 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Real-time social media are transforming marketing and public relations. I recently visited two firms in Chicago that are responding to the need for speed within the flow of online conversationconversation.
...Content and storytelling are at the heart of how we help our clients build meaningful relationships with their audiences," said Mark Hass, president and CEO, Edelman U.S. Edelman's plan focuses on client partnerships with five U.S. newsrooms and one in the U.K.Edelman newsroom "trend spotters" identify trends and events, collaborate with account leaders and design creative concepts. Ideas are shared with clients, and then decisions are made about posting or not.Real-time PR and marketing content frequently is covered by traditional media -- television, radio, newspapers and magazines.
News organizations, too, are now in the business of conversation monitoring and engaging. In this sense, the news model shares with PR the goal of creating viral videos, flashy graphics, photographs, memes and other popular social media content. Everyone is competing for measurable engagement that may translate into new revenue....
On Thursday, Ketchum scored another public-relations coup: It helped place a Putin commentary in opinion pages of The New York Times, just as representatives from Russia and the United States were beginning to meet in Geneva to negotiate a plan for Syria to give up its chemical weapons.
The article made quite a splash in Washington. Putin painted himself as a peacemaker and lectured the United States for what he said was a tendency to use "brute force" in world disputes. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said he was "insulted" by the article, while the White House noted that Putin was taking advantage of press freedoms unavailable in Russia.
Ketchum, a division of the Omnicom Group Inc., has earned more than $25 million working for Russia, according to documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice. It also has been paid more than $26 million since 2007 to promote Gazprom, Russia's state-owned gas company....
Doug McKinlay, a 71-year-old ad professor at Brigham Young University, worked as an unpaid intern at dallas agency Richards Group over the summer.
Would your agency ever consider hiring a senior citizen for a summer internship?
In a business that's obsessed with hiring the hottest young talent boasting digital experience, most shops would probably balk. But 71-year old Doug McKinlay -- an ad professor at Brigham Young University and former agency owner -- took a chance anyway, and proposed an internship to Dallas-based Richards Group this summer.
"The industry is moving at Mach One and academia isn't moving nearly that fast," Mr. McKinlay said, comparing the pace of changes to advertising curriculum to "the speed of a receding glacier...
New webmaster rules from Google just killed PR agencies according to Tom Foremski's post "Did Google just kill PR agencies?" last month.He highlights a Google webmaster update warning about black hat, linkbait press releases and other similar improper SEO content practices trying to manipulate search engine results.Look out PR agencies Foremski warns....
The competition between public relations agencies and inbound marketing agencies is heavily one-sided. What can PR professionals do to step up their game?
Most agencies (advertising, social, search, design, digital) realize that inbound marketing isn’t just some concept waiting to get trumped by the next fad. It’s actually a comprehensive, forward-thinking type of marketing that puts the power in the consumers’ hands. I know this can be scary for some, and that may explain why not everyone is as excited about inbound marketing as they should be.PR agencies have all the makings of successful inbound marketers (in fact, some could argue that public relations professionals were the original inbound marketers), but for some reason they just don’t seem to get it.
Rather than integrating their practices to keep up with the competition, they are choosing to stay in the background and focus on less competitive areas like crisis communications, social monitoring and CSR.For the past few years people have actually been saying that PR as we know it is dead. Rather than adjusting to the new world of journalism, many PR agencies are content to sit on the sidelines and wither away while other firms take their business. Which makes no sense, because public relations is the industry most similar to inbound marketing....
It’s just over a hundred years since the first press release was issued by a company in an effort to tell their story in the media. In 1906, after a railroad accident, the company hired a journalist to help them deal with the disaster and the media coverage. Soon press releases and media relations became a core part of public relations.In the 1930s radio was a part of most American households.
Companies and PR agencies soon realized that just sending a text press release to a radio station was not enough. Sending a photograph was a complete waste of time. This was a new medium with new technology and it needed new content. And so the sound bite was born. Smart PR agencies and company PR pros quickly learned how to make 15-second audio clips to send with their releases.
And then came TV. By 1955 half of all American homes had a TV and this became the medium of choice for news. Smart PR folk had to adapt once again....
