Category Archives: Public Relations

Public Relations: How It Works In A Social World

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This week, let’s take a moment to look at PR / Public Relations for a moment. PR has long been a primary way by which companies of all sizes influence public opinion, build brand awareness and familiarity, and create general goodwill toward a brand.

With the latest social media tools and networking capabilities, there has been a great deal of debate about how PR is changing. Some speculate that the discipline is due to become obsolete, others advocate a revamped approach, and still others merely see today’s PR environment as a small offshoot of how we have always done it.

Is PR on the brink of extinction?

Let’s start with the notion that public relations is rapidly working its way toward obsolescence. First, let’s set some parameters. One of the best definitions I’ve seen for the term appears on YourDictionary.com as follows:

Relations with the general public as through publicity; specif., those functions of a corporation, organization, etc. concerned with attempting to create favorable public opinion for itself.

If we look at PR holistically in this way, then social media or social networking is only another medium by which to reach out to constituents. It just allows us to reach more people individually, and in real-time.

Based on this definition, extinction is nowhere near the truth.

Is PR simply undergoing a small evolution?

It would be easy to brush aside the impact of social-based communications media as merely a knit in the grand scheme of public relations, but is that the right way to look at it?

One this is clear; the days of writing press releases and email spamming them out to massive lists of reporters and journalists are behind us. The funny part is that this is less a result of new social tools, and more of a motivating factor from journalists to take back control of their In-Boxes.

So the real question is how big of an evolution this represents. Because reporters and journalists themselves are looking for other ways to communicate and research information, calling it a small evolution is also a bit short-sighted.

It’s Time To Look at Public Relations Differently

Let’s just get the extremes out of the way altogether and accept the fact that PR is still PR, only it takes on a rather different look in the digital age. Here are areas where it has changed the most.

Outreach

Outreach is the area that is most affected by the digital age. The old way was to “dial for dollars” until you could get a journalist on the phone, and then hope you said something intriguing enough for them to care. Then spam out press releases when they go live and hope for a bite, and start dialing again to see if you can talk someone into picking it up. Heck, this sounds a lot like a business development job, only one that doesn’t pay nearly as well!

Today the whole thing changes. You can meet and build rapport with press and/or analysts immediately. With the right approach, you can maximize exposure while minimizing negative reactions, assuming you have tact, of course. All-in-all, your efforts to connect with those influencers who can help you the most take on an unprecedented amplification in this day and age.

Content Format

Hand-in-hand with new abilities to reach more influencers much more easily, you now have a much richer array of media by which to communicate your message.  Today, you can write a traditional press release, follow it up by a series of micro-releases via PitchEngine or another social PR site, add an audio podcast for those who don’t have time to read but might listen, and even do a complementary short video to help hammer the point home.

The most savvy of PR professionals are all over this. The whole concept of a viral video is exactly in line with this. We keep talking about how Old Spice did such an amazing social media campaign earlier in the summer, but is that what it really was? No! It was a well-constructed and targeted public relations campaign delivered via social media!

Direct Reach to End Customers

This is the area that can be the most powerful, but also the most scary to many of us. This presents a great opportunity, and a new challenge.

First, by reaching end customers directly, we remove the media filter that content might go through when written up for a traditional or online media outlet. You control the message, its delivery, and how you respond to feedback and comments in response. Sure, you have to find creative ways to get in front of those customers, but it’s a revelation that you don’t have to depend on someone else’s opinion of what is important anymore. We should all be rejoicing in the streets at this opportunity!

On the other hand, with opportunity comes increased risk of tripping over your own two feet. What you say, how you say it, and how you react to criticism and/or kudos goes a long way in establishing who you and your company are. If you’re even dabbling in social media, you probably realize that the conversation is happening with or without you, so you know you need to jump in to help influence the sentiment about your business. This is where transparency, honesty, and trust become paramount. At the first sign of shady dealings, the general public will rapidly and happily kick you in the shin.

