Tag Archives: online pr

Writing Lessons Learned From Social Media

Posted on August 29, 2011 by | 8 Comments

Like a good PR or elevator pitch, an effective tweet, Facebook status update or Google+ post is compelling, finely-crafted, tightly-edited and impossible to ignore.   Social networks are a great place to test messages and hone your writing to the sharpest of points.

I started to think about the relationship between the improvements in my writing – most noticeably, in my new found abilities to edit myself and tighten the screws on my own phrasing – and the corresponding growth and engagement of my audiences in social networks.   Simply put, if you pay attention to what you write, you’ll quickly learn what works – and what doesn’t – with your audience.   And there’s more to that equation than simply subject matter.  The structure of your missives – along with the language you select, will dictate the outcome.

Facebook:  Be interesting, and pithy

Among the friends and family I interact with on Facebook, descriptive posts that are slightly off-beat generate the most interest.   When I gabbled nonsensically on Facebook when our house was robbed recently, my rambling message received zero (!) responses.   Are my friends and family heartless?  No.  But like any other group, boring messages generate zero traction.

On PR Newswire’s Facebook page, the vibe is a little different.  The crowd there appreciates the content we curate for them, but before they will follow the links we suggest, they need to be sold on why doing so is worth their time.  I always take the time to give my take on why a link I’m suggesting to them is interesting or useful.   That said, brevity is important here, as well.   A rambling paragraph simply doesn’t work.

Twitter: Edit mercilessly. Less is definitely more.

On Twitter, my followers respond to short, crisp tweets.  Seventy characters or less seems to be the sweet spot, and those fifty characters have to sum up the value of the link I’m suggesting. When writing tweets, I challenge myself trim and tighten my messages, distilling the tweets as much as I can.  Here’s a look the most popular tweets (in terms of the number of time the link I attached was clicked) I’ve sent this summer.  As you can see, all are well under the 140 character/space limit:

  • With a single tweet, Lance Armstrong’s PR machine blunts ‘60 Minutes’ segment. (79 characters/spaces)  
  • Google shelves real-time, and my take on what it means for #PR (63 characters/spaces)
  • Fewer than a dozen companies rely on the web to meet disclosure. Here’s why: (77 characters/spaces)
  • Sharable content is the SEO king. (36 characters/spaces)
  • SEO is really public relations. (32 characters/spaces)

I’ve also found it’s helpful to allude to your own take on something you’re sharing, and that it’s entirely possible to do so with one word, or even simple punctuation.  Appending a word such as “Really?” is an easy way to convey skepticism or an element of personal disbelief.  Adding a simple exclamation point in brackets (!) mid-phrase is a brief way to express your surprise.

LinkedIn:  Give the people what they want, and be transparent

LinkedIn offers all sorts of opportunities for brands.  Some of the most valuable, in my experience representing PR Newswire, are found in the Answers and Groups sections, in which members pose and answer questions, and discuss industry issues.

It should go without saying that these discussions are not the place for the hard sell.  However, that doesn’t mean that someone representing a brand can’t interact with others while also positively promoting the brand.  The key is simple – give the people what they want, which most of the time is a straight answer.

I’ve found that directly answering a question – and being up front at the beginning that I work for PR Newswire – can be a great way to share information, start a dialogue, and even win business.    Often, company insiders are in the position to share unique insight or details about a service or industry that others following the conversation appreciate.  However, one must be careful to give the people what they want.  Listen to their questions, and give straight answers.  It’s about them, not you.

Applying the lessons learned:

I know my writing skills have improved since I became active on social networks and started tracking the results of our efforts in social networks on behalf of the PR Newswire brand.  In particular, I’ve noticed:

  • The language used in a post/tweet/update plays an important role in attracting audience attention (and response.)
  • The lessons in brevity, editing and interest learned in crafting effective social posts also translate to headline writing.
  • Relentless editing is an absolute requirement for effective writing. I’m now a merciless editor, with decreasing patience for extraneous language and superfluous ideas.
  • Format content for the wired reader: make it easy to scan and share. I make use of bullets and sub-heads to make content easy for readers to scan, and to highlight phrases that are easy to tweet.  Case in point: the phrase that started this bullet point is 71 characters, and would make a great tweet.  In fact, I think I’ll use it to promote this blog post later.
  • The more time you spend in social networks and the longer you observe what sort of content sparks conversation, the more finely tuned your own story-radar becomes.  It’s easier for me to spot interesting angles for blog posts and press releases now that I’ve spent so much time immersed in networks with my PR peers.

