Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Both safety and affordability are deciding factors when families are looking for a suitable city for senior living. Nobody wants to be in a situation where they have to give up the comfort of a safe neighborhood for senior living, or conversely, pay an exorbitant amount of money for senior care because it is located in a safer area. Because many families are rushed into making senior living decisions, understanding the local market helps ensure people are not sacrificing safety for affordable senior housing.
To help families navigate the senior living decision process and better understand options both locally and nationally, A Place for Mom – the nation’s largest senior-living referral service – conducted a study examining the top and bottom places in the country to find safe and affordable senior housing. This study is part of an ongoing research program designed by APFM to provide information and tools to families that allow them to better plan for the future.
Understanding the Findings
In order to come up with the rankings, APFM analyzed national senior living prices in conjunction with FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data to compute percentile ranks for violent crime, property crime and median senior housing costs for more than 380 cities. By examining the information, APFM’s data scientist Ben Hanowell was able to determine 1) the cities with the best balance of safety and senior housing affordability; 2) the most affordable low-crime cities for senior housing; and 3) the least affordable high-crime cities for senior housing. Based on the findings, APFM was also able to produce an interactive map to help people find the safest cities with the best senior housing costs.
So which cities rank highest and lowest for senior living affordability relative to local crime rates? Below are the top and bottom 10:
| Top 10 | Bottom 10 |
| Bristol, TN | San Jose, CA |
| Kingman, AZ | Worcester, MA |
| Dalton, GA | San Francisco, CA |
| Bristol, VA | Seattle, WA |
| Sebastian, FL | Baltimore, MD |
| West Lafayette, IN | Oakland, CA |
| North Port, FL | Bridgeport, CT |
| East Lansing, MI | San Diego, CA |
| Lake Havasu City, AZ | Hayward, CA |
| Fort Walton Beach, FL | Aurora, CO |
The findings show that cities with low crime rates and low senior housing costs tend to be in smaller, less densely populated cities, especially in the South and Midwest. The cities with both high crime rates and high senior housing costs tend to be in densely populated urban areas, especially on the West Coast. That being said, it should be noted that just because crime rates are higher in big cities, it doesn’t necessarily make them undesirable for seniors. Bigger cities tend to have higher crime rates in general due to larger populations, so in comparison crime may be higher, but relatively speaking the city could still be considered safe. Larger cities also offer access to a host of amenities that many smaller cities cannot provide, which is an important factor for many people when searching for senior care.
To help inform families about the research, APFM – with the support of Communiqué PR – embarked on a media outreach campaign targeting local markets in which the top cities for affordable and safe senior living are located. Outlets from across the country reported on the study, with a few highlights including:
- Northwest Florida Daily News: Fort Walton Beach ranked in top 10 of safest cities for seniors
- Kingman Daily Minor: Kingman ranks second in nation in senior living
- Havasu News: Havasu ranks high in senior care
Congratulations to APFM for another successful campaign created to help families better plan for senior living and care. Be sure to also check out the full report hosted on the APFM webpage, where visitors can review the research in more detail and access tools designed to find reasonably priced senior living in a safe city close to home.
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Standing out is tough. As PR professionals, we can empathize with that statement. We battle daily for journalists’ time and attention. We have to consider which story is most likely to catch their eye, what assets we can we provide to entice them to request an interview, and how to package all of it into a succinct, intriguing email.
I recently came across an article called What You Need to Stand Out in a Noisy World, in Harvard Business Review. The author, Dorie Clark, a marketing and strategy consultant and author, explains what you need to separate yourself from the crowd. In the process of researching her book, Stand Out, Clark interviewed 50 top thought leaders in a variety of industries and came to realize there are three elements that are essential to getting ideas understood and accepted. The three elements are:
- Social Proof
- Content Creation
- A Strong Network
While Clark focuses her article on how you can stand out as an individual, these elements are relevant to a variety of situations, including PR. I’ve outlined how we can leverage her findings on behalf of our clients.
