The Case Study: Media Relations – Dialing is the Most Difficult Part
August 23, 2010 | Advice for local companies, Great PR | 3 Comments
It’s difficult to dispute that the advent of social networking has certainly changed the world of Public Relations, in many respects for the better. Yet, while PR agencies trip over each other to position themselves as the global leaders in new media, the importance (and effectiveness) of ‘anachronistic’ tools of the trade like the telephone are often overshadowed.
That’s why I wanted to take a moment to step back and discuss the importance of direct media relations for the second in a series I have cleverly re-titled ‘The Case Study,’ which will run once a month here on 101to87. The first ‘How to Launch an iPhone App,’ was published last month and can be found here.
It is my hope that these case studies outline the essentialness of incorporating direct phone pitching to a comprehensive PR strategy.
The Client: TheInfoPro
The Strategy: Utilize direct media relations to achieve comprehensive media coverage
The Result: Secured briefings with eight leading technology journalists at such prominent publications as Barron’s, IDG News Service, eWeek, TechTarget, CRN, Internet.com and The Register, which resulted in 23 organic and syndicated stories.
TheInfoPro has been a client for our agency, Portfolio PR Group, for the past 12 months. In addition to securing media coverage through direct pitching and social media we also aid in the independent research company’s business development through speaking opportunities and calls to action. However to publicize the release of their somewhat ‘controversial’ study of the server industry we utilized just one – direct media pitching.
While many people, including some PR pro’s try to shy away from ‘cold-calling,’ a reputable PR agency spends very little percentage of their actual time speaking with new contacts. This is because cultivating relationships with journalists takes time, and the foundation must be set long before a pitch is ever constructed.
Nevertheless, media overturn is inevitable and a PR pro must be willing to pick up the phone. While some fear a caustic response, you must remember that any PR practitioner can drastically reduce the number of disgruntled journalists encountered along the way by making sure to pitch only the right ones. This requires research.
Week One
We knew from the outset that TheInfoPro study had potential, for its unique research methodology (surveying end-users) had yielded results which bucked contemporary group-thought surrounding the industry landscape. However, we had to make sure we not only pitched the right reporters but that we also gave them adequate time to write the story. Three weeks prior to the release of the study, we went through each of our contacts to ensure the inclusion of every journalist with a focus on the IT industry, specifically servers. As I mentioned, there is so much overturn in the media nowadays that a reporter covering a specific topic as recently as a month ago could be focusing on an entirely different subject matter – or worse – laboring away at an entirely different publication, today. This is what makes up-to-date media lists essential. For us, this meant assigning a few members of our team to spend the entire week composing a comprehensive list of server journalists at every major publication and several targeted, highly trafficked blogs.
Week Two
Two weeks prior to the release of the study we began our outreach with an initial e-mail. As with any pitch, the initial response or lack thereof allowed us to course correct. After a day, we re-engaged our targets, this time on the phone. For many of our journalists, we knew from previous conversations which times were best to contact them. For those we didn’t, we made sure to call during the early afternoons to catch them right after lunch. This is important because most journalists have editorial meetings and other engagements in the morning. And, we NEVER left messages. As many PR people know, this is next to pointless. Trade reporters are pitched on new PR firms by the hundreds each day, and it’s highly likely they won’t even listen to the message, let alone return your call.
Throughout each day, we secured briefings under NDA for the following week. You always want to give a reporter an ample window to schedule a meeting. It is too easy for a busy journalist to blow off a pitch if it is time sensitive.
By the end of the week, we had scheduled eight briefings, with journalists from the who’s who of tech trades: eWeek, IDG News Service, TechTarget and even mainstream publications such as Barron’s.
The rest of the week was spent compiling background information on the study to make sure each reporter had enough material to devise questions beforehand. If a reporter spends time prepping, you’ve won half the battle.
Week Three
The week prior to the release of the study, we completed the press release and briefed our clients on each reporter, focusing our attention on recent coverage, personal background and anything else that can help the client understand the motives of the reporter and potential angles to push. A successful briefing is one without surprises.
