Old habits die hard. This is what sprung to mind while I was recently talking to David Meerman Scott, PR guru, author, and consultant who more than anyone has helped PR evolve in the 21st century.

While everyone’s business has had to change in this 24/7 always-on, mobile world, we as PR practioners (and here I am as guilty as anyone!) often release news according to our schedule and timing, not that of the media. Like gladhanding politicians, we knock on journalists’ virtual door fronts with our campaign literature (that is news releases) in hand, asking the media to endorse us by writing our story–not their story.

Scott asks a basic but also profound question: What if you reverse the equation? What if instead of reaching out to journalists on your schedule, you get them to find you? Fortunately, digital devices, including mobile, have made it easy for reporters to find sources. And that source might as well be you. One of the best ways to do that is to mash up mobile with social media to concoct a timely, enticing brew that will be quaffed by journalists. Or as Scott calls it, you can “newsjack,” commenting on a breaking story in a way that journalists will find you.

“It’s really a matter of understanding that we live in a 24-hour real-time world,” says Scott. “Reporters can be working at home, on the road, on their iPhone when they are at a baseball game. You can reach them any time. You need to create content optimized for their devices so that reporters will find that when they are writing a story.”

Here are 5 ways Scott recommends doing just that:

1. Write for mobile. Index your site for the mobile search engines so people can find your content on their mobile devices. Make your content visible on the small screen.
2. Monitor keywords and phrases on Twitter so you are on top of the news and trends in your industry.
3. Spot regulatory changes in your industry so you can comment in real time on Twitter about those changes.
4. Create content and comment in real time via a blog, media alert and/or Twitter when news is breaking so media will find you .
5. Construct today’s version of the that old standby, the press kit–a mobile app with a feed of content  optimized in an application for reporters that includes press releases, blog posts, video, and Twitter feeds. Here is a link to David’s app.

Since no good list is complete without a “NOT to DO,” piece of advice, here is one caveat:

Don’t use all the new technology as an invitation to spam reporters on their mobile phone or Twitter feed. Don’t send that uninvited text message. It will likely backfire.

We, as PR practitioners, need to be as nimble and quick as a reporter or blogger on deadline and be anywhere they are likely to find you–on mobile, on social media, on a blog, on video. All you need to do is seize the opportunity. How are you adapting PR for a mobile world?

 

We often hear about the restaurant owner tweeting his/her specials to hungry customers or HP hawking its latest deals, but what the heck does that have to do with the B2B space?

Both a lot and a little.

While we most likely won’t have a special offer to promote in 140 characters or less, Twitter has much more to offer for B2B companies.

PS: I am well aware of the latest buzz about how Google+ might be a Twitter killer but (at least for now) I don’t recommend abandoning Twitter. Actually, you can even incorporate your Twitter feeds into Google+.

6 methods B2B companies can use to make the most of Twitter:

• A Digital Hearing Aid. Twitter gives one the invaluable ability to listen to what people are saying about your industry/brand/company as well as the competition. Utilizing tools like HootSuite or TweetDeck, it’s a piece of cake to create targeted lists of people to follow or keywords to monitor. In this way, you can build your own virtual focus group to get a better understanding of the needs of your potential or existing customers, and keep an eye on what’s going on with your competitors.  Choosing not to do this means ignoring a critical market intelligence tool.

• Thought Leadership. The key word here is “focus.” Select several topics related to your business and habitually tweet about them. For instance, I talk about B2B PR and try my best to tweet on it 50% of the time. A combination of tweets on that subject, mixed with some broader content, sprinkled with a bit of strategic retweeting strikes a nice balance. While you want to be focused, you also don’t want to tire out your followers by beating a one note drum.

• Brownie & IQ points. Retweeting lets you showcase what others are say about you. It’s completely a win-win situation. While you’re helping someone else and winning his/her support, you’re simultaneously furthering your own thought leadership. Think of it as your Neitzsche moment. Think about it…if you quote an thought leader, a bit of their insight and reputation reflects on you. Retweet a wiseman, (or woman!) and you too by association will be seen as wise.

