Tailor Your Message To Match The Media’s Needs

One of the challenges we often face at EMSI is helping our clients understand the need to tailor their message – or even condense it – so that it appeals to busy editors and producers whose email inboxes are inundated with pitches. That’s the name of the game with publicity. If you can’t sell the […]

The Media Won’t Stop For The Holidays – And Neither Should Your Publicity Efforts

The holiday season is fast approaching, which means I’ll soon start hearing the question that’s almost as much an annual tradition around here as turkey and pumpkin pie. Is it pointless to launch a publicity campaign this time of year? Those who ask usually are operating on some variation of this theory: Many people take […]

Discounting The Value Of Digital Publications – Get With The Times

Something I still hear from many clients is they’re excited about appearing in the traditional print version of a publication, but they’re not quite as thrilled about articles that appear online. Perhaps their reaction is only natural. Most of us grew up with traditional print playing a role in our lives. The local newspaper printed […]

3 Ways To Make Journalists Happy and Promote Your Brand At The Same Time

We always like to share good news with each other here at EMSI, so I was overjoyed to hear that another one of our clients – a financial professional – has been having a stellar print campaign. But his situation also got me to thinking. What’s been the key to his success and is there […]

Celebritize Yourself: 5 Things To Focus On When Defining Your Brand

Defining your brand – whether it’s a personal brand or corporate one – is, at its core, all about telling a story. If you manage to touch on just the right story elements, and do so in an engaging way, your brand can get the attention and traction you want. Fail, and your company will fade […]

What’s The Value Of A ‘Like’?

Social media and its role in marketing can be quite the puzzle – even for some of those who are sold on the benefits. They check their “likes” and they figure that a bigger number is better than a smaller one, but beyond that they are perplexed. “What does it all mean?” they wonder. In […]

How To Grow A Social Media Following Using Resources You Already Have

At one time or another we all probably have dreamed about what we could accomplish if we had unlimited resources. Of course, for most of us the “unlimited resources” situation never progresses beyond that dream stage. But maybe that doesn’t always matter. Just this morning, Jay York, EMSI’s senior social media strategist, was sharing with […]

Managing Your Expectations For Social Media Marketing

I’ve found that sometimes even clients who are enthused about their social media campaigns aren’t always clear on what to expect from them. Their usual ways of measuring success – such as how many leads or sales were generated – don’t really apply with social media marketing, and that leaves them puzzled. In speaking this […]

Sizing Up The Value Of Social Media

Social media has been a critical piece of the brand-building puzzle for so many years now that you’d think its value no longer needs explaining. Yet every time I think we’ve reached the point where explanations are unnecessary, something occurs that reminds me that maybe that moment hasn’t arrived just yet. In fact, just recently […]

Are You Set Up For A Successful Social Media Campaign

After months – or more likely years – of hearing about how you need to include social media as a vital part of your branding strategy, you’re finally convinced. You’ve decided to take the plunge! But hold on there! While you want to take advantage of this up-to-date venue for promoting your personal or business brand, are you properly prepared to take on a social media campaign that will accomplish your goals?

Content Is Still King With Print Media – Whether Traditional Or Online

It’s hardly a secret that the print media has undergone a drastic evolution in recent years – and generally not for the better in the eyes of anyone who always enjoyed picking up the morning newspaper off the driveway to go with their cup of coffee. The latest gloomy news happened just this month when […]

How Social Proof Encourages People to Buy From You

Regular readers know that I often comment on the role social media plays in PR, so perhaps it will come as no surprise that someone got around to asking about this related term “social proof” they had heard so many people talking about. Just what in the world is social proof? It’s simply the phenomenon […]

How Social Proof Encourages People to Buy From You

Regular readers know that I often comment on the role social media plays in PR, so perhaps it will come as no surprise that someone got around to asking about this related term "social proof" they had heard so many people talking about. Just what in the world is social proof?

Is Your Reputation In Peril? Let Social Media Ride To The Rescue

By now you probably realize (I hope) what a key role social media can play in helping you build and promote brand recognition. But social media can do even more than that! It’s also a vital tool for keeping your reputation shiny at a time when anyone can take to the internet and write a […]

3 Things To Consider When Hiring Someone To Handle Your Social Media

As recently as a year or two ago, it was common for me to have conversations with CEOs – especially older CEOs – who just didn’t “get” the entire social media phenomenon. They gave me a lot of pushback when I tried to persuade them that they were missing out if they weren’t making use […]

What Word Best Describes Your PR Campaign? Momentum or Quicksand?

