PR and marketing

Although I have lived in Sydney nearly half my life, I’m still a country girl at heart. At times when I am stuck in Sydney traffic I dream of living somewhere there aren’t any traffic lights (like where my parents live!). But last week, I was reminded how lucky I am to live here. Not only is Sydney beautiful, but we have access to so many great events.

I attended Vivid Creative Sydney, a series of free events about the future of creativity, technology and business. Industry leaders shared their experiences and discussed how to create innovative brands and products. One was an artist who creates ‘unseen sculptures’ using augmented reality. He placed a giant squid above the Opera House that could only be seen through your smart phone. Amazing!

On Sunday it was a beautiful clear winter’s morning and the CP Communications team joined hundreds of people on the MS Walk Fundraiser around the botanical gardens. The walk helped MS Australia raise funds to provide assistance to the 20,000 Australians living with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s not too late to help out a good cause and donate!

That afternoon I found myself sitting next to an Aboriginal woman artist from Tjanpi Desert Weavers who taught me how to weave in their unique way. They are a renowned group of indigenous women artists who work with grass fibres to make baskets and sculptures. They had travelled here from remote desert communities in central Australia for the amazing exhibition at Manly Gallery, KURU ALALA – eyes open. I was so thrilled, I couldn’t quite believe it!

Every event I went to last week was free, and they were all about community – creating, contributing and engaging. So have a think about how your business, brand or you as an individual can create and contribute to your community. The goodwill you create will be priceless.

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
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What journalists are looking for and how to get their attention
Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment every day and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR consultants and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more. Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media.

Personalise your attempt. Research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have a put in a bit of effort.

Pick your time wisely. A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlet's deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day, so get your information to a journalist earlier in the day. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times so don’t call at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.
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TwitterCue: The new social media idea
In today’s world of 24 hour news cycles and social media channels that never sleep, people across the globe are constantly gaining access to large amounts of information on a daily basis.

It is particularly challenging when communicating via Twitter, when your clearly written and informative media release is reduced to a 140 character line.

How do you express essential and maybe even critically important information in only 140 characters? Enter ‘TwitterCue’ – a 140 character line written at the top or bottom of a media release which sums up the content and can be then spread through social media channels without losing any essential information.

Not only is TwitterCue a great addition to a social media optimised media release – distributed to bloggers, citizen journalists and through services such as PR Newswire – it will also be useful for time-pressed journalists.

The challenge, however, is getting all the information needed into that 140 character line. To help you get the most out of writing a TwitterCue, here are some useful tips:

• Lose the fancy talk and get straight to the point – concentrate on facts only
• Always use a suitable hashtag
• Include a URL that links to the full media release
• Leave space for unedited re-tweeting – 120 characters should be your aim
• Channel the language of your Tweeps – use abbreviations e.g. to = 2; for = 4; you = u 

An example of a TwitterCue is one we did for our client Community Engine when we released their annual survey. We included the hashtag on all tweets:
The Nielsen-Community Engine 2011 Social Media Business Benchmarking Study released 2day http://t.co/6KoQiXt #B2Bsocialstudy
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Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:

Social Media Women June: Learn about online business with Shoes of Prey
Social Media Women’s June event features inspirational creator of online business Shoes of Prey, Jodie Fox. Jodie will share how she built her incredible online business and some of the secrets to her success.
14 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It
Dr Lois Frankel is running a breakfast presentation about her book ‘Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It’. During the presentation Dr Frankel will teach women how get what they want in both professional and personal areas of their lives.
15 June 2011 – Brisbane, Qld

Web 3.0 and the Future of Social Media
New technologies collectively known as Web 3.0 are already providing a momentous opportunity to businesses and marketers.This conference will investigate the web and how it will transform marketing. Key areas to be discussed include the future direction for social networks and progressive social media marketing.
21 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