Social Proof
Clark defines social proof as an aid to help people make a judgement about something. In the case of an individual, it could be the company they work for or the university they attended. At Communiqué, we work with a number of early stage companies and brands that are working to raise awareness of their offerings. In order to create social proof and build credibility among journalists, one of the most effective ways to elevate our clients’ brands is to align them with other respected brands. For instance, naming major customers, important strategic partnerships, and impressive board member or investors helps build trust with a company that isn’t a household name yet.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, this is sometimes easier said than done. Often, customers and partners require approvals before speaking about a deal publicly. We recommend that whenever companies are working through negotiations, they include permission to name their partner or customer directly into the contract. This will help save time and ensure that brands can display their hard-earned social proof.
Leveraging social proof will get the audiences you are trying reach, often journalists first, then ultimately the journalist’s audience, to take the company and its goals more seriously. They’ll know that these credible companies or individuals will have properly vetted the company before choosing to align with them.
Content Creation
In the context of PR, this might feel like a no-brainer. PR activity ultimately depends on the business objectives of each company, but more often than not, we recommend our clients include byline development in their plans, as they are a great way to build credibility. Developing and placing articles in key publications has several benefits.
First, it establishes the author as a thought leader. It gives the audience insight into the trends they are observing, influencing and predicting.
Second, it allows the author to control the message. If a company has a complicated story, telling it through bylines will help accurately communicate all aspects of their story and vision and educate the audience.
Third, it’s another way to build social proof. If someone is a published author in credited outlets, then the ideas and perspectives they are sharing are more likely to be considered insightful and people will be more inclined to take interest.
A Strong Network
As are many industries, PR is an industry focused on relationships. As mentioned earlier, journalists are flooded with pitch ideas daily. It’s important to reach out to them with thoughtful, relevant pitches in order to gain their trust. As you demonstrate the value of the ideas you are presenting, build a relationship with them that will allow you to leverage the relationship on behalf of your clients. This will take time, but will be a valuable advantage to you and your firm.
It is also critical that we assist clients build their own relationships with the journalist. Before briefings, provide clients with background information on the journalist and the call objective. This will allow them to go into the call prepared and present the journalist with the information they need. If journalists have productive, insightful conversations with the sources you connect them with, they will likely come back to your client as a source for future stories.
Next time you begin working on a campaign or a plan for a client, consider these foundational elements of standing out. Effectively integrating them into your daily work will help you achieve greater success on behalf of your clients.
As we kick off 2017, it’s an opportune time to consider media training for your spokespersons.
Consider the following. Since last year, have your messages changed or evolved? Have spokespersons had an opportunity to practice delivering those messages in a clear and consistent manner? Do you have new subject matter experts or executives who need to brush up on their interview skills? Is your organization targeting different vertical press, with whom executives have limited experience or interaction?
If the answer to any of the above questions is an emphatic “yes!” you may be in the market for media training. Whether it’s your organization’s first or fifth media training session, media training provides executives with an opportunity to practice delivering key messages, address tough questions, and receive meaningful feedback and coaching from PR pros.
This week, we conducted media training for a new client and want to recap some of our top tips and tricks for acing your next briefing.
Before the briefing:
- Know your objective: Be clear with the reason you’re speaking to a reporter. Have key messages, data and examples to share before you hop on the phone with a journalist.
- Work to understand the journalist’s angle: Review the briefing document provided to you by your PR team. Understand the journalist’s previous coverage and the story for which you will be a source.
- Practice answering anticipated questions: a PR team worth their salt will provide you a list of anticipated questions. Practice, practice, practice. Infuse your answers with key messages, but do so in a way that feels natural and authentic to you.
- Prepare soundbites: Prepare a list of three-five speaking points and potential soundbites you’d like to see in print. Pithy one liners aren’t always improvised.
During the briefing:
- Strive for simplicity: Use plain language, and avoid jargon. Your role is to educate and engage the reporter.
