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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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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Ad Agency PR Best Practice: Put the Story on the Top

One of my former agency colleagues, a veteran newspaper reporter, used to have a sign on his desk that said, “Put the Story on the Top.”

In other words, when writing a “hard new” story, state the facts up front and get to the main point right away.

Great advice, and something we all need to keep in mind as we write our news releases. Sure, it can be tempting to write two or three paragraphs of introduction before getting to the main topic, but it’s not the way to write a professional news story.

For one thing, it’s easier for people to remember the gist of the story if you first summarize it and then add details. If they only read the first paragraph, would they know the basic essentials? If not, you need to take a look at revising your release.

Another reason is that many people in fact don’t read much more than the first paragraph or two, so you want to make sure those folks read the most important thing you have to tell them in the first paragraph, followed by the next most important information in the second paragraph, the third most important in the third paragraph, and so forth.

That approach is known in journalism as the inverted pyramid style, and it’s what good reporters and PR pros do when writing a news article. They give you the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of a story at the very top. No fluff, puffery or promotional flair – just the facts, please. Otherwise, you’ll immediately lose credibility with the reporters and editors you’re trying to reach.

Feature stories are different, because they tend to focus on matters that are interesting and entertaining, but not the most pressing issues of the day. Examples include trends, human interest and unusual, off-beat topics. They, too, will contain some basic facts, but those facts are woven into the story. Features are generally more creative and less formal. The lead in a feature is designed to lure readers in, with the writer crafting a compelling narrative that keeps their attention to the very end.

Hard news and feature stories both have a place in telling your agency’s story. Knowing the difference between the two, and how to use each appropriately, is one of the keys to successful ad agency PR.

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Specialty Books Boost Ad Agency PR

One of the best ways to enhance ad agency PR, and also help with new business initiatives, is for an agency principal or specialist to write a book. After being involved in writing or editing several books for clients—as well as helping market them—I’ve come to the conclusion that writing a book may be the easiest part.

Why? Because self-publishing has made it possible for just about anyone to be an author, and as a result there’s been an explosion of new books in recent years.

To stand out, you need a specific audience to target and a plan to reach it.

Here are 10 tips for the person charged with generating publicity for a new agency book:

1. Quality endorsements are important to a book’s success, so get started on approaching influencers well in advance of the book’s actual publication.

2. Conduct a brief media training session to prepare the author for interviews and to answer questions he/she likely will get, and then develop several key messages (talking points) to use in interviews.

3. Create separate social media sites specifically for the book, and link to them from your agency’s website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, Twitter, etc.

4. Develop a customized list of media outlets and blogs you’d like to approach for publicity.

5. Hold a launch event to get the book off to a positive start, create momentum for it and generate some industry buzz.

6. Utilize a paid news service like PRWeb, PR Newswire or Business Wire to get the word out to a large audience of journalists and bloggers, especially targeting those who would be interested in the book’s topic. PRWeb is a personal favorite because it’s very cost effective, yet I’ve gotten great Internet coverage through Google and Yahoo news, trade publications, blogs and various news sites. It provides instant credibility when a journalist does a search on the book and/or author, and page after page of hits surface.

7. Use your agency newsletter, YouTube and other channels to announce the book internally and to clients. And, of course, you’ll want to integrate the book into your new business strategy.

8. After the first wave of launch publicity, write and distribute customized news media pitch letters to each outlet on your list, based on their particular audience and area of coverage.

9. Take the same approach with influential bloggers who reach your target audience and offer to do guest posts on their sites.

10. Identify author speaking opportunities where he/she would have the chance to sell the book. And be sure to take full advantage of places where the author already has connections, such as professional associations and networks.

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Know Which Words to Use and Avoid for Ad Agency PR Success

Mark Twain once remarked that “the difference between the right word and the almost right world is the difference between lightening and the lighting bug.”

No where is that more true than in the world of journalism, which has its own particular style of language usage.

Recently I came across an article titled “20 words and phrases that will doom your pitch.” I sure didn’t want that to happen, so I read through the list to identify these “cursed words,” as the article described them.