The media has shortened all of our attention spans. Consumers are used to paying attention to just about anything for eight minutes, then there’s usually a commercial. Websites have mere seconds to grab a visitor’s attention before that bored visitor moves on to another website. In a car, drivers and passengers often switch the radio […]

How PR Can Help Mend Your Broken Reputation

I’m happy to report that the Internet remains one of the most powerful tools around for helping you build your brand, whether your goal is to promote yourself, your business or both. I’m not so happy to report that there’s a downside. Unfortunately, the Internet is also a tool that your detractors can wield to […]

Don’t Be Bashful! Self-Promotion Is Essential For Building Your Brand

We’ve probably all been at social gatherings where one person monopolizes the conversation and drones on endlessly about his or her extraordinary achievements and experiences. By evening’s end, you walk away shaking your head and thinking to yourself, “What a shameless self-promoter. I hope I’m never like that!” And you certainly shouldn’t be! Not in […]

Don’t Be Bashful! Self-Promotion Is Essential For Building Your Brand

We’ve probably all been at social gatherings where one person monopolizes the conversation and drones on endlessly about his or her extraordinary achievements and experiences. By evening’s end, you walk away shaking your head and thinking to yourself, “What a shameless self-promoter. I hope I’m never like that!” And you certainly shouldn’t be! Not in […]

How To Make The Most Out Of Working With Your Social Media Team

Take a look at nearly any recent photograph that shows a large group of people and it’s almost certain that many in the crowd are staring at their smartphones. Possibly some just received a text. But the odds are that a good chunk of them are looking at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media […]

How To Squeeze The Most Out Of Every Print Appearance

  When I chat with our clients about the print coverage we’ve been getting for them, I always ask what they’re doing to get the greatest mileage out of all that coverage. Way too frequently the answer is either “little” or “nothing,” outside of possibly posting a link to the article on their website. What […]

Identify The Unique Message That Will Help You Promote Your Brand

Each day journalists and radio and TV talk-show hosts need someone to talk to. In fact, they need many someones. Maybe they want a source who can explain why the stock market just crashed. Maybe they are in search of a guest for a TV talk show that specializes in lifestyle topics or a radio […]

You Don’t Have To Be A Celebrity To Be Celebritized

As I’m sure you’ll agree, there’s nothing like a little good news to make arriving at the office for another day of work worthwhile. Just this morning the whole team here at EMSI celebrated when one of our print campaign managers revealed she had arranged an interview last night for a client with CNNMoney.com.  But […]

The Key Ingredients To Developing A Social Media Strategy

It’s hardly a secret that, if you’re promoting a brand, a great tool at your disposal is all the social media sites that have sprung up over the last several years and continue to flourish, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and others. But, as I hope everyone also knows by now, it’s easy – […]

When Media Opportunities Knock, Swing Your Door Wide Open

One piece of PR advice that I have shared with clients over the years is that they need to take advantage of every media opportunity they possibly can no matter how big or small. Why? Because the media follow the media – or in more generic terms, one thing leads to another! Here’s what I […]

What’s the Good of Talk Radio Appearances if I Can’t Pitch What I’m Selling?

Sometimes people are surprised — OK, dumbfounded — when I explain that they shouldn’t pitch their product during their radio talk show interview. “What?” they say. “Isn’t that why I’m on the show??” Actually, no. Show hosts don’t want to sell your book, product, or services. They want to provide information and entertainment that keeps […]

An Active Presence On Social Media Can Head Off Bad Publicity

I’m going to guess that if you wanted to track down the origin of consumer complaints, you would end up somewhere around the very first time humans got together to trade goods and services. Being unhappy with a transaction is a universal feeling – and was probably just as frustrating thousands of years ago as […]

Recommended Reading: 3 Articles That Explore And Extol Social Media’s Impact

  This week three articles came across my desk that resonated with me because they reinforce, and state beautifully, some of the things that we at EMSI have been saying about the value of social media for quite awhile now. These articles were such an inspiration that I nearly decided to burrow through old PR […]

Strengthening Your Online Authority Will Improve Your SEO

Here’s something that companies and individuals trying to build their brands didn’t have to worry themselves about years ago: search engine optimization, also known by the much friendlier and easier to remember initials SEO. These days, I’m pretty sure nearly everyone knows about SEO and how important it is to get the right internet-search words […]

Why Small Businesses Shouldn’t Ignore Social Media – Even If They Could

When it comes to social media, I suspect that a certain segment of the 55 and older crowd may still have something in common with a successful businessman I recently spoke with. Intellectually, he knew he should be on social media. He understood he could use it to grow his brand and reach people he […]

