by tradesmeninsights | Nov 11, 2015 | Public Relations
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
The press release is possibly the most basic element of public relations and is still the most effective method of getting your organization’s news out. However, the concept of consistency is often overlooked when considering press releases.
Having a consistent press release program can provide a variety of benefits to your company.
What exactly is a consistent press release program? Often we aim to distribute an average of one press release per month for our clients; if it’s a slow news year, that could be 8-10 press releases instead. The key is consistency.
Here are 10 reasons to establish a consistent press release program:
- Strengthens your brand’s relationship with the media
- Positions your brand as a reliable source when publications need input for round-up articles
- Press releases can spur interview requests for more in-depth media coverage
- Press releases strengthen your brand
- Improve your search rankings
- Complement other marketing efforts
- Provide content for social media posts
- Reinforce your brand’s position in the industry
- Provide support material for other media relations efforts
- Get your news in front of your target audiences
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 22, 2015 | Public Relations
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect at Sonnhalter
I’v
e been reading the book, “Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator,” by Ryan Holiday at the recommendation of a colleague. It’s full of interesting, and damning, tidbits of information about today’s online publishing world.
Ryan speaks specifically about blogs, but some of his comments are true across many digital outlets, including some of the websites for your favorite printed trade publications. Allow me to stress the word “some.”
The main comment I want to share reinforces a message that we try to send our clients about the relevancy of PR and the basic, age-old PR tool: The press release.
Ryan writes:
“When I first started in PR, all of the leading web gurus were proclaiming the death of the press release. ‘Good riddance,’ I thought. […] Before long, I came to see the truth. Blogs love press releases. Does every part of their job for them.”
He continued to explain why:
- The material is already written
- The angle is laid out
- The subject is newsworthy
- They can blame someone else if the story turns out to be wrong
In my B2T public relations world, I find that many of the publications that I work with are low on staff and have to produce more content to continuously feed their websites and some have mandated blogs with post frequency requirements.
From a PR perspective, this is good. The editors at these publications have gotten to know me from sending press releases, event invitations and periodic messages offering to help with whatever they need.
Often, those press releases are posted verbatim on their websites within 5 minutes of opening the email. The press releases serve to make those editors’ jobs easier because they know, at least if they receive it from me, that it’s solid writing, confirmed information and packaged in the easiest format for them to use.
For our clients, press releases receive more attention and pickup today than they did even five years ago when I started in this field.
Sure, online coverage isn’t tied to as high of an “ad equivalency rate” because online advertising is cheap, but it gets more impressions because the majority of people are getting their immediate news online, either through visiting their favorite sources or ordering it up in their inbox through e-newsletter subscriptions.
As an added benefit of the modern press release, that is delivered electronically, the media I work with will often post the release and occasionally will follow-up for a more in-depth story or to request comments for another article they’re working on.
Don’t let anyone tell you that press releases are dead, because in this industry, they are alive, kicking and very valuable.
by tradesmeninsights | Feb 25, 2015 | Public Relations
Today we have a guest blog post from Nancy Valent of NMV Strategies on crisis communication.
Your phone rings.
It’s a CNN reporter wanting to know why your facility had an explosion, which injured five of your employees.
What is your response?
Probably the first reaction you have is to say: “No comment.” It seems harmless and a good safety net to buy you some time. In reality, your “no comment” starts a snowball reaction of assumptions that you are trying to hide something or go on the defensive.
Spokespeople who use this phrase are subliminally communicating that they are not being proactive or stepping out to really tell the truth. This type of response drives both consumers and business clients away and starts to degrade your brand and corporate identity faster than just saying in a very truthful tone: “I will get back to you in an hour with the facts and information, which I can confirm.”
Too many large, medium and even small manufacturing businesses operate under the philosophy that a company crisis will never happen to them. But, if it does it won’t get media attention and somehow they will ultimately handle it. If you research any of the past company crises that get national attention and talk to the manufacturing operations people who have lived through it, they will tell you everyone should be prepared for the sudden and the smoldering crisis…it can happen to you.
Preparation is relatively easy if you have created a plan before a crisis hits. Here are some questions to ask the management team and/or your communications department:
- If we had a crisis, who would be the spokesperson?
- How would we communicate with our employees and our customers?
- What are three key message points we would want to share about the history or background of our company to illustrate that we were good corporate citizens in safety and other aspects of business?
- Do we have a hard copy of key phone numbers for organizations and people who would need to be contacted? (Having it your smart phone doesn’t count if it was left behind on your desk in the burning building.)
- Do you have a good relationship with one reporter in the local media who knows your company and can accurately report the facts?
Manufacturing companies have Risk Management Plans and Emergency Preparedness Plans, which address business continuity, etc. In most cases, these plans usually do not go the extra mile to detail all the nuances of effective internal and external communications when a crisis hits.