From a professional standpoint, involvement in social networks offers a bevy of opportunities, beyond improving one’s writing.   You can test messages and campaign concepts, floating messaging to your social audiences, and observing which reverberate, and which fall flat.   By listening to social conversations, you can start to zero in on not just the topics of interest to the group, but the very words that are more likely to attract and hold attention.   I would even argue that you can increase the stickiness and uptake of the messages you craft, as you start to spot – and highlight – tweetable ideas or concepts within the content you produce.

What have you learned from your experiences communicating in social networks?

Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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Using Press Releases for Lead Generation

Posted on August 22, 2011 by | 5 Comments

Building lead generation - through press releases.

The humble press release is working much harder these days. Once a vehicle for announcing news to editors, the press release is increasingly being used to influence outcomes – and even to generate qualified leads directly from a target audience – in the age of social media and search engine optimization.  PR Newswire recently released a white paper about using press releases for lead generation in which we delved into:

  • Why analytics and brand content are inextricably linked with successful lead generation programs
  • How PR feeds lead generation and demonstrates true value
  • How to make news by developing and promoting original content
  • Using press release content in social media
  • What PR professionals are doing to quantify return on releases

Free download: Press Releases as Lead Generators

In some ways, building lead-gen into press releases is simple. If you were issuing a press release announcing, say, the release of a new smartphone, why wouldn’t you include a link to your Web site enabling consumers on the Web to learn more or make a purchase? If you’ve created excellent original content – a white paper or webinar, for example – why wouldn’t you issue a press release about it?

Savvy PR professionals – and even some marketers – are doing these things, and more.

Based on interviews conducted for the paper, PR pros are targeting their press release audiences and measuring lead generation performance using internal CRM systems, social media monitoring analytics and tracking codes and services that provide insight into the number of people clicking on a link, downloading content or registering for an event. Further, they are creating their own branded, helpful content for their community of customers and prospects and using press releases (along with social and other media) to drive engagement with that content.

The result for their clients, PR professionals say, can be valuable leads obtained at very little cost, as well as an expansion of their clients’ marketing databases.

Read the full paper, for free:  http://promotions.prnewswire.com/LP_Wire_WP-lead-gen_BeyondPR_20110719_CG.html

Has your organization added lead generation to your list of desired PR outcomes?

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Blog Notes: It’s Business Time

Posted on August 19, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Working as the blogger relations manager for PR Newswire, I come across my fair share of great blogs that cover a wide variety of subject matters and interests.   And as you might expect, some blogs are better than others. With that in mind and in an effort to highlight the better ones, I do my best to review one of these blogs every day. This week my focus is on business blogs. After all, it’s a bottom line, dollars and cents type of world. We all need to pay our bills. We all need to keep the lights on. In a way doing business (hopefully good business) is everyone’s business. So with that in mind, let’s ring up the accountant, take a look at our balance sheets and enjoy this brief roundup of some of the best business blogs I’ve seen lately.

Fast Company hails itself as the leading voice for progressive business. They champion a school of thought called “ethical economics” (or “ethonomics”). The idea is that you can do good while still doing well for yourself. The site is also a great educational resource with features such as the 60-second MBA. If I were to pitch this blog, I’d look for stories that stressed corporate social responsibility and other green business practices. Check out the full review here.

Business Insider is not just a good business site. It’s a good site, plain and simple. Regardless of your portfolio size, anyone can learn a thing or two from them. And it’s not all business. It’s culture, media, entertainment, sports and just about everything else you can think of… with a business element tied in of course. As such, if I were to pitch this blog, I might look for stories that sit at the intersection of business and, well, pretty much anything else. Check out the full review here.

Consumerist is a business blog, but it’s by no means one geared towards CEOs and bankers. Like the name suggests, they’re looking out for the consumer. And let’s face it, in today’s world that’s rare. If I were to pitch this blog, I’d look for stories that have the individual’s concerns in sight. And keep in mind that they’re a non-profit, if you’re planning to pitch a product for review. They will trash it if they see fit. Check out the full review here.

Get Rich Slowly is a great blog. It’s also a grouping of words that goes against everything our culture tells us. We’re not prone to being frugal, or otherwise smart with our money. But if the current economic straits teach us anything, maybe we should look into what these guys have to say. If I were to pitch this blog, I’d look for stories that highlight personal finance. Check out the full review here.

Dealbreaker can best be described as a tabloid for Wall Street. And in case you haven’t been watching the news lately, things are getting pretty – how do I put this – interesting on Wall Street these days. Dealbreaker provides a great breakdown of the day’s news that you don’t need an MBA to understand. If I were pitching this blog, I’d give it to them straight and maybe have a sense of humor about it, as the site is pretty funny. Check out the full review here.

