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.
With Halloween upon us, we’re getting into the spirit of the season and have our favorite scary movies and TV shows on our minds. Can you blame us? Horror movies are packed with breathtaking, spine-tingling, heart-stopping fun. Few things can top a good, hearty scare this time of year. And not only that – the best horror movies go one step further and provide teachable moments that go beyond your seasonal shock. Think about it: A protagonist encounters a conflict they must survive or an antagonist they must overcome. Such stories can provide lessons that apply to anyone and everyone, including those of us in the world of PR. Below are a few of our favorite horror classics and the lessons that PR pros can take away and apply in their professional lives.
1. A Nightmare on Elm Street – When the going gets tough, don’t get caught snoozing.
Being effective and successful in public relations requires you to stay on your toes. You need to keep ahead of any harmful or negative stories that may appear and do your best to protect your client. You must also remain vigilant to position your client for relevant awards, speaking opportunities and newsjacking opportunities that may apply to trending news.
This attentive approach is not unlike being a reporter and staying on top of news developments in preparation for the next big scoop – or in the case of the teenagers in the 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, fighting off sleep to evade an evil spirit who will terrorize you in your dreams. Like the young people in that film, you must catch yourself before you nod off so you don’t fall victim. It’s in those moments when you’re caught off guard that you’re left vulnerable and opportunity is missed.
2. Halloween III: Season of the Witch – Never underestimate the power of an effective marketing strategy.
We all know the indelible mark that an effective marketing campaign can have on our collective consciousness, influencing our brand awareness. Whether it’s from television, radio or our favorite podcast, there are countless slogans, commercials and musical jingles that the average consumer can reference off the top of their head. This can ultimately have a significant impact on products or brands such as your favorite fast-food restaurant, soda, brand of shampoo or choice of candy bar.
The power of marketing is certainly on display in the 1982 cult classic Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The Silver Shamrock toy company markets its popular latex Halloween masks to children with a simple-yet-catchy commercial jingle while promoting its big Halloween giveaway:
Hap-py, Happy Halloween
Halloween, Halloween
Hap-py, Happy Halloween
Sil-ver Shamrock
The masks fly off the shelves, but what the poor kiddos don’t realize is the malevolent intent behind the sale of these masks. The power of marketing should always be used for good and never for nefarious activity.
3. The Walking Dead – Be prepared should you encounter the worst.
Many of us have theoretically planned what we’d do should a zombie apocalypse befall us. Whether it involves being armed to the gills in case of attack or hunkering down at an abandoned facility to serve as a fortified stronghold, compiling a mental checklist for survival really isn’t hard. The popular TV series The Walking Dead, which follows a group of survivors fleeing a zombie horde, has shown viewers what practices would work – and which ones would not.
This foresight and resourcefulness for crisis-planning shouldn’t be limited to instances of when zombies attack. PR professionals should have a plan ready for any potential worst-case scenarios they can foresee regarding client-related projects. This helps minimize the margin for error and eliminate any avoidable mishaps. It’s important to have a protocol in place and crisis-messaging templates on file to ensure processes are followed and executed swiftly. You’re not necessarily anticipating failure but taking proactive steps to protect your client in those instances when things go wrong, leaving one less thing to worry about amid any chaos.
4. Scream – Keep the media on your side, they will only help you find success.
PR professionals rely heavily on journalists. We may not always agree with everything the media writes or reports, but we absolutely need reporters for coverage of the amazing things our clients and partners are doing with their respective businesses. Maintaining a positive working relationship with journalists is essential to our success. Even in those instances when news reports may not be favorable, not appropriately working with media members and neglecting to protect these relationships can lead to harmful publicity for your client, your agency and can impede future coverage.
In the 1996 horror classic Scream, teenager Sidney Prescott is dealing with the anniversary of her mother’s murder when a mysterious new killer terrorizes her town. She often finds herself clashing with the story-chasing, fame-seeking journalist Gale Weathers, who covered her mother’s murder. This strained relationship causes Sidney a great deal of anger and distress. Eventually, the two stop being adversaries, and Sydney learns that her media counterpart can be a truly helpful ally – and that media folks can even avail you when you find yourself in a tight spot.
