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.
In early October, our client Acumatica released its latest product update, 2023 R2. These updates occur twice a year and deliver hundreds of improvements and feature-rich functionality to users.
Acumatica is designed explicitly to enable small and mid-market companies to thrive in today’s digital economy. But Acumatica is more than just a product—it’s a thriving community of partners, customers and creators redefining business software and building the future of business together.
This means Acumatica prioritizes customer feedback to inform its product roadmap. Acumatica is keenly focused on evolving its product with the latest innovations and technologies while addressing the specific, real-world needs of its customers. Product updates are based on real input from its customer base.
Ali Jani, chief product offer of Acumatica, said, “With customer feedback, we can ensure our solution provides organizations with the intelligence and agility to meet their unique challenges. Our diverse community of partners, customers and creators is driven to discover better ways to work. … This collaborative effort enables us to continue delivering cutting-edge solutions that address current needs and anticipate and adapt to the ever-changing business landscape.”
What’s unique about 2023 R2?
- Acumatica Payments, an integrated payment processing solution. The new capability helps businesses enhance cash flow and streamline payment processes by providing credit card and ACH processing with improved reconciliation, mobile portal payments, click-to-pay, and gift cards.
- Access to the world’s largest sales channel by connecting Acumatica to Amazon’s Seller Central marketplace, supporting FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) and MFN (Merchant Fulfilled Network) delivery models.
- Shopify’s new B2B eCommerce functionalities, with support for key features such as customer hierarchies and customer price tiers to seamlessly integrate online sales with Acumatica’s back-end fulfillment processes.
- New web endpoints for Acumatica’s Product Configurator, enabling manufacturers to leverage best-in-class, built-to-order, third-party solutions.
- A highly requested consolidated account reconciliation retainage invoicing feature, which improves project visibility for construction companies.
- A new Manage Sales Allocations screen, which streamlines mass stock allocation and deallocation for distributors, retailers, and commerce merchants.
Acumatica also added several vertical-specific features. Taken from Acumatica’s website, features include:
Distributors, Retailers and Commerce Merchants:
- Capabilities that enable reviewing estimated margin percent and amount calculations during order creation for an entire order and individual line items.
- Features that optionally exclude automatic line discounts, such as volume discounts from order lines for a particular price.
Manufacturers:
- A new user role and the option to lock production order status, which will improve manufacturing cost control and streamline implementation and setup for cost accountants.
- The Acumatica DeviceHub service, which includes automation schedules and predefined printer settings to simplify product order ticket printing.
Contractors and Service Organizations:
- Side panel access for multiple business document maintenance screens that improves end-user navigation.
- Capabilities that enable deactivating cost codes that are no longer used in projects. Once deactivated, the cost codes become unavailable but remain specified in documents so users can continue working.
- Capabilities that support reviewing outstanding AR aging documents and their unreleased retainage for a particular date.
See the full announcement here: Acumatica Upgrades Business Functionality Across Industries with Launch of Latest Product Update.
Part of our communications strategy for 2023 R2 included inviting media and analysts to participate in a roundtable discussion with Acumatica executives. The roundtable took place the week before the product launch and gave attendees the opportunity to ask questions about the details of the release and its impact on users and the broader industry. These efforts continued our focus on building relationships with analysts and media on Acumatica’s behalf.
The announcement has resulted in the below coverage. We anticipate more coverage in the future.
Editorial Coverage
- CPA Practice Advisor – Acumatica Upgrades Business Functionality with Launch of Latest Product Update – 10/5/2023
- ERP Global Insights – ACUMATICA RELEASES PAYMENTS – 10/5/2023
- Solutions Review – Top WorkTech News From the Week of October 6th: Updates from Acumatica, QAD, Infor, and More – 10/6/2023
- Accounting Today – Tech News: FreshBooks rolls out “Collaborative Accounting” – 10/6/2023
- Enterprise Times – ERP news from the week beginning 2nd October 2023 – 10/9/2023
- The 2023 R2 announcement was selected as Steve Books’ “Pick of the week.”
Congrats to the Acumatica team for another successful product launch!