Being proactive and prepared with a Crisis Communications Plan also works in tandem with these plans so that you have designated teams handling your target audiences; be it the communications with the media, your customers/clients, shareholders, employees and even your competition.
Knowing how to communicate effectively while a crisis is occurring and knowing how to handle your emotions on-camera are skills that can be developed before a crisis hits. Being prepared helps to safeguard your brand and positioning of your company. It is something to think about doing for your company sooner than later.
Nancy has experience in the communications handling of plant explosions, chemical spills, gas leaks, company espionage and disgruntled employees. Her background in media relations with the national and international press is well established, having directed media opportunities throughout the United States and Latin America. Visit nmvstrategies.com for more information.
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 21, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Public Relations, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Everyone today is so focused on Content Marketing that they may overlook an old standby, PR, that could help in getting that all-important content out there. Content marketing drives long-term thought leadership goals. PR can help you short-term to meeting these objectives. After all, both disciplines are working toward the same goals.
Here are a few reasons to use PR in conjunction with your content marketing program:
- PR builds corporate credibility – Foster good relationships with key editors in your field and let them tell your story.
- PR increases brand awareness – Use your new content to attract focused audiences and new leads.
- PR makes your content team focus on your public – Instead of selling features and benefits, use fresh insights and angles on how others have solved similar problems. Be relevant and timely on issues.
If you like this post you might like:
8 Tips for Media Interviews
The Scary Side of PR
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 21, 2013 | Public Relations
Today we have a guest blog post from Rosemarie Ascherl, PR Foreman at Sonnhalter, who recently attended the International PRSA Conference in Philadelphia to learn the latest trends in public relations.
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend a motivational week of education and networking at the 2013 PRSA International Conference. The entire three days of the conference I was bombarded with incredible amounts of expertise and thought-provoking ideas, but several of the impressions stood out.
We are in an era of change. It is time to think differently and recognize that to be successful we must discover new ways of reaching our audiences. We need to be open to change and figure out how to tell our stories, our experiences, to influence and change behavior. We need to evolve.
Measurement is important. While there are many schools of thought on PR measurement, one point is clear: measurement is important. If you aren’t measuring anything, you need to start. Measuring can get very complex, but if you start simple, and add additional metrics as you move forward, the value of your PR efforts can be better understood.
Traditional metrics of assigning advertising value equivalency (AVE), now better termed advertising cost equivalent (ACE), can be a good place to start, but there are many additional metrics that can be examined such as sentiment, social media engagement and search rank. Employing metrics to directly tie the results to business performance or sales is ideal and helps to build the case for PR delivering great efficiency.
The press release is not dead. Press releases are very much alive. They just need to adapt to the changing media models to generate results. One of the ways we can do that is to make the press release more compelling for today’s incredibly visual audiences using graphics, from high quality photos, videos and interesting infographics. With traditional media on the decline, we have to find other ways to get our information to our audiences and consider alternate uses for the press release—such as social media, websites and blogs. Our messages need to be effective for today’s environment.
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 14, 2013 | Public Relations, Social Marketing
Today we have a guest post from Rachel Kerstetter, our PR Engineer, about the evolution of social media and SEO.
In our B2T niche, as well as in the general B2B market, we use the word “relevant” frequently.
When it comes to B2T social media, quantity does not equal quality. Quality social media engagement can’t be measured in simple number of followers or likes. The relevance of those follows and likes is where we find the quality.
It can be hard to keep up with current SEO tactics that will land you on the first page of Google search results since the algorithms change every day, but as social media continues to grow, SEO is getting easier because it’s no longer optimizing for search engines that will land you on page one of Google.
Social engagement is becoming the new SEO. One of the many benefits of being involved in social media that I explain when we create social strategies is improving search visibility.
I was reading, “6 Reasons Social Media is Critical to Your SEO” on Social Media Today and Stephanie Frasco explained the concept so well when she wrote about the old SEO strategy of link building,
“Think about it – why did Google ever allow links to determine which websites ranked above all the others? The answer is simple: links were like “votes” for your website. The more votes you get, the better off you are. So SEO companies started building links (aka “votes”) manually[…]The idea behind links as a ranking factor is a very good idea, but since it’s become so easy to manipulate, Google has been forced to turn to social media channels which do the same thing but are much harder to manipulate. Link building was always about social proofing.”
The shift toward social search is an excellent opportunity to market more efficiently. Connecting with people (even in business-to-business social media, the decision-makers are still people) won’t have constantly changing algorithms because people have been communicating in similar ways basically forever. Social media is simply taking the natural, conversational form of communication that history shows taking place in the gathering places (think the Greek agora or the city coffee shop) and put it online, where it’s easier to be involved with the conversations that are relevant to you.
You can read the rest of Stephanie’s article here.
The press release is possibly the most basic element of public relations and is still the most effective method of getting your organization’s news out. However, the concept of consistency is often overlooked when considering press releases.