Conclusion

Don’t listen to anyone who claims PR is obsolete or the “same old same old” in this amazing digital age we are enjoying. This is a rather significant shift, yet one that can provide more value back than ever before. Just be careful how you manage it, be up front and honest, and be sure what you have to say is relevant and interesting. From there, let the public influence each other, and be consistent enough to show that you truly are who you say you are.

What is your experience with PR and social media? Have you been using it in these ways, or are you still trying to figure out how to play in this new environment? Any tips to share that I missed? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Google: Can You Really Trust Them Or Not?

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Google Logo

Surely you have seen the news by now that Google allows certain employees to manually adjust index rankings under special circumstances. Needless to say, the implications are rather widespread.

According to what I’ve read, employees sometimes have to make a judgment call about whether to lower a site’s ranking for a particular keyword or set of keywords.  The main scenario where this is deemed “okay” by Google is when companies vertically integrate to a content-heavy model, using existing “SEO Juice” to enjoy visibility that is not yet deserved. That certainly seems like a good thing, does it not? Particularly since big brands can leverage existing budgets, SEO benefits, etc. much more easily than the smaller outfits or self-employed. In a sense, it can serve to provide a little bit of level to the playing field, whether inconsequential or not.

The issue that this raises is much more concerning, though. If employees can manually adjust rankings based on that situation, what else might be going on “behind the curtain?”

Let’s look at a few spins on this scenario where this is particularly concerning:

  1. The employee has a significant portion of his/her nestegg invested in the company in question
  2. The employee has relatives or friends employed by or invested heavily in the company
  3. The company in question is one of the top advertisers on Google AdWords (i.e. they contribute a rather noticeable amount of revenue to the company’s coffers)

Obviously, you have to presume that Google takes every precaution possible to employ honest, trustworthy individuals.  But even the most stringent interviewing, background checks, and even IQ/Compatibility testing can be fooled or just plain incorrect. In other words, in a company of this magnitude, you can’t hit the bullseye every single time you make a hire.

When you insert human judgment into the equation, everything changes. This mystical and ever-changing Google “Formula” is no longer strictly driven by rules and standards. The whole model comes under question. And, much to Google’s chagrin, they may no longer be able to keep their”secret sauce” so close to the vest, lest the company open itself up to an onslaught of potential legal challenges.

As perplexed as I am about the news, I’m also intrigued to see where this takes us. Will the “new Microsoft” finally take its first big legal smack to the face? Will this blow over without much ado? I don’t know about you, but I want to be sure that they are actually doing everything they say they are. One lie suggests there may be more, so best of luck to the Google PR department on getting some rest over the coming days and weeks.

What do you think? Am I overthinking this, or do you also have issues now with their credibility? Can you afford to bail on AdWords completely, or is it too important to your ongoing operations to bail?

Social Media: 3 Situations Where It Is NOT Right For Your Business

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Judging by the pageview stats and general response, it is pretty clear that my last post, Social Media is NOT a Strategy, really caught your attention. Since I’m on a roll with the whole “not” thing, let’s come at it from another angle.

Like I said last week, I am a huge proponent of using social media for specific business purposes, particularly when you can measure it.  This is in addition to my “doesn’t have to be said” stance that everyone with an online identity should be using it for personal reasons. But just because it’s a no-brainer for personal use and is a great new tool for business, that doesn’t say it is right for YOUR business.

When is Social Media Not Right for Your Business?

Keep in mind what I said last week about getting your objectives figured out prior to attacking social media without any direction. That’s always the first critical step. However, even if your objectives might suggest that social media could provide value for you, that might not always be the case. Here are 3 situations where you might want to try other avenues first.

Your Target Audience Is Not Online

This is one area where my previous post should ring most relevant to you. Obviously, you want to make sure your customers and prospects can actually be found through whatever mediums you select upon which to execute any of your most critical strategies. For example, Facebook stats show that there are precious few elderly folks with profiles. The same holds true across most platforms.

