The Matchbox.

Jun. 26

The Why and How of Competitive Media Monitoring

Monitoring industry and competitor media coverage is an essential part of any corporate marketing and PR program to help inform positioning and media relations strategy and to gain key insights into hot, must-hit and even overdone topics. There are a variety of media monitoring services available for coverage tracking, but there are also cost-effective options for tight budgets including:

Real-time Alerts

It’s important to set up real-time alerts on industry news through Google Alerts using targeted keywords. This is a great way to receive notifications on breaking news and competitive tracking as it publishes. While these alerts can help you decide whether to push an announcement, they can also uncover potential new media quoting and commentary opportunities. 

Social Media

Following competitors on social media is another great channel to keep tabs on the latest announcements, features and branding but also enables monitoring of recent coverage. This information is invaluable to understanding the topics competitors are commenting on and points for differentiation.

Industry Newsletters

Newsletters from top industry publications are excellent resources to identify trending media topics and what is likely to gauge the interest of a reporter from that outlet. Consistently reading relevant market news can also offer insight on new angles and whether a specific topic is tired or oversaturated.

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May. 29

Social Media as a Tool for Thought Leadership

It’s no secret that social media is a great tool for broadening market visibility. But social media can – and should – be used to extend executive thought leadership as well.

Offer a distinct voice on social media 

Key executives, especially CEOs, should be active on LinkedIn, reposting company news, sharing insightful articles, providing industry insights and commenting. This shows they’re active within the industry and they are committed to bringing more value to clients. Marketing and PR teams can help get this started with ghostposting and/or suggesting sample posts to share.

Share marketing and media content

Part of being active on social media includes sharing important industry insights to demonstrate expertise in your industry and your clients’ markets. Posting recent media coverage and sharing marketing content like blogs or podcasts shows that you are relevant and have valuable insights to offer.

Interact with your audience

Don’t forget the power of interaction! Making time to comment on posts or like and share posts from your employees, clients and partners  is important. It helps increase the visibility of social content and makes you and your company more discoverable. And, prospective employees and clients can quickly see your latest successes and POV. 

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Apr. 25

Y&A Spark: New Client; Rapid Response and Dangers of AI for Creatives

In the most recent edition of The Spark Newsletter, we welcomed our newest client and shared insights on rapid response PR and how to use social media as a tool for thought leadership. Principal Jennifer MacLeid Qotb’s “My Two Cents” shares the potential dangers of AI use for creative professionals.

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Mar. 26

When PR Isn’t Enough 

PR pros are on the frontlines in good times and bad.  We are here to trumpet corporate achievements and mitigate reputational damage. However, in some cases, PR isn’t the silver bullet to deeply rooted organizational issues or product flaws that can’t be fixed overnight.

We often hear the phrase, “It’s just a messaging issue,” and perhaps there is some truth to that but you can’t rely on your communications team to message their way out of an issue when that same team is kept in the dark. A strong and consistent PR strategy begins with treating them as a valued asset to the organization with in-depth knowledge of business goals and objectives, product, client and partner issues and sales successes and failures.

Without that critical knowledge, any message crafted is half-baked and may come off insincere at best or at worse a flat out lie that does more harm to the business. PR can help sidestep issues or promote other parts of the business when areas are underperforming, or time is needed to resolve an issue. But by keeping us in the dark, the lights might go out on everyone.

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Feb. 23

Cultivating B2B Influencers

While traditional media relations remains vital to a company’s public relations campaigns, the impact of B2B influencers is growing quickly. Word of mouth influences over 90% of B2B transactions, so it’s crucial to leverage influencers including advocates such as business partners, clients, and employees.

Encouraging influencers to share news, opinions and even successes on platforms ideal customers already engage with allows for more organic introductions to the business.

Before incorporating B2B influencers into your PR strategy, here are some considerations:  

Media channels: LinkedIn makes it easy for potential clients to connect with influencers  and allows posts to reach larger audiences with more fluid dialogue. Industry-related influencer blogs and podcasts also can be great avenues to find a more specific market segment with greater conversion probability.