That’s all for now. In the meantime, if there’s a blog I should be reviewing, drop me a line or a note in the comments, and I’ll take a look. Until next time…

Tom Hynes is PR Newswire’s manager of blogger relations.

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Using Facebook for Public Relations

Posted on August 9, 2011 by | 10 Comments

It can be a little overwhelming at first, but Facebook represents great opportunities for PR.

Our series, “Integrating Social Media into Public Relations,” continues with this discussion of using Facebook for PR.

Building Facebook into PR strategies can either be an obvious win, or a terrible idea. With an audience of more than 750 millon who log 700 billion minutes on the social network monthly, the potential this platform presents to communicators is undeniable. However, as is the case with any social outlet, Facebook is first and foremost a very personal space for many users. Communications – even (and maybe especially?) between brands and individuals – have an intimate, one-on-one aspect. Respecting individual preferences and boundaries is important.

Audience research

I’m in the camp that agrees Facebook has a place in public relations strategies. However, the charge to “get it out on Facebook” isn’t a tactic I’d recommend. Before one starts communicating via Facebook, it’s important to think first your audience. Chances are pretty good a large chunk of them are on Facebook. But why are they there, and how do they use Facebook? Do they tend to be eager and rampant networkers? Or are they more focused on friends and family? Are they active in groups? Enthusiastic game players? A little research into how your audience will help you develop more messages and strategies.

“For our clients, we first determine if Facebook is the appropriate outlet and customize our approach based on our client’s goals,” says Mike Nierengarten, an internet marketing consultant at Obility Consulting. “For example, our client Animation Mentor, an online animation school, is perfect for Facebook because it has tons of great content (video, events, pictures), a strong (current) student presence on the site, and our target customers (potential students) use the site regularly.”

But exactly how does one research an audience on Facebook? You can start by simply purchasing an ad on Facebook. As you go through the process, you’ll learn more about your audience in terms of size and demographics. That said, I prefer the gumshoe method – meaning you log in and start looking. Demographics won’t give you the insight into where people gather, what sort of messages they share, and the overall “vibe” of the community on Facebook interested in causes related to your organization’s objectives. Any social media strategist worth his or her salt will tell you the first step in planning a strategy on social networks is to listen, and you’ll find the same advice here. Find active groups focused on relevant topics, and join them. Spend most of your time listening and observing.

Desired outcomes

Secondly, consider the desired outcomes. Do you want to use Facebook to develop relationships with media people and bloggers? Or are you more interested in finding and engaging your enthusiasts within your marketplace, and building awareness among them? Do you have calls to action you’ll measure, such as lead-gen (e.g. filling out a form), building web site traffic, or generating conversation and buzz? Deliberate planning with your outcomes in mind is always a good idea.

How Facebook can fit into your PR plans

As I mentioned earlier, there are many ways you can weave Facebook into your communications plans. Let’s look at a few specific ways a PR pro can use Facebook.

Media & blogger relations

Virtual environments lend themselves well to building real relationships with media and bloggers.

Andrea Samacicia, founder and president of Victory Public Relations, a New York PR firm, told me that in her former life, several years ago when she was employed by another PR firm, she communicated with editors all day long, but didn’t really start building real relationships with them until she started using social media. “I’m much closer to the people I interact with now,” she says. “I have much closer relationships with the editors, producers and journalists I’m linked to on Facebook and Twitter. It makes keeping in touch much simpler. You can “like” something they’ve done on Facebook and they get a little reminder about you.”

In addition to building relationships and establishing another line of communication with key journalists and bloggers, by paying attention to what they share and post, you can learn more about what interests them, and what they’ve written lately. You may even find a story opportunity amongst the interactions.

You can even pitch media via Facebook – with some conditions.

“For the reporters in the Web 2.0 space, I have begun pitching them via Facebook. I have found they often respond quicker to my Facebook messages as opposed to the emails I send to their corporate accounts,” says Andrew Miller, vice president, external communications at Integral Systems, in a discussion on LinkedIn. “Please note that I have relationships with these reporters and have linked to them on Facebook. For PR people interested in using Facebook as a means to pitch reporters, I suggest doing the same.”

