While others concentrate on a niche audience:
Based on a nationwide survey of 1,492 engaged or married men and women administered by Men’s Health and TheKnot.com, 47% of women say the “surprise” factor is very important when a man proposes marriage.

Either way, all marketing-generated surveys are self-serving, whereby researchers often use surveys to gather information for solving problems. Marketing surveys let you get inside your customers’ minds to gather opinions to help develop your brand positioning and campaigns. But survey responses may also arm you with statistics that can be used as “news” to generate media coverage or to promote your thought leadership. In this post we are focusing on PR-focused surveys.

To ensure your PR survey is deemed credible to external audiences – or at least not completely skewed since PR people are skilled at writing survey questions that generate PR-worthy responses for the brand or organization! – there are certain parameters you should follow when developing, executing and promoting the effort. For example:

Topic: Rather than asking questions about your specific products or services, construct a survey that considers a broader, yet related, category or trend. Let’s use the fictitious “glow-in-the-dark snow boot” manufacturer we introduced in an earlier blog post as an example. If they conducted a survey asking respondents to name their favorite fluorescent shoe color, the results wouldn’t provide information that’s of much use to anyone outside the boot company. But if their strategic communications plan included a survey that inquires about the best locations for night skiing, the findings could be tied to winter travel trends, while also communicating the demand for glow-in-the-dark boots!

Timing: Keeping with the luminous boots example, let’s discuss timing. Obviously the most appropriate time to announce related survey results is in the winter months. But bear in mind that if you’re planning to pitch such findings to magazines or even the lifestyle section of some newspapers, you need to meet their editorial deadlines. To do so you might have to conduct the survey in August so that you have the results gathered and analyzed to meet the deadlines of long-lead publications. On the other hand, surveys also lend themselves to breaking news scenarios. Imagine New England experiences a blizzard that leaves schools and businesses closed for a couple of days. The boot manufacturer could conduct a brief online survey to find out how people made the most of the winter wonderland – e.g., building a snow fort, hiking in a local park, participating in a progressive dinner party with neighbors. Every activity could be enjoyed wearing the glow-in-the-dark boots! Results would be of interest to regional media, but perhaps even The Weather Channel would report “According to (name of company)…” Annual surveys that establish and compare against benchmarks, like the AAA Memorial Day Travel poll, can also be effective – there’s an opportunity to build anticipation from year-to-year, not to mention the trending figures you’ll collect that help position you and your organization as industry experts.

Method: The “how” of conducting surveys is where the evolution of technology has really had an impact. There was a time not too long ago when “online surveys” got no respect! It was thought that participants just didn’t represent a large enough cross-section of the population. Clearly that has changed! According to Internet World Stats, 78.3% of Americans use the Internet (ah, more statistics!). Today we have the likes of SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang as well as old masters like Nielsen enabling companies to use the Internet for comprehensive surveys.

You might also consider collaborating with a media partner to conduct a survey. Take our snow boot manufacturer, they might partner with a magazine such as Backcountry to survey subscribers about their winter hiking habits. And although a media partnership might limit your press coverage because competitive media won’t promote the findings, there are still many ways to utilize the findings in broadcast and more general media, as well as online via your website, social media, blogs, and more.

Another point to keep in mind, just as there is a difference between research-oriented and marketing-generated surveys, customer polling on consumer-facing websites (e.g., Facebook, Google+, or a consumer website like Coca-Cola) is another tactic. A company’s social media strategist may pose questions to its fans and followers to collect fodder – such as naming most popular products or customer anecdotes – for use in social media and website content. But this type of information is typically not strongly valued by external audiences, especially media.

Audience scope & size: So, is there a magic number of respondents you need to survey to make your findings legit? Here, too, technology is changing the playing field. Marketers can survey 1,000+ respondents in a relatively short period of time using the Internet. They can also more easily and cost effectively hone in on specific target audiences, enabling surveys today to be stronger both quantitatively and qualitatively.

We’d love to hear about some of the creative and interesting PR-oriented surveys you’ve been involved with, as well as other suggestions you have for making them a success. We’re looking forward to a lively discussion!