Toward the end of the meeting he asked us to describe how he knows if the communications firm is the right fit for them. A data scientist, he wanted something solid on which to place his decision.
Unfortunately, I told him, 99.9 percent of working with a communications firm is gut, chemistry, and trust. But I could tell he was very uncomfortable with that answer and I’ve been thinking about it since.
I, of course, have never hired a communications firm because I’ve worked inside one my entire career so I had to put my business owner hat and think about how we hire professional services firms for work we can’t do.
PR Firms: Is it the Right Fit?
So how do you know if the PR firm is the right fit for you?...
As competition grew in the late 1960s and the phone stopped ringing, ad agencies turned to their public relations cousins and asked for help to stand out. From the mid ‘60s on, this took the form of pumping out press releases and cultivating media to cover agency activities. The vast majority of the content was announcing new clients an agency had picked up and awards won at the ever-increasing number of shows.
Both of these items quickly became table-stakes material, contributing no real differentiation for the agencies. Sadly, the biggest innovation agencies introduced in subsequent decades was hiring public relations professionals to work in-house.
All this did was reduce cost as these folks brought little new to the equation. The result is advertising agencies have confused public relations with brand building for the past 50 years. Do not get me wrong: Public relations has a part to play in ensuring an advertising agency is top of mind. However, most public relations practiced by agencies remain incredibly traditional and shockingly boring for an industry that prides itself on creativity. Avi Dan, founder of Avidan Strategies, wrote in a Forbes article that agencies that hire a public relations firm as a way to solve new business struggles are soon disappointed....
... If you drill down into the top 500 agencies, you’ll find that the fastest-growing and most profitable firms are those that are devoted to specific areas of expertise. Social media, experiential marketing, and customer relationship marketing account for many of today's competency specialists. Other types of successful market specialists include travel/tourism, agriculture, food, pharma, and senior living.Solutions, not servicesUltimately, marketers aren’t buying a service from an agency. They’re buying a solution. And effective solutions spring from deep areas of expertise, not a from a “wide range of experience” as most agencies are prone to tout....
The rise of digital marketing and social media will require agencies to make significant changes to stay ahead of the competition. As digital marketing has continued to become a powerhouse in the marketing tool belt it has required agencies to consider how they can best serve the needs of the brands they serve. We’ve seen agencies slap social media on their list of services with little true expertise. Now we are seeing agencies slap content marketing on their list of services as it has become the new cool that everyone is all the rage about. This is a natural progression of service offerings and frankly agencies have to figure out how to provide these services because their clients are starting to demand them. We’ve seen transformation in the traditional full-service agency as well as a resurgence for boutique digital marketing and social media firms. But is that enough? The report “The Digital Marketing Agency of the Future” released today by Skyword argues that it isn’t even close to enough. They took the insights of 16 innovative agency leaders and created a forward thinking view of what tomorrow’s digital agency needs to look like....
It's the age-old question: "Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?" In the war of public relations agencies versus defenders of in-house PR, the question should be, "Do you want to be right or do you want to be effective?... Leu started the latest discussion with a guest post on VentureBeat that, well, I’ll let him speak for himself: “There are lots of dumb things you could do as a startup entrepreneur… but nothing could be more dumb than throwing your hard-earned venture capital money at a public relations firm.” Oh, there are so many other dumb things that startups do, like replace the “s” with a “z” in the company name or send unsolicited embargoed news to TechCrunch. But one of the dumbest things that a startup company — or any company, for that matter — can do is assume there is a one-size-fits-all approach to PR that could be simplified into “do or don’t” hire a PR agency. Ward appears to understand this, writing in his own guest post, “There are business reasons to hire or not hire a PR firm. Many reasons are valid. But to dismiss any option categorically or to blithely substitute one’s own poor experiences as a reflection on an industry is questionable advice.”...