• Prospect/Partner Dance. Twitter offers you the opportunity to dance with (or at least reach out to) almost anyone — from President Obama to a new prospect you’d like to connect with. With roughly 200 million people tweeting, there’s a decent chance that a potential client you have been looking at could be tweeting away behind the back of you head. At the very least, you can get a sense of a prospect and/or partner’s interests. You can begin by  just observing. After that, you can make a comment or retweet something. This will help begin a dialogue with them. The key word is “dialogue.” Avoid being a bullhorn  and blasting away like too many other companies on Twitter. Instead, interact and engage. Keep in mind that just because you haven’t gotten any new business right away doesn’t mean you fail. Obviously, it will take more than a couple tweets to spark someone’s interest in what you do. However, you can start interacting with people who ordinarily wouldn’t be accessible, such as the CEO of a large firm. It can be as simple as retweeting them. Or commenting on something he/she has said. Eventually, you’ll want to take it offline and make an old-fashioned phone call…but Twitter can help make that happen a lot sooner.

• Media outreach. I love the terminology Sarah Skerik, of PR Newswire used when referring to Twitter. Sarah’s term: the new Rolodex. Twitter gives you another method to engage media analysts, and as Sarah says, “get inside their heads in a way you never could before.” Once again, you should listen before doing anything. You’ll get an inside look into the content they view as important.  This will give you a better understanding of what they like when you eventually decide to engage them.

• Search engine and web visibility. Want to drive more traffic to your website or article? (I think everyone does these days!) The search engines reward links from folks on Twitter who have “authority.” This means having people post links to your content — people who regularly post about your topic and have a plethora followers.

So, what are you waiting for?! Get out there and start tweeting. And feel free to say hi to me @wendymarx. I look forward to hearing from you on Twitter and perhaps elsewhere.

 

 

What’s the deal with The Economist and public relations?

This year the magazine has written several tirades against public relations professionals. In its latest outbreak, they haughtily refers to PR people as “flacks,” slime-slingers,” members of the “dark side” and “urban foxes” along with other terms of endearment.

Wow. What happened to objectivity and remaining open-minded?

According to The Economist, the issue is that there are simply too much “brazen flacks,” (who it mistakenly identifies as men, when there are actually a predominance of women in the profession) who supposedly spend all of their time “hassling reporters to run crummy stories.”

The perniciously toned article seems like the writer took in a few sardonic journalists’ views on PR from nearly a century ago. It even quotes a 1928 book by Edward Bernay, an early PR pioneer, as proof of the profession’s unscrupulousness.

That’s a bit like finding an early medical textbook about blood-letting and claiming that defines the medical practicioners’ trade. Could this be any more ridiculous?

Here’s a suggestion for the piece’s author: how about he/she speaks to some of the women dominating the field of public relations today since this person still thinks it’s a male-dominated field. To begin with, here are two excellent lists of women in PR (I’m greatly honored to be listed on both). One is compiled by the altruistic, savvy Valentine Belonwu (@bigmoneywebs) and the other by the amazing, extremely hard-working duo of Cheryl Burgess (@ckburgess) and Tom Pick (@tompick).

As a long-time B2B public relations professional, I can honestly say that there has never been (in my 20+ years in the field) as exciting a time to be in PR. That’s largely due to the vast expansion of the public relations landscape from the Internet. Nowadays, for instance, there are almost an infinite amount of ways to get the word out. This includes everything from tweeting an article, posting it on your own blog/website, spreading it on Facebook, LinkedIn and MANY other social media hubs; talking about it on a video email, in a podcast, in a webinar, or on other people’s blogs. Come to think of it, if you can’t find a way to talk yourself up today, you’re probably doing something very wrong.

Of course, there is always the media. However, a legitimate PR pro’s job has never been, “to pitch a crummy story” as the Economist claims, but rather to turn what might have been a “crummy story” into something engaging. For instance, there’s an exceptional story I read some years ago regarding scientists training elephants in Africa. It was a new training program and they were having a day where they were showing off the elephants’ accomplishments. A sharp PR person transformed this into the First Ever Graduating Class of Elephant University — taking what might have been mundane and made it memorable. To me, that’s being creative. This is the duty of any PR professional worth his/her salt.