I had someone approach me a while back about whether they needed to be on Facebook. Guess what they were selling…hearing aids! ["Um, lemme think for a sec, NO!"] In fact, the oldest demographic of our population is least likely to be computer literate at all, let alone actually savvy enough to move beyond games and email to social media. It’s not hard to find them…just rely on the established mass media and direct marketing techniques that they grew up knowing and understanding.

You Have Not Gotten The Basics In Order First

Not to harp on the topic, but the OST (Objectives, Strategies, Tactics) approach can help prioritize what the most important business objectives are. Then you designate the strategies and align against it. The next step, which should most certainly be undertaken prior to experimentation with new technologies and tools, is to get the actual PR, marketing, networking, etc. activities figured out using the tools that you already know and understand.

Granted, some of these don’t work like they once did, but I’m a staunch believer that you need to understand the past to move on into the future. Make sure you establish operating procedures, processes, and other business critical variables first. Then and only then should you start to throw darts at a wall to see what sticks.

Your Team Cannot Commit To It

Regardless what anyone says, social media is in no way free. Sure, you can throw together a profile on the various social media properties at no cost. You can start posting content to a blog or Twitter daily, hourly, whatever you deem appropriate. Is that free? What is your time worth? Who will do it for you?

If you or your team has to spend time on something, it is crucial to consider the opportunity cost associated with that activity. What would you or your marketing team be doing with that time otherwise? Will social media get the level of attention and effort it deserves? I hope so. The worst thing you can do is jump in with a head of steam and then drop it mid-stream, as soon as other priorities start to interfere. Just look at the trail of dead blogs out there and you’ll see what I mean.

If you intend to do it, you simply cannot cut corners. There is a real time and effort “fee” associated with social media. Do the calculation of your expected manhours, the cost for that time investment, and what you are leaving by the wayside to do so. Then decide if that number is large enough to hire someone full-time or as an outside consultant to execute on your behalf. If you aren’t willing to invest in it at some level, you’re better off sticking to your established methods of doing business.

Conclusion

Social media is a major shift in the way we can interact and market ourselves. It finally uses the internet as intended…in a fully interactive and organic fashion. But you simply cannot get so excited about it that you jump in without considering if it is actually relevant to your business. Surely there are other situations where you are better off delaying or ignoring social media as a communication medium, but here are three biggie’s that I see overlooked frequently.

Have you seen any other situations I’m missing? Did you experiment with social media and find that it is not a fit? How did that impact your business? I’d love to hear some real-world accounts of this, so please share your thoughts.

Read more posts from Return On Now about Social Media.

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BS Bingo No More: Myself

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Earlier this week I was talking to some colleagues of mine about “corporate speak”. You know what I’m talking about…all of those made up words (a.k.a. generic jargon, buzzwords, etc.) that aspiring young professionals in big companies use to try to sound smarter. Surely you’ve seen resumes, proposals, or other business documents that were littered with nonsensical words, most of them of many syllables and tenuous definition.

Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a diatribe about using big words and good grammar. This is about playing a little game we used to call “Bullshit Bingo”. If you’re not familiar with the game (and surely many of you are), it was an old joke where you could put a list of these made up words on a Bingo playing card and cross off each of them as some pompous “know-it-all-wanna-be” started littering their “thoughtful” comments with them during a meeting or presentation. I know the game helped me make it through many an aimless meeting in my previous corporate life.

Here’s a little video I found on SPIKE.com that elaborates on the idea behind this whole concept.

Funny you say? Yes, but unfortunately, this video only exists because this actually happens in real companies today.

Well, I’m taking it upon myself to call Bullshit on Bullshit Bingo.