5. Stranger Things – In the face of adversity, teamwork makes the dream work.
As the group of youngsters from the popular TV series Stranger Things showed viewers, few can overcome an antagonist alone. When their young friend Will Byers goes missing, the group of childhood chums turns to each other to track down their missing friend, demonstrating that the sum of a team is always greater than its parts. They show that working together can make any obstacle attainable. Whether you’re facing an impending PR crisis or a Demogorgon from an alternate dimension, your best course of action likely involves the support of your teammates and those around you.
Incredible results don’t just happen from the work of one person. Many companies rely on the combined successes of multiple departments – sales, marketing, customer service – to achieve their business goals. Campaigns must be appropriately conceived and developed and results must be tracked. For public relations, make the most of your amazing PR team to launch your plan of attack and achieve your desired results. With the power of your team, you may be surprised by what you’re able to accomplish.
In public relations, identifying a company’s target audiences is a foundational step to ensure the right messages are reaching the right people. Defining target audiences also helps to provide clarity and direction throughout nearly every area of a marketing campaign (e.g., plan and strategy development, content mapping and development, media outreach, social media, etc.). Ultimately, effectively reaching the right audiences enables companies to achieve their communication and business objectives.
As we head into a new year, it is wise to reevaluate a company’s business and communication objectives, and the strategies in place to achieve these objectives, to determine if there are areas that should be updated because of external trends or internal changes. As a result of these discussions, there may be a need to revisit the company’s target audiences.
With this in mind, I was intrigued by Fast Company’s article highlighting data from a consulting firm’s 2020 Tech and Media Outlook. The report by Activate lists “the 16 most important” insights for technology and media companies in 2020. An area of the report that stood out was around “super users” and the impact these smaller audiences can have on a business’ bottom line.
The idea of “super users” – or a smaller audience driving a disproportionately large consumption of business – is not a new concept. However, the data from the 2020 report, which forecasted super users as “the imperative for technology and media companies,” can help marketing professionals in these industries more effectively define and target key audiences.
In the report, there were four activities or areas of consumption where super users outperformed other customers: spend, share, time and loyalty. Below are ways marketing decision makers can leverage these four areas to identify their company’s super users and in turn improve target-audience efforts in B2B settings.
1. Spend. Putting a fine-tooth comb to sales data from the last few years can help businesses uncover super users, or the target audiences driving the most business. Narrowing in beyond a customer’s region or industry and getting granular with their age, gender or their job title can help break down a larger audience and uncover potential super users. For example, according to data from the Tech and Media Outlook, in 2019 super users in the experience industry (e.g., concerts, sporting events, etc.) spent more than twice as much a month than all other users. This insight is helpful for businesses so they can see who is driving higher than average consumption and so they can determine if it may make sense to start partnerships or increase promotions to incentivize these groups.
2. Share. According to Activate’s report, super users are 2.3 times as likely to share their experience than other users. “Sharing” can refer to when customers share their experiences with a product/service on social media, as well as when they share reviews on Google or other platforms. Just as a company carefully reviews their sales data, it is important to take a similar approach when analyzing how (and which) customers are talking about their experience with the brand. For example, reviewing and cross-referencing social media follower demographics with engagement patterns can help brands identify which followers are driving engagement. The company can then tailor its posting cadence, content or interaction levels to best provide for the super users who are regularly engaging with the brand. Additionally, analyzing company reviews to better understand which customers or demographics are leaving reviews can help guide company efforts to increase or incentivize reviews among these audiences.
3. Time. In the media and entertainment industries, super users spend 1.4 times as much time every day consuming media as all other users. For the media industries where customers are playing a game or watching Netflix, time can be an easier measurement. For B2B companies, looking at website or blog traffic and the time spent on specific web pages can help flesh out which audiences are investing more time than others. By analyzing time spent, a company can determine if they need to adjust content they are developing to better align with super users’ preferences. If a company can effectively identify and drive “sharing” (as discussed above), it can leverage those findings to improve the time customers spend consuming the product. For example, if a super user shares that they prefer to consume infographics vs. webinars, the company can leverage that insight to drive traffic from similar super-user customers.