Our agency acted as the host of each briefing – part referee, part supervisor. We wanted to make sure both parties stayed on topic during the call. The last thing you want is a reporter asking questions outside the scope of the client’s expertise or the client inadvertently inviting them to do so.
Following each briefing, we followed up with whatever additional information the reporter requested and once again confirmed the NDA. This is essential. Everyone, even a journalist, is fallible – even forgetful. A breach of the NDA prior to the study’s release could have voided all of our success and hard work: no reporter wants to write on a ‘dead story.’
The Day of the Release
By the day of the launch, a PR pro’s work is nearly done. All that is left now is to track and follow-up. For us, the coverage rolled in quickly, with over 15 organic columns published the ensuing week after the release went over the wire. Some places that weren’t briefed, such as ars technica, quoted the study within more broad topical coverage. Other pieces, like Agam Shah’s of IDG News Service, were syndicated at NetworkWorld, PCWorld, ComputerWorld and other prominent publications.
The coverage didn’t slow down for quite sometime. Some reporters, like eWeek’s Jeff Burt mentioned the study in no less than three columns over the next few weeks. Other publications picked up on the story and either requested information or cited statistics taken directly from our press release.
It was, dare I say, a successful launch of the study and one which should serve as an example of the type of coverage possible with a little elbow grease.
If this case study proves anything, it is that media relations shouldn’t be an afterthought. Yes, social media has opened up new avenues for disseminating information and for many Facebook and Twitter are important tools in the toolkit. Yet, we shouldn’t forget that sometimes, simply having the determination to pick up the phone is all you have to do to secure your client the coverage they need and your firm the all-important PR win.
Mike Lesczinski is a Public Relations Manager at Portfolio PR Group in Saratoga Springs, NY which specializes in securing national media coverage for technology clients throughout New York’s ‘Tech Valley.’
How to Launch an iPhone App
July 6, 2010 | Advice for local companies, Great PR | 0 Comments
The App: ScanBizCards
The Challenge: To increase user downloads and sales of the premium version ($5.99) of the app while overcoming an oversaturated iPhone application market and direct competition from two well-known competitors.
The Strategy: Raise brand awareness and strengthen the client’s reputation through a comprehensive PR campaign composed of targeted media coverage, social media, calls to action, and promotional giveaways.
The Result: Within 21 days, ScanBizCards had jumped just over 40 spots, standing as the 15th most downloaded business app on iTunes (today, it stands at #3). The app has also generated rave reviews from well-known iPhone app reviewers at Tech Crunch and AppCraver, and was named as “one of the best tools for digitalizing your life” by Lifehacker.
Launching an iPhone app may sound like an easy proposition, especially for an agency that specializes in pitching the smartest industry technologists in the world on cloud middleware products, organizational dynamics storage breakthroughs, and geospational information systems. But pitching a mainstream consumer product, especially one in an oversaturated of a market as iPhone Apps is, requires a different approach – one based on numbers, targeted research, and outside-the-box strategery.
Week One – Set the foundation, test your pitch
As with any PR launch, the first few days are the most important: this is your opportunity to set the foundation for the rest of your campaign. For us, this was our chance to build a targeted list of the top app reviewers and influential tech and iPhone bloggers. To develop a facebook fan page, revamp the ScanBizCards twitter profile and to follow app reviewers, potential customers and iPhone fans with a considerable twitter audience. Google Alerts for targeted phrases were created to track potential leads.
We wrote specific pitches for each type of outlet, whether that be high trafficked tech blogs such as Tech Crunch or Gizmodo, mainstream news outlets like USA Today, AppCraver and other niche review sites, or even personal blogs.
Two days later, our pitch-krieg (get it?) commenced. Immediate responses – or the lack thereof – helped us to gauge the effectiveness of our approach, and provided the necessary feedback to re-tailor our pitches – and reengage our targets. Two days later, we had scheduled three reviews with smaller niche app sites. A day after that, our first major reviewer bit on our pitch: TechCrunch.
Week Two – Ramp up the pitch, engage the social media community
“I’m intrigued” responded TechCrunch blogger Scott Merrill, one of the best phrases a PR practitioner ever hears. We set up a demo for the next morning and by that afternoon the review appeared – syndications, downloads and site visits soared over the ensuing days. Over the course of the week, four additional blog reviewers joined the party, hosting ScanBizCards giveaway contests for their readers.