What’s your take on this? I look forward to hearing from you.

Are you an expert in your line of work?

I hope all of you answered “yes,” since almost anyone in business can be considered an expert.

You heard me right.

If you simply know a bit more than the next person (and in some field I guarantee that you do), you are an expert. Your expertise can be anything from doing statistical analysis … to copy writing … to search engine optimization … to…well, you get the idea.

And the best part is that in today’s digital age, you don’t have to keep your expertise a secret. The online world has made it possible for anyone to display their expertise via blogs and various social media platforms.

With that being said, expertise can only get you so far. Another ingredient that goes hand-in-hand with expertise is confidence. Yep, regular, tried and true confidence. Mix expertise with a generous dash of confidence and I guarantee your talents will shine. However, if either one is missing, you’ll either be full of hot air, or overflowing with knowledge that few will be able to appreciate.

I especially like how Tony Schwartz, President and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything: Four Keys to Transforming How We Work and Live, defines confidence in a recent Harvard Business Review piece:

“Confidence equals security equals positive emotion equals better performance”.

Don’t think for a moment that confidence and expertise are outside your reach. The final ingredient is practice.

Keep in mind that you won’t suddenly be fully articulate and adept at writing without a good deal of hard work. As Schwartz states in the HBR article, “Deliberate practice will almost always trump natural aptitude.”

I was struck by this the other day when I heard an NPR interview with Rep. Gabby Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman, recovering from a major brain injury after being shot. Giffords, who is re-learning how to speak, was still able to give her nurse, who was preparing for a media interview, some advice picked up from her years before the public eye. Her two words of advice: “practice, practice.”

I can’t reiterate those two words enough. Although someone may seem to be a polished performer or speaker, keep in mind that years of hard work and practice are responsible for that.

Of course, one must be disciplined to practice. It’s easy to give up and say you can’t master a something. That you just don’t have what it takes or it’s too difficult to pull off. In reality though, you can go further than you think you can if you continue to learn and practice.

How have you found that practice improves your performance? I’d love to hear from you.

This post initially appeared in a slightly different form on the FastCompany blog

In the “good news” department, we are honored to have been named One Of The Top 50 Women on Twitter. Kudos to Cheryl Burgess and Tom Pick for creating this.

 

 

 

• Get em’ hooked from the start
• Use lots of bullets
  
• Pictures, please
• First words matter

Those were 4 quick ways to increase the chances of your copy getting read. 5 more tips later … keep on reading!

According to web usability guru Jakob Nielson, people aren’t scrutinizing  your copy. Instead, they skim through it for keywords. The first paragraph of an article is the most likely to be read in addition tol the first few words of a sentence. In fact, the average person reads just 20% of what you write!

I hope I at least got you to read that paragraph

You also need to break up your copy with info, graphics, photos and visuals — especially video when applicable.  If YouTube has taught us one thing, it’s that video works.

The B2B world presents more of a challenge since our content doesn’t  have the inherent attraction of consumer content. With that being said, it can still be snappy and engaging. B2B marketing company HubSpot is extremely proficient at this. They effortlessly combine blog posts with exciting visuals (including plenty of video) and lead generation tools, all in a nice, easy to read package.

Here are five tips to help drive positive attention to your copy while keeping your readers engaged and … reading.

1. Avoid jargon and acronyms. No HSAA, NCA, NMA, DSP, RTB … .However specialized the field you are working with, delete inside slang and acronyms. Never underestimate the ability of insider buzz-words and jargon to pester and turn away your target audience.

2. Avoid over-promotion. It is far better to aim to inform and engage rather than self-promote in order to gain interest.

3. Be yourself. People respect authenticity. If you use your own style of writing, you can expect much more of a response.

4. Use the proper keywords. Keywords are important words or phrases that rank highly in search engine results. Although you should insert keywords throughout your copy, make sure that they appear natural.

5. Address your customers’ needs in a conversational and approachable way. Ask some of your customers if they wouldn’t mind taking a look at the content you plan on posting. If they are interested in a certain idea, theme or writing style, others most likely will as well.