PR and Media Releases That Get Results with Catriona Pollard
Catriona will teach you how to construct a PR strategy that gets results. By the end of this workshop you will understand how to come up with a media angle, write a pitch, media release, article, case study and editorial. You will also learn how to strategically use these tools to maximise your chance of achieving your PR objectives.
23 June 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Business in the Social Age
Simon Betschel (Sensis) and Brian Giesen (Ogilvy) will be speaking about the opportunities and challenges that are being presented to Australian businesses in the social age. They will aim to help business owners make more informed decisions about how to use and engage in social media for business.
7 July 2011 – Melbourne, Vic

Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference
Learn how to become an influential leader at Macquarie University’s 23rd annual Women, Management and Work Conference. This two day conference will inspire and inform women who are looking for insights and key tips to develop their leadership skills. Speakers include CEO of Medicare Lynelle Briggs, Board Director of CoSolve Anna Booth and Director in the Royal Australian Navy Captain Michele Miller.
28-29 July 2011 – Sydney, NSW

Journalists work in a fast-pace, high-pressure environment everyday and are only looking for stories which capture their attention right away. They constantly receive media releases, phone calls from PR agents and emails about the latest and greatest product or business. So to make sure you are noticed there are a few things to keep in mind when contacting the media.

Make them want to know more
Whether you are sending them a media release or pitching an article over the phone, make sure to present the most interesting information first. The information may have to be tailored for different types of media, eg: community newspapers are generally only interested on something to do with its immediate area. Most media releases won’t even be read all the way through if the journalist isn’t interested from the beginning.

Personalise your attempt
Whether emailing or calling, do a bit of research first and find out which journalist you may wish to speak to. Simply using someone’s name can get their attention and makes them feel like you have put in a bit of effort and aren’t just calling every media outlet in the country. If sending out a mass email make sure to BCC all email addresses so journalists don’t know you are sending it to every media outlet in the country, they will be less inclined to use information they know everyone else has.

Pick your time wisely
A bit of research and common sense can tell you when a media outlets deadline is. Daily papers will obviously have a deadline each day so getting your information to a journalist earlier in the day may be an advantage for you as you’ll be contacting them when the stress is a bit less. Monthly publications such as some magazines have long lead times and can be looking for articles months in advance, there is no point contacting a magazine at the end of the month trying to get into the next month’s issue.

Don’t be afraid of journalists
They are people too. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them if they are less than sugar and spice, they will respect you more for not sounding nervous. If you contact them at a bad time apologise once and move on, apologising more than that can become annoying. If you have all your information at hand, know what you are talking about and are polite at all times you should be received well.

With so many social media platforms available, it can be hard to figure out which platform will deliver the best results for your company. However, there are a few things to consider before choosing a social media platform.

Firstly, you need to devote time to it. Maintaining your presence on a daily basis is a necessity and results can’t be generated without a long term commitment. Think of it like a relationship: without your time and dedication, your social media marriage will be sure to fail.

Secondly, what are your social media goals? More traffic? More sales? Are you attempting a viral marketing campaign? Or do you just want people to associate your brand as an expert in its chosen field? It is always beneficial to identify what goals you want to achieve so you have something to work towards.

Lastly, once you have created your social media pages, dedicate your time to creating quality content, getting involved in online discussions and communicating with your consumers by asking questions and answering theirs in return.

To help you choose the platforms that work for you, here are five of the top social media sites and how they can help your business.

• Facebook:  With more than 400 million users, it’s a great site to use for customer engagement, feedback and brand development for your products and services. However, it does not rank high with search engines, so if you are looking to increase traffic to your webpage Facebook is not the way to go. 
• Twitter: Can be used quite successfully to drive organic traffic to your website as the more followers you have the more people who see your tweets and click on your links. The challenge, however, is creating an interesting and quality tweet in only 140 characters. 
• YouTube: With over 100 million views a day, YouTube is a good way to get opinions and information about your business out into the public in a visual and creative way. However, if it’s only an increase in traffic to your website you want, then YouTube is not ideal.
• LinkedIn: A professional site that allows you to connect directly with potential customers. If you want to position yourself and your brand as an expert and authoritative voice in a specific industry – this is the site for you. Take the time to research and only join groups that are relevant to you and your potential clients.
• Blogging: Blogs are extremely easy to use. If your goals are to drive traffic to your website and position your business as an expert in its field then a blog is the number one place to do so. Using key words and phrases will give you better Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) which, in turn, will drive more traffic to your site.