Honing the messaging:
Newsmaker Group’s April 27th blog post entitled Avoid the Bridge to Nowhere – Keep Your Communications Message on Track, talks about the importance of identifying and focusing interviews on key messages to support your strategic positioning and drive your business goals forward. Here are more thoughts on the topic:

• Alison Owen emphasizes the importance of the message, saying that “As the media fragments, confident and engaging media spokespeople are more critical than ever to capture our super-short attention spans …. entering a broadcast interview unprepared and unrehearsed is a high-risk strategy, especially when one ill-advised or off-message comment can go viral and reach millions of people in an instant.”
• Bob Aronson has another interesting idea, saying that messages have to stick: “If you are any good at what you do you will begin by concentrating on the issues and the messages and how to best frame what the client needs to communicate. We can work on style till hell freezes over but if the content is poor you will look like a stylized fool. Participants have to concentrate on what they came to communicate. That should always be the primary focus. If the trainer has not familiarized him/herself with the issues and messages then the client is wasting their money. Knowing how the media work is not enough. Trainers need to understand the basics of persuasive communication and be able to help the client couple them with well-developed, adhesive messages — they’ve got to stick!”
• Martin Riecken has also an interesting point of view, saying that not everything a CEO says is a message and that “being able to form words doesn’t mean one is able to deliver (the right) messages…”
• Hal Hart thinks that “the most important point is to start by focusing the trainee on the subject of the interview.”

Conducting the training
Another important topic discussed in the LinkedIn Group relates to who does the training.

• Bob Aronson made a list of the essential items he is looking for when hiring a media coach: “1) experience as a spokesperson, 2) experience as a journalist, 3) a demonstrated knowledge of communication principles including persuasion and listening skills, 4) the ability to teach, to help people learn, 5) a solid understanding of business … and the responsibilities faced by the executives we counsel, and 6) capable researcher with a commitment to preparation.”
• Barbara Laskin (a fabulous media trainer our team has worked with by the way) thinks that “an expert media trainer brings something to the table that both these entities (executives and their PR reps) can’t: an outside point-of-view. He or she shines a critical lens that exposes how others perceive you, not just how you or your team perceive yourself.”

Convincing the client!
And finally, the LinkedIn discussion also shed more light on the ways to get a spokesperson to respect the media training process. We very much enjoyed the colorful analogies respondents provided to reinforce this, ranging from brain surgery, to blazing infernos, to a concert hall pianist!

• Leeland K. Bassett said that “We ask clients if they would let an amateur do brain surgery on their kid? Recognize that earned media is called that because you have to earn it. And do you want to walk into the arena with seasoned pros as an amateur?”
• Richard McKeown believes “Media Training is like a smoke detector: its cost relative to a raging fire is a pittance. And its value in preventing a full-blown inferno is immeasurable. It sounds self-serving, but it’s true: Media Training should be a requirement for not only spokespersons, but all who is part of an executive leadership team in all organizations, large or small.”
• Carmie McCook often told her clients “If you needed life-saving surgery, would you operate on yourself? Every client I’ve worked with has thanked me for “saving” their life.”
• Bob Dirkes explains that media coaching should take place on a continuing basis, similar to the greatest athletes who do not stop practicing their skills once they go pro.
• Martin Riecken considers that one would not dive into a pool without knowing how to swim, or perform at Carnegie Hall’s piano concert series without ever having touched a key before. So why would one believe that he can do a media interview without preparation?

This being said, let’s get the media training started and keep it going!

So, whether your media relations specialist proactively books an interview to introduce a new product, showcase your thought leadership, or spotlight a cause in need of external support. Or if you’re in the hot seat dealing with crisis communication, the main reason for speaking with a reporter is to tell your side of a story.

How do you do this? Know and stay focused on your messages! As TJ Walker states in his book Media Training A-Z, “You have zero control over reporters [questions]. You have 100 percent control over what comes out of your mouth.” That’s where good strategic positioning and media training come in.

A media training session isn’t just an opportunity to get comfortable with the interview process. Rather, the primary purpose is to hone in on what information you want to communicate during an interview and identify examples and anecdotes that back up your claims. These are your messages and proof points. Doing so aids in effectively reaching the goals set out in your strategic communications plan.

