Here’s How to Generate Publicity that Grows Exponentially

Last week I was once again reminded of the old PR maxim that publicity begets publicity. For one of my clients, a well-timed news release on a topic that coincided with a high-profile national issue transformed the initial release into a news generator that came in exponential waves. And the hits and interview requests just keep coming.

One of the things that can really jump-start publicity efforts is to have a national media outlet do an original story based on the release. That happened in this case, which expanded the publicity much further than would otherwise have been the case. And now, as word continues to spread among the news media and via social media, new opportunities to keep the story going continue to surface.

Sounds easy enough, but making this “magic” happen is much more difficult than it may appear to someone who’s never tried pitching a story idea or circulating a news release to reporters who are swamped with competing requests and breaking news items.

So, how do you know if your story idea will generate publicity or end up in a black hole that never sees the light of day?

One of the most important ways you can improve the odds of generating publicity is to understand the criteria news media use to determine the value of news.

Here are the ones I believe are most important:

Consequence to readers/viewers
Prominence of the individual/organization
Proximity to the area served (if a local or regional news outlet)
Conflict
Controversy
Timeliness
Human interest
Consumer trends
Novelty or unusualness of the story

In my experience, you need to have at least one of these criteria to be modestly successful with your publicity efforts, and in most cases at least two if you are to have any chance of the publicity going “viral.”

The more of these elements you can add to the mix, the higher your probability of getting good hits. Influencers can also greatly help with your publicity efforts as they pass along the story – and their thoughts about it – to others via social media and/or personal contacts with reporters.

Generating publicity isn’t rocket science, but you need the right mix of rocket fuel for a successful launch.

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A “Back-Door” Strategy for Getting Ongoing Publicity

There used to be a famous print ad featuring a skeptical-looking businessman saying something along the lines of, “I’ve never heard of you, your company or your product. Now what is it you want to sell me?”

If being known was considered an important part of the pre-sales process a couple decades ago – before the world was saturated with social media and a host of online venues to critique products and services – imagine how much more important awareness and a positive image are for a company today.

People make purchasing decisions every day based on a company’s reputation. While recommendations from friends and online reviews are important, news media coverage is near the top of the influencer scale because of its perceived credibility.

Even companies with well-established brands and a sophisticated social media presence use publicity to nurture their reputations and maintain awareness.

As I wrote in a previous post, assigning a financial value to publicity can be challenging, but there’s no question that consistent publicity pays off. Image-conscience companies understand its strategic worth, as well as how positive publicity can help them gain a competitive edge over competitors by positioning them as experts and creating top-of-mind awareness among important audiences.

The flip side is that publicity is often not easy to get – unless there’s a crisis, scandal or something new and innovation. However, there is a “back-door” way to get ongoing coverage, if you’re willing to be part of a broader, multi-source story rather than the single focus of one.

Becoming a reliable source for reporters covering your industry – a source that is knowledgeable, articulate, easy to work with and responsive to requests for comments and expert insight – will raise the profile of your ad agency or organization in a way that can’t be beat by any other medium.

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Consistent PR Is Vital to New Business Success

While public relations provides credibility that no other marketing tool can replicate, the lack of a consistent PR effort can cause top-of-mind awareness to diminish over time.

For advertising to be effective in building a brand, it needs to have a certain level of frequency to keep the brand in the forefront of customers’ and prospects’ minds. The same principle applies when utilizing publicity and other PR disciplines to help build a brand and attract new business.

A start-and-stop PR effort is a little bit like start-and-stop exercise – it’s better than none at all, but not nearly as effective as a consistent effort. Just as running an ad once every six months won’t provide enough ongoing exposure to be very effective, the same is true with having an occasional story in the news media or a blog with excellent content that’s infrequently updated. Effective adverting and PR both require frequency to reinforce messages in the minds of your target audiences.

A consistent PR program can help ad agencies and organizations not only get more exposure with important audiences, but also compliment new business efforts. Marketing strategies increasingly are geared toward making companies “discoverable,” and PR can play a key role in this process through publicity, content marketing, social media and special events.