Remember, digital content for the B2B space shouldn’t be boring and dry. By making your message relevant, useful, thought provoking, keyword friendly and simple, you’ll be well on your way to gaining an audience.

This article originally appeared in a slightly different form on FastCompany.com

B2C marketers are not alone in their interest in using online visuals and the latest video technology to vie for greater publicity and profits. If YouTube is any indication, B2B marketers are increasingly utilizing video marketing to inform, engage and even entertain. Among the many companies proving B2B videos don’t have to be boring is Vertical Response – a company that in this video displays a readiness to share a sense of humor and fun along with new product knowledge.

It’s no wonder of course that B2B marketers are embracing video, given today’s demand for it. A 2010 survey published by video ad company YuMe, for example, revealed that 49 percent of respondents shared they are watching videos every day. More than 66 percent of respondents said they watched more online video now than they did a year ago and more than 40 percent expected they would continue to watch more online videos in the future.

In fact, according to Forrester Research, video increases the chance of a front page Google result by 53 times. In other words, you are 53 times more likely to land on the front page of Google with a video than basic text.

Forrester also reports that adding video in to e-mails increases click-through rates by two to three times,” says Keith Smiley,  a freelance B2B copywriter in Indianapolis, Ind.

Smiley, a video maven, provides the following as great reasons to use video:

1. It can visually demonstrate how a product or service works
2. It communicates a specific message or company news
3. It can be used a lead generation tool, or in case studies
4. It can be used for executive summaries and video versions of  white papers
5. It can be used to share content from webinars
6. It can be used to interview partners and customers at a trade show
7. It can be used to hold a Q & A session with an expert within your company
8. It can be used to give a sneak peak at product releases

Sean Randles, owner of webVM ltd and UK Partner at FLIMP Media in Manchester, United Kingdom echoes Smiley in some of the uses for video marketing. He shares that his Web video company creates video versions of PDF case studies, which he says are “very powerful lead generation tools.” Randles suggests video can be used to create product visualizations, elevator pitches and video brochures, as well as direct video marketing campaigns using www.flimp.net – which he says enables real time tracking of views and response by e-mail address.

Lindsay Leugers, vice president of marketing at OneCommand in Cincinnati, Ohio, says B2B video is a great way to deliver dynamic, real content such as client testimonials, event promotions and new product launches. In addition, Leugers believes video marketing efforts don’t need to cost a fortune to be worthwhile. “We get a great response, even with the most basic, grassroots of our video efforts – and while polished, professionally produced videos are great to have, they aren’t always in the budget,” he says. “We’ve learned that being creative and just having fun with the channel is just as important. Whether we shoot out in the field with one of our Flips or in against a green screen with a Sony-DV – the content is what really matters.”

Daniel Roberts, CEO of Friendly Human in Atlanta, Ga., offers this insight into the use of video.

“B2C videos tend to focus on information (think animated infographics). In B2B, the lead generally already knows what you do. B2B videos must be less about information and more about authenticity and relationships … the real key for B2B is to think smaller yet deeper.”

How have you been using video to grow your business? I’d love to hear from you.

This article originally appeared in a slightly different form on FastCompany.com.

How savvy are you with your marketing money?

According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, which studied 20,000 consumers, many marketers’ spending habits are missing the mark when it comes to capitalizing on opportunities in the consumer purchase process.

The article’s author, David C. Edelman, reports that 70 to 90 percent of marketing spend is directed to advertising and promotions that reach consumers either at the early consideration stage, where consumers are just discovering their options, or at the end game, purchase stage.

However, according to Edelman, consumers are often more receptive to influence at the evaluation stage – a point where they are researching options and at the post-buy, advocate stage, a time where they may want to share news of their new purchase with friends.

As Edelman puts it:

“New media make the ‘evaluate’ and ‘advocate’ stages increasingly relevant. Marketing investments that help consumers navigate the evaluation process and then spread positive word of mouth about the brands they select can be as important as building awareness and driving purchase.”

While the article focuses on consumer marketing, it has important implications for B2B marketing and PR professionals. In the very important evaluation phase, according to Edelman, consumers are vetting review sites like that of Amazon.com, adding and subtracting products to their decision set. At that point in time, it’s also important to create content to give consumers a sense of your brand. That is true not only in the B2C realm, but also in the B2B arena where consumers are equally hungry for information about your product or service.

