July 2010
13 posts
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tourism marketing, the oil spill and the best PR...
Located just across the state line of Alabama lies beautiful Perdido Key, Florida. Just a few hundred yards wide in most places, it stretches some 16 miles, with more than half of it located in state and federal parks. One of the few areas of wilderness remaining in northwest Florida, the Key was on high alert as oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill made its way towards the Florida coast.
As the...
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How to: use annotations to promote your brand on...
If you’re new to YouTube, you may not be aware of Annotations, a new tool from YouTube that can help your videos stand out from the crowd. Catherine-Gail Reinhard recently wrote a great post about Annotations for Mashables, an online guide to social media and one of the top ten blogs worldwide.
There are lots of ways to use Annotations, Reinhard says, from “adding a simple ‘call...
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5 ways to add value to your ads
Public relations is a top marketing tool, and so is paid advertising. One way to stretch your advertising budget is to “piggy-back” your PR messages on your paid ads. If you’re already paying for ad space on television, radio or in print, here are 5 quick and easy-on-the-budget ways to help your advertising do double duty.
1. For television advertising: instead of producing a...
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social network users might be older than you...
A recent study conducted by Royal Pingdom shows that the average social network user is 37 years old. If you use, or plan to use, social media marketing to reach a specific target audience, the following information can help you select the right social network to employ:
— LinkedIn, with its business focus, has a predictably high average user age of 44.
— The average Twitter user is 39 years...
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Responding to media inquiries—5 "don'ts" from a...
Stephane Fitch, Chicago bureau chief, Forbes, participated on a panel of journalists and writers at a webinar, “Responding to Media Queries: How to Stand out from the Crowd,” hosted by ProfNet on Nov. 11, and provided a great list of do’s and don’ts for PR professionals, including:
• Don’t reply to a query with, “What’s the story all about?” He doesn’t know before he writes it. •...
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Cheap Tricks—media kit for beginners
You’ve published a book, launched a new product or started a new company. You want to snag some free publicity from the media but you don’t know how to get their attention. What you need is a media kit, and you don’t have to spend a lot to develop a package that will help put your business in the media spotlight. A basic media kit starts with the following 4 important components,...
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the editor got it wrong: can I get a retraction?
If you’ve ever been quoted in a news article you’ve probably discovered that your words don’t sound quite the same in print as they did when they were leaving your mouth. Reading them the next day can bring all kinds of grief and pain, especially if you were mis-quoted. Should you request a retraction?
My general rule of thumb is to only request a retraction if the information...
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another free pr tool: online community calendars
One way to extend the mileage from news releases you distribute to announce events is to post event details on public community calendars.
Television and radio station and newspaper and magazine community calendars are great venues on which to post events. But there are a number of other calendars that are available in most markets and should also be part of your distribution list:
— Church Web...
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Who are your company's best advocates? 6 traits to...
I was fortunate to hear a presentation this week about building and motivating advocates, given by Terrie Glover Ard, senior vice president of Moore Consulting Group. Important not only to non-profits, advocates are individuals who care enough for an issue, cause, policy or product to influence others to support it. Her company has mobilized advocates in support of everything from Florida...
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What's a Facebook fan really worth to marketers? →
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crisis communication: 4 critical actions
I had the opportunity to see a presentation by Doc Kokol, director of communications for the Florida Dept. of Health a few weeks ago. Kokol shared his personal list of things to remember when communicating during times of crisis. During the H1N1 “Swine Flu” scare of 2009, for example, these tips were a lifesaver. His suggestions are simple to apply in virtually any crisis situation...
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5 ways to maximize event attendance
Constant Contact recently posted a list of ways to maximize attendance at your next event, and here’s a synopsis:
1. Save the date—calendars fill up fast so get your event on your prospect attendees as early as possible. Once you have the who/what/where/when/how determined, send an email or postcard to the guest list.
2. Send an email invitation—6-8 weeks prior to your event, send out an...
June 2010
1 post
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Why do some messages stick and others die? →
That’s a question that has been plaguing PR and marketing professionals since the dawn of both professions. It’s not uncommon to spend hours or days or even months crafting the perfect messaging (in your or your organization’s opinion of course) just to have it fall on deaf ears. As communicators, we really only have one goal: make our messages stick. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath teaches...
May 2010
5 posts
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Last minute event PR — 6 easy tactics
It’s not always possible to get a head start on publicizing an event. Obviously, the earlier you can start promoting, the better your chances of securing media coverage. But in absence of a long lead time, how do you promote an event to help ensure its success? Aside from your standard news releases, here are six immediate response PR tactics that can help:
1. Media online calendars. Many...
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Use social media to promote your event
Once you’ve set the time and place of your event, you can post a “Save the Date” notice on your social media networks to announce your event and get the information on calendars. Set up a free event blog that you can link to, or include a link to your Web site’s events calendar with complete details.