When we think of the NFL, we envision the electric atmosphere of game day, the roar of the crowd, and the thrill of watching your favorite team. Beyond the games, though, the NFL is a sports and social media powerhouse, setting a high bar for audience engagement.
In this post, we’ll explore what public relations professionals can learn from the NFL’s unparalleled expertise in engaging audiences.
Lesson One: Know Your Audience
Understanding the diversity of the NFL fan base is essential.
With millions of fans spanning various demographics and psychographics, the NFL prioritizes creating tailored marketing content and experiences for specific audience segments, varying from location to age and gender. For instance, the NFL Women’s Summit is geared toward women, while the recent Toy Story dress-up campaign appealed to Gen Z and Gen Alpha fans. This personalization fosters a deeper fan connection, as it recognizes their specific preferences and interests.
Public relations professionals should take a page from the NFL’s playbook. A multi-faceted approach to analyzing target audiences can help them understand which messages and content resonate with each sector. They can use this understanding to craft tailored PR strategies to entice target readers.
Lesson Two: Leverage Social Media
The NFL shines in engaging fans through social media platforms. They effectively use X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to leverage cultural trends and current events to capture fans’ attention.
From player updates to memes to nods to pop culture, the NFL’s social media strategies provide a blueprint for PR professionals looking to build brand loyalty and expand their reach.
Lesson Three: Master the Art of Storytelling
The NFL is known for creating emotional connections with fans. For instance, the “Football is Family” campaign used storytelling to emphasize bonds formed through football. By highlighting the personal stories of players and fans, the league demonstrates how football brings people together, becomes an integral part of their lives, and fosters emotional connections.
PR pros can use this storytelling strategy to pull on the heartstrings of target audiences. For example, they can develop testimonials highlighting how clients have impacted their customers beyond dollars and cents.
Lesson Four: Utilize Analytics and Data for Continuous Improvement
Data and analytics are at the heart of the NFL’s success. Teams use data analysis not only to understand fan preferences and behaviors but also to inform business operations.
PR professionals should identify key performance metrics to track their performance. By measuring quantifiable results such as share of voice and audience reach, they can demonstrate the tangible impact of their efforts, driving continuous improvement in PR strategies.
The NFL’s success with audience engagement offers insights for PR professionals seeking to connect with their own audiences in meaningful ways. By understanding their audience, effectively leveraging social media, understanding storytelling, and employing data-driven strategies, businesses can take their PR game to the next level.
As the NFL continues to set the standard for audience engagement, PR pros who embrace these lessons will be better equipped to drive results for clients. The impact of the NFL’s audience engagement strategies will continue to serve as an example of effective strategies that ensure that fans remain at the heart of the game, from tailgates to touchdowns.
Chief marketing officers (CMOs) have, on average, the shortest tenure in the c-suite. In 2022, the average CMO at a top 100 U.S. advertiser had been in that role for just over three years. This creates high-pressure, stressful environments.
Marketing and communication teams often face changing business landscapes, the pressure to hit difficult metrics, and resource constraints. To ease pressure, it can be helpful to lower the perceived stakes of decisions and actions. The idea is to make situations more manageable, to encourage experimentation, and to promote learning.
So, how can marketing and PR professionals lower the stakes, while staying focused on making progress towards important goals? Below I’ll explore three easy, but often overlooked, ways to do this.
Set Incremental and Measurable Goals
Marketing and communications don’t always have clear and measurable performance metrics. This can make effectiveness difficult to evaluate. Large, ambiguous tasks can be daunting and create unnecessary pressure. Fortunately, setting incremental and measurable goals can help lower the stakes. By breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, the overall objective becomes more achievable. And clearly defined steps and accomplishments create more opportunities to celebrate small wins, a great way to increase productivity.
Focus on Growth to Take Setbacks in Stride
Redefining failure encourages a growth mindset, where challenges and setbacks are opportunities for improvement rather than indicators of incompetence. This mindset empowers individuals to view obstacles as steppingstones to success, fostering a more optimistic and motivated environment.