Two huge public-relations firms are going into the advertising business -- focusing on areas that are natural extensions of PR.... In general, public-relations firms have been quicker to adapt to the changing social-media landscape. It's not just the big players like Edelman and Weber Shandwick. Independent firms such as Shift Communications and Digital Influence Group saw social media, and in turn content marketing, as a natural extension of their mission. It's important to note that public-relations firms aren't banging down doors to break into the traditional advertising world of print and television, at least not yet. Rather, they're smartly taking advantage of opportunities that have come their way. For example, the concept of native advertising -- embedding paid content in an editorial environment so that it is barely distinguishable from the journalistic information around it -- is conceptually the same as placing press releases that look like independent journalism. It's a natural fit for public-relations firms. These firms come to this new world with advantages. They understand the publishing business and have a long tradition of collaborating with publishers to create content. And they get that content marketing is not only about creating interesting material; it is equally about managing the distribution of content through all of the social channels. With the major social platforms like Facebook and Twitter introducing paid-media opportunities, the public-relations firms simply are climbing on board.
...We are still very much in the ideas business. Despite how much more sophisticated the algorithms get at search, contextual and behavioral ad serving, advertising still has to move you. And that comes down to the kind of creative that makes you feel an emotion... not just "think" or push you into "lower funnel" activation as many marketers are so anxious to do. This means drawing you in, getting you involved, and making you react emotionally, which is just as important on a hand-held device as it is in a 30-second TV spot. Creatively, this has been the challenge for the web banner, the video pre-roll, and even the next in-app-native touch-screen rich-media ad. These units may drive our impression-based ad-supported model, but they've yet to adequately prove the ability to make the consumer feel....
|
While it may not be the norm in public relations just yet, integrated communications is starting to take up more bandwidth in the PR process.
At our recent PR Agency Elite Luncheon, PR News spoke with Lia LoBello, a management supervisor at Peppercomm, which captured the Elite Award for Integrated Communications. LoBello shared a few tips on how PR execs can maximize integrated communications.
LoBello said that Peppercomm’s motto, “Listen, Engage, Repeat,” is the agency’s driving force behind working with other marketing disciplines. She added that in order to demonstrate their value, PR execs need a “deep understanding” of myriad marketing disciplines and should help decide how melding the various marketing channels together will create the best go-to-market strategy.
In helping to create integrated-marketing plans, PR agencies also need to take a “deep dive” into social media, LoBello said. “You need to take a hard look at all of the social channels,” she said. “Using Instagram may require a different approach” than Facebook or Twitter, for example. You have to match each social channel, if it’s appropriate for the campaign, with the ultimate goals of the client....
Much has been shared about the way the PR gig has changed over the past few years. While all of what’s being said is accurate and important, noteworthy is the fact that seeking new business has also changed. Listed here are a few of the ways new business generation has changed since I first jumped into the business:
In 2013, prospects find you. This is the first and by far the most significant item on this list. Prospects find agencies or individual PR professionals in a home office somewhere by way of their online presence. That’s an online presence far beyond just a website – although that remains hugely valuable. Prospects are looking for professionals who practice what they preach, and who are active and engaged....
Even as economic power has become increasingly concentrated in large corporations, communication power has become more diffuse. Most of us now carry global publishing power in our pockets, and we are connected to one another like never before. This combination of access and interconnection gives us the ability to make or break reputations and brands.
For the last two years, I’ve had a unique vantage point on this tumultuous change, as chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, the confederation of the world’s PR and communications professional associations.Professional business communicators are on the front lines of the communications revolution. The Global Alliance represents 160,000 practitioners and academics around the globe and I’ve been able to meet thousands of communicators on every continent, from at least 30 different countries and many different cultures. Based on that experience, I can share a few insights about how communication is changing the world of business — and how business communication itself must change as a consequence....
To be successful in the new multichannel and digital age businesses have to adopt an integrated approach to marketing.
And as companies seek to join up what have often been siloed activities, agencies are moving towards a fuller service offering to cater for the increased demand.
Data included in our new UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2013 shows that more than half of agencies (52%) now offer a ‘full range of digital marketing services’, an increase from 45% in 2012 and 42% in 2011.
In comparison just 12% of agencies specialise in SEO while 7% focused exclusively on paid search. A further 10% of agencies carry out both SEO and paid search....
For the first time ever, our clients have the ability to generate content in multiple forms--they are content publishers.Historically, the PR industry has revolved around media relations. Over the years, many firms have talked a big game about providing other services, but almost all buttered their bread by generating a mound of media clips for their clients.
Are media relations still important? Absolutely. Do we still provide media relations services at Peppercomm for most of our clients? You bet.
