Modern PR 101: Don’t Shoot the Messenger (3 Tips to Fix Your PR Wagon Instead)
In a recent State of PR Industry type article featured here on commPRO.biz, Sally Falkow cites a study about media, journalism, and PR. If you have not read it yet, please do – its insights are helpful and very relevant.
Building on the article, here are some actionable tips and mindset pointers to fix what Sally’s research and article highlights:
Tip #1 Use More Video
More journalists and news rooms want video than PR professionals think is important. Wrong answer. Do more video and include them (and/or pictures) with your releases to snag critical eyeball attention.
What should you do videos about? Your company culture, your subject matter experts commenting on a new innovative product, a charitable event your employees participated, your CEO’s talk at a conference, your new plant or headquarter digs, etc.. Basically, anything interesting and visual.
Tip #2 Offer Your Video in an Easy Access Video Library
Abandon the gatekeeper mentality on your sharable content. Let other people spread it around and use it. Just set your terms (and make those easy too) and liberate your data!
You can host your videos on your site and/or Youtube. If you do launch them on Youtube, please, please, please assign someone to monitor the comments over there. It’s dangerous to let that sit unattended. Don’t be overly sensitive to criticism or become argumentative, but be there. Comment when it’s appropriate (to say thank you, give helpful links, joke around) or someone states something factually wrong. Tell your fans about it so they can go add positive comments so you are not the only voice there.
Tip #3 Use More Search Terms
I have said it a thousand times – BE SEARCHABLE! Not only is it how media finds you and what your company is doing, but it also gives your content extra traction for client searches too. Identify keywords (go spy your competition if you have no clue – or call me – I’ll help you!) that fit your content and use them.
The biggest problem is that most professionals have a language – the jargon of their industry. When you are having cocktails or talking on the phone, you can skip words and use heavy inference and implication and you still understand each other. BUT, there are no drive-by’s on the Internet and Google (and the media and journalists hunting for great stories) cannot search by unspoken assumption. Do not hide by implying things that need actual words put to it.
Read the Survey – Seriously
‘Nuff said – you can learn some great things, improve your industry chops, and get your PR releases and stories more attention if you follow what the survey discusses. That is our job, right? Get to it!
Til next time!
Vicki @Smartwoman Flaugher
{graphic by greaterpost]
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