Because PR and social media are so intertwined, whether you’re an entrepreneur doing your own PR, or you are a PR professional – you need more technical skills than ever before.
In fact, according to Information Week, more companies are “hiring marketing staffers who have focused tech skills.”
It won’t be long until this trend carries over to the PR field.
No matter what everyone says about PR going digital and social, our most important publicity-getting tool is still the old, reliable telephone. When we have news, we use press release services, we email our contacts, but I’d say 75% of the media articles we get for our clients is “closed” over the phone after discussion with the journalist.
But journalists require sensitive handling on the phone. Below are some of our phone etiquette tips for PR practitioners, or entrepreneurs who are PR DIYers.
Video has always been the medium of choice for maximum engagement with the audience. And now that it has become cheaper and easier to create videos, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be using more of it for PR.
Video isn’t just for businesses that want to reach out to young consumers, either. Even if you’re in the B2B space, video could prove to be a highly effective way of enhancing your marketing and PR efforts.
Two of the findings of a Forbes study, “Video in the C-Suite: Executives Embrace the Non-Text Web,” are:
Ready to use more video for your PR? Below are some tips and thoughts.
For those who are just getting started with video, it can be hard to think of what specific content can be translated into a video format. Here are some examples:
Executive Interviews
Similar to putting sound bites or quotes in a press release, videotape your company’s top executives answering questions with your key messages. If you have celebrity endorsers or spokespersons, capture them in video, too.
Product Demos
Some products are better demonstrated on video than described in text or depicted in a photo. It’s the next best thing to putting the product in the hands of a prospect. Create videos of your product in use, demonstrating its many features and benefits. Or you can create an introductory video like this from one of our clients, Quickmobile, that communicates to your target audience in a fun way what you do:
Special Events
If you have live events, always document them in video. Pick out the highlights of the event.
Man-on-the-street Interviews
Interview people participating at events, employees (about what they enjoy most about their jobs, for example), and other “ordinary” people.
How-to Videos
Show how to carry out various tasks related to your product, such as alternative applications, setup or installation, troubleshooting, care and maintenance. You can also respond to FAQs with a video.
Testimonials.
Feedback from actual customers and clients are more powerful in video than other formats, because video reveals so much more about the person. Try to get video testimonials from your customers, but also be on the lookout on YouTube and other video sharing sites for videos uploaded without your involvement.
Customer Case Studies
These are more detailed than a testimonial. Create a video focusing on a specific customer to show what problems they have solved with your product. If you can capture “before” and “after” video, that would be even more powerful.
Video Contest
Need an idea for a cool and potentially viral online activity? Try a video contest. Whatever you do, make sure the videos are relevant to your product or business. Have participants upload their vids on YouTube and you’ll get exposure for years to come.
Video Collaboration
YouTube celebs have done this (here’s an example). They ask their audiences to create and upload their videos, which are then edited together into one final video product. You need to have very clear instructions so the resulting video will be of good quality.
Animation
If you have tables and graphs, transform them into animated graphics. These can be used within video presentations, or left “bare” and shared for others to use in their own productions.
Now that you have video content, what exactly do you do with them to get more exposure and PR?
1. Your News Release
The most obvious PR use of video is adding it to your press release. Sites such as PRWeb allow you to embed or link to a video to help tell your story. Here’s an example of how we used video in the Quickmobile press release.
2. B-roll
Raw footages edited together can be useful to broadcasters as B-roll or supplemental footage for their reports. Make sure your B-roll has establishing shots of events and locations, interviews, event highlights and other newsworthy footage.
3. Video Sharing Sites
Upload your videos to YouTube, Vimeo and other video sharing sites. YouTube videos rank highly in Google and other search engines, which means you can attract plenty of targeted traffic. These sites also allow your video to be shared and embedded in other websites, increasing your exposure even more. Plus there’s always the possibility of your video getting picked up by TV networks.
4. Social Networking
Share your video on your Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking accounts. Did you know videos can be pinned on Pinterest too?
