A recent article on PR and start-ups in the Silicon Valley by Claire Cain Miller of the New York Times, reminds PR professionals that the media landscape continues to evolve and the role PR plays is crucial to helping clients navigate these new waters.
Cain Miller recounts a recent brainstorming session she attended with publicist Brooke Hammerling with Brew Media Relations and her client, entrepreneur Erin McKean, to discuss launch plans for a new Web site called Wordnik, an online dictionary. Cain Miller describes the setting of the business meeting as investors and key stakeholders of the new Web site discuss PR plans surrounding the launch:
- Planning a press tour for the launch, Hammerling suggests briefing influential technology bloggers from sites including TechCrunch.com, All Things Digital and GigaOM.com. However, Roger McNamee, a tech investor who is backing Wordnik, disagrees with Brook’s plans arguing that bloggers are “cynical”.
- Given Roger’s contempt towards bloggers they decide Hammerling would “whisper in the ears” of Silicon Valley’s who’s who, in hopes they will pass the word along to their colleagues and other influentials in the technology space via social mediums like Twitter.”
While Wordnik sparked attention with reporters from publications such as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, the company missed out on a key opportunity to build relationships with influential bloggers who could have played an important role in promoting the new start-up. Technology blogs like TechCrunch, All Things Digital and GigaOM often have very large readerships, break important technology news and highlight up and coming companies that are influencing emerging industry trends.
The launch of Wordnik clearly illustrates the importance of social media; but it also illustrates the pivotal role PR professionals can play in executing a successful PR campaign. As you or your company work to develop a strategic PR campaign consider the following:
Clearly outline your objectives. It is important to have a clear understanding of your company’s (or client’s) business objectives and align your PR strategies with these goals. Strategically aligning PR strategies with business objectives can give a company the biggest bang for its buck and significantly impact a company’s business including expanding its customer base, increasing revenue and enhancing the perceived value of the company.
Educate your clients and provide strategic counsel. In the case of Wordnik, the launch may have been more successful had Hammerling educated McNamee and the executive team on why she believed it would be important to reach out to influential tech bloggers for the launch. If there’s disagreement about a specific strategy in the PR plan, it’s important to understand your client’s interests and rationale. As Bruce Patton, cofounder of the Harvard Negotiation Project and coauthor of the best-selling book Getting to Yes articulated in the book, Strategic Public Relations, “…share what is valid about that person’s perspective and where and why you differ. In general don’t just explain your solution, but also how you got there”
Don’t ignore social media and other emerging technologies. Wordnik experienced moderate success with social media. On the evening that it went live, approximately 1.43 million people saw tweets about the launch and in the week following the launch more than 40,000 people visited the Web site. While traditional PR tools such as press releases, pitches and exclusives can be effective vehicles to disseminate news, it’s important to leverage emerging mediums such as social networks and blogs.
To learn more about developing strategic PR campaigns, send us an e-mail at info@communiquepr.com.