern accent, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” While this quote cracks me up, it rings quite true in a rapid response scenario. If you’re not among the first to provide a comment after news breaks, chances are, you’ll get lost in the noise. However, speed is not the only component of a successful rapid response formula. To garner media mentions, your rapid response should be prompt, include unique insights and highlight pertinent data.

While this is easier said than done, PR professionals can follow a few tips and tricks to ensure speed when sending out a rapid response.

Tip One: Monitor the News

Effectiveness in the rapid response world means keeping an eye on breaking news. This step requires you to think like a journalist. As a best practice, we recommend looking at your top 15 media contacts and analyzing what topics they regularly cover. For example, if they cover retail and technology, do they cover breaking news from retail giants like Amazon and Walmart? If so, the best way to offer timely and relevant rapid responses is to go straight to the source.

For example, publicly traded companies issue press releases and hold quarterly earnings calls, which journalists usually attend to get the scoop. Therefore, by making the time to read the press releases and attend these calls, your company can stay ahead of the curve on breaking news and deliver a speedy and timely response.

Tip Two: Figure Out Your Unique Position

Once you gain understanding of the breaking news, it’s time to figure out what to say. You may have to decipher whether media contacts need an analytical point of view, a forward-looking prediction, or an explanatory statement that discusses what this breaking news means. Remember that your rapid response should add value to the journalist’s story. Once you figure out your position, it’s time to bring in data insights to back up your statement. The more unique the data, the better, as it will help both journalists and readers understand your company’s point of view and help establish you as an expert source.

Tip Three: Craft Your Response

Now that you have all your components, it’s time to craft your rapid response! We typically recommend sending journalists a paragraph or two that can easily serve as a quote. Within these paragraphs, focus on what is important and unique. Rather than summarizing the breaking news, acknowledge it and provide your statement with key data insights.

When it comes to the perfect rapid response formula, remember to think speed, insight and data. As you start to think like a journalist, you’ll understand what the media needs for their next breaking news story.

Content is King When It Comes to Bylines

Posted on | by Adrienne Newcomb

It’s no secret that Ketner Group Communications takes pride in our content development skills, and when it comes to bylines, we think we shine! While our name may not be on the final product, you can always tell when content is written by someone who understands an industry vs. someone who tried to throw together an article based on their narrow view of that industry. We’re not trying to brag, but we’re often told by editors and clients alike that we “get it.”*

Despite the fact that we “get it,” bylined thought leadership content is not a familiar place for many solution providers. Oftentimes, vendors find it hard to be non-promotional or take a stance on the bigger issues affecting the industry without disparaging others, all while sticking to strict editorial guidelines. So, we’ve put together some recommendations to help solution providers wrap their heads around thought leadership and contributed content.

Focus on Thought Leadership, NOT Product Promotion

We get it – you eat, breathe and live your solution every day, and we have no doubt that you can write 800 words about its capabilities, features and benefits. There is certainly a time and a place for that. But when it comes to bylines, think outside the box and take a position on larger industry issue or trend. Prospects understand that you know your product, but they want to make sure you understand the broader industry context and all the problems and issues they face. For example, instead of writing about your shipping solution, discuss how hot issues such as new tariffs will affect the industry.

Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Frenemies Closer

Some executives think contributed content is the place to call out competitors for their failures and tell potential clients what they’re doing wrong. While that may be okay by some publications’ standards, we caution you to walk a fine line between being controversial and not offending your competitors or potential customers. After all, if you can tear down a competitor, they can do the same about you, and nobody wants the negative press! As far as potential clients go, you don’t want to risk losing a prospect because you crossed a line and slighted the wrong decision maker.

Stick to the Guidelines

Now this seems simple, but as an agency, following editorial guidelines is often where we spend a lot of time going back and forth with clients during the editing process. First and foremost, most publications provide contributors with a word count; for online articles, editors might want all of their stories to adhere to certain read time and, for print, it’s usually a simple space constraint. So, if the editor says the article needs to be 800 words or less, it needs to be 800 words or less, not 1,000 words or less. And remember how we said that bylines should focus on thought leadership, not a product promotion? This isn’t a suggestion on our part, but a requirement set out by the publications that contributed content should be vendor and product neutral. For example, if you sell printers and your article details how great printers are, even if you don’t mention your brand, it can still be considered “promotional.”