Beware Of These 5 Social Media Mistakes

Social media sites have become a powerful way to market your brand, but anyone who follows the news is aware they present pitfalls as well. Companies end up apologizing over ill-advised tweets. Individuals create controversy with Facebook posts they thought were innocuous – or perhaps knew would be controversial but didn’t anticipate just how controversial. […]

Bringing Your Old Marketing Techniques Into the New Millennium

Recently, I was speaking with a couple of old-school marketers who have a great track record of success, but are beginning to find that many of their old tricks no longer work as well. For example, in the past they had made great use of advertorials – those full-page newspaper advertisements that are designed to […]

Blazing A Trail Of Publicity Until The Paparazzi Get Here

We all love to dream big, so I guess it’s no surprise that at EMSI we occasionally speak with people who expect to leapfrog over what they consider the “lesser” media and land a spot in the chair next to Ellen or be quoted in the New York Times. My husband and business partner, Steve, […]

Yes! Talk Radio Is Still A Great Venue For Public Relations

A day in my life usually involves phone or email conversations with prospective clients. They always have questions about how they can better their position to promote their personal or business brands.

But one line of questioning I find mystifying deals with talk radio, a medium I love and we’ve made great use of for our clients.
The question: “Does anyone actually listen to talk radio anymore?”

Now, from my own experience, I could answer with an emphatic “absolutely!” But I decided a higher authority from the world of talk radio would be more credible. So I checked with my friend, Michael Harrison, publisher of TALKERS magazine, the industry’s top trade magazine.

Michael is even more emphatic than I am. Since the modern era of talk radio began in the late 1980s, he says, its detractors have been quick to point to every blemish or minor ratings downtick as indicating the death of the format. They could not be more wrong.

“If no one is listening to talk radio, then no one is listening to radio at all,” Michael says. “With the normal ups and downs inherent in any format of the medium, talk radio (and country music radio) remain the two most-listened-to genres of radio, ratings period after ratings period.”

Is talk radio important and influential? Michael says you might as well ask if voters are influential and if consumers are influential.

“Research continues to indicate that talk radio is where a high concentration of voters and active consumers are indeed listening,” he says. “Talk radio also puts the spotlight on important issues that, for reasons of ratings, circulation or sizzle, the rest of the mainstream media often tends to ignore or simply bury.”

I’ve been a fan of talk radio for nearly my entire adult life. That love actually spawned my business, and I was even more thrilled when it eventually led to me hosting my own show.
Here’s why you should be a fan, too.

First, know that there are a few types of radio stations. The conventional ones are referred to as terrestrial. That’s your AM and FM stations. AM is home to most talk shows and it’s where we book clients most often. FM is primarily music but carries some talk shows; you’re probably most familiar with those on National Public Radio.

There’s also satellite radio that people subscribe to, such as Sirius and XM. In addition, traditional radio stations often stream their shows on the Internet so you really don’t even need a radio to listen to talk radio.

Here are some reasons we love talk radio for promoting your brand:

• It’s an easy, effective way to get your message out. There’s no travel or special equipment involved. As long as you have a landline, you can be interviewed from the comfort of your home or office. (Producers don’t like cell phones because the signal is unreliable.) If you give a compelling interview, you’ll impress listeners with your expertise and personality. It will also prompt hosts to plug your work and offer your website address.

• Talk radio audiences are educated and engaged. TALKERS magazine periodically profiles news/talk listeners. The numbers show they read books, buy products, care about issues and participate in the political process.

According to the most recent TALKERS Talk Radio Research Project:

• 72 percent of listeners are ages 35 to 64.
• 70 percent are college graduates or have attended college or graduate school.
• Men comprise 58 percent; women 42 percent.
• 69 percent earn $40,000 to $100,000-plus a year.
• 79 percent of those eligible to vote do.

• Shows in smaller markets can be just as helpful as big ones. Some clients tell us, “I don’t want to waste my time on small market shows.” But, here’s why they are valuable: Smaller markets have devoted fan bases because listeners have fewer shows from which to choose. It’s also likely your interview will be longer than in a larger market. That gives you greater potential for making a strong impression and driving home your points.

• It can live online for you to share. Your interview can be saved so that you can share it on social media and your website. The radio interview’s return on investment is not necessarily just new customers or clients who find you because of the interview. The ROI actually is that these interviews help build your credibility as the go-to expert in your field, and that can lead to people choosing you over competitors down the line.

