The Matchbox.

Aug. 06

Kids Get a Clean Slate Each Fall; Businesses Deserve One Too

As back-to-school season is upon us, businesses can learn from this annual rite of passage for students and apply it to their public relations programs. That means taking a look at what is and isn’t working.

Here are a few questions to ask during this back-to-school season:

1) What are your PR goals and objectives?

It can be easy to get mired down in the day-to-day.  Take a look at your PR program’s objectives and line them up with expected metrics.  Don’t be afraid to modify elements of the plan if it will meet the desired outcome.

2) Are you reaching the right audience?

Public relations is designed to support sales team and marketing efforts and it is critical that initiatives are reaching the correct audience.  Otherwise, your efforts might not meet the goals above or boost the organization’s visibility, credibility and bottom line.

3) Are you allocating resources properly?

If you are with an agency, adding another executive to the client account team can reinvigorate a PR program and that individual might grow professionally because of the opportunity.  New ideas and a fresh perspective can help boost the account and foster idea growth among all peers involved.

4) Do you have the right toolkit?

You might need to eliminate one or two tools or add additional tactics.  Now is a good time to trial a new approach to your blog, a Twitter program or case studies.

5) Do you need a new look?

It might be time to reevaluate your website, blog, logo, corporate materials, etc. and address how you are presenting yourself visually. Keep your company’s core message front and center, but do so in a clear and concise way.  Readers are known to skim over heavy-copy websites and materials.

 

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Jul. 28

Have a Thick Skin

As a follow up to my recent blog post regarding byline articles, it seemed a natural extension to address comments on contributed content. Today, any professional who participates in media relations – who puts their name to a fact or opinion online – should expect the peanut gallery of respondents to include supporters, doubters and a few a-holes. Comments are a good sign – it means people are reading your contributions but some of the comments can be disarming as readers can post comments without identifying themselves. As we are often helping clients get their insights and opinions heard online via byline articles, quoting opportunities, case studies and more, we are often asked how to respond to comments. Here’s my two cents. First, have a thick skin – understand that the Internet affords everyone – regardless of credentials or knowledge – to be an expert.

Second, it helps to set a policy for how to handle comments so there is organizational and individual uniformity. This includes who responds and the frequency of review and responses. Similarly, set a policy or guideline for how your organization will respond to articles from others. We typically don’t recommend addressing individual comments as it can be endless. It also sets a precedent that commenters will come to expect and that must be maintained. It doesn’t help the case to selectively respond to individuals. This is obvious, but sometimes hard to do – don’t entertain irrational, nasty or threatening dialogue.

Consider an overarching response once a few comments have posted, acknowledge the input and thank them for the idea exchange. You could even offer your email address – this detracts commenters that post without identifying themselves. The beauty of the Internet and the evolution of media is there are an abundance of channels to share expertise and opinions.

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Jul. 21

The Age of Indecision

Six days before leaving for vacation with my family (husband and 5-year-old daughter), I was paralyzed with anxiety — no, not about work or going to another country. I couldn’t make a decision about our lodging. This year, in lieu of the old-fashioned route of buying/borrowing dozens of travel books on Montreal and Quebec City, I decided enough was enough and hit the vast travel sites in search of the perfect hotels. Good luck. As a proponent, user and seller of social media, I am generally a big fan. But in the case of my own vacation, social media and technology became my worst enemies.

Across the board, each travel site offered their own value or rating systems — sometimes with the travel site offering its own assessment, e.g., 4.5 stars, as well as the users’ combined score, e.g., 2 stars (this is a true example). How is it that the likes of Orbitz, Priceline and Hotels.com have such varying ratings? And then the user reviews: “Best hotel I have ever stayed in,” “Worst hotel I have ever stayed in,” “Staff were rude,” “Staff went out of their way to make our trip memorable.” Of course, I also Googled the potential candidates and found plenty of dissenting blog entries. The endless amount of contradicting information was simply crippling. In the end, I took a leap of faith and, in some cases, the hotel was superb and in others not at all what the good reviews described (complete with screaming kids and a scary ‘don’t walk around at night’ neighborhood, yet providing a clean, large room). Upon my return, I posted my own reviews but have to wonder — am I adding to others’ indecision with another differing opinion?

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Jul. 07

Cutting Through the Clutter Key to Product Launch Success

New products—they are constantly flowing to meet today’s “yesterday’s widget is old” mentality. What’s different in the new iPhone? Is the new version of Hootsuite better? Which of the latest CRM solutions is right for my company?