Finding and connecting with enthusiasts and influencers

There’s something for everyone on the web, and on Facebook, or so it seems. For most organizations,

Facebook represents a great opportunity to find and connect with “your people.” Developing a presence people will want to connect and interact with requires the ability to produce, curate and share interesting information and the willingness (and resources) to interact with your audiences one on one. Yes, you want to encourage people to “like” your page. But building interactions with your content – getting people to like, share and comment on the things your organization posts – is where the Facebook magic happens. Those liking and sharing interactions can trigger viral distribution of your message. People won’t like or share boring things, however, so sharing good stuff is an imperative.

Good old fashioned promotion

Facebook is a great place to generate publicity – that’s obvious. And once you’ve done your research, identified what your audience likes, developed the content plan attract and keep your audience’s attention and have been rewarded with a growing following, then you can actually start to promote your company. Please note – promoting the company comes after you do all the heavy lifting described above. Building context – and communicating within that context – is important on social channels. It would be jarring – and uninviting – if a friendly, funny brand presence suddenly switched to the hard-sell.

That said, I believe that people do understand that brands need to promote themselves, and their products and services. And, let’s face it – if you’re in the market for a particular item, you’re probably going to be interested in information related to that item. So it’s perfectly OK to promote your business, brand and products on Facebook. However, if you want to do so effectively, most of your commnications should be focused on building relationships and credibility with your audience. If 80% of your communications are consistently focused on educating and entertaining your audience, they’ll tolerate 20% promotional content – as long as you maintain the context you’ve already built. So go ahead and promote your blog posts, white papers and other promotional content, invite your audience to special events and offer them special deals and discounts for being loyal fans.

Simply put, Facebook can be a terrific medium for public relations, as long as communicators respect the personal nature of interactions and care is taken to connect the right audience with a carefully crafted message.

Related reading:

Study: How People Are Engaging Journalists on Facebook & Best Practices

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

Image courtesy of Flickr user stoneysteiner

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Blog Notes: Green Edition

Posted on August 5, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Working as the blogger relations manager for PR Newswire, I come across my fair share of great blogs that cover a wide variety of subject matters and interests.   And as you might expect, some blogs are better than others. With that in mind and in an effort to highlight the better ones, I do my best to review one of these blogs every day. This week my focus is on green blogs. I try to do my best to be green. I bike to work. I try to remember to bring my own bag to the grocery store. But there’s always more that can be done. And as I’ve recently discovered there are a LOT of great blogs out there leading that charge. More times than not these blogs highlight how green living can pervade everything we do. Blog after blog shows us how we can easily change our impact on our world… for the best.  So with that in mind, let’s take out the recycling, unplug those not-in-use phone chargers and enjoy this brief roundup of some of the best green blogs I’ve seen lately.

The Mother Nature Network is for “everyday people who simply want to make our world better.” Nowadays, making our world better is everybody’s concern and responsibility. MNN helps readers navigate how best to take care of their part of the world, be it their house, their family, their health, their business, or even their planet. If I were to pitch this blog, I might look for an angle that promoted family households and business to be more green. Check out the full review here.

Tree hugger used to be an insult flung at hippies. But the folks over at, well, Treehugger have embraced that name as a badge of honor and as a brand. The site covers a wide array of topics that intersect with being green, because they think that being green should intersect in just about everything we do… and buy… and eat. If I were to pitch this blog, I might go for any and everything that has a green angle. Check out the full review here.

The folks at Grist have been preaching green since long before it was fashionable. They’ve been at since 1999, in fact. But this is by no means a stuffy or academic publication. Grist handles the very weighty issues of climate change and environmental impact with a light, often times funny tone. If I were to pitch this blog, I’d look for something that coincides with consumer issues. Check out the full review here.

ecofabulous blends sustainable living with fashionable living. It’s the type of blog that your yoga teacher might write for, or in my case, does. (Hi, Sara!)  As green as they are at ecofabulous, they won’t be pushing patchouli oil on their readers anytime soon. If I were to pitch this blog, I’d look for something along the lines of sustainable/socially responsible fashion. Stories pitching green home improvement might also work well, too. Check out the full review here.

The folks at Cleantech Blog have been writing about cleantech for so long they were able to get the easy-to-remember domain name, cleantechblog.com, before anybody else. The blog authors don’t pretend to be journalists, but rather experts in their field writing about what they see. And really who better to get information from than an expert? If I were to pitch this blog, I might try something with clean or alternative (or green) energy. Check out the full review here.

That’s all for now. In the meantime, if there’s a blog I should be reviewing, drop me a line or a note in the comments, and I’ll take a look. Until next time…

Author Tom Hynes is PR Newswire’s manager of blogger relations.