Utilize Great Writers

We all know that C-suite leaders and top executives have their plates full; the last thing they have time to do is write an 800-word article. And, to be honest, that’s probably not their cup of tea; if it was, they’d already be doing it! Instead, utilize a great writer on your team or hire a partner to help you write thought-provoking bylines that editors will publish and your target audience will read. Done right, contributed byline articles will position both the author and the company as trusted experts with the potential to help navigate the unique requirements of your business area.

*Please note that due to the promotional nature of this content, it would not be considered “vendor-neutral” by an editor. However, this is our company blog, and as we said above “there is a time and a place” to be promotional, and this is it.

This Year’s FIFA World Cup MVP is…. Technology

Posted on | by Mariana Fischbach

As the summer heat continues to roll in, it’s the time of year that the majority of us run for the nearest pool or beach as the temperatures rise and schools let out, and the expected “out of office” messages begin to appear in your inbox on a daily basis. However, this year, the “OOO” messages may also be appearing for an additional reason, the FIFA World Cup.

It’s that magical event that occurs every four years and brings a whopping 3.4B people around the world together to tune in and root for their favorite country. And while some of the players’ faces may be familiar from four years ago, as well as the all-too familiar brands including McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Visa and Budweiser, there are also new off-the-field players making their way onto the scene.

For example, if you’ve been tuning in to the matches this first round, you may have noticed Chinese brands, such as Hisense and Vivo making their presence strongly known on the sparkling World Cup advertising banners around the field. However, the biggest player of them all making its presence strongly known at the World Cup this year is, you guessed it…technology. And this year’s technology MVP comes in the shape of a Virtual Assistant Referee or VAR.

Virtual Assistant Referee

For the very first time at a FIFA World Cup, the referees are benefiting from the use of VAR to get an eyes-from-the-sky POV. Through this technology, referees are able to track and gather data on all plays in the field in real-time. This data is then automatically transmitted to an assistant referee who is away from the field. During calls such as penalties, goals and deflections, referees are able to call on the assistant referees to get a more in-depth look at the call. While VAR is doing a great amount of good, this technology is already causing some controversy with World Cup fans, as several blame the VAR system for awarding a penalty to the French team during the Australian and France face-off, consequently leading to France beating Australia.

There is a phrase that states “no publicity is bad publicity,” and while VAR may be having its moment of fame (or controversy) on the World Cup stage, one thing is for certain, referees, teams and World Cup organizers are gathering real-time data like never before. In the spirit of progression and pushing the sport to its limit, I believe that this technology will be a key player in helping the sport advance, and I for one, can’t wait for 2026 when the World Cup makes a pit stop in North America.

Dos and Don’ts of Applying for PR Jobs

Posted on | by Adrienne Newcomb

When I started at Ketner Group almost three years ago, I was the fifth full-time team member. At the beginning of July, we’ll be adding our 10th full-time team member (get excited for another intro blog!). Pair that with our ongoing internship program, and it goes without saying that we’ve done a TON of recruiting, resume reading and interviewing in the past few years. And as you can probably imagine, we’ve seen some interesting things (some good, some…not so good) throughout the process. Given that many recent grads are likely applying for jobs, we thought it would be a good time to talk about some of the dos and don’ts of applying for PR jobs.

Do Apply if You’re Slightly Over-Qualified

You might be looking at a job description or a company website and think, “that sounds like a perfect fit for me.” However, even if they’re looking for someone with slightly less experience than you, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. For example, if the position is an Account Executive role with 2-3 years of experience, and you’ve been in the working world a bit longer, the hiring agency might be willing to hire you as a Senior Account Executive if you fit their profile and hiring needs but have slightly more experience.

Don’t Apply for a Job You Don’t Qualify For

Now, I recently had a debate with some friends about this one – many argued that you should aim big, or the employer may not know what they’re looking for until you tell them. While that may be true in some industries, I’d argue that it doesn’t apply to most PR jobs, specifically agency ones. For example, if we’re hiring for an Account Manager position with 4-5 years of agency experience, you do NOT qualify for that job if you’re looking for your first job out of college. To a recruiter or the person reviewing resumes, this says one of a few things: 1) You don’t think their time is important; 2) You didn’t thoroughly read the job description; or 3) You’re just blindly applying for jobs to meet some sort of quota. Now if you’re still interested in working for the company, but simply don’t have enough experience, feel free to send the contact a note, acknowledging that you aren’t qualified, but let them know you’re interested in a more junior position if one is to open up.