Edelman suggests that companies take on the role of Publisher-in-Chief, creating content that gives “consumers a clear sense of the brand and lets them better articulate attributes of specific products.”

So too do B2B marketers and PR professionals need to ramp up their publisher function. That means creating everything from white papers, to case studies, to videos, to product comparison sheets, to blog posts, to social media engagement, to webinars. Anything that will increase your share of voice and make it easier for prospects to evaluate what you’re offering.

Too often a marketer and PR person’s job ends at the buy stage. Edelman’s research is significant in pinpointing the increasing importance of what he calls the “advocacy stage.” By that he means the post-purchase stage, which has taken on new life thanks to social media where consumers can give an amplified shout out to their favorite brands – something that also occurs in the B2B arena. While B2B PR people have always recognized the importance of case studies and customer testimonials as word of mouth endorsements, B2B can also do more. Why not for example, supplement your blog with guest customer posts and establish a customer prospect community? And don’t forget the potential of an advisory board or leaders council, where customers can provide direct input into your business.

I also like what small business guru John Jantsch said in a recent post on turning customers into advocates:

“The final stage of the customer development system is to engage your customers as advisors. Some portion of your customer base should be looked at as form of marketing advisory board and invited to share their opinions on marketing initiatives, content and product or service development. By bringing your customers to this level you develop loyalty that manifests in something like a volunteer sales force.”

This article originally appeared originally in a slightly different form on fastcompany.com

Success in B2B PR in 2011 will in large measure depend on PR practitioners mastering content strategies.

While PR has always been in the content business — think white papers, case studies, speeches, by-lined articles — what has changed today is that companies no longer need to go through gate keepers to publish content.

Anyone today, as the litany goes, can be a publisher. The digitalization of information has made content inexpensive both to create and distribute. Articles, newsletters, ebooks, blogs, e-magazines, videos and podcasts, are all types of content that can fall under the PR umbrella.

Where the rub is going to be as I see it in 2011 will be in developing a strategy around content that coheres with your overall marketing strategy and ultimately gets people eager to learn more. Granted that I am a sample size of one, but I am already buried under a veritable volcano of content. And, I bet you are too. What I need more than anything is smart, quick-read content available on demand. SmartBrief is one company doing a good job at just that. But there is a room for more.

Which brings me to the two buzzwords you’ll hear a lot more about this year: Content Curation and One to One Marketing. Both are not new terms, but technology is now making them a reality. And both make content marketers more effective. Curation refers to collecting (as opposed to creating) content on a subject or subjects and providing quick digests and links. Companies like paper.li, storify, pearltrees, and curatedby are making curation as easy as the click of a button.. One to one marketing, a concept Don Peppers and Martha Rogers popularized in the 1990s has always been the holy grail of marketing. And here too technology especially is making it easier especially thanks to software like bit.ly that tells you who has clicked on a link or applications like Tweet Spinner that tell you who is talking about your subject and has the most influence.

As I see it, it’s now up to B2B PR to seize the content marketing mantle, and integrate that with an overall PR and marketing strategy, that helps expand your thought leadership and reputation.

How do you plan to improve your B2B PR in 2011? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

A version of this post originally appeared on FastCompany.com

Have you created a personal brand for your company?

We’re so busy creating our own brands — our own monikers — that too often our company brands take a backseat. We forget that a business, especially a B2B firm, requires a personal brand. Personal branding is all about polishing your reputation.  It’s the difference between being n unknown vs. being a recognized.  The same concept applies to a business-to-business company. Think about it this way. Do you to wake up in the morning and say, I need to get the latest process software for my company? Of course not.  But you might say, I need to buy an iphone for my son.  That’s because a B2B product/service doesn’t have the instant gratification of many consumer products. You buy it because you need it, not because you want it. And you’re often buying relationships and credibility.

For that reason, before you make a B2B purchase, you want to know about the person you’re buying from. Fact sheets, white papers, case studies, articles and ebooks can  influence your buying decision and distinguish one company from another. All of which leads to the importance of a Business Personal Brand for a B2B company–the triggers that will encourage you to buy from one company over another.