As you determine and fine-tune your messaging, realize that you want to consistently communicate the same core information about your company regardless of the media outlet or target audiences – it’s the language and examples that differ so that the messages are relevant to the respective audience.

If you’re not preparing for a specific interview, the “stage” should be set during media training to conduct mock interviews representing different media types and target audiences. For example, one scenario could mimic being interviewed by a trade publication. The “reporter” will be well-versed in your industry and able to address topics in greater detail. In addition, the audience will understand industry terms – aka jargon – so you can feel comfortable getting specific with your messaging.

On the other hand, in preparing for an interview with a mainstream consumer media outlet, you need to make your key messages relevant to a broader audience that likely lacks an in-depth knowledge of your industry. You probably also need to motivate different behaviors among consumers vs. your industry. Say, for example, you sell fashionable high heeled shoes with a new comfort technology. While the brand descriptors, differentiators and advantages will remain central to your messaging, for interviews with industry media you might talk about distribution channels and business partnerships, while for consumer media you would cite customer anecdotes about the comfort and describe the array of styles.

You should also keep in mind that your messages and proof points need to bring your product, service or company “to life” – they should “paint a picture” that’s memorable to business and consumer target audiences. This is how you’ll really connect yourself and your brand with your audiences!

In Don’t Talk to the Media Until…29 Secrets You Need to Know Before You Open Your Mouth to a Reporter, Gerard Braud suggests visualizing the messaging process as a growing oak tree. The trunk is your core message. From there ‘branch’ out with three supporting messages, which then sprout three leaves each, representing more specific proof points.

Once your oak tree has bloomed, it’s time to focus your media training on interviewing techniques for delivering your messages. We started this post stating that you, as the spokesperson, should assume the driver’s seat during an interview. Learning how to not always answer questions while insuring your credibility is key to this – and key to ensuring people see your beautiful oak tree!

Up next in our Media Training series… The Successful Sound Bite.

Fast forward to April 2012 – a mere four months into the year, but an eternity in the wonderful world of the Web. Hmmm, haven’t heard much about Google+ – and haven’t been greatly inspired to integrate it into my daily social media activities. I went into my account a couple of times this year and poked around for people I know. Couldn’t find many. Didn’t learn anything of interest from my limited connections since they too are posting in a haphazard fashion. Hence I haven’t been compelled to login more frequently. The culprit? Pretty pictures – aka PINTEREST!

It’s not unusual for a social media community to undergo a quiet ramp-up period – perhaps even years – and then explode seemingly overnight. Facebook began this way, serving just the college market. It then opened its doors to the public-at-large and about a year later, everyone from my high school was “friending” me. At parties, events, on the phone, in pop culture, everybody was (and still is) talking about Facebook. Marketers obviously embraced Facebook in the process.

Then came Twitter. Again, for the first few years usage didn’t spread much past the early-adopters. And then boom! It too exploded. So much so that mainstream news programs such as CNBC and CNN have segments dedicated to viewers’ Tweets. Shows like “The X Factor” allow voting via Twitter. Tweets have kept millions of people across the country and world abreast of major events in real time, from earthquakes to political unrest to celebrity news. The Twitter hashtag, first widely used in San Diego, CA in 2007 to communicate about wildfires (#sandiegofire), are now relied on to organize like-minded communities and events within the global world of Twitter.

Over the past few months colleagues, friends, family members and neighborhood business owners have started referencing – and using – Pinterest with great enthusiasm. “What’s this Pinterest thing?” they’ve been asking. “How do I get started?”

We of course jumped on this bandwagon for ourselves and our clients – it’s a great way to tell your story visually. Here are some quick tips and examples to help you climb on board!