Do Act Like You Want to Be There

We all know that applying for jobs and interviewing is an exhausting, and often, defeating process. But as you can probably tell, it’s not all fun and games for employers, either. That being said, when you do get to the job interview, act like you want to be there. Show up well-rested, prepared and with a smile on your face. And most importantly, be yourself. While we know job interviews are nerve-wracking, some of the best interviews I’ve been in (whether as the interviewer or interviewee) are those where everyone’s been themselves and the conversation has flowed naturally…whether it was completely relevant to the job itself, or not.

Don’t Apply if You Aren’t Available to Start in the Near Future

As much as we’d like to be able to anticipate that we’re going to need someone to join our team in six months, unfortunately, that’s not often a reality for most agencies. We often don’t know we need a new team member until we needed them yesterday! While we’re always happy to hang on to your resume, it’s very disappointing to receive an application for an open position from a qualified candidate, and then once you’ve invested time in speaking with them, learn that they’re not available to start for another six months. Therefore, if you see a job that you think you might be qualified for but wouldn’t be able to start for a while, just be upfront about it and send the contact a note to see if they’d consider a candidate who can’t start for a few months. Trust me, they’ll appreciate your honesty!

Do Send a Thank You Note

While it’s not necessarily a deal breaker, a thank you note goes a long way. And if you’re anything like me, you still get giddy when you receive the old-fashioned kind in the mail. While any thank you note is better than none, try to make it thoughtful, highlighting something that was discussed in the interview, mentioning something you forgot or maybe asking a follow up question to help keep the conversation going.

A Note on Career Fairs

For the past two years, Ketner Group has attended the Moody College of Communication Career Fair at UT Austin and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting some great candidates (shout out to Stacy and Meghan!). But we’ve also had some interesting exchanges. Notably, we’ve noticed that many of the candidates don’t have a clue what we do or what type of job they’re applying for. Some walk up to our booth and straight up ask, “So, what does Ketner Group do?” While we commend you for having the courage to put yourself out there, Career Services provided a list of employers well in advance, and you have time to prepare and research the companies you want to meet.

While the list could go on, these are some of the dos and don’ts that have repeatedly shown themselves. So, before you apply for your next PR job, be sure to take this advice into account, and best of luck on your job hunting journey!

P.S. While it’s only a small part of my job, I really do enjoy recruiting and getting to know job candidates! Even though Ketner Group doesn’t currently* have any openings, feel free to shoot me your resume to keep on file or I’d be happy to sit down with you and discuss your job search journey. You can email me at [email protected].

 

*As noted above, that could change at any moment!

Breakfast Tacos and PR: Make Plans to Attend the 2018 PRSA International Conference in Austin!

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend last year’s PRSA International Conference in Boston, and as soon as I got back home, I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved in this year’s event taking place in Ketner Group’s very own backyard of Austin, Texas!

The annual conference is a wonderful event that “spotlights the intersection of technology and media, and leads the competition by providing unparalleled information strategies and tools for the new trends impacting the industry.” As I wrote in my blog last October, it’s a great event for professional development, inspiration, networking and even mentoring with some of the students from PRSSA.

This year, I’m THRILLED to say that Ketner Group will be a part of the planning as part of the PRSA Austin Chapter, the official hosts of the 2018 event. Stacy Lan and I have joined the opening reception committee, and we are excited! We are joined by our friends and peers from the Austin PR community to “get the party started” and show our colleagues from around the world just how awesome and wonderfully weird our city is.

I suspect there will be plenty of breakfast tacos for everyone!

A few key note speakers have already been announced:

  • Robert B. Reich: Economic Adviser, Best-Selling Author. Reich is currently serving as the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. Reich’s most recent book is “The Common Good.”
  • Jonathan Mildenhall, Former Airbnb CMO. Mildenhall is a globally recognized thought leader in the worlds of business strategy and creative excellence. A proponent of purposeful branding, he is passionate about connecting consumers with brands in a meaningful, authentic way and building community-driven brands that promote positive societal change.

As well, PRSA is currently accepting proposals for speaking at the event. The call for proposals deadline is March 26. Click here for more information!

I encourage all of my PR peeps to consider attending this great event – I promise you will come away inspired and ready to execute on all the ideas you will hear about. Registration is open now, so y’all come on down to Texas and we’ll talk PR in October!

