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.
It’s no secret that sometimes the key to landing a job, a story, an interview or a client can be because you know somebody. But this should not be looked at negatively; fostering good relationships with media and in the business world is a smart and strategic move.
In communications, building relationships is essential. It’s not only building the relationship that is important, but maintaining that relationship as well. This can be through email, phone calls, coffee or dinner, even social media– it is important to stay active in a person’s life.
Act on Networking Relationships
From an early age, my father encouraged me to stay in touch with past employers or internship coordinators. At the time, I didn’t see the value of this “networking.” In my mind, the relationship had ended and I assumed that my previous contacts had far better things to do than to meet for coffee with a teenager. However, there have been points in my career where it has been nice to reach out to my former mentors for a word of advice. It wasn’t until I launched into actual adulthood that I realized the true value of these relationships.
Networking can help bring new ideas to the table or connect with other industry experts who might be able to spread the word about your work or products. These third-party perspectives can make a big difference when it comes to solving business problems or overcoming other hurdles in your career.
Let Your Work Speak for Itself
At Communiqué PR, we often receive client referrals from previous clients or through relationships that we have built. By creating strong relationships with the clients we serve and driving work that meets the client’s business objectives, our clients have been happy to spread the word about the work we do.
Whether it is helping clients launch a product, land product reviews, establish a network of analysts or increase thought leadership, we give 110 percent to every project we do to ensure we are truly adding value to our clients’ business. In the end, happy clients are our greatest asset in growing our business.
Be Smart About Media Relations
In addition, building relationships with reporters can prove to be just as valuable. By crafting smart pitches and reaching out to reporters in a thoughtful and respectful way, we’ve established strong relationships with reporters everywhere from the Puget Sound Business Journal to the New York Times.
Keep in mind that a relationship with a reporter doesn’t mean guaranteed coverage. What it does mean is that a reporter will be more likely to read our emails. It also means that we are more likely to elicit some sort of response, either accepting the pitch or declining it and explaining why the story isn’t a good fit for the reporter at that time. That feedback is helpful and informs our PR strategies and tactics moving forward.
For additional tips on networking and building good relationships, read these previous posts from our blog:
Many situations occur in business repetitively and we often build processes around those activities. For instance, when hiring new employees, many companies and managers have an onboarding process they routinely follow. Similarly, when preparing for a new business meeting, we at Communiqué PR have outlined a process which we typically follow.
The book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg, explains how habits get formed. MIT researchers discovered three core components to habit formation. First there is a cue. When you receive the cue, you act, which is referred to as the routine. Following the routine there comes a reward.
For example, a stressful day might trigger you to put on your running shoes and jog your favorite route, or you might pour a glass of wine and call a friend to chat. The stressful day would be the cue, and how you respond is your routine, which over time often becomes a habit. The run or wine will bring you relief from your feelings of stress.
The book offers a powerful reminder of how both positive and negative habits impact business as well as one’s personal life. In addition, the author shares interesting insight about the halo effect of habits, meaning once you make a change in one area of your business or life there is a spill-over effect and other changes begin to happen.
In chapter four of his book, Duhigg explains how focusing on one keystone habit – improving worker safety, in Duhigg’s example – allowed the manufacturing company Alcoa to reap a plethora of benefits. By improving safety, the company reduced the number of injuries and deaths of employees. This alone was a huge and rewarding emotional and financial benefit. Beyond that, the folks at Alcoa also changed their corporate culture, streamlined communication, and improved the manufacturing processes. Collectively, all of these improvements made the company more successful and significantly increased its profits.
This example got me thinking about processes in our company. While much of the work we do for individual clients is unique, many times the way that we approach it often becomes routine. By continuously working to improve our approach and processes around basic activities, I am confident we will improve our efficiency and effectiveness.
If you are struggling with an issue or challenge that seems to come up repeatedly, I highly encourage you to read this book and think about your routine, what triggers it, and what underlying needs you are addressing for yourself or your business.
Driving awareness, word of mouth and downloads for new mobile phone apps is no small endeavor. The number of mobile app innovations have exploded since Apple’s release of the iPhone, as evidenced by the more than 500,000 apps ready to be downloaded at Apple’s online App Store.
This infiltration of mobile phone apps had the team at Communiqué PR considering the different ways to generate editorial coverage and drive word of mouth for a new app in today’s competitive media landscape. What PR efforts will be most effective in encouraging people to download and use an app over others? How do you get journalists to pay attention to any app when they are being bombarded with requests to write about a host of other products and services?