To help our clients define their Business Personal Brand, we typically begin with a messaging workshop, a two- to three-hour session to help them better position themselves and spell out what’s special about what they’re doing and why anyone should care.

In the workshop, we focus on 4 questions, what we call the 4Ws. Who are you? What do your prospects want to hear? Who is your audience? What makes you special? Answering those questions helps tease out what makes the client different and how it adds value. You need to do it, however, in a way that makes someone want to sit up and pay attention. It’s the difference between saying, “I make widgets to saying “I make widgets that make our customers lives safer.” One is factual; the other adds value. Once you define your key messages in a messaging workshop-type exercise, you need to insure that all your marketing collateral speaks to these messages so you’re amplifying your voice. There’s nothing worse than having one part of your company emphasize certain features and benefits and another part have a totally different message. All you end up doing is confusing the customer.

Once your marketing materials are in place, you’re ready to get the word out. Today that means becoming in a sense a publisher. We’re talking white papers, ebooks, case studies, and any and all content that makes what you do and your industry more accessible to your audience. One can cross-promote the other and together establish a crescendo of influence. Do all of this and I guarantee you will have a company personal brand that people care about. What are you doing to provide a business personal brand?

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND FOR YOUR COMPANY? Check out our interview on Webmaster Radio.

This post originally ran in a little different form on FastCompany.com

Social media and the Internet have forever changed the nature of PR and marketing.  One results is that B2B companies have so many more opportunities to get their clients visible.  Here are 10 Tips on How B2B Companies Can Get Noticed in a Web 2.0 World.  I  also recently spoke on this topic recently at Women Who Launch Southwestern Connecticut.

Tip #1. Tell a great story.  The biggest scarcity of the 21^st century is attention, according to Less Hinton, publisher and CEO of the Wall Street Journal via Sree Sreenivasan, dean of students at Columbia’s J-School.  To break through the attention wall, You need to create content and information that engages.  A lot of this has to do with positioning.  For example, you can say that you’re a writer, or alternatively you can issue a call to arms to marketers to eliminate gobbledygook from their copy, as David Meerhman Scott did awhile back to much fanfare.

Tip #2. Be the expert. You don’t have to have a Ph.d, you just know a little more than the average Joe or Jane Q Public. And I bet in your subject area you do. A warning : Don’t Be Mr. or Ms. No it All but a knowledgeable person who listens as well as shares information.

Tip #3. Be a social media maven. Learn what Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – the social media heavyweights – can do for your business. Think relationship building, not sales

Tip #4. Journalists are allies, not friends. Member of the media have their own agenda and rest assured that it is not your agenda. Prepare your key messages ahead of time. Don’t say anything in an interview you don’t want to read about tomorrow – or in the case of online media – forever.

Tip #5. Rumors of the press releases’ death are greatly exaggerated. A well-written press release still has impact; it’s just that its purpose has evolved. It’s no longer just geared to the media but also written for search-engine optimization visibility. As a general rule, if you’re targeting bloggers, Tight is Right. For general consumption, Keep it simple.

Tip#6. Make the press release pay off. Use a targeted media list.  Be sure to include keywords people are likely to search on. (Use Google Adwords ).  Punch up key points.

Tip #7. Take advantage of low-cost PR services. Use free or low-cost PR distribution services like Pitchengine, PR Leap and PR Web.  Use help a reporter out (HARA) a free service that connects reporters with experts.

Tip  #8. Treat the media as your client. Give a media person everything he or shee needs to write his/her story. Be available and accessible.

Tip  # 9. There is no substitute for face time. Speak at conferences. Do a media greet and meet. Be sure not to abuse the media person’s time but provide some useful information.

Tip #10. Other techniques to raise your profile. Create a Google profile. Write a blog. Comment on articles. Seek out industry awards. Get listed in business directories

Do some or all of these tips and I guarantee you will increase the visibility of your B2B company. What tips have you found increase your company’s visibility? I’d love to hear from you.

This article previously appeared in a slightly different form on FastCompany.com