8 News Release Mistakes to Avoid for Ad Agency PR Success

What’s the number one problem reporters have with public relations?

In a survey of more than 1,700 journalists and editors sponsored by Bulldog Reporter and Cision, 60% of them cited their biggest beef as the lack of relevance of the materials they received from corporate communications and PR professionals. Much of this information, they noted, is written like advertising, not journalism.

That’s a sure-fired way to have your news release or press kit trashed.

Ad agencies that want to be taken seriously by reporters should avoid these eight mistakes when writing a news release:

1. The “no news” news release. This is where you’re trying to get your agency or client some media coverage but without a real news hook. It’s better to hold off on your release until you have an appropriate angle to justify contacting a reporter. If you want some ideas on creative publicity topics, check out my “Ad Agencies Top 20 Topics for Publicity” post.

2. Puffery and exaggerated descriptions of people, events, products or services – followed by lots of exclamation marks!!!!!! Nothing screams amateur quite like that.

3. Platitudes and vague generalities.

4. Verbosity. It’s usually harder to write short, concise copy than long copy, but journalism is all about being succinct and to the point.

5. Stating things that are subjective and opinion-based as facts. If you want to include a statement that involves an opinion or judgment, turn it into a quote and attribute the statement to someone.

6. Writing about “pseudo” events that are contrived to get attention but have no real news value.

7. Consistently leading with the name of your boss in the headline or first paragraph.

8. Writing like an advertising copywriter instead of a journalist. (See journalists’ top concern above.) To be considered credible by the news media, you have to write your news release as objectively as possible, emphasizing its news value, connection to a trend or its human interest aspect. Use third-person pronouns and the active rather than passive voice.

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Podcast: How Ad Agencies Can Use PR to Grow Their Business

In my interview with Jason Swenk on The Smart Agency Masterclass, I explain how ad agencies can use public relations to get more coverage, gain credibility and enhance their awareness in the marketplace. I also discuss some of the biggest mistakes ad agencies make with their PR efforts and free resources they can utilize for publicity opportunities. You can hear my interview with Jason here.

Five Tactics for Using PR to Take Your Ad Agency to the Next Level

Last week during a podcast interview with Digital-Preneur Jason Swenk, I was asked to give some actionable advice to digital, creative and marketing agency owners who want to use public relations to take their agencies to the next level. Great question. Here are five suggestions to help your agency achieve that objective:

1. Develop a written PR plan to compliment new business initiatives.

A written plan will help you manage your time, resources and activities in the most effective way possible. YOU WANT TARGETED, CONSISTENT COVERAGE – and a plan will serve as a road map to get your agency where you want it to go.

As you develop your plan ask yourself, and anyone else involved in the planning process, some important questions:

What are the desired results from our PR?
Do we primarily need to create awareness or change perceptions of our agency?
Do we want PR to help position us as experts in our existing niche or to enter a new industry and become experts there?
Who are our key audiences?
What are the best communications vehicles to reach them?
What are our points of differentiation and key messages?
How will the PR plan complement our new business development initiatives?

2. Learn all you can about the news media you are targeting.

The best way to increase your chances for success with your publicity efforts is to understand what the news media want, how they work, their pet peeves and what constitutes a good story – from their perspective. It’s also important to know their audience and what will appeal to them.

Most reporters use social media such as Twitter and have blogs, so you can follow them, learn about their interests and even make comments when appropriate to get on their radar.

The key to publicity success is getting the right story idea to the right reporter at the right time.

3. Identify ways to become a source for reporters and influential bloggers.

This is the quickest route to credibility and achieving the perception of expert status in the eyes of your target audience. If during an interview you prove to be responsive, knowledgeable, trust worthy – and you communicate well – the chances are good that reporters and bloggers will come back to you again for future stories.

4. Utilize your blog to create online buzz and establish your expertise.

Blogs are a great way to build your reputation as a subject matter expert (SME) in a particular niche. Followers look to SME’s to express opinions and insights on things happening in that niche, identify trends and provide perspective. Focus on good, relevant, original content and avoid blatant self-promotion. And don’t be afraid to take a stand counter to conventional wisdom!

5. Write a book.

A book can be used to generate publicity (and therefore increase visibility) about an individual and his/her agency, as well as open doors to speaking opportunities. But it does much more because writing a book enables you to share value lessons and insights about your niche, and it enhances your status a subject matter expert. A book can also help you market your agency.

You may already have a good start on your book through content from blogs, newsletters, industry articles, etc. Or, once your book is published, you can repurpose material from it in the same venues such as your blog.

Niche books are the new calling cards for many agencies, and being a published author can really give you a competitive edge. Think how impressive it would be to leave a signed copy of your book at the conclusion of each new business presentation.