If you haven’t done any publicity, talk radio could be a good first step in building your personal brand. It’s a one-on-one conversation with the host on a topic you know and are passionate about.

Besides the publicity potential, I love talk radio because it’s easy. When a show host wants to interview me, I simply close my office door for 15 minutes and get on the phone.
There’s simply no better way to have a live conversation with a dedicated audience tuned in to hear what you have to say.

Let’s talk!
Marsha

P.S. If you want to be a guest on national and local talk radio shows across the country, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or click here to get your Free Media Analysis.

Social Media Just Changed Again! Did Your Marketing Strategy?

Just the other morning I was reminded (as if I needed any reminding!) that social media evolves more quickly than I can type in my username and password.

On that day, Jay York and Brittany Vaill, two of EMSI’s social media strategists, were discussing changes in the works for Instagram and what the implications might be for us and our clients.

As I listened to them discuss – and at times bemoan – what was happening with Instagram, it hit me that the details of this particular change weren’t nearly as crucial as the fact that a change was happening at all. (Jay smilingly said, “Marsha, get used to it!”)

But, why is this important? Because each change in how social media platforms operate affects how well or how poorly individuals and businesses use them in their marketing and personal branding efforts.

By now, nearly everybody agrees that social media is a key ingredient to any marketing plan, but aimlessly tweeting and liking things doesn’t get the job done.

If you’re serious about social media as a marketing tool – and you should be – it’s essential to have a professional involved who would track trends and adapt your marketing strategy to the newest features available – like when Instagram switches things up on you.

We’ve even reached the point where colleges and technical schools recognize that social media is a necessary ingredient for public relations and marketing, and have added social media courses and degree programs to their curriculum.

Let’s take one example. The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising offers both two-year and four-year social media degrees, and the school’s description of its program perfectly sums up why you need a professional.

The institute’s website says students “learn how to identify, engage, and communicate with their target markets and online communities, build and maintain consumer loyalty, and develop techniques to maximize growth.”

Exactly! The person who handles your social media needs to have a combination of social media knowledge AND marketing savvy. They need to monitor the changing social media landscape and understand how to take advantage of those sometimes bewildering changes.

Look at some examples of what’s been happening recently in social media:

• Instagram. This is the platform that raised the eyebrows of Jay and Brittany, and got me thinking about this whole topic. In a nutshell, Instagram is changing the way posts are displayed. In the past, users saw posts in chronological order. Now the order will be based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with whoever is posting, and the timeliness of the post. How that will affect marketing efforts may not be clear immediately, but Jay and Brittany suspect it could mean you will have to pay for ads if you want to ensure your targeted audience sees your posts. The marketing community will now spend countless hours analyzing this change and inventing ways to ensure their clients remain relevant – an all too familiar necessity in their field of work.

• Facebook. If you have a video message to get out, Facebook now offers a live video-streaming feature. Once again, the full potential might not be clear just yet, but this could be an excellent added component to marketing efforts.

• Twitter. This is the social media site that forced everyone to come up with short, snappy messages because of its 140-character limit for tweets. But Twitter reportedly is increasing the character count, which could change the entire culture of Twitter.

Those are just a few examples from three of the more common social media platforms. As I noted earlier, the specifics of the changes aren’t nearly as important as the fact that change is happening and your success will depend heavily on whether or not you’re keeping up.

As little as a year or two ago, it may have been acceptable to have a less experienced person – like a college intern or family member – run your social media. But, with the importance of social media today as part of a marketing strategy, to win at it you need to send in a professional!

Keeping you posted!

Marsha

P.S. If you need professional help with your social media efforts, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or simply click here to get started with your Free Media Analysis!

 

If They Can Attract The National Media Spotlight, So Can You!

One of my favorite moments each day comes during our morning meeting at EMSI when my team shares some of the success stories we’ve had landing our clients appearances in print, on TV and on radio, or building their brand on social media.

And recently, we’ve had some really great “hits” for our clients. One will be appearing on “The Dr. Oz Show” and two others were featured on “Daytime,” the nationally syndicated lifestyle talk show. Clients also were quoted or featured in such top-tier publications as USA Today and Essence magazine, just to give you a couple of more examples.

I share this not so much to brag (although I can’t help but be proud of these accomplishments), but because I think there’s a lesson in here for those who don’t believe the media would be interested in them.

Consider this: Our clients come to us from all walks of life. They are corporate executives, book authors, financial planners, educators, scientists, doctors, attorneys and nutritionists, just to name a few.