Finding ways to keep your company, product or service consistently generating buzz through PR will help you drive sales, get discovered by prospects and strengthen relationships with existing customers.

14 Ways to Generate Great Content in 2014

It seems as though every week or so I run across an article, post or e-mail trumpeting the benefits of great content. But creating content that stands out from the pack isn’t easy to do, and sometimes even trying to define what constitutes excellent content can be a challenge.

For some time now Google has been the big dog on the Internet when it comes to deciding whose content is noteworthy. The right keywords are important to help your content get found, but increasingly Google is looking to social signals from consumers – in the form of shares and links, as well as traffic to the site – to identify stellar content.

So, what sort of content do people like so much that they want to share it? There probably are a number of opinions about that subject. Here’s mine.

First and foremost, great content is enjoyable to read. It’s well written, relevant, timely and to the point, without a lot of extraneous fluff and stuff. It’s not a disguised sales pitch, a headline that promises one thing but delivers another, or a recycled version of conventional wisdom that really doesn’t offer anything new.

Below are my suggestions for 14 ways to generate great content in 2014.

Of course, you won’t use all of these suggestions with each piece you write, but keeping them in mind will help you develop copy that is fresh, lively and on target for your audience:

Offer new insights
Provide new information
Be practical and relevant
Converse in an easy-to-understand manner
Offer guidance for solving a problem
Tackle a tough or controversial subject
Offer thoughtful analysis
Discuss a trend and its implications
Make a prediction
Take a counter viewpoint – or at least a different slant – to conventional wisdom on a particular topic
Offer tips and advice that are actionable
Answer questions
Tell a story
Make an emotional connect

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Seeking to Duck Controversy, A&E Becomes Duck Soup

As I wrote in a Tennessean op-ed column several years ago, whether you believe the Bible teaches that the practice of homosexuality is wrong or that condemning it is the greater offense, you have to admire the masterful public relations machine employed by the gay-rights community.

With great patience and PR skill, GBLT advocates have made incremental gains over the years by consistently advancing their cause as alternative lifestyles. As with any PR initiative that aims to change public opinion, they recognized early on the importance of winning over opinion leaders in Hollywood, the news media, government and education, and they proceeded to do so with great success.

In textbook style, gay-rights advocates have consistently positioned themselves as loving victims and repositioned those who disagree with them as hateful, ignorant bigots, similar to the way Scope so effectively cast Listerine as “medicine breath.”

Every once in a while, though, the T&T (Talk & Thought) Police go too far and there’s a backlash. Such was the case with last year’s Chick-fil-A controversy, which I wrote about from a PR perspective in a Baptist Press article.

Now another backlash is brewing, this one over remarks made by Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame. What did Robertson say that got folks so riled? He had the audacity to warn people not to be deceived about what the Bible calls sin, citing I Corinthians 6:9-10. Talk publicly about the Bible and sin, and feathers will fly every time.

Robertson, like many millions of Christians (including me), refuses to conform his religious convictions to accommodate those who seek to legitimize a lifestyle he believes the Bible teaches is wrong. Speak truth and presto, we have instant “hate speech.”

Referencing the controversy, CNN’s Piers Morgan tweeted, “Just as the 2nd Amendment shouldn’t protect assault rifle devotees, so the 1st Amendment shouldn’t protect vile bigots.”

Morgan apparently believes that free speech should apply only to those who agree with him, and that he should be among the ones judging what is appropriate to say. Anyone who disagrees is, well, a vile bigot. Robertson was a bit crude in some of his language, but he’s not vile or a bigot.

If you want to see real bigotry and hate, read some of the things that have been said and written about Sarah Palin.

Agree or disagree with him, at least Robertson has a standard – the Bible. What standard would Morgan use to determine right and wrong? His own wisdom and insight? God help us . . .

As a society, we moved from adherence to traditional Judeo-Christian values to an obsession with tolerance and political correctness. Now we’re seeing a rising movement away from tolerance to suppression of speech and ideas that are unpopular with a large segment of liberal influencers.