In order to achieve certain goals you may have to adopt several forms of social media platforms. If you take the time to choose the right ones for you, and devote enough time to them, you will find that in the end the benefits and outcomes are worth it.

A common error organisations make is assuming social media is where people go purely to share photos of their breakfast and organise parties with friends, forgetting that it is also the place where consumers are sharing their buying experiences and discussing real-life business issues with the online community.

A listening post is critical to gaining an understanding of the who, what, when, where and why of your social media strategy.

WHY: By establishing a Facebook page, Twitter account, blog or forum, you are creating an online space for people to discuss you brand, products and industry not only among themselves, but actually with you. This is a truly powerful thing to have. It enables you to learn from your customers what you could be doing better, how their needs have changed, and exactly why they are a fan of your organisation.

WHERE: Your listening post will provide an insight into where conversations are happening online which are relevant to you. Whether people are using your Facebook page to link to YouTube, Twitter to refer to your blog, or your forum to refer to other people’s blogs, you will be able to determine which platforms you could be using most effectively to communicate with your customers.

WHEN: As well as listening to your online community, it is also important to take note of their online habits. How often do they comment or ‘Like’ your post, at what time of the day/week do they use social media, do they work during office hours or are they late night computer geeks? Know when your community wants to talk to you so that when you do start a conversation, it isn’t a one-sided monologue.

WHAT: This covers what is actually being said about you, your business, your competitors, the industry and anything else relevant to your customers. What do your customers like and dislike about your products? What do they prefer in competitors’ products? What do they need? And, just as importantly, what do they like to do for fun?

Many businesses hesitate to create a listening post in fear of finding out useless information or negative feedback. However, no information about your customers should ever be considered useless, and all negative feedback should be viewed as a way to improve and grow your business. Use this information to connect with your customers on a personal level, start a dialogue online, and deliver on their needs where you can.

WHO: A listening post is one of the quickest and easiest ways to find out who are your biggest fans and foes. Be generous with your online community by re-tweeting them, holding the odd online/Twitter/Facebook sale or giveaway, sharing new information on products they’ve been dying to hear about, and providing valuable insight and thought leadership. Whether they are fan or foe, this community will also be a critical means of communication with the masses in times of crisis

If you’ve been paying attention to this blog, you’ll agree that a social media strategy is a key component to any effective communications strategy. Could you imagine developing a social media strategy without having any of the above information? It would be a struggle, to say the least.

Just like keeping your elbows off the dinner table and letting pregnant women sit down on the bus, the online world has its own etiquette.

These are especially important to know - and follow - if you are a business with an online presence, as offending potential customers and/or clients is certainly not the right way to go.

When online always keep in mind the following rules:

Interesting content: Whether on Facebook, Twitter or blogging make sure you aren’t just posting for the sake of uploading content. The content should always be interesting and add value to your business or the conversation.

Listen to your followers, don’t just talk. Always follow up and reply to people who have made an effort. Whether they have asked you a question through Twitter or made a particularly interesting comment on your blog, people like it when they know the person on the other side of the computer screen is paying attention and not just posting things for them to read. Social media is a two-way conversation, just like in the real world.

Be professional: You are a business and aren’t gossiping with your buddies down at the local watering-hole. Before posting or replying ask yourself `Would you say these things in real life to a client or customer?’ Because if you wouldn’t say it to their face, do not say it online where it is out there for the world to see. While it can be tempting to become over-friendly with followers online, think about your type of business and how casual you want to come across.

Never bad-mouth anyone or anything. Talking about another business or a customer/client in a negative way online will alienate people and it just looks petty. Like your parents told you, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

If you do happen to make a mistake online remember to be gracious and admit to it. Nobody likes a sore loser and sometimes a simple apology will suffice to get you back into the good books of whoever you offended.

Always keep in mind whatever you put online is there for the world to see.

So you want to start up a social media campaign for your business but don’t know where to start.

Have you ever thought of calling in the professionals? While it all may seem relatively easy with most kindergarten students showing their parents how to connect online, the world of social networking for businesses can be a confusing one.