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10 New Business PR Questions that Make Agencies Pause

Last week I passed the 12-year mark with my public relations consulting business. During that period, I’ve been blessed to work with some outstanding clients – more than 70 of them in a wide variety of industries.

Before going out on my own in 2002, I spent a decade with advertising and PR agencies in Chicago and Nashville, where I worked with clients from local to national levels. So, all together, it’s safe to say that I’ve served well over a hundred clients in my career.

After 22 years in the agency business, when someone approaches me to help with a company’s PR needs, I’ve learned to ask a lot of questions up front to make sure I understand what the prospect really is after, whether he/she has realistic expectations, and how success with be determined and measured.

I’ve also identified a number of red-flag questions. Some of those questions (or statements) are covered in this PR Daily article “8 things you should never say to PR agency pros” by Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO and creative director of Crenshaw Communications.

My two favorites from her list are:

How much for a press release?
We’re looking at 30 agencies and hope you’ll want to participate.

I decided to create my own list of questions I’ve heard from prospective clients over the course of my agency career that caused me (and sometimes my colleagues) to pause. They weren’t always in these exact words, but here’s the gist of what they were asking:

We don’t have much of a budget – can you help us anyway?
What will it cost us to work with you?
How much publicity can you get us?
How long will it take to get results?
What would it take to get us on (name a national media outlet)?
If we have x dollars to spend on advertising or PR, how much should we spend on PR?
Can you guarantee us we’ll get a certain number of media hits?
Are your fees negotiable?
Can we try you out for 30 days and see how it goes?
Are you willing to tie your compensation to your results?

The short answer to most of these questions is “it depends.” For me, a couple of them are “no” responses, though that can vary from agency to agency.

But the real point is that the questions themselves may indicate a misunderstanding of how public relations works and the costs associated with it.

The most efficient way for a client to work with an agency is to first have clearly thought through what it is they want PR to accomplish for them and how it will integrate strategically into other marketing efforts.

Having a budget established upfront helps a PR professional determine how to get maximum value for the client instead of wasting time trying to guess what that client is willing or able to pay.

And while professional skills and competence are vital, I’m convinced that trust is at the core of any successful client-agency relationship, and that character is every bit as important as sound strategy, outstanding service and dynamic creative.

One of my former agency colleagues used to say it boils down to this when a potential client selects an outside person to help accomplish something: Do I like this person, do I trust this person and can this person get the job done?

Those are three great questions and if you can answer “yes” to all three of them, you’ve likely found a good match.

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.

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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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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Are Your News Releases Helping or Hurting Your Ad Agency PR Efforts?

In the past few weeks I’ve read warnings from a number of credible sources about the danger of linking key words in anchor text in news releases. Google’s new linking rules consider such releases, when distributed on other sites, as creating “unnatural” links.

These unnatural links are a big no-no from Google’s perspective, and they can be costly to ad agency PR efforts.

I’ve learned a lot this past year about how Google can make life miserable for a company’s search engine optimization initiatives if it runs afoul of Google’s standards, whether intentionally or inadvertently. One of my clients, a technology company, is 100% Internet-marketing based and the majority of its traffic comes from Google searches, so there’s really little choice but to play ball with Google or risk facing unpleasant SEO consequences.

The problem comes in when Google changes rules suddenly, giving the term “Google Alert” new meaning to organizations that live or die based on SEO rankings.

Google’s Panda and Penguin updates have been the subject of much conversation and angsts because of the way some companies that previously ranked high for certain key words no longer do so, while others that lagged behind now find themselves on top. There are many factors that go into rankings, and under Google’s new linking rules it appears that even news releases can harm a company if they aren’t done in a way that Google likes.

Frank Strong, director of PR for Vocus, which owns PRWeb, advises on his personal blog not to link key words in anchor text. Product anchor text is probably okay, he says, if you are linking a specific product or brand name to pages deep on a site.

As anyone who uses PRWeb regularly knows, releases must use links sparingly – on average one link for every hundred words.

SEO expert Jill Whalen writes in her July 25 High Rankings Advisor newsletter, “[C]ounter-intuitive to what we as SEOs have been saying for years . . . you may want to completely forget about using keywords in anchor text. My hope is that Google finally understands that real natural links rarely have keywords in them, and that they’ve adjusted their algorithm accordingly.”

Of course, no one really knows exactly how Google’s algorithm works (except the people who work there), and it seems as though it’s constantly changing. So what’s a PR person to do?

The universal advice I’ve come across is to focus on good quality content. This is what Google keeps pushing, and right now it seems to be the best path for SEO success. Until someone convinces me otherwise, I’m going to continue striving to provide excellent content and, for now at least, avoid using keywords in news release anchor text.