They are experts in their fields, and possibly known within certain circles, but they are not household names. In other words, they are men and women just like you – with the exception that they are being quoted and interviewed by the nation’s top media.

So how do we land them these great opportunities to promote and build their brands? One way is that we follow the news, keeping up to date on the latest trends or issues facing the nation and the world. That way we can let journalists or talk show hosts know that we have a client who can speak with authority on the hot topic of the day.

I’ve often said that EMSI serves two clients: those who pay us to get them publicity and the media, for whom we provide valuable content and subject-matter experts like you. It’s always a great feeling when we can make them both happy.

Let me share a few more highlights from the hundreds of placements we’ve secured in the last month for clients like yourself who have hired us to help them build their personal or corporate brand:

• National and local TV appearances. The outstanding television exposure for our clients this past month went beyond “Dr. Oz” and “Daytime.” We also landed appearances nationally on Al Jazeera and Newsmax TV. What’s more, we booked clients on local network affiliate TV shows in top markets such as Tampa, Nashville, West Palm Beach and Washington, DC.

• Print, both traditional and online. In addition to USA Today and Time magazine, our clients have made recent appearances in Money magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Essence, AARP Bulletin, the Houston Chronicle, Investor’s Business Daily, New York Daily News, New York Post and TheStreet.com.

• Social media. One client we manage social media for is a premium lozenge brand. On this client’s behalf, we’ve been able to get considerable response and interaction with high-status Broadway performers, as well as complete productions that are currently showing on Broadway. This priceless coverage and social equity gave the brand an opening to grow its market base beyond niche performers to tap into the amateur market as well as vocalists who aren’t aware of the brand’s usefulness with Broadway performers.

• Talk radio interviews. Our clients continue to make engaging guests for talk-radio hosts. These past four weeks we booked interviews on more than 100 talk-radio shows, including national shows, cable shows and top-rated shows in cities around the country. That means lots of listeners are hearing what our clients have to say.

Let me just add that another key ingredient to publicity success is this: The clients who enjoy the best PR campaigns are those who are most willing to accommodate the media’s needs.

They drop what they are doing to get on the phone with a reporter who’s on a deadline. They write articles for publications that request them. They show a willingness to discuss topics within their expertise, even when the particular topic doesn’t exactly fit the focus of their PR campaign.

With our help, these clients were able to grab the attention of the media spotlight.

You can, too!

Marsha

P.S. If you want professional assistance in attracting the media spotlight, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or click here to get started with your Free Media Analysis.

Make Your Passion Part Of Your Personal Branding Effort

Recently, I was chatting with a new client, and hearing his remarkable story reminded me of how we often separate our professional branding efforts from our true passions.

And that may not be the best way to go.

This particular client spent much of his career working with a famous athlete.

That might be interesting on its own merits, but what he learned about himself along the way is that he had knowledge and experience he could share with young people to inspire them and affect their lives in a positive way.

Now he’s focused on that. I think what he discovered is true for many of us. We have careers we work at every day – and with any luck we are passionate about those careers – but we also have passions outside work that help shape who we are.

Maybe it’s helping disadvantaged young people. Maybe it’s volunteering with an animal-rescue group. Maybe it’s traveling on mission trips.

Sometimes we don’t get to focus on those passions as much as we would like. As another client notes, we tend to put the things we consider really important on the back burner while we get caught up in day-to-day living.

Or, as John Lennon wrote in one of his songs, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

But I don’t think it has to be that way. Both your profession and your passion can be part of your everyday living and part of your brand. The two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, even though we often separate them.

Let me offer a few things to consider and maybe you’ll be inspired to put both your profession and your passion to work to help build your personal brand:

• Recognize you don’t have to wait. You can integrate your passion into your brand building right now. Let me give you an example of how simply it can work. I was speaking at an event once where I was preceded by a financial professional who discussed her philanthropic work. She clearly saw her professional career and her philanthropic efforts as distinct parts of her identity, with one having nothing to do with the other. After her speech, I suggested that her philanthropic work would be interesting to the local press and at the same time, elevate her and her company in the eyes of the community and in the eyes of her clients and prospective clients.

• Share that passion widely. Just like that financial professional, you might not recognize it, but this other dimension of you is worth letting people know about – although you may have to overcome your modesty. Don’t be shy about making use of social media to share what you’re doing and letting the press know. Let your clients know, too. You may be surprised at their interest in helping with your cause. This isn’t about bragging. This is about an aspect of your life and personality that is a legitimate part of who you are.

• Be authentic. Let me add this slight caveat. You should be passionate about something because you truly are passionate about it, not because it provides PR potential. Let the PR flow from your passion and not vice versa.