Week two also marked the ratcheting up of our social media campaign: publishing the best reviews, giving away promo codes to fans, and engaging the facebook community without selling them on the product – showing our “fans” that their was a living, breathing human being behind the brand.
On Twitter, we attempted to establish ScanBizCards founder Patrick Questembert as a leading thought-leader in the iPhone industry – not by hard-selling, but by becoming a resource for the twitter community by sharing information on all things iPhone, apps, and networking.
Week Three - Expand the outreach, but keep the pressure on
During week three, we launched the second phase of our outreach – securing promotional partnerships to raise brand awareness and increase the number of consumers taking ScanBizCards for a spin. One member of our team identified 14 fatherhood, parenting, and marriage-focused bloggers for a Father’s Day promotion. A second team member focused on compiling a list of networking conferences in the region, with the intention of convincing each to offer a free premium version of the ScanBizCards app to their attendees on the day of the event. Another member began scouring the net and HARO for gift bag opportunities.
Our first week of promo pitching yielded Father’s Day giveaways with two significant websites and two conference partnerships, one with the possibility of a long-term relationship depending on attendee feedback. I would call that a success.
However, don’t think that we stopping pitching for new reviews. On the contrary, we expanded our targets but with a new angle: the release of a new feature, ‘cloudsync.’ This was actually a really cool feature that allows users to upload their contacts to the web. Coupled with the hype surrounding this type of “cloud” technology, we had created a hard news story angle – the job of every PR practitioner.
Finally, we kept up to date on trending news and looked for “calls to action” – the chance to pitch Patrick, as an industry expert, to media outlets. The release of the iPhone offered just such an opportunity, and we sprang into action (sprang is probably the wrong word for this particular situations since the release of the iPhone wasn’t a surprise announcement, but it does convey the type of action normally required). The outreach garnered interview opportunities with two review sites and secured a review commitment from another popular blog: Crazy Mike’s Apps ; though, as of this writing, we’re still waiting for the review to be published.
Measure your results, adapt, repeat
To recap, within the first 21 days of the PR campaign we secured seven reviews, four of which were published; eight syndicated stories; two Father’s Day giveaway partnerships and two conference promotions. ScanBizCards Twitter following increased by 60 percent. The initial feedback provided insight into effective pitching strategies, the types of gift bags that yielded positive results (and which, were a waste of money), and established the media relationships we need for continued long-term success.
Over the next three weeks we landed another positive review with AppCraver and numerous gift bag opportunities, from a Mommy Bloggers summit in NYC to a fashion week in Hot-lanta. None of that would have been possible however without setting a foundation for success from the outset. If you are planning on using a launch campaign for transitioning into a long-term PR-client relationship, then I suggest you follow suit.
Mike Lesczinski is a Senior Account Executive & Social Media Manager at a public relations firm located in Saratoga Springs, NY specializing in securing national media coverage for technology clients throughout New York’s ‘Tech Valley.’
Biz Review: Local PR Execs on GlobalFoundries
May 28, 2010 | Advice for local companies, Great PR | 0 Comments
Courtesy of The Business Review
An article today in the The Albany Business Review explores how the public relations community locally will be affected by the impact of GlobalFoundries. Sounds like all of the PR practitioners in the area agree on one thing – technology is the key growth factor for the Capital Region. But do our technology brands understand how to get there?
Couple of quick hints on jump starting your national awareness:
1. Pick an agency that can demonstrate recent, national clips. If you are a local provider only, consider your own executive visibility as a reason to further invest in national press.
2. Work on giving your agency a peek under the kimono. The more we know about your business, the more creative story ideas we can come up with. Sometimes even how you hire people can make you a national spokesperson.
3. Integrate social media where necessary – and hire an agency with social media clout. Research the team, each individual, request clips they’ve achieved and ask the tough questions in the board room. Never hire a team without meeting everyone who will be working to communicate the message – particularly important when social media is so real-time.