5. Company Website
Embed videos on your website. Encourage visitors to share them and embed them in their own sites.
When it comes to using video for PR, are you a newbie or a maven? How have you been using video and what can you do to get more PR impact from it?
Share your thoughts below. Or post them on our Facebook page. You can also message me on Twitter.
I work with a colleague who is smart, funny, has a degree in science, knows how to sell a story angle to the most cynical reporter… and also looks like a fashion model.
Being in technology PR, we often end up at networking events with mostly men, such as when we were responsible for the PR for a venture capital event attended by 650 men and 30 women.
Even though we do our job well, my colleague and I often talk about first impressions and getting over PR stereotypes.
Do you ever get the feeling that, when people find out you’re a PR practitioner, they talk down to you, don’t take you seriously or even start flirting with you?
This type of reaction to PR executives is pretty common, especially if you happen to be a young lady. In heels.
Unfortunately, thanks to how PR execs have been portrayed in mass media, people now have many negative stereotypes about us. Remember Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City?
A study of TV and film’s portrayal of PR practitioners (Everidge, 2010) concluded that positive and neutral portrayals are beginning to outweigh negative ones. However, they are often still inaccurate.
Bad PR happens.
Maybe your company spokesperson said something in public without thinking. And the backlash on your company has been nothing but bad press.
Or maybe one of your employees committed a faux pas. And a social media-savvy customer is spreading the word on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Remember the “United Breaks Guitars” video?
And what about if your product failed like when Johnson & Johnson recalls infant Tylenol?
It doesn’t matter if you have the most talented staff and the best product. Bad PR happens even to the best of us.
The question is, what do you do when your worst PR nightmare becomes reality? Take a deep breath and…
I’m a wannabe athlete.
I wear the gear and own the equipment, but most of the time I’d rather be in a hammock… and watch the professional athletes compete on television.
When I finally learned to swim just a few years ago, my then 7-year old son challenged me to try my first triathlon. It was a mini race, just enough for newbies like me not to drown, fall off a bike or have to walk to the finish line. It was fun, but now I’ve crossed it off my bucket list.
My husband on the other hand, has been a sponsored triathlete who has raced on and off over the last two decades. To this day, we have a solid group of friends who are both entrepreneurs and triathletes. Many run very large businesses, and they still manage to compete in extreme races – one where they swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and then run a full marathon of 26 miles at the end.
How do they do it?
Here’s what I’ve noticed about how they train and think, and how those lessons can apply to small businesses.
The social media world is abuzz with its latest darling, Pinterest.
You yourself may have been “pinning” like crazy. Or at the very least, seen your friends’ pins on Facebook.
Even though Pinterest is still by invitation only, its membership has been growing faster than Google Plus or Facebook. As of this writing, it has over 10 million users.
Every time a new potential tool comes up, PR folks wonder, “Should I be using it, too?”
PR in Your Pajamas’ answer:
“It depends.”
Pinterest can be an effective way to get your products out there to the market, get market intelligence, and engage a community of customers or potential customers.
Successful PR on Pinterest depends on a host of factors, which is what we’ll talk about in this post.
What is Pinterest anyway?
Pinterest describes itself simply as “an online board.” Its tagline is, “Organize and share things you love.”
It’s a website where users can pin photos and videos on virtual pinboards. It’s “visual bookmarking,” in other words.
Beyond bookmarking, however, Pinterest is a social network. You can follow other Pinterest users, “like” other people’s pins, comment on pins, and repin another person’s pin onto your own board.
People use Pinterest in different ways:
In short, Pinterest users use it to collect and discover photos and videos.
Discovery can happen through the people you follow. You can also browse pins by category, thus finding boards even by those you don’t follow.
Tell your story visually
As you may have surmised by now, Pinterest is all about visuals. If your core marketing and PR message can be told effectively through visuals, then Pinterest is an excellent medium.
Get exposure and referral traffic
PR Newswire recently added a Pin It button on the press releases they host. When a PR giant does this, you know they’re on to something. PR Newswire reported that referral traffic from Pinterest has exceeded combined traffic from LinkedIn, Google Plus, and YouTube.