When people learn more about you on this personal level, they are more likely to be attracted to you and want to do business with you. And the great thing is you accomplish that simply by revealing the true and more complex “you” to the world at large.

That’s genuine passion!

Marsha

P.S. If you need professional help promoting both your profession and your passion, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or click here to get started with your Free Media Analysis.

 

 

Put Your Story (And The Media) To Work In Building Your Brand

You may or may not consider yourself a great storyteller, but if you’re trying to promote a brand – whether it’s your personal brand or a company brand – let me assure you that you have a story to tell.

Maybe that story is how your product solves a cleaning problem in the kitchen. Maybe it’s how you overcame hardship in life to achieve great success. Maybe it’s how your education and years of experience can help others plan for retirement, save money on taxes or open a business.

It all comes down to the story being a part of your branding message and the foundation your company was built on.

If you can touch on just the right story elements – and do so in an engaging way – your brand can get the attention you’re seeking.

Of course, it does get a little more complicated than that because there are different ways to tell your story. Each medium available to you – TV, print, radio, social media – has its own strengths and represents a different opportunity.

• Television. TV is all about the visual, so if you land a TV interview you need to understand the role appearance plays in shaping your brand, from what you choose to wear to how you handle yourself in front of the camera. In fact, appearance comes into play in promoting your brand with or without TV! The look of your website or how your product is presented on store shelves gives hints to potential customers about your level of professionalism. Yes, rightly or wrongly, people do judge a book by its cover. Otherwise, publishers wouldn’t put so many graphic artists to work trying to create all those head-turning images!

• Radio. How you come across verbally also can have an impact. With radio, you make your brand’s case without the aid of any visual elements. You can’t refer radio listeners to a chart that expands on your message or let a PowerPoint presentation do your talking for you. It’s you and your voice, without any bells and whistles. This is about making the case for your brand in a back-and-forth conversation with a talk show host. You may need to be quick on your feet because a host’s questions and comments might veer off from your message. That’s your cue to – subtly – get things back on track.

• Print. With print – whether it’s traditional or online – you have the opportunity to share the expertise that your brand is built on. The print media is always looking for valuable information for their readers. If you can offer your expertise and give practical tips or advice that readers can make use of in their daily lives, you will at the same time be developing your brand’s image. This holds true whether you want to promote your personal brand or your business brand.

• Social media. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are all about interacting, which is wonderful because another element of promoting your personal brand is putting your people skills into action. Social media provides an excellent opportunity to communicate with customers or potential customers. They often use social media to express their opinions about businesses and products, perhaps yours included. You need to be involved in those conversations because social media users want you to respond to their concerns and answer their questions promptly. A bonus is that in the process you might learn something new about your customers’ wants and needs, which could help improve how you do business.

You can – and should – take advantage of any and all of these media to grow your business and promote your brand, making the best use of each to put the spotlight on your professionalism, your customer service and your expertise.

Whether you’re on camera, on the radio, in print or exchanging tweets on Twitter, it all comes down to developing brand image in the most powerful way.

So, what’s your story?

Marsha

P.S. If you want professional help promoting your brand through print, radio, TV or social media, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or click here to get your Free Media Analysis.

Whether it’s business or personal, it’s never too soon to revisit your 2016 goals.

As the owner of a 25-year-old PR and marketing agency, I like to encourage business owners — and individuals, for that matter — to start their New Year by setting goals for the coming 12 months.

I know for myself, there have been times when I didn’t set goals or have a marketing strategy defined. Instead I meandered through the year, depending on good fortune rather than good planning. Click here to read more.

How To Harness The Power of Digital Print Coverage

On occasion I still work with clients who need a little convincing – OK, in some instances a lot of convincing – about the strong PR value of articles that appear online, as opposed to appearing in traditional print.

And just as I’m puzzling over how to explain it one more time, along comes a situation that makes my case for me.

Here’s what happened: Essence Magazine just wrote a flattering piece about a product we submitted on behalf of a client. And, they were as overjoyed as we were at this valuable exposure.

While the positive coverage was an excellent “hit” for the client on its own merits, the online exposure from the magazines’ own social media promotion added a multiplier effect. The product enjoyed an extraordinary boost by being disseminated to the magazine’s hundreds of thousands of followers.

Essence directed their readers right to the article about the product through Twitter – and not just once, but multiple times over several days. You know, just in case they happened to miss it the first time. Or the second time. Or the third time. Or…

This editorial coverage cultivates brand equity that money can’t buy.