People of faith have rights, too, and many are fed up with the clear teachings of the Bible being labeled as hate speech by individuals who either refuse to engage in conversation or lack the capacity to substantively discuss such issues, preferring instead to simply shut down expressions of alternative points of view.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is already feeling the heat in what is being called the biggest backlash in years.

The biggest loser, though, will be A&E. The network’s knee-jerk response to suspend Robertson lit a fire under his fans and scores of others who believe in free speech.

A&E could have simply issued a statement saying that Robertson’s views are his own, and that they do not reflect the views of the network. That’s PR 101, and it would have put an end to this thing pretty quickly.

My friend and PR colleague Chris Turner has written a post on his blog about the controversy titled, “Three interview tips you can learn from Phil Robertson.” I intentionally waited to read it until I finished writing this post so that it didn’t influence my thinking. Chris makes some great points about working with places like GQ. I previously wrote a similar post about ways to counter media bias, including my advice to avoid media outlets you know aren’t going to give you a fair shake.

In Robertson’s case, though, I’m not so sure he didn’t know exactly what he was doing. Look at how much conversation there has been about sin, morality and the Bible the last few days – which as a Christian is conversation he welcomes.

Blogger and News Media Pitches Both Require This

One of the things I’ve learned from spending many years in media relations is that identifying your target publicity outlets is half the battle. The other half has to do with getting the right pitch to the right person at the right time. In other words, you need to customize your pitch.

The same is true when it comes to approaching bloggers for guest posts. Lindsay Bell, the self-described “boss lady” of a popular blog called Spin Sucks, does a nice job of describing a “killer pitch” and what made it that way in a post titled “The keys to nailing a cold pitch.” I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read it.

As I read it several days ago, I was reminded once again about the similarity of principles when presenting a story idea to a reporter and a guest post idea to a blogger.

Generic, one-size-fits-all pitches – whether they are made to news media or bloggers – usually have a low rate of success.

Just this morning I had two e-mails in my inbox about doing guest posts, only in this case they wanted me to post on their sites. Both e-mails were very brief and looked like they were mass produced; there was nothing customized about them at all.

The first e-mail contained an attachment with a list of more than 40 sites, along with each site’s domain authority and page rank. Handy information to have, but not a single site appeared to deal with PR issues. So, why would I be interested in doing a guest post on any of them? Oh, and the e-mail mentioned these were sites for sponsored/paid posting. Definitely not interested in that.

The second e-mail was from a blogger in another country who simply said he was in need of guest articles for his sites, and that I should get back to him if I’m interested. No listing of the URLs for his sites or even what topics they cover. The e-mail focused on his need, rather than explaining how doing a guest post on one of his sites could potentially benefit me.

Compare that with the “killer pitch” example Lindsey describes. Not only are they light years apart in content, but they’re also going to be light years apart in the results they generate.

Taking the time to research a target media outlet or blog, understand its focus and get a handle on its audience are all necessary steps if you don’t want to waste your – and the recipient’s – time.

There simply is no substitute for doing your homework and customizing a pitch if you want to increase your odds for success.

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Macy’s Takes Unfair Hit in PR Industry Publication

While allegations of news media bias have been around for a long time, it seems as though the problem keeps getting worse.

Sure, the way we see the world affects how we write about it, but there’s no excuse for distorting or outright misrepresenting facts because one has an axe to grind. When a journalist’s credibility is damaged by biased reporting, whatever he or she writes from that point on is inevitably suspect.

Yesterday I came across an article in Ragan’s PR Daily titled, “Macy’s blames customers for Thanksgiving opening” that struck me as particularly egregious. It’s a great example of a writer’s bias distorting the facts and running amok with his conclusions.

The story was about Macy’s decision to stay open Thanksgiving night. I’m sure the writer, Kevin Allen, is a good guy, and he certainly has an impressive journalistic background. According to his bio, he previously served as an editor and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, ESPNChicago.com, FoxSports.com and Ragan Communications.

