Archive for 'Media'
Clients have a part to play during the PR process
Posted on 15. Mar, 2010 by Creatwood.
So you’ve landed a PR firm to help you get a message out about some new development at your company. Your initial meeting goes well and you feel confident the consultant knows exactly what to do from here. Then, perhaps you let it slide to the back of your mind, and think you’ll hear from them in a few weeks once it’s all done.
As the days go by, you start to realize the consultant has been leaving messages and e-mails for you regarding a bit of information needed to proceed. Of course, you have a business to run, so you might not put it at the forefront of your priorities.
STOP RIGHT THERE.
The process of PR is a two-way street. The consultant does the bulk of the heavy lifting and fine tunes the message, but as a client, you are expected to play your part. That part includes making yourself available for the consultant and holding true to your promises of information. As PR professionals, we need information to do our jobs. But we also need a willingness from the client to be responsive to our inquisitions in order to do a good job for you.
I’m sure it seems quite tedious and overbearing at times, and part of that can have to do with the particular consultant’s approach. But as a client, that is something you should always discuss in the beginning. Here are a few tips to make the process easier for you and the consultant:
1) Set up a meeting schedule – Follow-ups are important, so if you have a regularly scheduled phone call with the consultant during the PR process or campaign, it will make it easier on the both of you and won’t distract you from your work at hand.
2) Set your boundaries – If you are busier during a certain hour than others, make sure the consultant knows that. This will save you the headache of being constantly interrupted. It’s not the fault of the consultant if they need more information. They’re just trying to do the best job possible for you. Let them know when and how to contact you so you can provide them that information and it doesn’t encroach upon your busy day.
3) Trust your consultant – As PR professionals, we know what works and what doesn’t. It is important that the client knows the consultant has good news judgment and understands the best way to get those important messages out. They have a much different, more refined insight into how this process works, so try to keep an open mind during the planning process. Just because you think a certain publication is a bathroom reader, it might still be a worthwhile opportunity to reach more customers in the end.
There are plenty of things the consultant will hopefully do to make this process easier, but for now please consider all you can do, as a client, to get the most for your PR dollar.
DS
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Metrics to monitor in social media
Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by Creatwood.
It’s always easier to explain the value in something when it’s quantifiable. Such is true for social media, especially when you are a PR firm building a social media policy for a client.
A recent story out of the online publication, Social Times, lists 10 different metrics a company should monitor when determining the ROI. The staggering statistic found in this article is that more than 80 percent of professionals don’t measure ROI for their company’s social media programs. This is something that must be done, especially when your clients come asking about all the cash they dropped on you to give them a good seat on the social media express.
The story initially lists the top three metrics found in a survey by Marketing Sherpa that companies typically use: 1) Visitors and sources of traffic; 2) Network size (followers, fans, members); and 3) Quantity of commentary about brand or product.
These metrics, while important, aren’t telling the whole story about a company’s social media impact. Check out the article in Social Times to learn up on how to track ROI for your client’s social media.
– DS –
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Best practices for media pitching
Posted on 02. Sep, 2009 by Creatwood.
The relationship between PR professionals and journalists is a delicate one. On the PR side, we need journalists to get our client’s name and reputation in the news and to the public. As for the media, it is impossible for journalists to publish every story and consider every pitch that fills their e-mail box. This relationship has become even harder in the last several years as newspapers have reduced their staff to accommodate shrinking budgets. News hasn’t become less frequent or important, but with fewer journalists at media outlets, space for new pitches has become sparse. That is why it’s important to deliver your pitches in a way that will make journalists want to include your stories in what little space they have. The following tips should be considered best practices when pitching to the media. They will help you to get your story across to the right publication, in the right way.
- Know the publication. Think of the publication as your audience. Why would they be interested in your story? You should think of news outlets as journalists think of their readers. If your story is not newsworthy to their publication, then it won’t be newsworthy to them.
- Keep your pitches brief. Journalists receiving numerous pitches a day do not have time to read a 500-word pitch. Keep it short and include only the most important information.
- Be assertive, not obnoxious. It is important to follow up because many pitch e-mails do get lost in the mix. However, if you are not hearing back from a journalist after several weeks, odds are they are not interested, and you should move on to the next pitch.
You don’t need to take my word for it. This blog post gives journalist opinions on pitching. Although it is somewhat dated, it still holds truth today.