When failure is redefined, there is less fear of mistakes. Team members are more likely to think outside the box, take calculated risks, and experiment with novel approaches. This can lead to increased creativity and the discovery of unique solutions.
Foster Team Collaboration
Collaboration is crucial in fostering a positive and productive work environment. Turning to team members for support creates a sense of camaraderie that can alleviate stress.
A team with a range of skillsets and perspectives can more easily produce innovative solutions and foster collaboration. Just like any sports team, a group with a wide range of skills is better positioned for success. When one person is tired or overwhelmed, others can step in to support and continue making progress to the goal.
In the world of marketing and PR, where stakes can often feel sky-high, finding ways to lower the pressure and stay energized is crucial.
Boosting morale can profoundly impact an organization’s success. Setting measurable goals, embracing a growth mindset, and fostering teamwork pave the way for more effective and enjoyable work. As the marketing and PR landscape evolves, these strategies will serve as valuable tools to stay successful while ensuring the journey is just as rewarding as the destination.
Trust is fundamental. It shapes decisions we make throughout our lives, and healthcare is no exception. Patients entrust their well-being to healthcare institutions and providers. However, the healthcare industry can be daunting and confusing for patients. That makes trust an invaluable currency to foster peace of mind and patient loyalty.
A healthcare institution’s reputation reflects its values, ethics, and commitment to patient care. A strong reputation can enhance the institution’s credibility, attracting patients, top-tier medical professionals, and strategic partnerships. Conversely, a tarnished reputation can damage trust and cause declines in both revenue and talent acquisition.
Effective PR initiatives help institutions convey their mission, values, and dedication to patient care. Here are six ways PR shapes trust in healthcare institutions:
Transparency and Communication: Clear, honest, and transparent communication is key to building trust. PR professionals work to ensure that institutions communicate openly about their mission, services, treatments, success stories, and even challenges.
Improving transparency and communication begins by investing in a strategic internal communication plan. Employees are your most valuable audience as they act as an extension of your brand. Clear and transparent internal communication helps foster a positive working environment and encourages internal stakeholders to amplify your messaging.
Crisis Management: No institution is immune to crisis. A well-prepared PR team can mitigate damage by handling crises transparently, efficiently, and empathetically. A carefully crafted crisis-management approach preserves trust during these difficult times.
Healthcare institutions understand the importance of emergency preparedness. This is why hospitals and other organizations practice emergency drills by opening their command centers and role-playing disaster situations. In these drills, the Public Information Officer is likely being played by a PR professional, ensuring accurate and timely information is disseminated to various audiences, including the general public.
Storytelling: Every patient has a unique story. PR experts use these stories to showcase the institution’s commitment to patient-centric care. Sharing real-life experiences helps potential patients connect to the institution on a personal level, making its mission and services more relatable.
Real people telling their stories of success evokes institutional trust in a direct and personal way. A general audience sees these testimonials as more authentic since former patients don’t necessarily have a vested interest in promoting the institution.
Thought Leadership: Positioning healthcare professionals as thought leaders not only elevates their status but demonstrates the institution’s expertise, which can increase referrals and appointments. Thoughtful commentary on industry trends, breakthroughs, and challenges can position providers as reliable and knowledgeable sources.
Health is our most valuable asset. Trusting caregivers with our well-being is difficult. By establishing your institution and specialists as thought leaders, you enhance your credibility, differentiate yourself from competitors, and increase the likelihood that you’re chosen over others.
Community Engagement: Healthcare institutions don’t exist in isolation. Each is part of a larger community. Active engagement highlights an institution’s dedication to the well-being of its community.
Active community engagement helps institutions gain a better understanding of the unique challenges and needs of the population they serve. This insight allows them to tailor services and preventive efforts to address these specific concerns, leading to improved health outcomes for the community.
Digital Presence: Today, an online presence is essential. PR specialists know how to skillfully manage healthcare institutions’ digital platforms to disseminate accurate information, share patient success stories, and promptly address concerns.