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Blog Notes: Food Edition

Posted on July 22, 2011 by | 4 Comments

Working as the blogger relations manager for PR Newswire, I come across my fair share of great blogs that cover a wide variety of subject matters and interests.   And as you might expect, some blogs are better than others. With that in mind and in an effort to highlight the better ones, I do my best to review one of these blogs every day. This week my focus is on food blogs. Truthfully, my focus is always a little bit tuned to food. In fact, after finishing this blog post, I’m heading straight to a picnic. After all, it’s the summer. Food should be on our minds, or, at the very least, our plates. So kick back, relax and enjoy this brief roundup of some of the best food blogs I’ve seen lately.

Five And Spice is all about fitting real food into real life.  This blog is about food, yes, but the author is also a heavy-weight academic, having gained a masters in nutrition and working on  a master’s in food policy.  (Something to keep in mind if ever pitching a story to her site. ) But again, it’s about the food. If you don’t believe me, check out this bacon, lettuce and cherry sandwich, (or a “BLC”). Check out the full review here.

“I’m Not A Foodie” is for the food lover who may or may not know how to cook, but certainly loves to eat. However, what’s really great about I’m Not A Foodie, what’s really the thing that sets it apart is the author’s possibly insane, definitely awesome attempt to eat an entire pig in the calendar year of 2011. If I were pitching this blog, I might keep it pork-related. Either that, or I’d just send him bacon.  Check out the full review here.

Local Kitchen reminds me that at one time all the food humans ate was local. And that moving back to that “trend” maybe isn’t the worst idea. The  site promotes the economic and environmental benefits of eating locally. But, as the author is quick to point out: Local food tastes better. If I were pitching this blog, I might avoid anything to do with fast and/or frozen food.  Check out the full review here.

The $120 Food Challenge is a great food blog, but maybe even a better story. Woman quits her day job with $120 (Australian) in her budget to feed her family for two weeks. Quite the challenge indeed. This site is a great reminder that we don’t have to break the bank in order to fill our plates. If I were pitching this blog, I’d start with stories on how to stretch dollars in the kitchen. Check out the full review here.

Kiss My Spatula is a blog about food. But it’s also a collection of amazing photographs. It’s also the story of one woman balancing her Vietnamese-upbringing with her new life in the Pacific Northwest. This might be one of my favorite, not just food, but anything blogs.  If I were to pitch, I might look for stories that sit at the intersection of food and travel. Check out the full review here.

That’s all for now. In the meantime, if there’s a blog I should be reviewing, drop me a line or a note in the comments, and I’ll take a look. Until next time…

Tom Hynes is PR Newswire’s manager of blogger relations.

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Five Tips For Tweeting Press Releases & Other Content

Posted on July 14, 2011 by | 7 Comments

Twitter’s role in spreading news and information is undeniable – more than any other social network, Twitter was built for the relay of information.  The audience Twitter has attracted revels in the consumption and sharing of news, and as a result, Twitter is enmeshed in the workflows of many journalists, bloggers …. and PR professionals. However, there’s more to using Twitter to spread the word than simply writing one tweet.  Tactics that can help expand the audience for your message include:

  •  Tweet all the angles of the content to maximize interest in your message. Press releases, white papers, blog posts and case studies often contain multiple angles.  Find and tweet them all.   Additionally, if the content includes infographics, photos or video, you can tweet those separate elements.
  • Spread multiple tweets out over time, to expose the content to the broadest possible audience.  Remember that for many, Twitter is a real-time news service.  Timing matters.
  • Use correct and effective hashtags to make your content easy to find.  Take the time to research and identify (and then use!) the hashtags used by others when discussing the topic you’re tweeting.
  • Structure the content to be Twitter-friendly.  Encourage others to tweet your messages by offering plenty of ‘tweetable tidbits’ like bullet points and well-edited headings.
  • Encourage re-tweets (RTs) by keeping tweets short.  Pithy tweets are catchy, and leave plenty of room to accommodate others re-tweeting the message.

Tweet all the angles

Instead of simply tweeting a headline, find multiple angles, and tweet those.  By doing so, you’ll broaden the appeal of the content you’re promoting, by exposing different storylines to your audience.  An influential blogger might ignore one tweet, but find another that surfaces a different aspect to the story interesting.

  • Tweet the facts/findings/tips your content offers separately.
  • Turn quotes into @mentions. If the content contains quotes from people who are already on Twitter, paraphrase those quotes in a tweet, and include the quoted person’s Twitter handle. (E.g. “Don’t tweet headlines, tweet angles says @sarahskerik {link to story})
  • If you post related video to YouTube, or have an accompanying infographic, you can tweet those elements separately.