But, unlike the past, it’s not the focal point; instead, it’s one of many channels that we use to reach and engage with our client’s most important audiences. For the first time ever, our clients have the ability to generate content in multiple forms and distribute via a number of channels, and audience members might even feel compelled to circulate themselves. It’s no longer enough for a consumer products manufacturer to run 30-second TV spots touting their products. Now, they need to understand consumers’ lifestyles and engage in a meaningful, fully transparent way that brings real value to their lives.
This is why agencies like Peppercomm are starting to look more like publishers and less like traditional public relations firms. Companies need content that engages audiences and builds their brand’s value among stakeholders. And, if they know the best channels – digital and otherwise – in which to reach their audiences, they need agency partners that can develop content in multiple forms and distribute it effectively....
We all love lists, especially “best of lists” related to our own profession. It is even better, of course, when people we know actually make the list—and when we make the list ourselves. A number of “best PR blogs” lists recently surfaced. InkyBee, Cision and CyberAlert all weighed in, tackling the ranking in different ways using a variety of criteria....
This week it’s a look at social media marketing for B2B companies from Clearpoint Agency.It shows that 87% of B2B businesses use social compared to 77% that use blogs, with LinkedIn being the social network of choice for 83% of marketers.Looking at the reasons for using social, 79% use it as a tool for raising brand awareness while 74% use it for customer acquisition. For more information on this topic download our best practice ...
I have an unshakable belief that we’re living, right now, in one of the most crazy awesome times in human history. I believe that in 100 years from now, people will look back at the turn of the 21st century and say “Dayam, I wish I lived then!” – sorta like we do now thinking back to the 60’s, or the Enlightenment, or the industrial revolution, or the 80’s. Na, just kidding – the 80’s sucked.
Scalable areas like media placement are becoming competitive and crowded, and more and more agencies are entering the arena. Often these new agencies are more energetic and better looking than us. Damn those little punks to hell.Think about it. We’re living in a time where digital communication is changing everything. You know that right? Of course you do.
The question really is, what are you doing about it?So, running an agency, as I do, the question becomes even more critical. I’m at the forefront of all this stuff. We get updates daily, hourly, every .minute, on new shit that’s getting done. Innovations, inventions, disruptions: these are the things that mark this amazing pocket of time called the digital age....
Take a moment to think about what’s just happened in the last 6 months. - Facebook allows images in comments. - Instagram allows videos. - Twitter allows video through Vine. - Podcasting is back in a very big way. - LinkedIn rolls out video ads. - Google+ Hangouts integrate YouTube, Slideshare, and many other media types.
Think about how many different kinds of content these changes encompass. Video. Audio. Images. Text.Think about what it costs to license information from all of the different stock sites you work with on a regular basis.The public relations agency of the future will have a library, a digital repository of content that’s ready to go at a moment’s notice, and the associated creative team to help build and maintain it. Forward-thinking agencies already do....
Here are some telltale signs you've been in the PR rat race a bit long.... It's tough being a public relations pro these days. Reporters don’t respond to your daily pitches; clients want more media hits. You’re tasked with creating content for social media only to find out your client can’t tell the difference between a like and a tweet. Digiday spoke with several public relations execs about how they know they’ve been in PR too long. Here are 20 reasons it’s time to hang up the PR spikes....
Agencies that promise placements on the Oprah Winfrey Network and ‘The Rachael Ray Show’ in exchange for thousands of dollars don’t represent PR as a whole, but not everyone realizes that.
More often than not, organizations look for external PR help without understanding how they work. Here are seven reasons you're not ready to hire a PR firm.... Sometimes the prospects are start-ups and they want to trade services for equity. While I’d love to be able to do that (Jay Baer does some angel investing and coaching), we can’t make payroll with equity. So we often turn away those opportunities. More often than not, though, the organizations just aren’t ready for outsourced marketing and communications help. Seven Reasons You’re Not Ready to Hire a PR Firm Throughout the years, I’ve figured out the questions to ask to disqualify prospects (eventually I’ll take Marcus Sheridan’s advice and send them content that helps me disqualify them). If you think you’d like to hire a PR firm, go through this list first....
|
Today branding agencies must operate like news rooms, monitoring developing stories as they develop and updating audiences on their client's POV.