1. First and foremost – don’t use Pinterest to promote, promote, promote! People aren’t on Pinterest to get the deal of the day – they are there to be inspired. So, inspire them to love your product or service by telling its story through pictures. AND get your customers involved by asking them to be part of the story. Invite them to PIN images to your boards of themselves getting a good workout in the hiking boots you manufacture, or catching some zzzz’s while flying overseas in your comfy airplane seats. Like all social media platforms, it’s about encouraging people with common interests to participate in an online community.
2. Pinterest = women = sales! While promotional messages shouldn’t be the focus of your Pinterest boards, remember that most Pinterest users (some estimates say 70%) are suburban women ages 25-45. This demographic makes the main purchasing decisions for a household, so keep this in mind when selecting items to PIN and writing captions.
3. Hashtags are not just for Tweeting anymore! The # is also great for categorizing and searching within Pinterest. But keep it short & simple! Also like Twitter, there’s a character limit – but in the case of Pinterest it’s 500.
4. Mention your @followers. Once you’ve spent enough time on Pinterest you’ll gain a sense of your followers’ interests – based on this you can PIN relevant articles and images to suggest to specific followers. It is a great way of increasing engagement and loyalty towards your brand. This extends to thanking followers for following you or repining one of your pins.
5. Share your thoughts. If you find a PIN interesting, comment on it. This is a good way to interact with your community.
6. PIN and see what sticks! Create a few different boards and monitor what people respond to. One example, people love infographics and pictures of the brands they admire. Try a variety and analyze which boards most people follow. What images are most Repinned? Allow that to guide your strategy.

Perhaps 2013 will be the year of Google+?

We’d love to hear about your experiences with Pinterest.

I am now in charge of digital communications for a small NYC non-profit. Our non-profit marketing is focused exclusively on social media and SEO strategies, and this shift has propelled the organization forward, increasing our influence with physicians – our core constituency – and helping to change opinion and behavior around adolescent mental health issues.

So, as we start 2Q of 2012, I find myself more than a little concerned over a new survey from Dell computers which finds that while 98% of companies do some form of social media marketing, only six percent value on-line listening. Less than half regard social media marketing as integral to their marketing strategy.

Similarly, lots of PR agencies are pushing out content to Twitter and Facebook, but neither the agencies nor the clients are listening or engaging. What they are trying to do is shoe-horn a series of tweets and posts into a traditional PR model, which misses the point entirely. Social media is not about pushing out messages. It’s about connecting with your constituencies — via blogs, social media platforms, and aggregates — around issues they care about. It’s about listening so that you can build relationships that give you a basis to influence their conversations, their opinions and their actions. It’s about creating digital content that interests them, engages them and has them coming back for more.
Prior to social media, the PR that we practiced was about control – a top-down, “push it out” model that was all about ‘awareness’ – that vague objective that was difficult, if not impossible, to measure. We focused our relationship-building on journalists as our only conduit to the ‘consumer’ and the only way we had to shape perceptions and change behaviors.

It’s no longer relevant to practice PR using the old model. And, to be fair, that can be disconcerting for the over-40 PR pro. But, speaking for myself, working within the new framework really isn’t as hard as it sounds. It does require some humility and self-assessment. Yes, the PR world has changed, and yes, you’re a bit behind the curve. So what? Social media is neither hard nor mystifying. It is a new discipline, demanding of your time and focus. You’ll have to learn it and practice it. Nothing fancy, just some time, effort and appreciation for its ability to make a meaningful difference.
PR people – famous for our Type-A personalities — can’t control the new environment. And I think that can be hard for agency pros. We’re used to being in control — creating messages, pushing them out through channels, and building our clip files. But, now, it’s the consumers, the citizen journalists, that are at the controls and that feels unfamiliar and maybe a little scary.

But, regardless, it’s a fact. Your resistance won’t change that. So, time to take a deep breath, and a few on-line courses. Embrace this new career development you hadn’t planned on. And smile. All of that control was getting a little old anyway.

Even the most seasoned spokesperson – including the CEO – needs media training and regular refresher sessions.  It’s important not to lose sight of this as part of your Thought Leadership Strategy.

We previously worked with a CEO who did not take media training seriously (this client shall remain nameless for reasons you’ll agree are obvious!). Despite our repeated attempts to counsel and even warn him about the damage that could result from not being prepared, he accepted what he thought would be a friendly interview with ABC’s 20/20. Well, friendly it was not and the CEO failed miserably at managing the situation. Needless to say, we held intensive media training sessions thereafter!

If you’re still not convinced, let’s talk about media training in terms a CEO most DEFINITELY will understand. Media training = meeting preparation. Getting ready for a press interview is as important, if not more so, than planning a business meeting – and not just during crisis communication. After all, when you’re speaking with the media, your responses reach audiences well beyond the conference room. In addition, different communication techniques are required when utilizing the voice of the media to influence vs. directly communicating with your audience as you do at a meeting.