Two Reactions, Same Person: Thoughts on the PR Effectiveness of March for Our Lives

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

For the record, I am the SVP and Partner here at Ketner Group Communications, with nearly 20 years of experience working as a public relations professional. I love the industry I work in, and I love helping my clients elevate their brands by telling impactful stories that make a difference. When done right, timely and ethically, PR is a beautiful thing to watch. It can also lead to a horrible train wreck when done wrong, too late or unethically. It’s hard for me not to notice good PR or bad PR when it’s happening outside of my work with Ketner Group – it’s like second nature to me.

I am also a proud mother of two awesome kids, ages 9 and 13. I don’t know about the rest of you parents out there, but as soon as I became a mom, I felt as though I became an honorary mom to all the children on the entire planet. Meaning, I not only worry about my own two offspring constantly, but I also find myself concerned about every single kid that I see or hear about – even the older ones! A recent example: during the Winter Olympics, I found myself telling the young and talented athletes (via talking to the TV) who fell on the ice or lost a race, “Aww, it’s ok! You’ll get ‘em next time!” And don’t even get me started on when there is an injury involved. When watching college football, I’m always saying to myself, “His mother must be so worried about him right now!” I can’t help it – it’s also like second nature to me.

So, for the most part, my “life lens” is part PR professional and part mom.

When I watched all of the March for Our Lives protests happening around the U.S. this past weekend, my two “selves” automatically kicked in. By recent reports, March for Our Lives was one of the biggest youth-led protests since the Vietnam War. These protests, as we all know, were in direct response to the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. By all accounts, the marches were a huge success – obviously!

My PR Reaction: This is PR at its finest! The students, from the onset, created a message that was compelling and most of all, honest, open and raw. They also used the platforms they knew would be the most effective to get their message across – in this case they were TV and social media. Lastly, they used those channels and their message to go about changing opinions with the intent of changing laws. It is more than impressive what they have done, and it’s a case study worthy of a dozen PRSA Silver Anvil awards. As Amy George wrote about this week in her column in Inc. Magazine:

“In just five weeks since the shooting spree that killed 17 of their classmates, a handful of these survivors have become pros at live TV interviews, created the ‘Never Again’ campaign and raised millions of dollars — from celebrities and organizations like George and Amal Clooney, Oprah and Gucci — for the massive ‘March For Our Lives’ demonstration that they’ve planned for Saturday in Washington.”

My Mom Reaction: These kids must be so tired, I hope they are getting enough to eat and are sleeping enough!

My PR Reaction: I admire the fact that with little to no formal education on PR strategies, objectives and tactics, they’ve been able to, as Amy outlined in her column, accomplish two very important things when faced with launching an effective PR campaign:

  • Own the conversation: These kids have done a commendable job of keeping their conversation going and going so that others don’t do it for them. Any good PR person will tell their client or company that you must get out there before anyone else to tell your story, or risk the conversation or message going in the wrong direction.
  • Master the soundbite: The students have also quickly mastered the art of the soundbite. Of course they have! Even my nine-year-old son can come up with clever soundbites to explain a funny situation that happened to him at school. They have been groomed for some time now to talk in short, witty conversations via social media.

My Mom Reaction: I wonder if they got nervous before speaking to the crowd in Washington?

The final end result of the PR campaign is TBD. But this we do know – it is a campaign that has quickly commanded the spotlight and is bound to continue to do so. I’ll continue to be in awe of them as a PR professional and will also worry about them as “far away mom,” but something tells me these kids are going to be just fine.

Image attribution: photo by Gavin Whitner

PRSA Chair Offers Guidance to Facebook

Posted on | by Ketner Group

In light of this week’s events surrounding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, we wanted to repost the following guidance from PRSA 2018 National Chair Anthony D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA. Please find the email that was distributed from PRSA earlier this week, below.

The current headlines about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, including lax data policies and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s initial silence on the ethical and legislative controversy, prompted PRSA 2018 National Chair Anthony D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA, to address how values and principles from PRSA’s Code of Ethics could help Facebook to get ahead, and stay ahead, of ongoing crisis developments.

What’s worse than Facebook’s data breach?

Facebook executives have learned, too slowly, that a trust breach is profoundly more damaging than a data breach. The elegantly simple remedies for the former are spelled out in the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Code of Ethics. Warning: Implementing them can require extraordinary courage, a thick skin and hard, sustained work. Not implementing them will lead to further erosion of trust and market capitalization, and a commensurate increase in government hearings and industry regulation.