While traditional print has many of its own virtues, it’s hard to argue with the extra advantages that come with digital print. For one thing, it has staying power. It’s not unusual on the Internet to come across still-relevant articles that are one year, five years or 10 years old.

And, of course, one of the greatest benefits is the ease with which an article can be shared, just the way Essence shared the article about our client’s product.

That’s why I can’t stress too much the importance of those online placements. So let’s assume for a moment you or your company just landed a mention in the online version of a print publication. What can you do to make the most of the opportunity?

For answers to that, I turned to Jay York and Brittany Vaill, two of our social media strategists. This is what they had to say:

• Don’t miss the posting. You can’t get the maximum use of your print appearance if you’re unaware it’s even been posted on the publication’s website and shared through social media. There are a few options for tracking this so you don’t miss it when the article appears online. A simple Internet search might turn up something, but you also can use Google Alerts, which will email you anytime something about you or your company appears on the Internet. Also, check your social media regularly because the publication might have tagged you when it shared the article.

• Interact on social media. You’ll want to be part of any social media conversation that gets started as a result of the article being shared. If the publication tweeted a link to the article, then respond to the tweet and re-tweet it. Or if it’s a Facebook post, share it on your Facebook page. Also, be sure to reply to people commenting on the thread, thanking them for compliments and answering questions.

• Website links and blog links. Be sure to link to the article on your website and also on your blog. After all, you want to get all the mileage out of it you can. Jay suggests this additional tip: You can create a blog post and embed the tweet within it. Then use that blog as a reference for an email that you send to your client base. One of your goals should be to direct as much traffic to the article as possible. That’s because the more people who read it, the more it climbs in terms of search rankings. And that means yet even more people might come across it.

• Revisit the great moment a few weeks from now. When the initial hubbub about the article dies down, you can re-ignite it a month or so later. You’ve probably seen your friends make use of “Throwback Thursday” to post their high school photos or the baby picture of a child who’s now 21. You can do the same with the article, linking to it all over again, perhaps with a quick comment such as, “I still can’t believe all the positive responses I’ve gotten over the last month because of this.”

Remember, editorial coverage in traditional publications is extremely powerful in its own right. But the viral potential of digital press is gargantuan thanks to the unapologetically social nature of social media.

All because people like to share.

Marsha

P.S. If you want help landing print coverage and leveraging that coverage with the aid of professional social media public relations, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or click here to get your Free Media Analysis.

 

4 Social Media Tips To Grow Your Business

No one really needs to convince me how great social media is for connecting you to your customers – and keeping you connected – but the point was reinforced perhaps better than ever this week when I was chatting with Jay York, our senior social media strategist.

Jay was telling me about Datz, a restaurant near his home in Tampa, that has impressed him with its excellent use of social media as a marketing tool.

Talk about connecting! Datz has more than 12,000 followers on Twitter. It has nearly 8,000 on Instagram. It has 1,280 mostly positive reviews on Yelp. And, perhaps most impressive of all, more than 40,000 people “like” Datz on Facebook.

Those are remarkable numbers for any business. But especially when you consider that Datz is a local restaurant and not a recognizable brand name like McDonald’s!

So why am I telling you this? Because this social media success story prompted me to have Jay share tips on how small businesses can make the most out of their social media to keep customers and potential customers thinking about them.

Here’s what Jay had to say:

• Interact with customers. Engage your customers inside your business as well as outside it. Some of the most successful restaurant owners have mastered this, Jay says. They take the time to chat with and get to know their customers when they are dining at the restaurant, and they also interact with them on social media. Here’s where it’s worth remembering the “social” part of social media. These sites are all about having a conversation and people expect you to be involved in that conversation – or else they’ll be discouraged from interacting with you in the future.

• Use undivided attention opportunities to promote your social media. There are a few ways to do this, Jay says. In-store signage that encourages you to follow the business on social media is the most obvious. Restaurants, for example, might drive visiting customers to their social media sites by giving 10 percent off an entrée if they follow them right at that moment on Twitter. Professional speakers can use the same strategy when they’re in front of a large audience by posting their Twitter handle on the screen behind them. The point is to take advantage of the attention of hundreds or thousands of people – all with mobile devices – who can start following you immediately.

• Invest in social media advertising. For as little as $500 a month, social media advertising can be used to promote a business and generate a significant increase in the number of people who “like” it, Jay says. The more you are out there, the better. Think of brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s that are extraordinarily well-known, yet continue to advertise. They know potential customers won’t necessarily rush right out and make a purchase after seeing a commercial. Their goal, though, is for their products to be what people think of when they are ready for that purchase.