- Listen for key opportunities: Share your knowledge on industry trends, or bridge to key messages. The goal of a briefing isn’t just to share “your” news or story. It’s also to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
- Write down the journalists’ questions: Particularly if you’re prone to tangents, it’s critical to write down the questions (or have a colleague or PR manager assist with this). Return to the question at the end of your response to ensure you’ve addressed it.
- Ask questions: Clarify a reporter’s questions to assess his/her depth of knowledge. Ask what he/she is seeing in the industry to build rapport and keep the briefing conversational. Check in to ensure he/she understands you. This has the added benefit of showing you’re audience centered.
- Correct misunderstandings/inaccuracies: Anything shared during a briefing could end up in print, so it’s important to nip inaccuracies in the bud during the briefing.
- Communicate with intention: Share your passion! Get the reporter excited about the industry and your company by speaking with enthusiasm.
After the briefing:
Your PR team will likely handle the post mortem, from double checking facts and quotes to following up with the reporter to deliver images or additional information.
If you are owning the relationship with the reporter, however, make sure you deliver on any promised materials. For example, if you mentioned that you’d like to provide more information to better address a reporter’s questions, do so. Establish yourself as a reliable, helpful source – and you’re more likely to have a reporter’s ear in the future.
For more tips and tricks, check out our past posts:
There are a daunting number of conferences held each year and determining which ones are worthwhile to attend can be overwhelming. Conference topics can range from broad, all-inclusive tech to consumer facing to niche conferences focusing on a specific product like smartphones. Some conferences are well known and long established, like SXSW or TechCrunch Disrupt, but recently, a fairly new conference has risen to be one of the biggest tech conferences in the U.S. in just three years, the Collision Conference.
May 2-4, 2017 marks the weekend of the 4th annual Collision Conference. Collision was created by the same team that brings us Web Summit, Europe’s largest technology market place and conference. Over 53,000 people attended Web Summit this past year and much of its popularity stems from the idea that the conference is ‘a little different’ than similar events. In fact, much of Web Summit’s original fame came from one of the conferences networking events back in 2011, a pub crawl through Dublin led by U2’s Bono. This same idea of creating an event that deviates from the normal conference rotation is behind the traction the Collision Conference has gained over the last three years. The 2017 conference is expected to have over 20,000 attendees, almost 10,000 more than last year, and will continue to grow.
Collision has been called “America’s fastest growing tech conference” and there are a few factors that differentiate Collision from other conferences. The conference saw a spike in attendance after moving to New Orleans for the 2016 conference, which many conference attendees found to be a refreshing change from the tech focused cities like San Francisco, New York and Collision’s previous location Las Vegas, where a majority of tech conferences are held. It also coincides with New Orleans Jazz Fest, running from April 28 to May 7, which attracts additional attendees to the conference. The Collision website even has a slogan saying, “Come for Collision. Stay for Jazz Fest.” This, combined with networking events like pub crawls and exclusive VIP and speaker events, creates a laidback and refreshing atmosphere that attracts new startups and business giants alike.
Collision 2016 attracted impressive speakers, media and attendees, a trend that will no doubt carry over to this year’s conference. Past speakers include Max Levchin, founder of PayPal, Gary Briggs, CMO of Facebook, Stewart Butterfield, CEO of Slack and Linda Boff, CMO of General Electric. Media attendance is equally impressive, with over 1,200 media attendees signed up for 2017. This includes top-tier publications like WIRED, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and Business Insider. Media of this caliber is especially enticing to many of the startups that attend the conference hoping to spread awareness of their brand and demo new products.
Companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple and IBM will be participating in events throughout the conference, offering valuable networking opportunities for individual attendees and smaller businesses. The conference is known to put a large emphasis on startups, there were upwards of 650 startups in attendance at the 2016 conference, and the number is expected to grow this coming year. Startups can apply for ALPHA, which allots selected companies an exhibition stand, three tickets, and access to investors and workshops. Though there is a startup exhibition every day, each company only exhibits for one, allowing them to explore the rest of the conference for the remaining days. This is an excellent opportunity for new or growing startups to network, secure funding or simply display their product or concept. To complement the startup focus, successful startups like Uber, Airbnb and DropBox will also be speaking and attending conference events.