I want to start by calling out a grammatical error which is so common that it has been included on some BS Bingo boards (at least I know it makes it onto mine, because it’s a near certainty that someone in the room will do it). It’s not a made-up word, but it has been so bastardized that this has become one of my biggest personal pet peeves. I’ve even seen it used incorrectly on blogs and social media, which is less offensive than in a face-to-face business meeting, but still a huge issue if you  are using those media for personal branding or conducting business.

BS Bingo No More: Learn how to use the word “myself” properly!

The biggest offense I’ve seen here is the use of myself as the subject of a sentence, as in “Bill, Tom, Jane, and myself will be organizing the event.” [ACK! Even writing that is like nails on a chalkboard for me.]

How should the word actually be used by literate adults? It’s reflective people!

What does that mean? Unless you’ve already used the word “I” in a sentence, the only other potentially acceptable way to use it is as the subject of a preposition. And never, ever, ever use it as a direct replacement for the word “me”, even in a preposition. Confused? Perhaps some examples will help.

Correct Uses:
  • I myself will be giving the presentation.
  • I really created a bad situation for myself.
  • I somehow injured myself.

See what I mean? That could have been pulled straight from classic literature. Or a really well written journal.

Let’s look at some misuses in more detail now.
  • The team in attendance will include myself, Marie, and Barb.
  • For this project, all requests should be sent to myself.
  • To drive this project, myself will need a bigger budget.
Use "Myself" Properly Now You Will
Use “Myself” Properly Now You Will

That last one kind’a bothered you didn’t it? I had to include it. You see, the most frequent misuses of this word in my experience are in badly structured passive tense sentences (which should never be used in business writing; save it for the freeform poetry) and in serial lists. You can find passive tense by using your “Yoda” voice to test it…if it sounds like Yoda, it’s probably passive tense. Serial lists are like “myself, Marie, and Barb” above, where you list out multiple people. I guess it’s easier to get lazy with grammar when the sentence is already convoluted or you can bury it in a list of names.

Either way, myself is reflective. It’s a simple word and a simple concept. And it doesn’t make you sound smarter to misuse it. It has the opposite effect, at least on those of us who know better. Now we all do!

Now go out and help spread the word. If you hear someone use Myself wrong, call them out. They may not thank you for it, but they’ll owe you one for helping them appear less ignorant to the rest of us.

Now enough ranting; I’m going enjoy some SXSW fun!

Public Relations: 7 Steps to Selecting a PR Vendor

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Public Relations (PR) is one of the best ways to get some quick and potentially extensive exposure. But PR is much more than just crafting press releases and paying to post them to the business wire. Unless you are a larger company that can afford to keep dedicated PR resources in-house, you can do it yourself or bring in a PR vendor to manage it for you.

The cheapest way to get started is to do it yourself, assuming you have enough experience to craft a well-structured press release in the first place. [If you don't know how, you can typically fake it by doing a little research on how to piece one together, but it's not as easy as it may appear.] This approach is affordable, but you will be making a tradeoff in potential reach vs. bringing in a vendor or agency with established media relationships. At some point, you will need to bite the bullet and hire a partner or employee to manage the process for you.

Even if you have your sights set on hiring a full time PR representative, I still recommend you start out by managing an experienced partner for at least a few months or through a one-off project. Not only will this give you extremely valuable experience in the whole process, but it can extend the effectiveness of your first campaign(s) exponentially…assuming you select the right vendor.

I present to you the following seven steps to select the right vendor. If you follow these steps to the letter, your odds of getting it right will increase significantly.