 

Spread your tweets out

While I’m not a fan of automating tweets, scheduling them does have its place.  Often, when I’m promoting a white paper or other content on Twitter, I’ll spend some time writing a series of tweets about the content (using my own “tweet all angles” tip,) and I’ll schedule them across a day or two.   Dumping all of the tweets into the stream at once would achieve little – the same people would see my series of tweets.  Spreading them out over time means I expose my messages to more people as they dip into and out of their Twitter streams.   Search engines also surface tweets, and they look for timeliness of the content.  Spreading tweets out – especially if they are all pointing to the same URL – can help give you a little lift in search results, too.

Use correct and effective hashtags

Hashtags make the sea of information on Twitter navigable – they are how information is organized on Twitter.  Using appropriate and relevant hashtags gives your audience one more means by which they can find your message. You can identify potential hashtags by searching Twitter for your topic, and then scanning tweets to see what hashtags are used.  It’s always wise vet specific hashtags by searching them to ensure your messages will be seen in the type of company you want to keep.

Structure the content to be Twitter friendly

I’ve offered advice on this topic previously, but it is worth repeating.  You can encourage others to tweet your content by making it easy and appealing to do so.  Tight headlines, a well-edited list of bullet points and interesting, pithy quotations will make your content easy (and interesting) for others to tweet.

Related reading: Writing a Tweetable Press Release

Suggested tweets:

I’m of two minds regarding suggesting language for others to tweet.   On the one hand, providing a little direction can help spread the exact message your organization wants to convey.  On the other hand, avid Twitterers like writing their own messages.  My conclusion:  Go ahead and offer language for suggested tweets.  Those who want to re-write the message will, while others may appreciate having the tweet written for them.

At the minimum, always provide relevant hashtags and a short URL for others to reference in their tweets.  And make sure the tweets you suggest are short and well-written!

There’s a decided art to writing a Tweet, however, requiring a fine balance between sparkling creativity, ruthless editing and a feel for the audience’s interest.   What other tips would you add to this list?

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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Blogs I’ve Been Reading: Tech Edition

Posted on July 8, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Working as the blogger relations manager for PR Newswire, I come across my fair share of great blogs that cover a wide variety of subject matters and interests.   And as you might expect, some blogs are better than others. With that in mind and in an effort to highlight the better ones, I do my best to review one of these blogs every day. This week, I’d like to focus on technology and some of the great blogs that cover it. Here now is a brief roundup of some of the best tech “Blogs I’ve Been Reading.”

Geek.com is a place where geeks can feel at home. The site’s full of great resources, news, reviews and analysis. Just don’t ask these guys to fix your computer. They’ve got a blog to write. To read more, go to:  http://bit.ly/jrKTdq .

For all mobile news, you’ve got to be reading Boy Genius Report. BGR was once a column for a different blog. Now all grown up, the boy genius brings up to the minute breaking news, establishing the site as one of the best in the world. To read more, go to:  http://bit.ly/myMhFY.

AllThingsD is where all things internet, media and technology intersect. Originally founded as a conference, see how they’ve branded themselves into one of the most trusted blogs in the industry. See how they balance old-school newsroom professionalism with the energy and eagerness of a start-up. To read more, go to:  http://bit.ly/k3UUJ0.

In their own words, The Gadget Gurus are “highly entertaining, slightly informative.” In my opinion they talk like teenagers. But most teenagers know more about tech than I do, so I guess that’s a good thing.  Read and listen how these guys blend a lighter tone with a serious love of technology. To read more, go to:  http://bit.ly/kAWaVb.

GigaOM’s founder Om Malik quit his proverbial (and literal) day job to pursue his dream of writing about tech. In a short amount of time, he transformed his passion into one of the top 50 blogs in the world.  If you’ve got any interest in mobile, cloud, cleantech and a million other things tech, you should probably be reading this blog. To read more, go to:  http://bit.ly/mTplvb.

That’s all for now. In the meantime, if there’s a blog I should be reviewing, drop me a line or a note in the comments, and I’ll take a look. Until next time…

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Integrating Social Media into the Daily Practice of PR

Posted on July 7, 2011 by | 11 Comments

When you ask PR pros about social media, you’re bound to get a broad range of responses.  Some have embraced the social layer, and have incorporated social media fully into their daily workflows.  Others are curious, aware of the opportunities and developing their own plans. And a healthy number of skeptics remain, questioning the value of social word-of-mouth versus journalism, and the credentials of the new crop of social media consultants one meets at every turn.  Gloria Gasaatura, a corporate communications consultant at Bluefront Capital, sums the situation up well, saying, ” Conversation is moving from word of mouth to online, and it’s an IR or PR’s duty to follow and go where the market is – online.”