At Communique PR, we believe there are five essential best practices surrounding successful PR for mobile apps:
1.Remember – differentiation is critical: According to the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), “There was a time when having an app was a press-worthy development.” Today, unless the app presents a revolutionary idea, attention should be focused on a unique aspect of an existing category.
Ask yourself some deep-thinking questions: How can you demonstrate that your application is truly different? What features or benefits does your app have that competitors don’t have?
It will be an uphill battle to market your app if you are only making incremental improvements or if you are entering a crowded category. For instance, consider the health and nutrition tracker apps. Today, there are dozens of apps such as Weight Watchers Mobile, Nutrisystem and MyFitnessPal for tracking weight, calories, exercise and more. To be successful in raising awareness and driving downloads for a new mobile weight-management application, it is vital to show how it is significantly better or different than apps already on the market.
2. Make your app newsworthy: A variety of elements determine the newsworthiness of an announcement. As we point out in an earlier blog post titled, Is Your News Really Newsworthy?, the number of people affected by a story heightens its significance.
Additionally, think about who your target audience is and ask yourself who would care about your app. This is the number one question editors and journalists ask themselves. Think through how your product will resonate with others and whether it’ll be relevant in the fast paced news world.
3. Consider marketing platforms: Marketing platform solutions such as Flurry’s AppCircle program, TapJoy and W3i integrate their clients’ apps with large user networks. Their databases focus on keeping your app ahead of competitors and in the hands of users, helping your app become profitable and popular. TapJoy claims it has more than 200 million mobile customers and W3i asserts they have successfully connected nearly 700,000,000 apps to users.
According to CNET news, breaking into the top 25 lists can dramatically increase downloads and purchases. Consider leveraging one of these platforms to reap such benefits.
4. Define metrics: Generating press associated with an app is incomplete without data. The MMA’s A Brand Marketer’s Guide to the Mobile Web and Mobile Apps claims, “Measurement should reflect the strategy of the mobile initiative goals.” Before releasing an app, establish desired performance metrics. Two possible ways to track progress are engagement and usage.
For any app on the market, a primary form of measuring engagement is the number of downloads. However, be sure to define projected usage time and desired activity. One download for example, does not confirm if a customer is using the application. Tools such as Google Analytics, Flurry and Adobe SiteCatalyst can tag usage and measure activity. A successful marketer must understand whether customers are continuing to engage with the app.
5. Anticipate the costs: Be prepared to adequately fund your program. Driving meaningful media results for an app entering an already saturated market often can be both time consuming and expensive. Financially speaking, ensure the ends will justify the means.
When strategizing marketing for a mobile app, think about these tips.
One of our favorite projects to work on for clients here at Communiqué PR is landing byline articles. Byline articles elevate thought leadership by highlighting content experts, and they also help our clients put themselves in a reporter’s shoes.
Over the past few months, Communiqué PR has helped our clients garner coverage through byline articles. John Scumniotales, CEO and president at Verdiem, had a great guest post in GeekWire last month about workplace culture. In March, Sam Morris, a product marketing manager with Attachmate, was published in the Data Center Journal regarding managed file transfer.
However, landing byline opportunities isn’t as easy as you might think. Below are a few things to keep in mind when considering a guest post or byline article.
- Not all publications are open to bylines. We know that reporters are being stretched thin, but that doesn’t mean they all want guest writers providing content for their publications. It is important to research a publication before pitching a byline idea, which will save you wasted time and rejections from publications that aren’t open to guest posts. Also, just because a publication does accept byline articles doesn’t mean you are entitled to post there. Your pitch will be under an editor’s scrutiny and if you don’t have a strong angle, your article might be rejected.
- Content experts need to be the authors. You shouldn’t rely on ghost writing when it comes to byline articles. While the PR team can help gather content and a framework, in order to be authentic and honest, the content experts need to ultimately feel that the end result is their own work. If you are working on a byline article, make sure the end result reveals your own personal style and voice. The article should contain your own thoughts in your own words, even if you’ve had some help putting the pieces of the story together.
- Articles need to look beyond your own brand. Most publications won’t run articles that have a vendor bias – that’s something more appropriate for an advertorial. A byline should be product neutral and not promote a specific product or service. Rather, byline articles should offer an expert’s perspective on an industry trend or provide a new perspective on an old business problem.