Key performance indicators: Before engaging with an outside partner or industry influencer, determine the influencers’ engagement and follower levels and then establish realistic goals for the campaign. Quantify expectations to understand impact on the partnership’s leads, sales, and impressions goals. 

Look beyond traditional influencers: The best B2B influencers are only sometimes industry thought-leaders with hoards of social media followers. Often, existing customers, employees, and prospects can share word-of-mouth recommendations that organically attract new clients.

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Jan. 30

Maximizing Content Marketing through PR

Despite the rise and influence of content marketing among B2B marketing programs, there still is often a separation between content and PR programs. Although the tactics and tools are often different, content marketing and PR collaborations can maximize brand visibility, audience engagement and strategic positioning. As organizations build out 2024 marketing plans, here are some key considerations for combining both efforts into one powerhouse approach:  

Amplifying Content through PR

PR can amplify content marketing in a variety of ways. Some PR teams share content across social media and bring interaction to ensure visibility. PR teams can also share content with reporter connections for story consideration.

Consistent Messaging Across Content

Since PR touches a variety of content –  awards, case studies, thought leadership articles –  it is often the center of the organization’s internal and external messaging – or at least should be. Tapping into the PR team when drafting sponsored and other content ensures branding and language is consistent across all sources and platforms and provides an opportunity to extend content visibility through earned media.

Improved SEO

PR can improve the SEO of web content through high-profile media placements and associated backlinks to relevant content.

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Jan. 08

Y&A Spark: 2023 Reflections; Trend Predictions; Maximizing Content Marketing

Cheers to the New Year! In our most recent edition of The Spark Newsletter, we announced two new clients and shared tips for New Year’s predictions and how to maximize content marketing. Make sure you also check out Principal Meggan Manson’s “My Two Cents”, which reminds us all to reflect and recharge when spending time with family and friends.

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Nov. 06

New year, new event season. Plan ahead.

As we turn the calendars from pumpkin spice to eggnog season, marketers are planning for 2024. And with that comes the rush of industry events in Q1. Now is a good time to revisit media opportunities at conferences and put some critical dates on your calendar. Trade shows are a great opportunity to connect with the media face to face. This helps with relationship building as well as priming the pump for upcoming trend and news-based media coverage.

To help ensure you can find a few valuable media contacts to connect with, remember these tips.

1) If you are exhibiting or sponsoring, request a media list to see which reporters and editors have committed to attending.

2) Reach out to a few priority media contacts at least 2-3 weeks in advance of the event to get on their calendars – their schedules fill up fast.

3) Have 2-3 trends, client use cases and/or product announcements (and marketplace value) ready to share.

4) Make sure to ask what they are interested in and covering.

5) Don’t forget to connect on a personal level as well as that will make a lasting impression from the many other meetings they have.

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Sep. 27

Getting In Over Your PR Skis

I know, it’s a mixed methaphor. But here’s the point. While it may seem advantageous to jumpin on the hottest media trend (think DEI or AI) to garner media coverage, trying to force fit an organization into a topic that the company’s products or solutions have little to do with can be fruitless. 

Tech B2B companies may face skepticism when attempting to align their products’ PR with media trends. This doubt arises from concerns that companies are simply jumping on the bandwagon to appear socially responsible or hanging their hat on the next big tech wave without genuinely embracing or offering it. 

Marketing and support may be able to provide a forum to address these topics as industry contributors but offering up a news story idea where there is little tie may result in being misrepresented in earned coverage or left out altogether despite the best efforts and intentions of the team. 

In the digital age, the old adage of all PR is good PR no longer rings true. Meaningful, well-placed coverage isn’t contrived.

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Aug. 09

Y&A Spark: New Client; EdTech Award Wins and Avoiding Contrived PR

There’s a lot to celebrate in our recent issue of the Spark Newsletter. Y&A welcomes a new client and congratulates edtech clients for their achievements in the industry. Also, read Principal Jennifer MacLeid Qotb’s “Two Cents” on maintaining genuine messaging amidst pressure to connect with the newest PR trends.

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