You can read the list of words the article warns will sabotage your pitches and news release here. If you get as far as the comments section at the end, you’ll see additional words submitted by readers as candidates to add to the banned list.

“The reporters not only ignore these, they hold them up as points of mockery,” said.
Michael Smart, principal for MichaelSMARTPR. He and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue drew up the list of words and phrases that they say undermine a writer’s creditability.

The real problem with these 20 words is that they are more suitable for advertising copy than a news release or pitch letter.

Why is this a big deal?

Because there’s a big difference between the words and phrases used in advertising and journalism. Ad agencies that don’t understand this difference will have a hard time being successful with their publicity efforts or even being taken seriously.

Reporters are very sensitive to attempts to disguise advertising as news or use promotional language to hype a product, service, cause or company. They can sniff these out from a considerable distance, and it’s the quickly way to have your content tossed in the trash or deleted.

To be considered credible by the news media, you have to write your pitch as objectively as possible, emphasizing its news, trend or human interest aspect. Or, if you want to be considered as a source, focus on your expertise to comment on a particular topic and provide insights.

Being familiar with The Associated Press Stylebook will help you use appropriate journalism language and avoid faux pas. Think of it as a pocket language guide you’d want to take with when traveling to another country so that you can converse with locals.

The best way to maximize your chance of landing news media coverage is to write and think like a reporter – and, of course, have a good story to tell.

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How to Maximize Ad Agency PR Success for New Business

You’ve just gotten a great media hit for your agency – now, how can maximize this important third-party validation for new business exposure?

For starters, make sure your clients, employees and other stakeholders get a copy of the article, broadcast interview or Internet story, and invite them to share it with others who may be interested. A handwritten cover note to clients is a nice added touch.

The coverage should also be displayed on your website, and you’ll want to write a post about it on your agency blog with a link to the story.

And, of course, you’ll want to utilize your social media channels to help get the word out by linking to the story.

If you have an agency newsletter, consider reprinting the article in the newsletter (after obtaining the publication’s permission to do so) or at least make mention of it by including highlights of the story. If it’s a radio or TV interview, include a few key quotes as excerpts.

Next, you can further expand your reach by doing a news release about the coverage, especially if it’s in a prominent national news media outlet. Paid online news release distribution services come in very handy in times like this.

And if you’re fortunate enough to get a national hit, be sure to alert your local news media as that may generate another round of publicity, or possibly be included in a future story about your agency.

Framed copies of newspaper and magazine articles are impressive when people are touring your agency, especially if you have a number of them to display along the walls or in a conference room.

And, of course, you’ll want to include media hits as part of your new business pitch to answer the question “Why you should hire us?”

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Eight Tips for Ad Agency PR Spokespersons

In my previous post, I discussed the traits of highly effective spokespersons. If you have that role at your ad agency, here are a few thoughts from someone who’s been in your shoes:

1. Make sure you have the full support and backing of agency management before saying a word publicly about a particular issue.

2. Always go into an interview or news conference fully prepared. Know the subject matter inside out, and have people practice asking you questions and critiquing your responses.

3. Have a few key points you want to make, and find ways to work them into the conversation.

4. If you don’t know something, say so and offer to get back to the reporter with the answer as soon as possible.

5. Never try to bluff your way through—more likely than not, bluffing will come back to bite you.

6. Never deny the obvious. Sounds like common senses, doesn’t it? But it’s amazing how many people and organizations do that in hopes that things will change just because they deny there’s a problem. Trust me, that won’t work.

7. Record the interview or news conference. That way, if you’re grossly misquoted, you’ll have a way to prove what you actually said.

8. If the situation you’re dealing with could have significant ramifications for your agency and/or a client, get professional outside help. Individual consultants and firms that have experience dealing with news media day in and day out can provide valuable objectivity and expertise, and they’ll help keep you focused, on track and maintaining proper perspective.

And remember, you’re going to make mistakes—just try to make sure they aren’t big ones. IF you misspeak, don’t hesitate to correct yourself immediately or as quickly after the interview as possible.

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