4. Loyalty. According to the report, super users purchased products at 4.6 times the rate of all other supers. This demonstrates how super users have extreme loyalty to specific brands, as well as the individuals associated with the brand (i.e., a blogger or celebrity influencer). B2B companies can analyze customer or partner longevity to better understand which industries and customers have been dedicated to the company for a long period of time. The company decision makers can then use this data to offer benefits or create customer loyalty programs to recognize and reward the longstanding customers, as well as drive loyalty among newer existing customers. Securing third-party influencers in the form of analysts or high-profile customers can also help B2B companies drive loyalty but is not always a guarantee.
While a company might not currently have or know its “super users,” analyzing customer patterns around spend, share, time and loyalty can help marketing decision makers identify these valuable individuals in their larger pool of target audiences. Plus, given the high volume of business these super users can drive, it is wise to at least check to see if leveraging their loyalty is a potential for the new year.
Do you consider yourself to be more of a conformist or a maverick? Have you considered trying to cultivate a rule-breaking mentality? Before you answer these questions, you might want to listen to “You 2.0: Rebel With A Cause.”
In this podcast, Shankar Vedantam explores this topic with Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino. Gino’s well-received book Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules in Work and in Life provides the foundation for their discussion.
Gino believes that “the future belongs to the rebel — and that there’s a rebel in each of us. We live in turbulent times, when competition is fierce, reputations are easily tarnished on social media, and the world is more divided than ever before. In this cutthroat environment, cultivating rebel talent is what allows businesses to evolve and to prosper. And rebellion has an added benefit beyond the workplace: It leads to a more vital, engaged, and fulfilling life.”
It is an interesting premise, but to me many of the examples they discussed in the podcast seemed less like rebel acts, and more like examples of ways to improve teamwork, enhance creativity, solve problems or be a more compassionate human being – all important if one wants to be an effective leader.
Take Gino’s example of how a famous chef in Italy regularly unloads produce or sweeps the sidewalk in front of his Michelin-rated restaurant. He doesn’t let his title or position stop him from pitching into help. She asserts that this is a type of rule breaking, but couldn’t it simply be considered being a team player?
In another example, Gino discusses Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s miraculous landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on the Hudson. She discusses his ability, under extreme pressure, to consider his options, keep an open mind, and leverage his past experience to land the plane in the river. There is no doubt that Capt. Sully was calm, made smart decisions, and adopted an unconventional option when no other good choices existed, but he didn’t take these actions in defiance or resistance to established practices. He acted out of necessity, not rebellion.
The last example I’ll cite from the podcast is the story about rebel leaders and vulnerability. According to Gino, rebels aren’t afraid to make themselves vulnerable. To demonstrate this, she often shows her students a video of Maurice Cheeks, the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. The video captures the moment that Cheeks steps into help a 13-year-old girl who has lost her way when singing the National Anthem. He goes to the microphone and sings along with her, in spite of his lack of vocal skills. I will admit I found it emotionally moving and inspiring, but was it truly a rebel act? Shouldn’t we all step up an extend help to another person who is struggling?
Clearly, to be an effective leader one needs to cultivate skills around doing what needs to be done, fostering creativity, being curious, remaining humble and open to learning, considering all the options, being authentic, and a willingness to be vulnerable – but those don’t automatically a rebel make.
Like computers, blogs need to be refreshed and updated periodically to stay valuable. We’ve got you covered with a few tricks on how to give your readers a revived blog.
Writing blogs has become increasingly more important to promote your business and showcase achievements. Blogging enables companies to portray their personalities, share their perspectives on trends, and demonstrate their expertise by using unique approaches that entice their audiences. In addition to the previously listed benefits, blogging also assists in raising awareness, establishing credibility and improving SEO. In fact, companies that maintain an active blog produce 55 percent more website visits than companies without and increase the chance of being ranked highly on search engines by 434 percent.