Having a Web site (or blog) isn’t a requirement, but it will help...
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A few easy ways to grow your email list
Now more than ever it’s important to have a current database of people who are interested in your business. With very little effort, you can easily encourage new connections for your email marketing list. Give your list a new life with a focused promotional “push”: put a link to your newsletter archive in your email signature, display information in your office lobby, add an...
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10 ways to "create" news
Clients often tell me they don’t have any news to share with the world. Sometimes they don’t understand what’s considered “newsworthy.” Every organization has news to share with the rest of the world. Take a look at this list and you’ll probably find your own opportunities for news releases.
1. New management staff
2. Relocation
3. New service or product now...
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Communicating during a crisis: 5 things to...
In their book Effective Public Relations, Scott M. Cutlip, Allen H. Center and Glen M. Broom write that “Immediate crises—the most dreaded type—happen so suddenly and unexpectedly that there is little or no time for research and planning.” Those words have really hit home during the past two weeks following the massive oil spill off the Louisiana coast that is slowly making its way...
March 2010
5 posts
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6 principles from '20's still valid today
Arthur W. Page became vice president of AT&T in 1927. He believed that it was a company’s performance, not its publicity, that was the basis for public approval. Page’s six principles of public relations also supported his contention that a company’s true character is portrayed by its employees. The principles he practiced can still help companies today gain and maintain...
New research shows Facebook fan page... →
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Tide's Web site is worth a visit
Our agency has learned that the key to building a great Web site is to focus on the needs and desired action of the site’s visitors. Unfortunately we’ve found that many businesses hire a programmer to create a digital version of their corporate brochure.
A good example of potentially wasted Web site real estate is the “About Us” page, probably the least visited section of...
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ethics in PR—6 core principles
Some people may not think of PR as an ethical industry. We public relations professionals have been labeled as “spin doctors,” “sensationalists” and worse. As a public relations professional I consider ethical judgment a top function of my job. And there are occasional dilemmas in which ethics are challenged. A “gut feeling” generally tells me to take a closer...
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Social influence marketing—what is it?
Social Media Marketing for Dummies defines social influence marketing as being “about recognizing, accounting, and tapping into the fact that as your potential customer makes a purchasing decision, he’s influenced by various circles of people through the conversations that he has with them online, when he shares his own social media and consumes theirs.” Social media marketing...
February 2010
3 posts
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5 reasons to try sem
In 2008, North American advertisers spent $13.5 billion dollars on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and the World Advertising Research Center estimates that SEM will increase by 30% by the end of this year. Why should your business invest in Search Engine Marketing (and what is it)?
SEM promotes your Web site through paid ads on search engine results pages like Google, Bing or Yahoo. The...
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5 point checklist for every email campaign
Emma Web-based email service put together an easy to use checklist to help you make the most of your email campaign (excerpted):
1. Does your subject line entice readers? They’re the most important 8-10 words in your campaign. Make sure yours is a clear, concise introduction that entices your readers to look inside.
2. Are you making the most of the preview pane? At first glance, many of...
“A significant 64% of marketers are using social media for 5 hours or more each...”
– Social Media Marketing Industy Report by Michael A. Stelzner
January 2010
4 posts
3 tags
At the end of the interview, remember. . .
Getting an interview with a reporter is an opportunity to give your opinion, promote a cause, make an announcement or introduce an idea. When the interview is over, make your case and restate it. Reporters will often ask if there’s anything else you’d like to add. Use this opportunity to repeat your message—redundancy will help the reporter accurately get down your information and lead...
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News coverage: who has final say on what's...
Don’t expect the opportunity to approve the text of your interview with a reporter before it’s printed or broadcast. Journalists are not obligated to share their stories with you or even read back your quotes, although they may ask you to repeat specific points to ensure they have taken down the correct information.
What do you do if a mistake is made in a news story?
Don’t...
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When a reporter calls: 6 tips
Communicating information to the media requires a good strategy and an understanding of what the media expects from you. Here are six tips to help you be prepared when a reporter calls:
1. Call back promptly. Last week someone I know got a request from an editor and replied with an email that he would “send his response by the end of the week.” If there’s a reason for a delay,...
December 2009
9 posts
Fineman PR releases 15th annual Top 10 PR Blunders →
Love this list compiled by Fineman PR; it’s a great tutorial on how to (or not to) handle a crisis from a PR perspective.
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3 things to remember when "pitching" a story
One of my favorite clients doesn’t have a large marketing budget, so we focus our efforts on generating editoral coverage by pitching his story to magazines. The results have been impressive: over the past year he’s been covered in a number of local, regional and national magazines—without having purchased a single ad.