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Know and Avoid Reporters’ Pet Peeves for Ad Agency PR Success

The other day I read a blog post about things PR people do that journalists hate. Their list of pet peeves really wasn’t surprising to me, because I’ve heard or read the same basic concerns expressed a number of times throughout my PR career. I’ve also experienced some of those irritations during my days as a reporter.

Their advice to PR representatives when trying to interest a reporter in a story included:

“Invest the time to understand a reporter’s beat and recent coverage before hitting the ‘send’ button.”
“Tailor your pitch and have modest goals.”
“Make every effort to know my readers and my style, be creative, and by all means please, please, please don’t bore me.”

In other words, make the right pitch to the right person at the right time.

One suggestion I didn’t see on the list but which I’ve found very useful is to ask a reporter for advice if you’re new to the industry and trying to get up to speed. I have to credit a former boss, John Van Mol, with first suggesting this simple yet savvy approach.

This is a tactic I use sparingly because it often isn’t appropriate. The more of a niche industry it is, and the more significant a player the client is in that industry, the better this advice-seeking approach can work.

After doing your homework (see the three bullet points above), I suggest starting with an introductory e-mail to the appropriate reporter, saying your agency is representing a client in the industry he or she covers. As someone new to the industry, explain that you’re trying to learn all you can to make sure the news releases and story ideas you send are useful and properly targeted.

You may also want to ask for input about the best way to learn about the industry and the best way to work with him or her. Ideally, you’ll be able to follow your e-mail with a scheduled call during a time the reporter is not on deadline.

Of course some reporters won’t give you the time of day if you make such a request, but some will and the upsides can be significant. Like everyone else, reporters enjoy talking about their work and what interests them, yet few people take time to ask these types of questions before making a pitch.

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Ad Agency PR Advice for Journalists Turned Content Marketers

I’ve reached the place in life where neither my daughters nor my parents pay much attention to my advice (though they always listen politely), so I’ve learned to be careful about offering unsolicited opinions. More appropriate for these situations, I’ve discovered, is to use the Socratic approach of asking questions in hopes of sparking critical thinking and enlightenment.

However, after reading a PR Daily article about how many journalists are migrating to PR, especially content marketing, I just couldn’t resist offering what I hope will be some helpful suggestions to those who pursue PR on the ad agency side. On second thought, let me rephrase that: These are humbly submitted thoughts you might possibly want to consideration if you are about to make, or have already made, this transition.

I should first mention that while the majority of my career has been on the public relations side, early in my career I got a taste of the journalism world by working as a correspondent for a daily newspaper and on the editorial side of a health care magazine.

My journalism experience taught me valuable lessons and exposed me to what it’s like to get pitches – good and bad, well targeted and wildly unfocused – from people hoping to get publicity for their company or client. That experience has helped me to be more thoughtful when approaching a reporter to discuss a story idea or respond to an inquiry.

I also need to acknowledge the Software Advice tips cited in the PR Daily article, which by and large are quite good except for the advice to “Uphold traditional journalistic principles, no matter where you work.” Um, I don’t think that’s very realistic given that journalists who go over to the PR side have a much different role, which I’ll cover in a minute. Now, on to my thoughts:

First, don’t underestimate the magnitude of the transition from working for a news media organization to working for an ad agency. Both are fast paced but the environments are very different, and instead of going from news event to event, you may be moving from industry to industry with the clients you serve.

Second, remember who you represent. One of my best hires when I was an ad agency VP heading up the PR department was a long-time investigative reporter who was looking to make a change. He was a great reporter and an even better person, but for the first few months I had to work at getting him to quit investigating our clients and focus on representing them.

Third, be prepared to adjust your writing style. While great writing is vital to effective content marketing, it requires a different approach than traditional news reporting. Facts and figures alone don’t make compelling content that excites and motivates readers. Feature writing is much closer to what’ll you’ll be doing in content marketing. If you’re a good story teller, chances are you’ll be a good content marketer.

Fourth, face it – you’re no longer writing to be objective and balanced. While it’s true that there is a lot of bias in the news media today – with an increasing focus on advocacy vs. reporting the facts – content marketing is all about providing useful, well-targeted information, not representing all sides of an issue. Your mission is to be an enthusiastic advocate who builds trust, engages customers and enhances the brand – not some detached, impartial third-party onlooker.

Fifth, recognize that your competition is no longer other reporters – it’s everyone; everyone, that is, who can has a computer and can write a blog post. The competition is fierce, critics are bountiful and the work is demanding, but aren’t those challenges that drew you to journalism in the first place?

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