  1. Scope the project - I can’t stress strongly enough how important it is to do a deep dive into what you are trying to accomplish, why you need to do it, and how you intend to get there, before you start talking to any potential PR partners. Know what you want from the start, and know how much strategic input you are expecting from your vendor of choice. Most of the time, PR is needed to bring attention to an event, a product launch, or some other significant development. These events should be promoted with a full integrated marketing assortment, and PR needs to fit a specific role within that assortment. Once you are comfortable with the whole plan, then you can turn your attention to the details of the PR part.
  2. Document the PR components needed - Specify the activities and documents you will be expecting from your chosen vendor. Writing press releases only? Distributing releases to the wire? Media outreach? Article placement? Editing contributed content? Managing syndication? Blog outreach? As you can tell, there are many things they can do to get the word out for you. Be very clear what your expectations are.
  3. Spell out submission requirements – Once you know exactly what you need from your partner-to-be, outline it in detail. I recommend formalizing it into a Request-for-Quote (RFQ). There are dozens of RFQ formats you can find online or through colleagues, and in my experience, PR outfits take it more seriously when done this way. Typical components of an RFQ include company and product overview, project scope, expected deliverables, submission guidelines (how/where to submit, by when, and in what format), whether references are expected or not, what work samples to submit, and key media they can leverage for your benefit. Be absolutely sure they you require well-established contacts in the publications and online services where you want coverage. Of all requirements, this is the most important.
  4. Identify potential partners – This is where you can waste a lot of time searching, so it is crucial that you start out with a vision of the type of partner who’d be a fit for you. I recommend avoiding individual PR consultants or other one-person outfits. Just like with any outsourcing partner, it’s best to have more than one contact at the company to cover for vacations or time out sick. Sometimes individual outfits will have a backup plan, perhaps a partnership with another PR consultant, to cover for these incidents. When you are just starting out, you also want to avoid very large agencies, where it takes $5K / month to really start seeing value add once you factor in the overhead of client management fees. Be sure to take advantage of your network for referrals, because a recommended vendor is much more likely to work out than someone random who you find in the telephone book or online.
  5. Engage in dialogue – Once you identify candidates, send them your RFQ document. I always include a blurb about when/how we can have a dialogue to clarify areas of confusion, answer questions, and start building some rapport. This can get a little tricky, because some vendors won’t take advantage of the opportunity, others will need one call only, and still others will want to ping you daily. This process is important because it helps you see how they operate. If they’re high maintenance, you can expect the same behavior once they’re on the clock. If they seem to pop in and out randomly, you may have problems getting in contact when you need them. This is a trial run in working together, so pay attention.
  6. Evaluate responses – If you did a good job of specifying submission requirements and timing, you should have all of your responses in hand by the deadline. I rarely let a vendor slide if they submit late, because again, it’s a negative indicator of their ability to meet deadlines. Review all of the documents, looking at cost quoted, timeline proposed, and completeness of response. Have a decision matrix in mind where you can score them in an objective manner – perhaps scoring them in each important area on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being a perfect fit and 1 being a mismatch. Include a category for their work style as mentioned in step five.
  7. Select partner – This part of the process may differ for each and every one of you. The key here is to simplify rapidly. Look at the scores from step six and eliminate anyone whose score is far below everyone else. Look at what you are getting and when, and compare against cost proposed. Don’t be so shortsighted as to just pick the cheapest option without considering what they are doing for the money and what your network can tell you about them. Get it to the top two or three options, and look for more resources to help determine whether they are good at what they do or not. In the end, decide if your scoring approach is more important or your “gut”, and go with whatever you think will be best for your business.

Sealing the deal: Break the news to all involved
First, notify the party you selected directly via telephone if at all possible. You are engaging in a working relationship, so the least you can do is call to tell them. Do the same with all the “losers” in the process. They will want to know why they didn’t make the cut, and you should absolutely share that detail with them. After all, if someone wants advice on how to improve their business, why wouldn’t you want to help? Karma applies in business too.

There you have it…seven steps to getting a new PR partner identified, selected, and on board. This may seem like a little overkill with the RFQ, but it is not. Trust me, you want to avoid headaches if at all possible, and this is a way to get through the process most efficiently.

What other steps have you employed that seemed to work? Are you using a partner or managing PR internally? Let’s discuss it if you have experienced something different. I’d love to hear about it.