Mark Zuckerberg, after a glacial delay, responded yesterday to the public outcry for information via “Anderson Cooper 360” and various other statements. An apology is an important start, but it’s reactive. To get ahead of this crisis, here are applicable values and principles from the PRSA Code of Ethics that Facebook should attend to:

Honesty and fairness, which are required for trust to be enabled among stakeholders, and to maintain the integrity of relationships with the public, the media and government officials. This is essential for informed decision-making in a democratic society. In short, come clean and play fair. If there is unpleasant news about what has happened, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, share it completely and quickly for Facebook’s benefit as well as the public’s. You do not want it to come from other sources, as has been happening since 2015 with this matter.

Free flow of information, which trusted organizations consistently advance. Don’t deflect, obfuscate or dissemble. Don’t have attorneys take over communications, which inherently sends a suspicious message.

Act promptly to correct erroneous communications. Crises can have huge magnitude as one-time events, or they can have protracted, steady-drip effects. Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal has both. Yesterday, Zuckerberg finally answered the urgent question, “Where are you on this?” Henceforth, he and other Facebook leaders must spell out what they’re doing to fix every aspect of every relevant problem and report steadily on progress.

Disclosure of information, to build trust with the public by revealing all information needed for responsible decision-making. After reports this past weekend by The New York Times and the Observer of London, the deputy general counsel at Facebook said, “Everyone involved gave their consent.” Can informed consent happen when millions of Facebook users are seemingly expected, for their own protection, to turn off app settings that they aren’t aware exist?

Reveal the sponsors for causes and interests represented. The information consumer has a right to know whether a message is sponsored and who is sponsoring it.

Safeguarding confidences, to provide appropriate protection of confidential and private information. It is not unethical to keep proprietary information confidential; any company must do so to protect intellectual property and strategies to compete in a robust business environment. However, that information cannot be safeguarded if it harms the interests of the nation or society.

Conflicts of interest must be avoided or ended to ensure one’s professional or personal interests are not in conflict with society’s interests. This requires transparency, and transparency requires speed and consistency to enable trust.

If you can’t figure out what the product is in a given digital or social media app, then you are the product — your data, your attention, your connection to other users. Thousands of users didn’t realize that when they downloaded an app as seemingly innocuous as a personality quiz, it scraped information from not only their Facebook profiles, but from their friends’ profiles as well. Fifty million people were affected, and they don’t care if the cause was Facebook’s policies, its oversight of developers or the actions of a rogue developer. Facebook doesn’t get to assign blame, its customers do. So Facebook is obligated to deliver the facts and let customers decide for themselves if the problem is fixed.

This is a tough situation, and it’s easy for anyone to play Monday morning quarterback. Facebook’s leaders are highly intelligent, and I’ll bet that they’ve been given good PR counsel — but heretofore Facebook’s actions do not reflect best practices.

Therefore, I’d like to offer free, albeit unsolicited advice. Engage public relations professionals, whether on your staff or external, that know PRSA’s Code of Ethics chapter and verse. It will help you and the publics you serve. In fact, I’m willing to assemble a team of PRSA member experts who would be willing to counsel you without fee because the stakes in this far-reaching crisis are astoundingly high.

Anthony D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA
2018 National Chair, PRSA

2018 Winter Olympic Games: Over Two Weeks of Public Relations Gold

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been obsessed with the Olympics. It didn’t matter if it was the summer or winter games, I was there, in front of the TV watching every moment I could. I remember watching Mary Lou Retton win the gold medal in the individual all-around competition in 1984, will never forget watching the drama unfold between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, or watching in awe as Michael Johnson broke record after record in Atlanta. My childhood, early adulthood and even in recent years watching the games with my kids, are filled with Olympic memories.

But the Olympic games are also something else – they are a PR dream, or a nightmare, depending on who you are and what situation you are in. For the athletes and the countries they represent, there are plenty of opportunities to overcome seemingly impossible challenges or to come to terms with not standing on the medal podium after years of hard work.

In short, the Olympics is an abundance of PR stories, some sad, some happy and others simply inspiring – and I love them all.

There have been plenty of those PR stories, in the weeks, months and even days leading up to the 2018 Olympic games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. In fact, as I write this blog – watching the first competition of the figure skating team event – NBC just announced breaking news regarding the Team USA flag-bearer for Friday’s opening ceremony. Apparently, after it was announced this week that veteran luger Erin Hamlin was selected for the flag-bearer honor, U.S. speed skater Shani Davis responded (via Twitter) that he actually lost a tiebreaker coin toss that kept him from carrying the Stars and Stripes:

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018

WHOA.