Before deciding on a style of blog there are several tips that make the overall structure of a blog durable. First, it is important to target a key audience. Defining your audience allows you to tailor the style of the blog based on their preferences and interests. Certain audiences may favor short and sweet posts, while others may value consistency in a publishing schedule and care little about the length of a post.
Second, hitting hot topics in a digestible manner allows the reader to fully appreciate the content of blog post without struggling to follow along. Next time you write a blog post, integrate several images or break it into sections in order to create an organized landscape for the reader.
Lastly, it is crucial to utilize search engine optimization (SEO). When SEO fully encompasses the topics in the article, the website has increased visibility and traffic, generating free exposure.
With a strong sense of audience and organization, the next step is to create a unique style of blogging that will succeed in differentiating your blog as well as securing heavy web traffic and new readers. Consider these:
Micro-Blogging
The first blog style is geared for an audience that is on-the-go constantly, looking for a fast, informative read. Micro-blogs are concise posts that are typically fewer than 300 words. These blogs focus on highlighting company updates and observations on breaking news that may impact the industry.
Live Blogging
Live blogging has changed the game for companies blogging announcements and events. With this style, the writer “live” blogs their piece at a specific time, publishing breaking news instantaneously. A month ago multiple outlets live-blogged Apple’s announcement event for iPhone 11, refreshing the blog every 15 seconds. This method allowed the audience to have an interactive and immediate experience, creating the sensation of being at the event.
Guest Blogging
Lastly, familiarity with the author is extremely important to the reader. Credibility and consistency keep the audience coming back, allowing readers to stay loyal. One way to keep credibility high while bringing in new readers is to invite a guest blogger onto your blog. Publishing an article written by a guest blogger delivers your audience a fresh perspective on content relevant to your industry. With well-known guest bloggers, you can provide fresh perspectives, increase brand credibility and grow awareness by reaching the guest blogger’s audience. Another benefit is that it establishes your company as an “authority figure” given your established relationships with key figures in the industry.
If the new decade has you thinking about a refresh for your blog, you may want to consider employing these tips. Using these effective ways of updating your blog style will help maximize success.
When I was in college, I received a notification on Instagram that something called “The Wash” had requested to follow me. My immediate thought was that a laundromat had taken interest in my life and I didn’t understand why. This confusion led me to click on their icon. When I arrived on their Instagram page, I was surprised by what I found. Instead of the laundromat I was expecting, I saw photos of ice cream and fizzy drinks – it was a new dessert and drink bar housed in what was once a car wash! At the time, they had perhaps 100 followers.
My intrigue (and surprise that they had requested to follow me) lead me to check out the restaurant the following evening, friends in tow. It quickly became our new favorite spot and we told more and more friends to check it out. Now, two years later, it’s a local hub for socializing and nightlife. At time of writing they have 10.9K followers on Instagram.
Looking back on this experience showed me why they had followed me: I was their target demographic. For organizations building out their social media presence, choosing who to follow can increase business, drive revenue, build reputation and develop brand recognition. A “following” list provides a snapshot into who matters to the company.
So, who should your business be following on social media? Keep reading to find out.
Customers
The lifeblood of a company is the customers. Even better than simply following your customers is engaging with them. Customers may air grievances (or offer praise) online, to which you can then respond. This can help bridge the gap between business and consumer, add personality to your brand, and increase brand loyalty and trust.
Employees
Employees can be your best advocates – they represent your company and they’re the ones doing the leg work. Connecting with them on social media platforms creates unity and expresses your interest in them.
Investors/board members
When you follow your investors or board members, you can engage with them more frequently. If they share personal or professional news you can congratulate them, providing an additional layer of relationship development.
Influencers
Influencers in any industry typically have large followings, sometimes with high engagement. A positive relationship with an influencer whose voice matches yours can lead to greater business development.
Industry peers
Following other participants in your industry has several benefits. It can foster camaraderie, inspire creativity within your organization, and keep you up to date on current trends in the space.
People who follow/interact with you
Did you just gain a new follower? Click over to their profile and determine if you should follow them back based on the previous criteria.