I have nothing personally against Mr. Allen; I just think he ought to know better than to write such a distorted piece based on assumptions that may or may not be accurate.

I’m also wondering why PR Daily didn’t put “Opinion” or “Commentary” at the top, because it sure wasn’t what I would call an industry news article.

Let’s start with the headline – Macy’s is blaming its customers for something?!! That didn’t sound like very good corporate PR to me.

It was a good headline in the sense that it peaked my interest and got me to read the article (see my previous post about effective headline writing), but it didn’t reflect reality.

Macy’s wasn’t “blaming” it’s customers for anything.

So, in that sense, it was a poor, misleading headline because as I read the article it was apparent that Macy’s was simply accommodating its customers’ desires—in this case responding to their interest in shopping early—which is how successful companies operate.

As I noted in the comments section of this article, I’m not defending Macy’s decision. Personally I think that the real meaning and purpose of holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas have been diminished by the emphasis on materialism, which is largely driven by retail. That said, let’s stick to the facts, please.

Mr. Allen writes that Macy’s polled its employees, asking them if they were willing (not wanted) to work on Thanksgiving evening.

It would be a rare person who would want to work during that time, but some people may not be able to travel to spend the holiday with family, and rather than sit home alone would appreciate the extra income.

While acknowledging the poll results aren’t public – an admission that he really doesn’t know the results – Mr. Allen assumes he knows what they must be.

Based on that assumption, he concludes that “Macy’s management doesn’t particularly give a flying hoot what its employees prefer.” Again, no evidence of this, merely the writer’s feelings of what must be in the cold, dark hearts of the evil capitalists who love to exploit their workers.

Ironically, in a previous article by Mr. Allen on this topic, he cites a supposed Macy’s poll question which includes this statement to employees: “We will do our best to honor your preferences.”

If the “miserly and heartless” (his words) managers didn’t care, it seems to me they wouldn’t have bothered to ask their employees whether they would be willing to work Thanksgiving evening before making a decision one way or the other.

It’s certainly legitimate to criticize Macy’s decision (count me as one who doesn’t support it), but there’s no justification for spinning the story and misrepresenting the facts.

photo credit: Fan of Retail via photopin cc

Ad Agencies: Here’s a Tool to Make Sure Your Publicity Headlines Connect Emotionally

Make Sure Your Publicity Headlines Connect Emotionally

Writing headlines has always been a bit of an art form. Putting together copy for an article, blog post or news release can actually be easier than identifying a handful of pithy words that resonate well enough with readers to draw them into the copy itself.

Newspaper editors have an even more challenging job, because not only must the headline reflect the gist of the story, but it has to fit within certain space parameters. And, because the person who writes the headline is not the same person who authored the story, the headline writer has the daunting task of moving quickly from one article to another, seeking to find appropriate words that not only grab attention, but also making them fit.

I never really appreciated the talent it takes to write good headlines until I took an editing class in graduate school.

Part of the course involved doing the design and layout of a mock newspaper. Just when I thought I had the perfect headline for a story, it would end up being a tad long and I’d have to start over again. Of course in addition to having the right length, I had to make sure that the revised headline accurately reflected the article’s content.

When it comes to writing headlines for publicity, you don’t have to be concerned about them fitting in a particular space – that’s up to the newspaper or magazine editor.

The challenge for agencies is writing a headline that draws enough attention and interest to get the reader into the text itself.

I frequently use a headline as my subject line when e-mailing a news release, so it has to be compelling or the e-mail will get trashed without ever being opened.

Now, there’s a free tool that helps you gauge how well your proposed headline connects emotionally with readers. It’s called the Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer, and when you plug in your headline you’ll get a score ranking from 1 to 100. The higher the score, the better your headline.

The headline analyzer will also tell you which emotion – intellectual, empathetic or spiritual – is most impacted in a reader’s mind. The site’s Q&A section explains how this works. (Hint: It’s based on scholarly research.)

Check it out and see how long it takes you to write a headline that attains “most gifted copywriters,” status with an Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) score of 50%-75%.

