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 […]