For this next post in the “Integrating Social Media & PR” series, I wanted to learn more about how PR people were using social media in their daily practices, and the challenges they encountered and the results they generated from doing so.

It’s part of the workflow

Tyler Williams, the author and executive editor behind the Haute and the City blog, is a luxury publicist who lives and works in Manhattan.  For him, social media is “a daily occurrence.”  Social media content is mapped each month as part of the overall media plan for his clients, and he monitors key networks around the clock.

Tyler emphasized the importance of the opportunities springing up in real-time as he explained his commitment to ongoing, real-time monitoring of the social layer.

“If you join in on a conversation early enough you’re considered a leader,” he noted as he described his 24-7 approach to monitoring social networks, to keep tabs on his clients and to find conversations to join.  And he wasn’t kidding – during our conversation, his Blackberry pinged several time, alerting him to @mentions of one of his clients on Twitter.

Andrea Samacicia, founder and president of Victory Public Relations, a New York PR firm focusing on consumer-based health and beauty businesses, has also built social media into her firm’s daily workflows, and her clients’ campaigns.

The first tasks each morning are no surprise – the Victory PR team scans the media, checks their Google alerts and updated everyone’s Facebook page.   The team stays on top of their clients’ Facebook accounts throughout the day, responding to all comments and interactions on the pages.

The team also spends quite a bit of time curating content, looking for news and information and bookmarking the content for future sharing on Facebook. They also encourage their clients to stay in touch.   If anything funny or interesting happens, the clients know to let the Victory team know.  They’ll post pictures of flowers sent to the office by clients, recount funny happenings, and wish staffers happy birthday on Facebook.  “The front office staff don’t understand PR,” says Andrea. “But Facebook they get.”

Media relations(hips)

Social media now plays an undeniable role in media relations.  Services like ProfNet fire out queries from reporters on deadline seeking quotable experts.   Savvy journalists and bloggers use Twitter like their own personal newswire service and trawl Facebook for stories and trends.   Any way you look at it, the social layer represents one more way to get a journalist’s attention.

Social channels also play an important role in connecting people and developing relationships.

Andrea noted that in her former life, several years ago when she was employed by another PR firm, she communicated with editors all day long, but didn’t really start building real relationships with them until she started using social media. “I’m much closer to the people I interact with now,” she says.  “I have much closer relationships with the editors, producers and journalists I’m linked to on Facebook and Twitter.   It makes keeping in touch much simpler.  You can “like” something they’ve done on Facebook and they get a little reminder about you.”

Tyler has also used social media to build key media relationships, recounting an instance last year when he needed a celebrity reporter’s contact info but couldn’t find anything.  He located her on Twitter, where she was active, and tweeted to her about an event. “She responded in three minutes,” he told me. “And she came and covered the event, and now we’re friends!”

New objectives and outcomes

The integration of social media into PR brings new tactics – also new expectations and new outcomes.  Victory PR handles group buying deals on sites like Living Social for their clients, which generate new business for their clinets. .

“As a result of some of these deals they, patients inquire about other services,” Andrea notes as she describes how group buying deals have worked for one of her clients, a periodontist. “Typically – a patient comes in for a cleaning.  They wait, get cleaned, pay and leave. But now that we’re connect with patients on Facebook, we’ll see long term customers say ‘I saw some things on living social, and I didn’t realize that you did XY and Z, can you let me know when the next deal is?’  It helps break peoples’ routines and allows us to encourage people to move out of their routine without imposing on their time.”

Eric Bryant of Gnosis Arts, a New Jersey-based internet marketing and PR firm that caters to microbusinesses noted the shift in customer expectations.

“PR outcomes have shifted.  Marketing and PR are not as distinct as they once were – social media spillover has blurred the lines. The internet brought the worlds of marketing, PR and sales close together – uncomfortably so for some,” he notes. “The outcomes are different – lead-gen and prospecting. Social media has changed the outcomes people expect – and people expect more.”

“People are expecting ROI from PR,” Eric continued.  “As a result of the power of the internet for marketing.  Now that people can measure things they want specific measurement and ROI.  But social media gives people the false idea that social media is free or no upfront costs. It’s forced PR people to demonstrate ROI in some way, shape or form.”

Common themes:  content, monitoring and priority

The new opportunities social channels afford, and the changing expectations of customers, put some distinct pressures on PR.

