Posted by Jennifer on July 27, 2009
Mashable recently covered Muck Rack, a company that charges by the word to tweet releases to journalists on Twitter. The story and concept elicited plenty of negative responses from PR and journalists alike - from indignation to charges of ripping off another business entirely.
From a PR perspective the responses missed the point entirely. Twitter is all headlines and any good tweeter will tell you, 140 characters doesn’t leave much room for verbosity on the brilliance of a new hire. Write a good headline and they will come. Even better, write a brilliant headline and they will share.
Does your release pass the Twitter test? Is your news interesting, clear, compelling in 140 characters? If not, perhaps you don’t know what your point is or, better do you need that release at all?
If you need inspiration just grab a few copies of the NY Post or Variety.
Your job is to make the reader WANT to know your news.
Posted by Jennifer on July 20, 2009
PR ladies and Marketing gentlemen let’s get ready to RUMBLE!!! Without being sexist (because we all know many men in PR and whip smart women in mktg), I think it’s an accurate statement to say that PR and marketing have squared off over who owns social media.
Both sides recognize that social media is a tool, a powerful tool in their strategy arsenal and they want to take control over its use and implementation. I say it’s a tool each can and should use in collaboration. The role of PR and marketing hasn’t changed even if the lines have blurred, so why would social media suddenly upend these two distinct purposes. Public relations and marketing need to work even more closely to make their social media strategies work in conjunction and amplify the power of social media. If PR is paying attention to their efforts in terms of the traffic they deliver to a site, marketing needs to communicate even more clearly their strategies. Are you working together or did the bell just ding for Round 1?
Posted by Jennifer on June 17, 2009
No, I’m not picking on ET but I am warning all TV magazine giants and all the big players in general that they better bring their digital A-game or the upstarts will get all the juicy interviews. And by upstart I mean sites like TubeFilter who create great content for their audience on the web AND can drive traffic. Let me repeat – sites with a well defined audience who also effectively drive traffic and awareness ie. help marketing & PR do their job.
Yes, I realize this isn’t happening tomorrow but it’s coming soon. Results! It’s the new mantra. Ad budgets are shrinking, departments are streamlining and people are multitasking. Social media has not only enabled direct to consumer interaction, it’s made everyone accountable to deliver the goods. And no, securing a list of critic reviews is not delivering the goods because I’ll bet $1000 that the demo reading that paper isn’t going to watch or care about your show or project. I’m talking about strategic execution of a campaign to deliver traffic and results in a rapidly shrinking world of resources ie. money, man power.
Here’s the scenario. I was on set last week when PR brought some crews to interview cast and crew for a new web series. In the mix were the usual TV news magazines and one upstart website. It got me to thinking. The PR guy had to justify why this relatively small, unknown site was getting time with the cast but the reality was that this little site consistently delivered traffic to his projects through linkable stories, sharable video, etc. So my PR friend went to bat and got a slot for the little guy – who is actually a heavy hitter for the PR and marketing teams. When the rest of Hollywood gets over its love of “placement” in the trades, there’ll be a few more outlets fighting for first place on the red carpet.
Think about it PR friends. What do your efforts really deliver? Do you know how much traffic that each outlet can & does deliver to your project? Do you know if the outlet imbeds links, makes their story sharable so fans can put it on their Facebook page and reach additional potential fans? You should know because it’s your job.
TV Newsmagazines this is your wake up call that relying on eyeballs & share doesn’t count if the viewers don’t click. This is the unteathered generation. Who is your audience? Choosing stories based on Neilson ratings is over – you can reach wider audiences by thinking about tapping into smaller but fervent fan bases online. Cover shows and stories that aren’t “winning the night” but who have loyal audiences that could be turned into your loyal audience. Cover shows like Chuck or Breaking Bad. It may not make sense or be justified to air the segment on broadcast but post it online, use the fans to help syndicate that content. When online engagement is counted equal as broadcast reach you’ll be glad you invested the time. So implement smart syndication, consumer engagement and results for those who pitch you stories.
Posted by Jennifer on April 21, 2009
It used to be that a well placed exclusive set the tone for an announcement and ‘influenced’ lesser tier media to cover your company. The exclusive story would run on the set date and a release would be distributed to a wider list of media outlets. It is no longer a top down/trickle down media universe. You need to nuture your news, help it to bubble up. I believe the rule that you need to be exposed to something 9 times to commit it to memory applies in this current culture of media bombardment. The reader needs to see the news from a variety of trusted sources and platforms to pay attention. Better yet, they will join the conversation and help faciliate the dissemination of the news. I visualize this process as a candle lit at both ends.