• Consider the multiplier effect. When you secure a base of followers on social media, those followers then make it even easier to acquire additional followers. The rate of new follower acquisition grows. It’s a case of followers beget followers beget followers. The more followers you get exponentially grows the potential for even more as their network is now connected to you.

Finally, Jay notes that businesses often talk about the lifetime value of a customer. With the proper use of social media, you can increase that value because you are consistently in their minds – whether they are about to make a purchase or not.

I know this applies to my field, too. I realize that not everyone is ready to launch a PR campaign. But if I stay in front of them, reminding them about what I have to offer, then when the time comes they’ll think of me.

Keep in mind that while social media can be one of the greatest things going for you, it can also be one of the most damaging if you don’t handle it correctly.

On social media you want to look and act your best at all times, conveying a professional image that gives people the assurance you’re someone they want to do business with.

Let’s get #trending!

Marsha

P.S. If you need professional social media management, strategy and design to positively represent your brand and get results, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or Click Here to get your Free Media Analysis.

 

Catch The Video-Marketing Wave (Without Wiping Out)

If you happened to watch the Grammys this week, you probably noticed that among the many singer celebrities were Justin Bieber and Tori Kelly, two musical stars with something in common.

Both originally attracted attention – and ultimately fat record contracts – because of videos posted on YouTube.

OK, maybe you didn’t give all that much thought to these two, but I did because my team and I have been talking quite a bit lately about the power of video marketing, and the changing technology landscape that is making video more and more prevalent.

And it’s not just recording stars such as Bieber and Kelly who have ridden the video wave to celebrity, says Brittany Vaill, a social media strategist here at EMSI. Makeup artists, comedians and a host of others have made themselves popular and successful through online videos.

Perhaps you can, too.

Regardless of your area of expertise – whether you’re an entrepreneur, author, or a financial professional – you should think about taking advantage of video as a great marketing tool.

I know I am. Sometime in the next few weeks I plan to start making short video versions of the PR Insider – essentially a video synopsis that serves as an introduction to this print version.

First, let’s get one thing clear. Video marketing is nothing new. My team reminded me about the Buggles hit, “Video Killed The Radio Star,” which was popular more than three decades ago!

But Jay York, our senior social media strategist, tells me that what’s happened in the last few years – and continues to happen at seemingly breakneck speed – is that changing technology makes it easier and cheaper for nearly anyone to create a quality video. And social media gives that video a place to land.

“The better the hardware gets, the better the software can be,” Jay says. “Without the technology, it wouldn’t be happening.”

For example, GoPro is a small, inexpensive camera that allows the most amateurish among us to create quality video. It was a game changer and the game just keeps changing.

Heck, most of us carry video cameras with us all the time in our cell phones. We pull them out to record celebrity sightings, road-rage incidents or a 10-year-old smashing a Little League home run. Then we share these Spielbergian masterpieces with the world.

As a writer for the New Yorker put it: “Life is footage.”

Marketing can be footage, too, but you need to do it the right way. I asked Jay and Brittany to share a few tips on how to get the most out of video marketing and they had this to say:

• Find the right platform. YouTube, of course, is the go-to site for hosting your video. Google Hangouts is the place to be for live video events. Also, it’s worth noting that videos you want to share on Facebook get an extra boost if you upload them directly to Facebook. Other platforms to consider are Instagram and Snapchat.

• Promote it. You can’t just hope people stumble upon your video. You need to do everything you can to increase the amount of traffic. After all, if no one shows up for your Google Hangout session, then there ain’t no one hanging with you! One way to increase viewership, when you put a video on YouTube use SEO-optimized titles and descriptions to increase the odds of it ranking high in keyword searches. Of course, you would also share links to your video on all your social media sites.

• As you plan your video, don’t sit in a corner and try to figure this out by yourself. Gather ideas from your team or others you work with. They know your mission and message, and may be able to offer intriguing insights on how to align the video with those.

Finally, make sure your finished product represents the positive image you want to convey. If you’re worried you’re headed in a less-than-stellar direction, reach out to marketing professionals who can provide the proper guidance and get you back on track.

The last thing you want to do is create an unprofessional video that leaves viewers with the impression you don’t know what you’re doing. Instead, you want to capture some of that Bieber-like magic!

Cut! Print it!

Marsha

P.S. Once you’re ready to promote that captivating video, we can get you in front of the right media whose audiences would benefit from your message! Give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 215 or get your Free Media Analysis here!