There are many different types of social media from Facebook to Twitter to Foursquare and blogs. Knowing how to use each one, getting the best results and keeping up with your ROI can be a full-time job in itself. Not to mention keeping up to date with continual, interesting content that your target audience want to connect with.

Experienced social media PR companies will be able to do all the research for you and have you up and running in no time. You will have to accommodate for the cost but you will be able to clearly see what the campaign is doing to boost your business.

Using experts will also mean you will be keeping up to date with the latest in social media, so while your competitors are still playing around with last year’s fad, you’ll be looking to the future and wowing customers or clients with your forward-thinking.

Another point of difference is social media campaign companies will have experienced writers on staff who can utilise their skills for the different platforms from writing 140 character tweets to 1000 word technical blogs.

Social media campaigns aren’t just for big businesses either, all companies from one-man (or woman!) operations right up to international conglomerates can benefit from a well-thought out social media campaign.

Tips for working with an outsourced company:

Do your research before picking a company. Different companies work within different sectors, such as lifestyle and retail, and can be experts in different fields.

Set targets: Know what you want out of the social media campaign and set realistic targets. This can be a certain amount of followers on Twitter, comments on a blog or number of customers taking up an offer from a social media site.

Communicate with the company to make sure you are both on the same page. Social media is an ongoing, probably daily activity and you want to make sure you both have the same idea when it comes to the message and public persona you want to showcase.

Catriona Pollard comments on the issue of "Twitterjacking" and other social media issues:

Beware the Twitterjackers

The good news for most average Joes is that Twitter squatters are more likely to have big corporations and celebrities in their crosshairs.

''I think [squatting] is an issue for celebrities but I don't think it's an issue for general users of Twitter,'' Catriona Pollard, a Sydney social media specialist, said.

She advised general users to take care not to follow a Twitterjacked celebrity.

Twitter has introduced a verification system, which gives a blue tick to bona fide celebrity and corporate accounts. Julia Gillard has one. So does Shane Warne.

Surprisingly, model Megan Gale doesn't but her @MeganKGale account is the real deal.

''If they're a celebrity and they don't have a tick it's probably best not to follow them,'' Ms Pollard said. ''It only needs to be available to celebrities because the general public doesn't have masses of followers.''

To read the full article on SMH.com.au, click here.

Is LinkedIn still a mystery for you? I still find it hard to figure out how to use it for lead generation so I asked Social Media Lead Generation expert, Tom Skotidas for his hot tips.

You have identified your target market on LinkedIn. You are ready to start inviting prospects and influencers, and expand your network. Yet you are not sure how you're going to approach complete strangers and ask them to connect with you. In fact, you are worried about being perceived as a networking "spammer" and harming your personal brand.

So how do you grow your network, in a safe and sound way?

My advice is simple: look for Human Connection Points.

Human Connection Points are the commonalities you find by reviewing your intended connection’s LinkedIn profile, Twitter posts, personal blog, and other online mentions. There are dozens of human connection points you can use, but here are some of the obvious ones:

• People you know in common (available on their LinkedIn profile)
• LinkedIn groups you share
• Their blog posts or published articles (i.e. the ones you have read and enjoyed so much, as to form an opinion)
• Schools you both attended

Once you have identified your human connection points, you are ready to write your LinkedIn invitation.

Be relevant. Make sure to address your invitee by their first name, and to clearly reference your connection points. Throughout your invitation, be genuine and respectful. Tell them how you found them, and why you want to connect. And make sure to pump up your credentials as well, via a strong LinkedIn profile.

If you follow this approach, you will experience a consistently high acceptance rate, and grow your LinkedIn network faster among your target market. You are now in a position to start marketing your company to a progressively larger audience, who will get to know you through your status updates and group participation.

Of course, not all will accept, but that’s ok. By following the principles mentioned above, and optimising as you go, you will find your acceptance rate (and LinkedIn network reach) continues to increase.

Tom is running a course on LinkedIn for Lead Generation on 7 December 2010 (which I am looking forward to attending!). For more information click here.