Collision also covers a variety of industries, which is why it is actually a collection of 12 separate smaller conferences, each with its own name, stage, events and specific focus. Listed at the end of this post are the 10 industry focused mini-conferences with their names and focus ranging from the auto industry to the music industry, but each with an emphasis on how technology is growing and impacting the industry. The final two conferences are actually networking events, Pub Summit and Night Summit, that are held each evening after the main conferences and speakers end at 5 p.m. A ticket to the Collision conference grants you entry to each of the individual conferences; you simply have to choose which one best applies to your business.
When searching for worthwhile conferences for your company or a client’s company, Collision should be one to consider. As with all conferences, you must weigh the costs and benefits to decide if it will be a good fit. Collision has its pros and cons, and while some previous attendees have said they will not return, a majority do and have spoken highly of the opportunities Collision awarded them.
The 10 Mini-Conferences
AutoTech – Collision’s autonomous vehicles, connected cars and the Internet of Things conference
Binate.io – Collision’s data conference, a good fit for data scientists and data and analytics companies
creatiff – Collision’s design conference, over 3000 designers and creatives attend
FullSTK – Collision’s “what does the future hold?” conference, targeted at developers, investors, futurists, engineers and computing experts
Music Notes – Collision’s music and technology conference that brings brands, artists and labels together
PandaConf – Collision’s marketing and ad technology conference
Planet:tech – Collision’s environmental impact, sustainability and environmental technology conference
SaaS Monster – Collision’s SAAS conference for big data
Startup University – Collision’s conference focusing on creating successful startups
Talk Robot – Collision’s conference for artificial intelligence, robotics and hardware
As PR professionals, our success hinges on getting buy-in from clients on our ideas. Without clients’ approval to execute our strategies, we cannot drive results. But getting buy-in can be challenging, particularly if your idea is out-of-the-box. Kodak, for example, chose not to pursue digital cameras after the first one was developed in their lab because they didn’t think it could become better than film and therefore didn’t see it as a good investment.
In order for a client to sign off on an innovative idea, you must develop a strong case to support and sell it. Below are four tips to help you successfully pitch your ideas and gain your client’s approval.
Explain how it helps achieve their goals. When presenting a new idea, you must help your client understand how it will help achieve their overall business and communication objectives. When presenting your idea, be sure to clearly outline your plan for execution, a proposed budget, and an anticipated return on investment. For example, if you propose that your client should invest in a co-branded whitepaper, your presentation should include how much the whitepaper will cost, a summary of the anticipated results, and how those results will help move the needle for your client.
Show examples of success. Back up your argument by showing how this strategy has been executed successfully in the past. Your client will feel much more confident investing in your idea if they see that a similar strategy drove stellar results for another company. If you’re proposing something new that hasn’t been done before, do some research to prove your idea will work. Look for evidence in industry research, information from credible external sources and relevant case studies that support your claims.
Appeal to all stakeholders. Oftentimes, there are multiple stakeholders within an organization who must sign off on your proposal before you can move forward. It is important to understand who those stakeholders are and where their priorities lie so you can ensure your proposal addresses the needs and concerns of everyone involved in the decision-making process. If your client’s marketing director and VP of product development fully support your idea but the CEO isn’t on board, it will not come to fruition.
Encourage collaboration. Make it clear that your proposal is a work in progress and you want your client’s feedback to make it as strong as possible. Collaborating with your client on your proposal will give them a sense of ownership and make them feel more invested in the idea. They will also feel more comfortable committing to a proposal if they know they can work with you to change certain elements so it better suits their needs and preferences.
Getting buy-in from clients can be challenging at first, but if you communicate your ideas effectively and prove that your ideas drive results, over time the process will become much easier.