4. You should be meeting with 3-5 new reporters a month for an average PR retainer. If you aren’t, ask why. And listen. Most of the agency leaders locally would probably agree that story coverage is a two-way street. We need the info to sell your brand.
5. Stick to your gut. If you’ve requested new messaging and it’s not feeling right, or feeling comprehensive, resides on a graphic that makes no sense and it isn’t something you can easily send to a sales prospect at the drop of a hat – well, then this isn’t messaging.
When choosing a PR agency, be careful about the traps. Ask for the following, and you shall receive great representation: [and there are plenty of local team to choose from]
1. Current clients who are references. Ask for clients longer than +1 and speak to a variety of people internally in the company. Do your homework, it can be really worth your time.
2. Case studies that demonstrate the type of coverage you’re expecting. Make sure they are relevant, current and are not press release syndications.
3. Give deadlines. One thing I stress to executives is to try and make it worth with their PR agency. Be direct with what you want, put it in writing and set a deadline. If there are clear expectations that are obtainable, then you should feel comfortable at the end of the term with the communication about how they’re going about achieving these goals and the progress throughout the time frame.
4. Most important – read your corporate pitches. If an agency tells you they won’t show you the pitch, it means they’re not confident in how they are selling your brand. Be weary of someone out there contacting reporters without you understanding the words they are using.
I love this business and we’ve having a blast serving Tech Valley. Adding PR to your marketing portfolio can be the perfect way to express your capabilities to the impending growth. Benefit from headlines, not bullshit. Ask great questions and be responsible to your agency – a lifetime partnership with an agency who can sell your story on a dime is worth every penny.
How Tech Valley companies could benefit from blogs
May 14, 2010 | Advice for local companies | 0 Comments
This week I gave a talk at the Albany Ad Club surrounding how to integrate ad campaign efforts with free PR tools to bring more awareness to not just your company’s brand, but also to the campaign itself.
I thought maybe I should make a few examples of where blogs have been hugely helpful to some of our clients.
We’re representing @oppsconnect – otherwise known as OppositesConnect.com – we work with @overit or Overit Media on this one. Beautiful design and web work, and an amazing concept for singles to stop making the same mistakes when dating by continuously looking for the same ole person.
We’ve been working on building the install base for OppositesConnect.com – I mean, who wants to go to a dating site and not find a date. The early sign ups are rolling in. Maybe it’s because of the blog coverage.
As PR people, we never like to let the cat out of the bag, but in this case, early on coverage is really helpful. We’ve been reaching out to dating, singles, love and relationship bloggers. Nothing fancy, just those bloggers with +1000 followers. We’re up to 96 bloggers who we are actively working with — free promotions, potential regional events and partnerships.
Here’s some of the coverage (and syndication sites) ahead of time:
MENUDating.com
By Tristan Coopersmith
Do opposites attract? New dating website is betting on it
Examiner
By: Kelly Seal
April 30, 2010
All Over Albany
By: Mary Darcy
April 13, 2010
E Dating
April 14, 2010
He Loves Me Not
By: Sarah
April 14, 2010
Opposites Connect: New online dating site promises great first dates!
Ask Girl Shrink
By: Lisa Angelettie
April 15, 2010
New, locally based dating site lets opposites connect
NewsoDrome
April 16, 2010
New, locally based dating site lets opposites connect
Times Union
By: Kristi Gustafson
April 16, 2010
New, locally based dating site lets opposites connect
Online dating. Best Tips.
April 16, 2010
Spotlight News
By: Charles Wiff
April 22, 2010
Furthermore, a new client, iPhone app provider ScanBizCards hit wild success this week with just one review from major blogger Scott Merrill of MobileCrunch/TechCrunch. The syndication capabilities of hitting a major hit on one major blog is astounding. ScanBizCards jumped from #63 in App Store, to #21 to #12!!! Check out the coverage/syndication that ensued:
How do you find bloggers — Google baby! And things like Technorati.com and other blogger community sites. Working with bloggers to feed them VIP information, special offers which they can give to their readers, a sneak peek at the website before anyone else — virtually easy and ridiculously beneficial.