Social media monitoring:  Across the board, everyone I spoke to mentioned social media monitoring repeatedly.   Keeping their thumbs on their clients’ digital pulses was clearly the most important and pervasive tactic used by the connected communicators with whom I spoke.

Priorities:  The ongoing activities in social networks can present opportunities at the drop of a hat.  Making time for real-time PR requires a shift in priorities and resource allocation.  It’s probably a good time to take stock of PR workflows and activities, and to end activities that are no longer productive.

Content: Most of the discussions I had invariably wound up focusing on the importance of content.  Developing interesting content your audience will care enough about to read and share is absolutely job one in a social media strategy – and most PR pros are well acquainted with the role good content plays in any communications plan. However, social networks up the ante, requiring a steady diet of compelling graphics, catchy videos and meaty text.   (For those days your stuck, here are some good ideas:  21 Ways to Develop Compelling Content When You Don’t Have A Clue)

There’s no question social media increases the scope of the public relations role, touching customer service, prospecting, content marketing and lead-generation.   It’s safe to say (at least I believe) that PR and the other communications disciplines are morphing into something new.  Social media isn’t just a tactic.  It’s a new universe for communicating with our publics – which is at the heart of public relations.

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

Image courtesy of Flickr user nan palermo.

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Chaos at Google Shouldn’t Up-end Social PR and Content Strategies

Posted on July 5, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Source: Mashable

As many Americans were tending the grill, lolling in the shade and watching fireworks yesterday, the corner of the blogosphere devoted to search engines was on fire.   Google’s agreement with Twitter to display Tweets in near real-time in search results expired over the holiday weekend.

Tweets haven’t disappeared from search results entirely.  The public areas of Twitter are still accessible to Google’s spiders, and tweets are still showing up in search results.  However, Google is no longer taking a dedicated feed of tweet data from Twitter which included information about your social graph, enabling Google to display tweets from your social circle within your search results.

Google has effectively shut down real-time search, however, the company promises that it will return, but gives no set time frame.   In the meantime, tiny search engine Topsy is the only place one can search for tweets long-past.  However, other search engines, including Bing, will continue to intake feeds from Twitter, and incorporate social data and tweets in their search results.

Search engines are capricious, and it’s easy to forget the underlying fact that they are businesses and their motives do not include positioning your brand advantageously.   Rapid shifts in search algorithms can play havoc for those who attempt to game search results.

So what does all this mean for your PR and content strategies?  Nothing, I would argue.  Between the flurry of changes to their algorithm and the limited launch of Google+, Google has put its money on social content and personalized results.  Other search engines have done the same.  And, search engine benefits aside, social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn play important roles in the consumption (and sharing, and dissemination) of news and information.  Abandoning social networks because of the chaos at Google is a bad idea.

Many PR pros now consider search engine visibility for their messages and brands an important key performance indicator (KPI) and something they measure closely. Tactics that are still useful for building online visibility include:

  • Target your tweets. Find the different stories within your press releases, for example, and tweet them separately.  Don’t just tweet “XYZ Co. Announces Something Important….”  Look within the press release for facts, stats and bullet points that can stand alone as tweets, with links back to message. Don’t forget to identify and then use relevant hashtags.  (Tips on writing a tweetable press release)
  • Atomize the content.  Are you publicizing a white paper, or a new product?  Derive as much content as you can from your central asset.  Build a slide deck that offers key points and post it to SlideShare.  Create an infographic, and share that on Twitter and Facebook. Video a short chat with one of the key players and upload that to sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, and embed it in your blog.  Atomizing the content puts interesting pieces of information in various networks, where people can find- and share – your message.  Many of these networks are search engine friendly and can provide one more way for your content to be indexed by the engines and displayed in their results.  (More on atomizing content)
  • Take the time to optimize the press release.  Using the correct keywords and structuring the press release (or any other content you plan to deploy digitally for that matter) with search engines in mind will more clearly inform engines about your message and can help improve how it is indexed, and ultimately displayed. (Learn more about optimizing press releases and other content)

Simply put, brands that take the time, energy and effort to build authentic presences in social networks to which their audiences gravitate will be rewarded. Loyalty, mindshare, and visibility via the viral nature of social sharing are key benefits organizations can derive from building a truly connected brand.

Related reading:

PaidContent: See You Later, Realtime: Google Ends Twitter Search Deal, For Now

Mashable: Google Loses Access to Twitter Stream, Suspends Realtime Search

SearchEngineLand: As Deal With Twitter Expires, Google Realtime Search Goes Offline

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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