How to find people to follow
Now that we know who to follow, we need to determine how to find them.
Search hashtags. By doing this, you can find people having conversations in line with your company’s messaging, or about topics your company would like to start talking about. Pay mind to who’s leading these conversations – browse their past activity and see if it aligns with your brand. Making this effort could prove to be beneficial down the road.
Watch geographically based Instagram stories. Is there an industry event happening? Watch the public Instagram stories for that city, conference center or sponsor and consider connecting with the people posting.
Search your mentions on Twitter. See if there’s an existing conversation happening and determine if those doing the talking are worth following.
Look at who interacts with trending posts on LinkedIn. Are they contributing comments that align with your brand’s messaging? They may be worth a follow. If they’re an industry leader (or talent you’d like to hire), they may be worth a follow.
Always remember, no follow is final. If you see posts showing up on your feed that don’t align with your mission and vision, don’t be afraid to unfollow. Should your business forge a new path, it’s perfectly acceptable to refresh who you’re following on any platform.
As more businesses flock to social media to market their services, they shouldn’t forget to consider who they follow. These tips provide insight into making those decisions.
This week I had the opportunity to spend some time at the GeekWire Summit, a two-day event featuring top tech, business and government leaders who were focused on exploring the future of AI, health tech, transportation, privacy and more.
The entire event was quite informative, but for me there was one panel that stood out. It focused on the impact of podcasts on the future of media, a topic particularly relevant to our business.
In addition, I – like a growing number of Americans – love podcasts and find myself listening to several hours of content on a weekly basis. Often this is when I’m exercising, driving or cooking.
According to GeekWire, “51 percent of Americans listened to a podcast in 2019, up from just 9 percent in 2008, and the growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down.”
They are a wonderful way to take in new information, and I find many of them to be more informative on political issues or current events than TV news programs, especially ones in which people are incessantly and fruitlessly arguing and talking over one another.
Given this, it was with great interest that I tuned into this panel discussion. Todd Bishop, with GeekWire moderated the discussion and his esteemed panelists included:
- Amira Valliani, CEO, Glow
- Phyllis Fletcher, Podcast Editor, American Public Media
- David Payne, President, RainStream Media
- Steve Henn, the former tech correspondent for Planet Money who now leads content strategy at Google.
The discussion began with a reminder that the way we consume media is still rapidly changing. It seems every year there are new technologies being introduced around smart speakers, voice computing and new streaming innovations. All of this means we need to prepare for new storytelling formats and voices, and this will have a significant impact on those of us who work in corporate communications or public relations. Consider the following:
- Podcasts allow broadcast media to reach very different audiences than they’ve historically targeted. Many news outlets are producing shows for niche audiences, freeing journalists and editors to cover topics they feel are relevant. They no longer have to please the masses.
- Podcasts allow people to delve more deeply into a subject. Many of these segments are 30 or 40 minutes. This is a long time and allows for more in-depth coverage of a topic.
- Amira Valliani, who used to work as a speechwriter, explained that often, when writing a speech, she’d focus on identifying a zinger line that might be highlighted in subsequent news coverage. That short line was the one that all the journalists would use in follow-on reporting. Now they have much more opportunity to go deeper. They don’t have to worry so much about the zinger line, but can focus on capturing people’s attention in a manner that allows them to be more deeply informed.
- However, if you do decide to develop a podcast, there is an art to it. You need to be clear on your objectives, why you’re doing it and what success looks like. You need to develop a story arc. What is the rising action, conflict and resolution? Compelling characters are also vital as many successful podcasts are character driven.
- Finally, we should expect additional advancements in podcasting technology. For instance, software may someday be able provide producers and consumers data on which podcasts have higher completion rates. There may also be solutions to make discovery easier. Google apparently is working on creating indexes and transcripts from MP3 files so people can do keyword searches to find podcasts most relevant to them.
If you’re thinking of developing a podcast or reaching out to someone to suggest they produce a podcast on a particular topic, I hope you’ll find these tips helpful.