Startup co.’s should prioritize customer service for early success
January 19, 2010 | Advice for local companies | 1 Comments
Photo credit courtesy of InsideSoCal.com
If you’ve been a part of a startup before, you know that it’s a tough business. If you’re bootstrapping, every dollar counts and most of your employees are doing a four-person job. But the freedom and passion that come with these jobs are amazing…or so I’ve heard. I’ve worked with dozens of startups in my career, they are the clients you want to bend over backwards for. They believe in their product and their future and are working hard to achieve a dream.
So if you’re a tech startup, how do you prioritize your staffing to meet the needs of both sales and customer service?
One of my favorite startups that I worked for was a company called the Rubicon Project. At that time, I was at SHIFT which is lead by Todd Defren and we worked directly with a PR manager who knew the benefit of keeping the agency and CEO in a tight relationship. The company was run by Frank Addante, a successful CEO and serial entrepreneur. I wasn’t on the account long, but I remember meeting with several of their management team members and seeing first hand their impressive customer service to ad networks and ad publishers. If you were a customer, someone was there for you at all hours.
This was probably my first introduction to that type of dedicated service amongst tech startups. As a consumer I had experienced Amazon.com, Zappos, Bloomingdales and the like. But I had also met the horrors of bad customer service and deplorable response time.
Since the beginning, FourSquare seemed like a fun idea to me, especially if it came locally. We are *new* to town and coming from San Francisco everyone seems so spread out here. As I watched the phenomenon grow I quickly became a groupie “in-waiting” for it to go national. When it did, I was so buried I barely noticed, but then I got right on the bandwagon.
Sadly, my introduction to being on FourSquare was riddled with errors. And by errors, I mean my own. I have to thank harryh who walked me through the problems I experienced and did so within hours. I did have to check-in with them a few times but once I did, my problem was fixed instantly.
I also remember FourSquare founder @Dens showing the TwitPics of the office one day and now realize that the small team is in pretty close quarters which is working out to the consumer’s benefit, i.e., people dedicated to answering emails like mine.
FourSquare uses GetSatisfaction.com to begin an online conversation with you and track the conversation as you to solve the problem. They are able to use these conversations to teach others and you can search the forums for problems similar to the ones you’re experiencing. This cuts down on repeat questions and enables self-help. I plan to spend the rainy weekend ahead of us helping with the FourSquare cause by adding a bunch of Capital Region places. Some bloggers today raise valuable points that FourSquare should consider, but on a pure enjoyment level, I find brilliance in the simplicity of FourSquare and what it does for a culture that usually suffers from a delay in adoption.
I experienced similar customer service success with Tungle.me this week. In efforts to get some advice, I tweeted that I was in need of a calendar app — trying to manage multiple calendars and being limited by the capabilities of AppleMail and Entourage was getting to be too much. A friend recommended Tungle.me. I had read about Tungle.me during it’s launch so I appreciated the reminder.
I sped through signing up and quickly kicked the program off to the side when I thought I couldn’t manage multiple types of calendars on it.
A note from CEO Marc Gingras and support guy Jason Knudsen within 24 hours thanking me for my sign-up got me to re-engage and ask about supporting multiple calendars. Jason himself emailed me moments later and I found out that not only could I, but Jason also walked me through their limitations supporting multiple GMAIL accounts and how I was better off to arrange my profile to use the GMAIL account most important to me. Score.
I’ve never asked questions directly to companies until the world of social media gave a forum to do so and demands a quick response time before public floggings start. If you’re a tech startup, I hope you see the benefit of taking even the tightest budgets and accurately splitting them between sales and customer service.
I’ll leave the “how-to” part to the marketing folks, all I can tell you from a happy tech geek is that I appreciate the service more than the sale.
Welcome back Kodak! Meet the Zi8
December 6, 2009 | Advice for local companies, Tech Worth Talking About | 0 Comments
A friend of mine was a die hard Flip person and then the other day I realized she had a new piece of pocket camcorder bling. I was more stunned to notice that it was by Kodak.
Check out the new KODAK Zi8:
Like the Flip Camera, the Zi8 is all you need for camcorder fun and sharing. The details are stellar, and from what I can tell, the quality kicks my HD Nikon’s butt.