Amid information overload and skepticism, healthcare institutions must foster trust by prioritizing their reputations. Effective PR strategies play a pivotal role in shaping the public perception of these institutions, influencing patient decisions, and attracting top talent. By communicating transparently, engaging with the community, showcasing expertise, and managing crises adeptly, PR professionals can bolster the trustworthiness of healthcare institutions and ensure their sustained success in a competitive landscape.
A few weeks ago, a colleague shared an article about how generative AI could reduce billable hours in the PR industry. The author argued that AI’s ability to enhance productivity and efficiency poses a significant challenge to businesses that rely on hourly billings.
Disruption of this model could be problematic for many firms, especially considering this 2022 study by Gould+Partners. It shows the average PR agency staff member billed 1,685 hours at $250 per hour, resulting in $421,250 in revenue.
While some predict AI will reduce the number of billable hours, I actually believe it will have the opposite effect. Rather than decreasing billable hours, AI can help PR firms work more efficiently and effectively, which can increase the amount of billable work. Here’s why:
AI makes non-billable tasks more efficient
Essential non-billable tasks such as business development, general correspondence, email, and expense tracking are time-consuming, especially for boutique agencies without substantial operations staff. AI can streamline these tasks for these smaller, more nimble firms. This frees their PR professionals to spend more time on billable activities like strategic planning, client interactions, and creative campaign development, ultimately enhancing efficiency and agency revenue.
A working paper from the Harvard Business School found that generative AI can improve employee performance on some realistic consulting tasks. The study showed AI tools like ChatGPT-4 helped consultants complete some tasks 25% faster than other consultants who did not use AI. It also increased the performance of these tasks by more than 40% and task completion by more than 12%.
Less time spent on non-billable tasks translates to more billable hours.
PR Professionals are still creators
Generative AI is great at composing but bad at thinking. Even with AI, PR professionals are still curating information, asking the right questions, and directing the work. The product is the result of our knowledge and perspective, not AI’s large language models. AI is just another tool that we have at our disposal.
Rick Rubin writes in his book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, “No matter what tools you use to create, the true instrument is you. And through you, the universe that surrounds us all comes into focus.”
We wouldn’t solely credit the camera for a masterpiece photograph. The same is true with AI in PR. The human orchestrating the strategy, framing the content, and developing the product remains the true creator.
Consider the ill-fated Gannett experiment. The company abandoned its recent attempt at using AI-generated sports recaps after facing criticism over the poor quality and lack of accuracy of those stories.
The Harvard Business School working paper also found that more complex consulting tasks were beyond what it called AI’s “jagged frontier.” In other words, AI was a detriment to tasks that demand strategic thinking or a nuanced understanding of the subject matter. The study asked consultants to analyze financial spreadsheet data along with interviews with company insiders, then to make predictions about brand performance and suggest strategic actions. According to the study, the consultants using AI were far less likely to produce accurate solutions than those consultants not using AI.
Creating strategy and content still necessitates the time and attention of an individual (or multiple individuals), who must understand and think deeply about a client’s objectives, market dynamics, competition, positioning, story evolution, and more. This complex strategic thinking will continue to translate to ample billable work.
Relationships drive the work
The heart of professional services is the art of cultivating and sustaining human relationships. Regardless of advances in AI, it cannot emulate the trust, rapport, and nuanced understanding we foster. If anything, I believe new AI tools will allow us to be better prepared and have more time to engage in meaningful human discussions.
The other day, I used ChatGPT to review my meeting objectives and develop a list of questions to help facilitate the discussion. In this way, I used ChatGPT as a “Centuar,” the Harvard Business School study’s designation for a user who delegates specific tasks to AI. (Other users who more seamlessly integrate AI into their work were labeled “Cyborgs.”)
Of course, I had to edit and reshape some AI-generated questions, but they were still helpful. Preparing this list enabled me to make better use of the other person’s time and think more creatively about how I might approach specific subjects. And, importantly, that interaction led to significant additional work for our firm.
AI Can’t Navigate Complexity and Ethics
Public relations and consulting are laden with ethical questions and intricate decisions. PR professionals must decide how and when to present information, how much information to disclose, and how to avoid perpetuating stereotypes and biases. While AI has shown promise in data analysis and preliminary decision-making, it often oversimplifies situations that require nuanced human understanding.