Reporters often wonder what is significantly new about new products, so proper PR positioning can mean the difference between no coverage and powerful, on-message media. Fresh off a few new product launches, here is some insight that consistently helps us garner targeted coverage for clients.

Get Your Messages Straight…Before the Interview – Take time to develop core messaging around the new offering—including a clear target audience, key benefits and reasons for the new product (without knocking the previous version) and ensure the leadership team and company spokespeople are on the same page .

Plug the Business Benefits, Not the Product Features – Of course the product’s features are important, but they shouldn’t be the first messages out of the gate. Customers care most about the reasons for the features – and so do reporters. Explain the business benefits to cut through the clutter for reporters who stare at feature-centric pitches and press releases all day.

Get a Third-Party Onboard – If possible, brief at least one third-party analyst before the launch to kick the tires on the new product. More often than not, they will have valuable insights and questions about how the product fits the needs of the marketplace. And, bonus, one of these folks may be willing to contribute a quote to your launch press release.

Offer a Test Drive – Product reviews can be powerful. If your product stands up and is bug-free, offer key media a test-drive on their own. This type of coverage (if positive) can also be used to close key sales deals.

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Jul. 02

New PR Grads: Use Social Networks for Job Hunting

For this year’s PR grads, how can you find the job of your dreams? Look to social networks – these sites are no longer just a way to communicate with friends.

Facebook. Don’t post anything on Facebook that you wouldn’t want a potential employer to read.  Also, delete photos in question – you know the ones.  Beyond your profiles, use Facebook to connect with interesting organizations by “liking” their corporate or careers page.  You can learn a lot about a company’s personality and philosophy – great for finding out if you want to work for them and also help prep you for interviews.

Twitter. Keep an ongoing Twitter keyword search of “public relations” on HootSuite or TweetDeck so that you can peruse career opportunities.  Many recruiters are using Twitter to attract job seekers.

Help a PR Pro Out. Follow and engage with Help a PR Pro Out (#happo), the group started by Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and Arik Hanson (@arikhanson) to help job-seeking PR professionals connect with organizations through social media.

LinkedIn. Build your network of LinkedIn connections and let them know you are looking for a job.  Don’t be afraid to reach out, even if your connection is not involved in the PR industry, they might know someone who knows someone who knows someone.  You get the point.  Also, don’t forget to create a polished and easy-to-read LinkedIn profile.  It is an extension of your resume.

There are so many ways to engage with potential employers through social media. The list could go on and on.  What has worked for you?

 

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Jun. 24

The Spark Newsletter: New Clients; Advice on When to Engage PR

In case you haven’t seen it, the latest edition of our newsletter–The Spark–is out!  The issue celebrates new client Shooger and the renewal of PeriscopeIQ, as well as announces the purchase of Young & Associates by long-term employees Jennifer MacLeid Qotb and Meggan Manson. It also offers signs that a start-up is ready for a PR partner, and Meggan Manson pens a My Two Cents column on preparing corporate leaders to deliver sound and confident speaking engagements and interviews without landing in the hot seat like Mark Zuckerberg at All Things D8. There’s also a PR Pulse on how to work around customers’ tight-lipped media policies to showcase their satisfaction with your company’s product or services. Read the full edition here.

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Jun. 09

Contributed Content Opportunities on the Rise

Clients and potential clients often approach us with an interest in briefings or desk-side chats, but with newsrooms continuing to shrink, a spare 30 minutes for journalists is not easy to come by. For this reason, byline article and contributed content opportunities are abundant and increasing – not to mention an effective public relations tool. Not only do they provide the chance to control the content but it is also a great vehicle to help elevate a company’s/individual’s thought leadership and reputation. But how does it all work? Here are a few of our tried and true keys to good byline articles.
1) Identify publications that accept bylines – not all do.
2) Prepare an abstract first so editors can review and buy-in before you draft the full piece
3) Don’t be self-serving. Make the topic broader than your product – talk about market challenges, needs and impacts.
4) Offer actionable best practices, insights, case studies or tips that position
5) A byline article is typically 600-1200 words so don’t treat it like a technical white paper.
6) Leverage the placement – post it on your website, Facebook and Twitter, and send it to clients/partners or feature it in the next newsletter. And, hey, send it to your Mom so she can see your name in print.