- Capture HD quality 1080p video with 16:9 aspect ratio
- Records up to 10 hours of HD video with the expandable SD/SDHC card slot that can hold up to 32 GB
- External microphone jack lets you record in stereo
- Takes amazing 5 MP 16:9 widescreen HD still pictures
This will definitely be making my Capital Region Tech Gift Guide this year.
If I’m a tech geek, who do I follow on Twitter?
December 3, 2009 | Advice for local companies | 0 Comments
As you unravel Twitterville Capital Region and contemplate how to engage with this mass eco-system, consider starting with your passion for tech. Tech enthusiasts are all over Twitter and following them will in the very least educate you on the happenings of our industry.
Here’s my list:
Smart entrepreneurs and execs who tweet valuable things:
Jack Dorsey (@Jack) started Twitter, now CEO of Square
Padmasree Warrior (@padmasree) CTO of Cisco
Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) Founder of Digg
Jason Calacanis (@jasoncalacanis) Founder of Mahalo
Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) Google engineer
Thought leaders
Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang) analyst
Michael Arrington (@techcrunch) TechCrunch
Om Malik (@om) GigaOm
Humor and intelligence
Sarah Lacy (@sarahcuda) Author, social media writer
Natalie Del Conte (@natalidelconte) Loaded on CNET and CBS Early Show
Taylor Buley (@taylorbuley) Forbes and comedy relief
Tom Merritt (@acedtect) Top Ten Lists on CNET
Veronica Belmont (@veronica) Revision 3
OH WAIT — insert shameless plug here @nmessier or @101to87
Am I a Mac or PC?
December 2, 2009 | Advice for local companies, Tech Worth Talking About | 3 Comments
Clearly, I’m a Mac.
But for the past 15 years, I was a PC.
I never even thought of switching to a Mac until I went out on my own and my husband convinced me to convert. Yes, I was dazzled by how beautiful of a machine it is and the iPhone was of course the smartphone of choice once I left my BlackBerry behind. It took awhile to learn the new OS, but once I got the hang of it, we added our own Apple network and backup system, and starting managing multiple accounts – I became a devoted fan.
Start up companies often contemplate which direction to go and what the major issues are with each. This post is not to convince you to change over to Mac – which by the way as an average price point of $2500/pp.
Quite the contrary. Steve Jobs may be a god and I hear he runs a tight ship over there in Cupertino. If you want to read something great, learn how Jobs starting shopping the iPhone and told many wireless service providers to go jump in a lake.
While we‚Äôre all dazzled by the Apple Store and convenience of iTunes, we have to remember that Apple doesn’t make many products — six Macs, variety of iPods, two iPhones, and a debatable-even-worth-it, Apple TV. Oh, plus accessories. A recent Forrester analyst made this point: ‚ÄúIf Apple tried to build a car, it would take it three years just to design the dashboard. Now it would be an extraordinary dashboard, but Job’s fabled micro-management would stall the delivery of a finished automobile.‚Äù
There are limitations for BtoB companies if they’re thinking of turning into a Mac shop. And this isn’t even about cost. The biggest problems with piecemeal approaches to your IT infrastructure is that at some point these systems won’t work flawlessly together. We even have problems working with a “Mac-friendly” Brother printer, consistently resetting itself because of difficulty working with our network and the Mac OS. That’s ok for us small shops, but for larger companies a printer or network breakdown can mean major loss in productivity.
As I mentioned, I was dazzled by the branding and simplicity of the machine. I look at Dell and HP laptops today and think ‚Äì ‚Äúthose bulky things.‚Äù And the PC product lines are trying harder and harder to be like Apple ‚Äì take the Dell Adamo line for example. At the heart of it, Apple designs for the consumer and the creative. There don‚Äôt have complex systems or IT problems. I also know developers love their Macs, but let’s face it — even internally at large enterprises the dev team works their own rules.
Jobs runs a highly specialized, super focused business on design and speed. It’s why he packages so many software elements into each Mac – he knows it will work and work the way he wants it to. That might always be the best fit for an enterprise.