As a life-long Olympic spectator, my reaction is just that. Whoa. Yikes. But, as a PR professional, my reaction is to immediately feel for the U.S. Olympic communications team, the IOC’s communications team and of course the reps for both Shani Davis and Erin Hamlin. The games haven’t even started and the Twitter wars have started. Obviously so much has changed since my earliest memories watching the Olympics – the hair, the fashion, the actual competing countries, and of course, the communications aspect.  Of course, the “inspiring stories” with NBC commentators such as Bob Costas and Mary Carillo have always been there to give us a closer look at our favorite Olympic athletes. But it’s the social media component that has really changed the PR game – for better or for worse. I could write an entire blog just on this angle, but for now, I’ll just keep an eye on @Jambobsled (the Jamaican bobsled team) and @TaraandJohnny, and hope that the Twitter wars stay at a minimum.

Over the next 2 ½ weeks, I’ll be watching the Olympics from both the fan and PR perspective – and plan on writing another blog after the closing ceremonies. I’m sure there will be plenty for me to “dish” about – I mean – to give you all my completely unbiased and neutral PR insights.

Go Team USA.

Not All Press Releases are Created Equal: Tips & Tricks for a Successful Press Release

Posted on | by Mariana Fischbach

 

In the world of public relations, the words “press release” are part of the daily vernacular in day-to-day communications. The bottom line is, everyone has a story to tell. Whether a company is launching a new product, issuing a breaking news alert, providing details on an upcoming event or highlighting the great work they’ve done, a press release is the best and most efficient way to deliver the news straight to the media and external audiences.

However, not all press releases are created equal. For a press release to be truly successful, companies need to strategically think about the press release content, the timing of the release and the publishing medium they plan to utilize among other top factors. Below are a few best practices to follow when issuing a press release:

Content

For the most part, the content of your press release should be short and straight to the point. As a best practice, the headline should be concise –around five to seven words— while providing a perfect picture of the main point. If possible, use key words that are trending in your sector to expand your SEO reach. You can always use the subhead to provide a broader picture of key components, but the subhead should also be no more than a sentence.

Next, the body should provide the who, what, when, where and why within the first two paragraphs of the release to allow the media to quickly understand the importance of the news and decide if this is something they would like to cover or pass on to someone else.

If you have a quote from a customer or a third-party reference, make sure to position it close to the top or no lower than the middle of the page to ensure visibility. Additionally, include any graphics or short videos you have to accompany your release. Visuals not only help to quickly paint the full picture, but they can also provide additional collateral that media can utilize to tell your story in further detail.

As far as word count is concerned, a press release between 600-800 words should do the trick to not only get the media’s attention, but to also ensure they read the entire release.

Timing

The timing of a release is everything. Ideally, most press releases should go out early in the morning within the time zone you are trying to reach. This allows media publications to receive the news early enough to reach back out to you with any questions they may have for the story they are working on.

Additionally, if you are planning to publish your press release around a big event, ensure you are carving out a specific window of time where you press release can rise above the noise and garner the attention of your target audience. Don’t forget to take into consideration national and bank holidays such as Thanksgiving or Martin Luther King Day, and avoid sending press releases a few days before or after the holiday to prevent your press release going out while your audience’s attention is preoccupied elsewhere.

Publishing Medium

Once your content and timing are established, it’s time to decide how you will publish your press release. At this stage, you will need to answer the question of whether you will be sending out your release through a wire service, such as BusinessWire, PR Newswire, or Nasdaq GlobalNewswire, or directly posting it on your website.

Remember that not all press releases have to be distributed through a wire service. We recommend publishing a press release through a wire service only if your company is announcing a new funding round, product launch or a customer win so that it reaches audiences and media publications beyond your network and amplifies the overall reach of your announcement.

Press releases that discuss new company appointments or upcoming events and speaking engagements can forego the wire and be posted directly to your site. If you go this route, ensure you pitch the press release directly to your core media targets and network, as well as promote your news via your social channels to maximize reach.

Press releases are a great way to quickly and effectively get your company’s news out there. By creating a perfect combination of the right content, timing and publishing strategy, you can ensure your press release is a success for your company.