- Consider your audience. Remember that different publications have different audiences, so you will need to tailor your material for each. For example, a business audience that reads the Wall Street Journal likely won’t be interested in the technical details of how a software solution works – they will want to know the overall benefits and how it will impact a company’s bottom line. That said, an InfoWorld reader will likely be interested in the opposite. Make sure you know who your readers will be and what information will be most helpful for them.
For additional tips, read this blog post we published back in 2008: https://www.communiquepr.com/?p=106. It provides some additional ideas and tips on how to make your byline shine.
We never want to lose a client. However, there is at least one situation in which losing a client is cause for celebration.
At Communiqué PR we focus on helping our clients leverage PR in order to achieve their business objectives. Sometimes those business objectives involve selling the company, and by successfully positioning a company for acquisition, we may ultimately lose the account. We have seen this happen over the years with a number of our client companies including SnapIn and Open Interface North America.
In November 2010, we began working with another organization focused on positioning itself for acquisition – The Shops at The Bravern. We strategically targeted our PR activities on securing results that would reinforce that objective. These activities included building local and regional awareness of The Shops at The Bravern, driving retail traffic and sales, and demonstrating momentum within the retail industry. We leveraged key events including Holidays at The Bravern, Fashion’s Night Out, and Sips & Sounds, and tapped into broad trends to help secure the results needed to reinforce the owner’s objectives.
Those efforts paid off in a big way. Earlier this year, our client Schnitzer West sold The Shops at The Bravern to Ashkenazy Acquisitions, achieving its business objectives with the property. Once again, we successfully worked ourselves out of a job.
PR success is measured in many ways. We take pride in helping our clients achieve their business objectives, even if those objectives include setting the enterprise up for acquisition. The strategies and tactics we employ are always focused on the clients’ goals – so we consider it a positive reflection of our success when our clients achieve key milestones, including a successful sale.
Thankfully, we work with a broad range of clients and not all of them are focused on acquisition!
Here at Communiqué PR, we are enthusiastic about staying on top of current ”tools of the trade” that enhance communication. That’s why the new cloud-based presentation software, Prezi, caught our eye. Since learning about the tool, I have noticed multiple presentations in the format, and have even seen LinkedIn profiles boasting to be “Prezi experts.” A recent TedTalk on YouTube Driven Innovation even featured the presentation software.
So what is Prezi? Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that has the unique property of a “Zooming User Interface,” which allows users to zoom in and out of their presentation while navigating it. This property gives Prezi’s a non-linear, brainstorming type of flow, as opposed to the traditional linear style of PowerPoint presentations. Prezi also has features such as Prezi Desktop, which allows paying subscribers to work off-line on presentations, Prezi Meeting which allows up to 10 participants to co-edit presentations in real time online, and Prezi Viewer for iPad, which has the ability to view Prezi presentations on an iPad.
How does Prezi work? Through the Prezi website, you can create your own presentation from scratch, or work from one of their pre-designed templates. Once finished, the presentation can be saved on Prezi’s website, or as an Adobe Flash file if you do not want to rely on internet connectivity. A bonus of being cloud-based is that viewers of a presentation can log on and add notes to a Prezi before, during, or after the presentation itself occurs. Additionally, a viewer of your presentation (if it is made public on the Prezi database) can download and save the file onto their computer for later reference. PowerPoint files can be converted to a Prezi by first saving the PowerPoint in PDF form, and then uploading the PDF onto the Prezi website. Unfortunately, there is no streamlined way to convert a Prezi to a PowerPoint.
What can Prezi be used for? Prezi can be used for any type of presentation to provide a visual aid. Its most popular uses, according to Wikipedia, include business and conference use, education, and miscellaneous types of information visualization (e.g. architectural presentations). Some job seekers have used the tool to create interactive portfolios and ‘Prezumes’ (Prezi + Resume).
How much does Prezi cost? Prezi is free to use, but you can purchase packages with additional features. There are two available deals. For $59 annually, you get more storage space, the ability to privatize your presentations, and the ability to put a custom logo in your presentation. For $159 annually, you can receive even more storage space, as well as a tool called “Prezi Desktop,” which allows for offline editing. Both of these packages are available for 30-day free trials.
How does Prezi compare to PowerPoint? Neither can be distinguished as better—they each work well in different situations. Here is a break-down of the basic differences:
Prezi
- Non-linear structure
- Focused on visual aspects of a presentation
- Cloud-based, so users can access their presentation from anywhere
PowerPoint
- Linear style
- Not cloud based; controlled access to your presentation
If you are looking for a tool to amp up the visual appeal of an upcoming presentation, think about giving Prezi a try!
Have you used this tool before? If yes, what are your thoughts?