So when you’re deciding if interview preparation is worth your time, remember that you would never walk into a board meeting, new business pitch, negotiation or quarterly investors’ presentation without doing your homework. Give the same respect to the interview process and you’ll reap the benefits.

In upcoming posts we’re going to explore the dos and don’ts of media training, such as:

• Messaging: although you may know your company inside and out, there are tips to effectively communicate your strategic positioning in an interview.
• The successful sound bite: the ability to provide responses in a comprehensive yet concise manner takes much practice. All reporters edit down quotes – be sure they include the right information from your interview.
• TV, radio, print: what’s the difference when giving an interview?

Throughout this Media Training series, we invite you to share your media training experiences and advice, and to ask questions to keep the discussion going.

1. Expand your position as a trusted source:  Audiences may already rely on your original content to acquire valuable information. But if they know they can also trust your suggestions about other useful content, you’ve enhanced your stature as a dependable resource. After all, no one can identify and absorb all the relevant online information on their own – so add “recommendations” to your content offering.
2. Do unto others … and build a strong network:  When you share content the originator will be aware of your generosity and quite often opt to reciprocate (who doesn’t like to be appreciated?!). As a result, content you’ve authored is shared with a wider audience, and there is an opportunity to establish ongoing connections with other experts.
3. Get engaged with the community:  The goal of social networking is not to collect the most number of connections and proclaim “I WIN!” Interact, even to the smallest extent, or your connections will quickly disregard you. After all, it is a social gathering – so don’t bother going to the party if you’re just going to sit in the corner by yourself. Comment on other people’s posts, recommend news articles, ask questions – engage!
4. Save time:  Producing original content requires a significant time investment. And although it also takes time to consume media, the ratio isn’t even close. So skip writing one or two scheduled blog posts each month and instead spend that time exploring and sharing other experts’ content. Who knows, you might unexpectedly learn something!

In the spirit of sharing, here’s a link to an interesting infographic from AddThis about the days and times when people most often share content. This is valuable information for companies looking to make their brands as interactive as they can be.

What are your thoughts and experiences regarding the benefits of original vs. shared content?

1. GREATEST BANG FOR THE BUCK!
This is likely the most obvious differentiator. PR agencies, big and small, usually require a minimum fee. In most instances, the base is lower at a small firm – primarily due to lower overhead. Large agencies must cover the administrative and out-of-pocket costs needed to support more staff and expansive operations, requiring higher billing rates.

Small agencies can provide the same full-service expertise at lower rates because of their streamlined operations. And it is important to realize that this does not limit an agency’s client list to just regional businesses or unknown organizations. Many national and international brands must be smart with their marketing budgets – especially in a down economy. Small PR firms help clients maximize budget levels that large agencies couldn’t even consider.

2. BIG FISH IN SMALL POND
Large agencies are mainly focused on winning and servicing mega-accounts with multi-million dollar budgets. You may have a respectable budget that pales in comparison to huge accounts at big firms, ultimately making you feel like a small fish in a big pond. On the other hand, a small agency would cherish your business and never take it for granted, providing more attention and better service.

3. NO BAIT AND SWITCH
Many large agencies have a team that exclusively focuses on new business or relies on senior-level staffers to pitch potential clients. Once the business is secured, a different group of people (usually with less experience) is assigned to the day-to-day account team.

At small agencies, what you see is what you get. A successful client-agency relationship is based as much on chemistry as it is on creativity and service. When considering a small agency, the team you meet with during the new business phase is usually the same group you work with once the partnership begins. In fact, at Newsmaker Group the co-founders participate in every new business lead. Then, when a piece of business comes in, one of them becomes the team leader managing and executing each client’s PR program.

4. ALL FOR ONE; ONE FOR ALL
Large agencies can’t always foster the same collaborative spirit created at a small firm. One notable factor is staffing changes: surveys indicate that large PR firms experience an annual turnover rate of more than 25%. It’s hard to establish an effective working relationship with a regularly-changing team dynamic. Smaller agencies tend to establish an intimate environment in which all team members share ideas and brainstorm concepts. As such, clients reap the benefits of input and expertise beyond their core account team at no extra cost.