(I landed a score of 38.46% with the headline for this post, putting it in the range of “most professional copywriters.” As I said, headline writing is not an easy art form to master.)

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How Public Relations Can Drive New Business

Earlier this month Nashville Business Journal ran a column I wrote in its “10 Minutes to Better Business” section about how public relations can drive new business. The article is part of the publication’s premium content, which means you have to be a subscriber or pay to read it all online, but NBJ granted me permission to reprint the entire column on my blog:

What can public relations give you that no other marketing tool can replicate? Credibility.

When your company or brand is the subject of a news story, people know the story has undergone the scrutiny of an objective third party’s fact filtering. Although you lack control over what’s reported, that’s precisely why news media coverage is so much more credible than an advertisement—audiences realize the message wasn’t purchased.

It’s no accident that some companies get more ink and air time for their brands than others. In fact, a small company’s adept use of PR can level the playing field with larger competitors if it has an intentional, ongoing effort to generate publicity and its leadership has made PR a priority.

Publicity tends to beget publicity, which in turn makes your company or brand more “discoverable” by journalists, influential bloggers and prospective customers. Social media can help you extend publicity’s reach even further.

The key to using PR effectively to drive leads is to have a strategy in place that compliments new business development initiatives with a clear focus, target and purpose. Without those elements, PR tactics tend to lack direction and consistency, or they simply fall off an organization’s radar as the tyranny of the urgent takes over.

If properly targeted, PR tactics will give your brand higher visibility, position you as an expert in a particular niche and get the attention of decision makers—all of which are invaluable in generating new business leads.

(Reprinted with permission of Nashville Business Journal. The original article ran in NBJ’s September 6, 2013, edition.)

Showing vs. Telling: How Content Marketing Sets You Apart

One of the hottest topics in marketing circles these days is content marketing—the creation and sharing of information so that it attracts and retains customers. Content marketing includes blogs, website, case studies, white papers, videos, infographics, etc., but regardless of the form it takes, the material is compelling, relevant and useful.

The emphasis is on using high quality, engaging content to market a brand, acquire customers and develop their trust rather than using aggressive sales and advertising tactics that can annoy or disrupt them.

As Robert Rose, chief strategist of the Content Marketing Institute, put it, “Traditional marketing and advertising is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world that you are one.”

Showing or telling – which are you doing? Probably some of both. The future, though, is clearly brighter for organizations that are moving away from telling and are consistently providing helpful information that showcases their expertise in a particular area.

One of the great things about content marketing is that companies and agencies of virtually any size can compete effectively – if they have something worthwhile to say.

According to The Inbound Writer Blog, “90% of consumers find custom content useful, and 78% believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them.” Another stat worth noting: “Interesting content is a top 3 reason people follow brands on social media.”

As more and more companies engage in content marketing – striving to show the world their brand’s rock-star status – the challenges to being heard above the noise are increasing as well.

It’s easy to talk about producing high-quality, engaging content, but it’s another thing to actually do so on a consistent basis.

Pinched for time or lacking creative writing skills, many places are hiring journalists to put their writing skills to work in crafting messages that engage customers and promote a brand through a variety of social media channels, without coming across as disguised advertisements. Ad agencies in particular can find it difficult to balance meeting client needs and regularly creating content that attracts new business.

It’s not surprising, then that 62% of companies outsource their content marketing (Inbound Writer, citing the news source Mashable). Expect that outsourcing percentage to grow, and traditional advertising to decline, in the coming years.

Finding a niche; having interesting, useful things to say about it; and providing regularly updated, substantive and entertaining content can gain your agency and its clients a loyal following. Creative PR writers and journalists are well positioned to provide valuable assistance to organizations that lack in-house capabilities for content marketing, helping them attract new customers and enhance the loyalty of existing ones.

If you’re just getting started with blogging, firstsiteguide.com has some very helpful advice titled, “How to Write and Create Great Blog Content.”

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The Art of Telling Your Story

PR tips, tactics and tools for communicating more effectively

Author Archives: Don Beehler