But is there a role for an exclusive story placement anymore? I say yes. However, the exclusive doesn’t have the impact that it used to because of frenetic nature of communications. It is now your role to facilitate the spread of information. Submit the story to news aggregators, tweet about it, link to it from the company blog, monitor the coverage and conversationand join the discussion if necessary and most importantly measure the impact. PR should think of themselves as stewards of information.
Do you think exclusives are relevant anymore?
Posted by Jennifer on February 12, 2009
The bulk of my PR experience is in entertainment (tv, film, music) and technology. While the tech sector has raced ahead with social media releases and embraced cutting edge social media tools I still find my entertainment PR friends stuck in 1990s of PR. Clips, exclusives, covers…old media thinking. Of course I am generalizing here but I do find the mindset a bit old school. Here is my mantra to you - evolve or face extinction. The old way has passed away and now you are saddled with the burden of learning the new way and also educating the entertainment hierarchy on this ‘new way’. In other words - Dorothy you ain’t going back to Kansas. Every day I hear budgets slashed, departments ’streamlining’ and I know you are carrying an even greater workload but you must prevail or you will be extinct.
Here is what I recommend.
1. Stop thinking in terms of outlets - it’s not about placement or outlet ie. LA Times, NY Times anymore, it’s about volume and chatter. Much like consumers who search for shows rather than channels, consumer consumption of media isn’t relegated to top tier outlets to ‘bless’ your news. It’s about creating conversation and a lot of it.
2. Start working with marketing. Yep you two are gonna have to make peace and work together to stay relevant. Marketing needs PR to lay the ground work for new shows and new projects and PR needs the muscle of marketing to help build upon that awareness. Waltz on over to that no mans land and introduce yourself. It’s not that scary.
3. Think direct to consumer - You are now the QVC of product pitching. No more excuses for why Entertainment Weekly didn’t run your photo, you have a direct line to the masses and you need to use it. This also means building community and talking rather than relying on industry jargon. I’ll address this more in future posts.
4. Embrace social media - Yes you do have time to learn twitter, Digg, Yahoo Buzz, SEO. Learn them - they are your new tools for success.
5. Learn how to measure your success. Impressions, clickthroughs, reach - these are your new terms. Don’t plunk down a 3″ thick book of press clips and think your job is done. Your job has just started (see #1, 2, 3). Perhaps PR would get more respect if we regularly demonstrated that our efforts increased ratings share. (Yes, again I generalize, but right now it is the exception). That means we need to talk like marketers.
6. Use what you know. You already know how to get the word out and what makes a good story so use those hard won skills but incorporate new tools. I’ll talk more about conversing in the ecosystem but for now just say Yes I can.
7. Leverage your access. Despite what you may really think about the system - 98% of the public would trade positions with you in a heartbeat. To have a front row seat into the epicenter of entertainment is valuable and enviable. Figure out how to leverage that to accomplish the goals above. More on that in future posts as well.
My PR friends and readers, this is an exciting time. I liken it to 2000 when the possibility of what you could do with technology got a lot of early adaptor creatives really excited. (Let’s not discuss the dot com bust) This is your time to embrace the possibilities. Remember Evolution or Extinction.
Posted by Jennifer on December 10, 2008
Good manners never get noticed but bad manners can really ruin the moment. And bad manners are never more obvious than in the social universe where you think you are having a conversation but then you get hit with a sales pitch. Really ruins the mood if you know what I mean. Tells me that I should leave the money on the nightstand.
This brings me to my relationship with twitter. I’ve unfollowed numerous people via twitter who might have been valuable relationships for me because they didn’t respect the rules of the medium. Some tweeted every 3 seconds and some broadcast their ‘free’ consultation services once an hour.
If a friend hounded me hourly I’d be annoyed but when a twitter stranger abuses my relationship in the early stages, it’s glaringly obvious they think Twitter is an old school marketing platform. A much better strategy for my persistent friend would be to engage me working with the medium rather than against its nature. Talk to me, share with me, invite me to engage on your blog…and when I’m part of your influence sphere sell me your services. Since I know and respect you, I’ll recognize your value.
Posted by Jennifer on September 4, 2008
Chris Brogan over at chrisbrogan.com posted today about thinking outside of the bubble and Ad Week ran a survey that found that marketers are embracing social media but they are wary of investing because the ROI isn’t proven. When I read both those stories it got me to thinking that we tend to fall into two camps - build it and they will come and the more tempered wait and see if it proves a viable approach. This basically boils down to a discussion of vision and commitment. Great leaders have both – vision for the future and belief in the process and those pushing the process forward. I’m not saying the road isn’t messy or littered with failed visions but that road keeps going forward.
In your career, in your business pursuits and in your life are you going to wait to see how it turns out or are you going to look forward?
Jargon Free is my journey forward.