Leonardo Nicoletti and Dina Bass reported in Bloomberg Technology that Stable Diffusion’s learning, text-to-image model amplifies stereotypes about race and gender because its training data is mostly from the U.S. and reflects the inequities systemic to our culture. This bias in Stable Diffusion’s output and presumably the output from other generative AI models is one that we humans must consider and mitigate.
It can be easy to misconstrue AI as a looming threat to PR job security and the industry’s traditional billing models. Yet, a closer examination suggests a more nuanced picture. Instead of being a competitor, AI emerges as a tool to augment the PR professional’s toolkit. By automating the mundane, AI paves the way for professionals to hone specialized skills, chart strategic directions, and foster more meaningful client engagements.
Historic technology shifts, like the computer revolution, have continually reshaped how work gets done. Shifts like these render some jobs obsolete while creating new jobs. What doesn’t change, though, is the work. As AI ascends, we can anticipate new roles centered around AI strategy, management, and application.
While AI offers impressive benefits and reshapes the landscape of professional services, it cannot overshadow the unparalleled value human professionals bring. In the end, the work of people using new tools will define the future of these industries.
For more of our team’s perspective on AI, please check out these articles:
Writing an article for your client on a technical subject matter can be daunting. Industry jargon, technicalities and the subject’s inner workings can make this kind of writing uniquely complex.
However, writing about a technical subject from an outside perspective has its own advantages. It helps ensure the language is accessible and clear to a new audience. In this blog post, I uncover four tips for writing clear, accurate and impactful technical articles.
Establish a General Understanding of Your Topic
Before writing, it’s crucial to conduct thorough research. In my previous blog “Five Ways to Gain Deeper Insight into Your Client’s Industry,” I explore strategies to establish a strong foundation in your client’s field. This includes conducting a SWOT analysis, staying current with industry developments, pinpointing key industry publications and familiarizing yourself with industry-specific terminology.
Technical subjects are inherently complex, so research is an essential step before writing. Trying to write a technical article without a fundamental grasp of the subject matter can lead to a confusing and frustrating writing process.
Utilize Information from Your Client
When crafting a technical piece, leverage your client’s existing knowledge. After all, they are experts in the field. However, it’s essential to be mindful of your client’s time. Be sure to use resources they’ve provided before seeking clarifications. For instance, blog posts, white papers and past interviews can provide valuable information, each offering insights into the technical intricacies you’re addressing.
However, if you’re tackling a topic that’s new for your client, it’s helpful to arrange an interview with one of their subject matter experts (SME). This ensures you’re working with accurate information. You should prepare for an SME interview by crafting a set of well-thought-out questions. During the interview, don’t hesitate to ask follow-up questions to help develop a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
Examine Your Work from an Outside Perspective
While you’re writing, you should pause periodically to evaluate whether your work is clear. This might seem obvious, but not doing so is a common mistake in technical writing. Especially when dealing with technical subjects, the article may appear logical as you compose it, but taking a step back can reveal potential areas of confusion.
Try to examine your work from your audience’s perspective. Not all your readers will have expertise in the subject. It may be necessary to define acronyms or terminology so the central themes of your article remain interconnected and understandable to a broader audience.
Leverage Peer Reviews
Peer reviews can help you see your writing with a fresh set of eyes. This practice is particularly advantageous for articles with a high degree of complexity, as it aids in identifying areas of potential confusion. An outside perspective will help you see if your article is technically correct and clearly written.
Leveraging the expertise of a colleague familiar with the article’s subject matter can help identify inaccuracies and provide useful examples. Conversely, feedback from a coworker who is less familiar with your client can simulate the viewpoint of a reader new to the subject. Both types of peer reviews can be highly beneficial.
Don’t let a complex subject intimidate you. Instead, take a moment to pause and consider the core message and key points you want to convey. By gaining a comprehensive grasp of the subject, tapping into your client’s insights, adopting a different perspective and incorporating peer reviews, you can simplify the writing process and ensure that your work is clear and impactful.