Pins are highly shareable. Using the Pinterest bookmarket for web browsers, members can pin instantly without logging into their Pinterest accounts. The Like and Repin buttons make it easy to share pins, so you can imagine the potential for pins to reach a wide audience.
Finally, thanks to the ability to post pins on Twitter and Facebook, as well as embed them on a website, the potential for a pin to go viral is high.
Spread customer stories
When customers publish pictures about your product, or create a video review, Pinterest gives you yet another way to spread that customer story.
Create virtual special events
If you want to generate buzz online, Pinterest gives you several options. You could host a contest, for example.
Of course, make sure to pin photos and videos from your live events.
If you’re now convinced that Pinterest would make a good additional to your social media PR toolbox, heed the following tips:
Make your website images pinnable
Give visitors permission to pin the images on your website (assuming you own the rights to those photos). As I’m writing this, only videos from YouTube and Vimeo are pinnable, so use one of those video sites if you want your videos on Pinterest.
Add a Pin It button
Make it easy peasy for website visitors to pin your image. Add a Pin It button.
Create compelling visuals
If you don’t have visuals, what will your visitors pin? Publish photos, infographics, videos, charts and graphs.
Use relevant images
Make sure the images and videos you do provide are relevant to your product, service or business.
Get social
Don’t open a Pinterest account only to pin your own stuff! Follow others on Pinterest, repin, like, and comment on other people’s pins. Don’t forget to share their pins through your other social networks. They’re likely to return the good deed.
Remember your keyword strategy
Search engines crawl Pinterest content, so don’t forget your keyword strategy when pinning. Use target keywords when naming your boards and writing pin descriptions and comments. But, as always, don’t go overboard with this! Use target keywords where appropriate and natural.
So should you use Pinterest for PR or not?
It depends.
If you:
… have a core message that can be told visually
… have visual and video resources, or are willing to develop them
… have the staff time and energy available to interact in an additional social network
… then go for it!
Otherwise, don’t freak out. Keep doing what’s working. If some of your social media PR efforts are not paying off as you expected, then you can try replacing it with Pinterest and see what results you get.
You can also try it on a small scale by focusing on a particular product or event. If you find that Pinterest brings you a targeted, highly motivated (to buy) audience, then you’ve found a valuable new PR tool.
Got questions? Stories to share about how you’ve used Pinterest? Our comment board is open below. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook, if you prefer those platforms.
These days, no PR campaign is complete without a blogger outreach. Bloggers reach targeted audiences and enjoy much more credibility than paid ads. They also tend to have loyal readers who are willing to follow their recommendations. It pays to get on the good side of bloggers.
But for many PR folks, interacting with bloggers is new ground. Bloggers come in all shapes and sizes. Some do it for profit, other for passion. Still others for both. One approach may be welcomed by one blogger, but found offensive by another.
We don’t have any formulas to offer, just a reminder that bloggers are people. They appreciate sincere pitches from companies and PR professionals who offer them something relevant and useful to their audience. And, remember, even bloggers can’t resist a good story.
Get better results from your blogger outreach by following the tips below.
If you want media exposure, you have to pitch to journalists, editors, and bloggers. It can be nerve-wracking to approach them with your story idea. After all, you’re setting yourself up for rejection.
Believe it or not, pitching to media gets easier with practice. And being as prepared as possible reduces your stress and increases your chances of success.
Use this checklist to help you prepare for your next pitch to media:
Ah, summer!
Whether your business explodes or slows down during the warm months, this season is always a good time to catch up on essential reading.
Below are my recommended books for PR professionals, listed in no particular order. Most of them are fairly new, although I’ve added a handful of “classics” in marketing, PR and entrepreneurship.
 Thanks for visiting! Claim your free e-course:
"5
Things You Can Do Today
To Increase Your Visibility"
 Elena
Verlee
The Passionate Publicist |
And more 