Many companies implement PR campaigns to drive awareness of their products and services with the goal of reaching buyers. Earned media can be a wonderful way to attract and motivate buyers to visit your web site, research your product, or sign up for a trial. Earned media can help you drive more top-of-funnel activity for your company or client.
As lead scoring within CRM and marketing automation solutions becomes more sophisticated, the PR professional should take a few minutes to become familiar with it. As every good sales person knows, not all leads are equal. PR people need to understand the general concepts of lead scoring as it might inform decisions about campaigns and help them be more effective.
For instance, if I know that my client wants to reach owners of privately held independent insurance firms selling property and casualty insurance with revenues of $20 million in the Midwest, I am going to design and implement a very different PR campaign than if the goal is reaching providers of health insurance with revenues in the billions. Lead scoring can help you hone in on the prospective buyers your campaign should reach.
The first step in understanding lead scoring is to become familiar with the terminology. You will want to understand the difference between lead scoring and grading, how rules-based lead scoring differs from predictive lead scoring, as well as the meaning of a few other key terms. Let us begin.
Lead Scoring. According to Melissa Day, senior consultant with SmartAcre, a demand generation agency, lead scoring is the process of assigning a numerical value to a potential buyer based on his or her behavior. For instance, if a potential buyer watches three videos on your website, your marketing automation software might assign a particular score to her. That score is likely to be higher than that of the prospective buyer who watches only one video. Behavior-based scores might be assigned to things like number of live-streamed events watched, surveys completed, tradeshow visits, or web searches.
Lead Grading. This is the process of grading the buyer based on a demographic profile. Common company-specific demographic data used in lead grading are annual revenue, number of employees, and geographic location. Some people also use individual-specific demographic scoring rules based on a person’s title, role, purchasing authority or other attributes.
Rules-Based Lead Scoring. This is the process in which you or software assigns a ranking or score based on a prospect’s behavior, demographic profile, or some combination of behavior and demographic data. You or your software might assign a numerical score, or use rankings like “hot,” “warm” or “cold.”
Predictive-Lead Scoring. Some experts believe predictive-lead scoring will replace rules-based lead scoring. Predictive-lead scoring is the advance process of using machine learning to combine and analyze much larger data sets to identify buyers. According to Valerie Levin, this is “even more accurate than basic [rules-based] lead scoring, because of its correlation between patterns discovered in both a company’s first-party data and general third-party trends.” Other experts believe that they initially will use predictive-lead scoring to identify buyers, however, once those buyers have embarked on their journey and are in the funnel, the sales team will leverage rules-based scoring to nurture them along.
A number of companies have developed specialized predictive-lead scoring software. For instance, Versium Predict which is used by Microsoft Dynamics 363 allows users to leverage predictive lead scoring with Dynamics so sales and marketing teams can build predictive models, score leads and enhance their lead data. Dynamics CRM administrators can download Versium Predict from the Microsoft preferred provider solution site.
“By automating the predictive analytics process and leveraging our LifeData®, Versium Predict removes the dependencies on data science professionals and turns Dynamics into one of the most intelligent CRM solutions in the industry,” said Chris Matty, founder and CEO of Versium. “Initial feedback has been very positive and we are looking forward to announcing additional integrations soon.”
Negative Scores. Some lead scoring systems assign negative scores for actions like unsubscribing to an email, not visiting the website for an extended period, or complaining about spam. Negative scores can be helpful to sales and marketers and can eliminate them wasting time on low-probability-of-conversion leads.
For more on lead scoring, I recommend looking at this blog from SmartAcre. They have a nifty chart that breaks down how to combine grades and scores to determine if the buyer needs more engagement, is ready for a sale, is not a good fit, or should try another product.
For more information on Versium Predict, please check out our blog with links to additional articles.
Finally, I if you are designing your own rules-based lead grading and scoring system, I highly recommend download Marketo’s “Big List of Lead Scoring Rules.” In it, they have listed more than 50 explicit scores and more than 200 implicit scores to help you come up with the right rules for your leads. You can download this guide here.