Public relations can be extremely effective but there are some...
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market unto others . . .
Amid the advertising, emails and calls I’ve received at the office lately, a recent, simple marketing gesture really stood out. It wasn’t an obvious marketing tactic, and it cost less than any traditional ad.
After our local newspaper ran an article about an award our agency had received, the owner of a local Chick-fil-A sent a kind, hand-signed letter and a card for a free sandwich...
end of year marketing checklist
Now is the perfect time to check and update your marketing tools and here are 5 things you can do now to improve the effectiveness of your marketing and PR for the new year:
1. Test your Web site’s visibility in the search engines. Conduct your own search for phrases that people would use when they need a business like yours. Does your company come up on the first page? If not, it’s...
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“19% of US adult Internet users say they use Twitter or another social networking...”
– Pew Internet & American Life Project, October 2009
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This tactic is 3x more powerful than your...
A 2009 survey (Edelman Trust Barometer) showed that, of people surveyed in 20 countries, 62% say they trust corporations less now than they did a year ago. With this credibility problem, how can you build the trust that is needed to attract new customers? The number one way is to let your clients share their positive experience. In the PR world, “editorial” about your business...
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Bigelow Tea uses social media to supplement ads
A recent article in DM News written by Cara Wood shows how Bigelow Tea used a blog, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook to attract more visitors to the company’s Web site and better engage them. Company president Cindy Bigelow felt that a blog could help her hear from customers better than advertising, and social media could supplement their traditional ads. Bigelow’s Tea Talk Blog has...
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3 things you should know about the people on your...
If you want to put together an email that really performs, it’s good to know some basic information about the people on your list. Here are 3 things to consider before you create and send your eblast:
1. How do they get your email? Computer, Blackberry, PDA, iPhone? Knowing how most people get your information can help you make sure they can read and interact with your eblasts.
2. Have...
“To comply with CAN-SPAM you must include an “unsubscribe” link and...”
November 2009
5 posts
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Branding: put your best foot forward (and don't...
There are few things as important as your brand when it comes to marketing your company. Your brand communicates your unique identity and value through consistent messaging and graphics so that others recognize your company whether you’re reaching them through advertising, social media, signage or your invoices. Strong branding is your company’s “promise” of value, quality...
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7 ways to improve your online sales
Your Web site’s design can significantly improve (or hinder) your online success. Great Web sites are intuitive and easy to navigate, helping visitors, regardless of the type of information they’re seeking, quickly find what they’re looking for. And good navigation leads visitors to respond, not just browse. Here are some great tips from Kintera:
1. Help people find and do what...
If you're not seen, you won't be heard
Publicity is a great way to promote your business, and email is the most popular means for getting your news in front of reporters to land precious coverage. But what if your news never gets to the journalists? The vast majority of emails sent to journalists never get read. It’s estimated that 82% of all emails are filtered out by spam filters, and this may include your news release!
To a...
“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to...”
– Henry Ford
Holiday e-blast advice from Emma
The information below was compiled by the email experts at Emma. There are some great tips to keep in mind if you’re planning to send out holiday e-blasts.
With the increased holiday email volume, it’s more important than ever to make sure your subject lines, preview panes and content are at their best. Review the basics before every send-off — our email checklist is a good guide to...
September 2009
1 post
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Can new media replace traditional advertising?
When I conduct workshops on new media, someone almost always asks if new media can replace their existing advertising. My answer: new media is extremely cost-effective but in most cases should not be used as a stand-alone tactic. However, when used in conjuntion with public relations and paid advertising, new media can really stretch your marketing dollars. Use blogs, social networking and other...
August 2009
19 posts
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Local talk shows—3 tips for landing an interview
Local radio and television talk shows can be an invaluable resource for publicizing your business or organization. With knowledge and planning on your part, the payoff can be reaching thousands of potential clients or donors. Here are three things to keep in mind when you attempt to garner some coveted airtime without paying for advertising space.
1. Target your topic. If you want to convince a...
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5 PR tools for your Web site
During the process of developing new Web sites for our clients, we talk to them in depth about their goals, objectives and expectations for their new site, and we recommend a number of Web site tools that can be incorporated as the site is being built. When included in the initial design, these tools can cost-effectively supplement and enhance their public relations and marketing efforts for years...
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10 funniest news headlines
When you write a news release, don’t forget that a strong headline can grab the reporter’s attention. Make it relevant and catchy, 10 words or fewer is good (you can add a sub-head if you need to expand on it). And a catchy headline is useless if it doesn’t actually summarize the information in your release. Sounds easy, but sometimes even reporters get it wrong. On occasion, a...
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“PR Tip: Set up Google Alerts to track news coverage you’ve received online...”
– Find out more about this free feature here.