Here are examples of a few clients’ recent byline contributions:

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May. 20

Totally LOST Without PR

As the end of LOST is drawing near, I realized that the hit TV series, a favorite among some of the Y&A team, relates to PR in several ways. LOST’s themes – redemption, destiny and survival – tie directly to PR.  Have I LOST you?  That’s okay – let me explain.

Some argue that PR is often about redemption.  Look at the athletes and celebrities who try desperately to dig themselves out of PR nightmares. Companies fall victim to this approach too. Unfortunately, PR is too often used in a reactive manner to redeem some sort of wrongdoing or mistake.

The best PR folks, however, have a more proactive approach, believing you create your own destiny with a solid communications strategy and media relations outreach.  We don’t wait for articles and blog posts to be written about our clients.  Instead, we continuously approach key reporters and bloggers with trends, news and company updates.

Also, a team-approach is key to a PR program.  LOST fans know this is also critical for our favorite characters’ survival.  As Jack said, “if we can’t live together, we’re going to die alone.” This holds true for PR too and is an appropriate motto for the relationship between journalists and PR professionals.

The PR analogies aside, if it isn’t too much to ask – it would be great to find out what LOST’s infamous numbers mean and the real purpose of the smoke monster on Sunday.

LOST

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May. 14

Dreams Come True: It Just Takes a Lot of Work

I was rather cocky when I started Young & Associates in 1982. I found a niche not being filled by focusing on technology.”You don’t know anything about technology,” they said. Friends warnings that  “no females own public relations firms” seemed a challenge. Being underfunded certainly was not going to stop me from leasing thrice the amount of space two and half of us would need.  “I’ll need the space to grow,” I countered. Starting with flagship account Intelmatique, an arm of France Telecom, would give me the base needed to grow. “You don’t even speak French and what if you lose them.” Oh, my, there are so many dream slayers out there.

Of course, there were ups and down. That is what business is all about. But, through it all I stayed pretty true to my mantra to “have a measurable impact on the business of our clients by reaching clearly defined goals.” From the beginning I deviated from the industry standard of time-based fees and instead focused on setting objectives, frequently reviewed, with a pre-determined retainer or project fee. With that team approach, we could tackle goals without a clock. We worked with large and small companies alike but it was the people who believed in us that carried us through 28 years – the list is long but you know who you are.

But, perhaps the most rewarding decision made was to seek out talented and spirited people to become a part of the team with a future in mind. The payoff is immeasurable. Not only did the agency have consistency (85 percent retention) but stars were groomed. Two of those bright and talented staffers are now taking over the ownership of the company. They are Jennifer MacLeid Qotb and Meggan Manson, who joined the company in 1996 and 2000, respectively. In fact, they have been successfully leading the company as principals for three years.  They are smart, tough, dedicated and love the business. We also are family. And, of course, many said, “Don’t try to sell your company to employees who also are friends.” Well, it took a while but we proved them wrong.

I will continue in the role of Chairman, but will be a supporter from the sidelines. And my dream, passing along the company and its ideals to the next generation, came true. I told you so.

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May. 04

Media Interviews: Off the Record Doesn’t Exist

Do you have an upcoming media interview and don’t feel prepared?  Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us. However, following a few rules before an interview will help ease nerves and ensure you are ready to speak to any reporter with clear, concise messages.

1. Get to know the reporter

Read the reporter’s previous columns before an interview, so you know what they’ve covered in the past, their areas of interest, tone and writing style. Also, take a look at a reporter’s Twitter page and LinkedIn profile for a closer look at their background and personality.

2. Set an objective and have 3-4 talking points

Whether briefing a reporter on a new product or giving an overall company update, it is important to establish an objective for the interview and have 3-4 talking points in mind to really get your message across. If you are participating in a phone interview, keep those points written out in front of you to help you stay on track.

3.  Use a secure landline when possible

We once participated in an interview where a client’s mobile phone was fading in and out of connectivity. It took 2-3 minutes before the client realized there was a connection issue, despite our MANY interruptions. Today, phone interviews are done on the road frequently, but when possible, make sure you have a secure connection—whether it be a landline or testing out your mobile phone in advance. The reporter (and your PR person) will thank you.

4. Remember that everything is on the record

Most importantly, don’t forget that anything you say to a reporter or blogger can be published. There is no such thing as “off the record”, so don’t say anything that you wouldn’t want to see in print—whether in an article, a blog post or on Twitter.

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