What have your experiences been in working with small and/or large firms?

You may think that collaboration is a natural component of the client-agency relationship. But in many cases clients don’t fully utilize their outside PR team’s expertise. Here’s a rundown of best practices for collaborating with you PR agency:

1. Involve the agency in your strategic planning. Some clients plan their PR on their own and then bring in their PR firm to help with implementation. But incorporating an outside agency’s experience and recommendations for developing a strategic communications plan while still in the planning phase will likely generate a more comprehensive communications program from a strategic and tactical perspective. After all, you are hiring your firm because they bring valuable expertise to the table!
2. Provide information that’s complete. Agency team members are often hamstrung by clients who don’t provide the right or enough information to do our jobs. We can’t speak to the media on your behalf, write effective content, or development strategic programs and messaging without a full understanding of your business.
3. Be responsive in a timely manner. Granted, even when you arm your PR team early-on during the planning stages, they will still need to address last-minute issues which are often driven by media queries – this is the nature of our industry. So why prepare your agency and then be slow to respond when media results are nearly secured? PR is driven by news, and as you know, news becomes “yesterday’s news” almost immediately in today’s world of instant communications. If your PR team is unable to instantly respond to a media query journalists will move onto other sources and opportunities will be lost!
4. Allow access to internal and external company resources. By letting your agency communicate with spokespeople, employees and even customers you enable them to gather a variety of perspectives about your business, which in turn trigger more ideas and lead to the development and execution of a more effective and authentic PR program.
5. Avoid filtering information. Keep your agency abreast of changes or potential problems that may impact the communications effort. Such transparency will enable you to work together to adapt the program as needed. You must be able to trust your PR agency.
6. Be inclusive. PR agencies are all too often the last ones to know what’s going on, so they’re chasing news rather than out in front of it (as much as they can be with social media). Good clients consider their PR people as part of their inner circle, the A team, THEIR team. This, of course, is predicated on the fact that your agency has proven to be big thinkers, knows what questions to ask and isn’t afraid to ask them. If this isn’t the case, find a new agency.
7. Trust your team. Trust is the foundation of a successful collaborative relationship. Consider your outside PR agency as an extension of your team. By fully integrating your efforts and COLLABORATING you will ensure efficiencies and maximize your budget. Your team AND BRAND are more likely to succeed!

We’d love to hear about your agency-client collaboration experiences. What has worked and what has not?

We took the opportunity this Valentine’s Day to pinpoint some of the creative marketing efforts associated with this day and wanted to share a few:

1. Social media provides immediate access to a world of information and resources which can completely save the many procrastinators in our lives on Valentine’s Day (and I’m sure you know a few). If you are among these procrastinators, you may want to watch this YouTube video by Socialnomics for some helpful tips on how not to disappoint your significant other on Valentine’s Day or other important days throughout the year.
2. On a holiday such as Valentine’s Day, which is all about relationships, one must ask “is social media making relationships more impersonal?” As sociologists and generationalists continue to study and debate how social media is impacting social skills – especially among younger generations – it’s comforting to read that 76% of social media savvy women recently surveyed by Socialmoms.com choose to give up Facebook over sex with their spouse on Valentine’s Day. Thank goodness!
3. As we’ve all witnessed, nowadays holidays and occasions provide an increased shelf life for brands to deploy extensive integrated multimedia marketing campaigns. This year’s Super Bowl was a shining example, with top advertisers engaging us though public relations and social media marketing for weeks leading up to and after the four-hour event. Valentine’s Day is no exception as demonstrated by a wide range of campaigns such as Mattel’s Barbie and Ken promotion. Fans voted in advance on whether this “couple” should reunite, with product sales being made available on Facebook for the first time ever on the day of the actual holiday. It will be interesting to evaluate post-event sales results on Facebook since this was unprecedented for the Barbie brand.

Newsmaker Group would also like to jump on the Valentine’s Day band wagon by sharing our own heart-felt appreciation for all the people who make our company a success & such a wonderful place to do business, including our clients, fellow Newsmaker Group-ers, and of course our friends in the media!

We’d love to hear about social media campaigns that stood out to you this Valentine’s Day.