What’s the Benefit of Newswire Distribution Anyway?

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By Chancelor Shay, Account Executive

If you’ve worked in PR for more than an hour, you’re probably familiar with “the wire” and services that help move your news across it. And whether you’re with an agency or working in-house, your clients or CEO are probably familiar with it as well. What they don’t understand, and even some PR professionals don’t get, is that distributing press releases over the wire typically does not drive meaningful coverage.

Gasp.

Bummer, right? I’m sure every PR pro would love to craft a magnificently worded and poignant key message-riddled news release and then simply press a button to have their news covered by every outlet reaching their target audience. But as it turns out, the media are in the business of making money by providing content their audience will value and your release announcing that there will be an announcement typically won’t cut the mustard—unless you happen to be Apple, the White House or Charlie Sheen.

With that said, wire services should be looked at as another tool in the PR pro’s toolbox that, when utilized properly, can still provide value to your client. Here are three tips for understanding why wire distribution may or may not be in the client’s best interest.

1. Relationships still rule

Each day, journalists receive hundreds of highly targeted and personalized pitches from PR professionals they’ve already developed relationships with. This provides them with plenty of potential content for stories. Unless your news is earth shattering or is a larger announcement from a global brand (Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Toyota), it’s highly unlikely that your impersonalized news release blasted over the wire will cut through the hundreds of tailored pitches the journalist received to spawn a story. If your client wants coverage, explain to them that the resources spent on wire distribution would be better used developing relationships with targeted journalists and working with them to develop something useful for their outlet.

2. Bigger doesn’t mean better with distribution circuits

Clients will often suggest they want their news distributed across a large circuit because they think the more outlets it’s sent to, the more coverage they’ll get. It’s our job as PR professionals to explain that wire distribution doesn’t work like a batting average, where the more opportunities at the plate you get, the greater likelihood you’ll get a hit. To the point above, where’s the value in sending the release to more journalists who will completely disregard it? Online outlets are no different. As PitchEngine Founder and CEO Jason Kintzler points out, you must also evaluate whether the downstream sites where your release is posted will be visible to your audience. Most likely the answer is that it won’t, but the value of those sites is...

3. SEO

That’s right, even if no reporter or buyer ever happens upon your news release hidden away on Yahoo! Finance, the mere fact that it’s posted to a live web page with inbound links to your website provides search engine optimization value for your news. This is especially important for industries where executive level decision makers are actively looking for news on industry trends, topics, players and rumors. Choosing your keywords strategically is essential to realizing the wire’s biggest benefit and there’s a definite science to why you’d choose one key word over its synonym, so do your research. Nobody knows exactly how the algorithms employed by Google and the other search engines work, but as long as you’ve done your key word homework and are following SEO-friendly news release best practices, you should be in good shape.

When some PR pros get the phone call from a client wanting to blast news over the wire, they feel like they’re walking the plank, but hopefully with these tips in your pocket, you’ll feel like you’re balancing on the wire.

Journalism Skills for a PR World

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By Kristina Houck, Research and Online Content Specialist

Thinking about leaving the newsroom for the PR world?

Many reporters successfully make the transition into public relations. (Several of us on the (W)right On team have a journalism background.) To do so, you’ll need to learn about the field and obtain new skills. Still, you will find more than a few journalism skills useful in your new career. Here are the top four:

Write well

Although you will be doing much more than writing as a public relations professional, you’ll still depend on your excellent writing skills to succeed. As a reporter, you’ve likely received a number of news releases that read like sales pitches or user manuals. Because of your writing and editing experience, you will know how to present the facts without the frills while making sure your client’s message is compelling, but also accurate and clear.

Communicate effectively

Your interview skills will come in handy in the PR world, which actually requires a lot of time listening to clients as you come up to speed on their industries, business models and products or services. Instead of speaking with sources on the phone, you will pitch to media. To get your client’s message across, you will need to know how to communicate effectively with others.

Understand newsworthiness

As a reporter, you’ve had years of experience pitching story ideas to your editor. You’ve also received countless phone calls and emails from PR pros looking to get their stories published. Therefore, you understand what gets published and what doesn’t. You also understand what makes the front page and what receives a brief mention. Understanding newsworthiness can help you relate a client’s message to a current events story or a larger trend piece so your story gets picked up.

Work on deadlines

Reporters know a thing or two about deadlines. You’ll need to manage your time as a PR professional, too. Instead of working on multiple stories with different deadlines, you will work on multiple accounts with different expectations. Many PR firms require account executives to document the time they spend on each account, so be sure you use your time wisely.

Happy job hunting! Oh, and if you’re actively seeking a new opportunity, check out ours at (W)right On Communications: http://www.wrightoncomm.com/careers.htm

Marketing with a Mission

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By Rebecca Chappell, Account Executive

Last week I attended the 14th Annual Cause Conference, the West Coast’s largest cause partnership event featuring experts in cause marketing, nonprofit resource development, community relations, new media technology and corporate social responsibility.

The term ‘cause marketing’ refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a for-profit business and a nonprofit organization. In the equation, the business benefits by fulfilling its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) while the nonprofit benefits from direct financial support and increased visibility for its cause.

Consider the annual ‘Save Lids to Save Lives’ program initiated by Yoplait and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Launched 13 years ago, the partnership has since raised $30 million for breast cancer outreach programs across the country. Overlooking Komen’s recent troubles in the press, what has contributed to the longstanding success of the Save Lids campaign? A white paper recently published by Incite, a company that presented at the Cause Conference, examines Six Pillars of Effective Cause Marketing:

1. The Cause Must Align With Your Brand

For your cause marketing campaign to be successful, you must ensure the mission of the cause or your nonprofit partner properly aligns with your brand’s mission. Komen champions women’s breast health, Yoplait supports a healthy lifestyle. Voila!

2. Find Your Voice

Ensure your cause marketing efforts reflect the tone and voice of your overall brand and that messages are shared with your consumers in a way they like to receive information. Be careful to avoid cognitive dissonance.

3. Be Transparent and Authentic

Tell your consumers exactly how your cause marketing partnership works. How much money will the nonprofit receive? How will the sponsor donate? How can the consumer act?

4. Be Relevant and Intentional

Connect emotionally with your consumers and consistently engage them. This might include featuring the stories of individuals who benefit from your campaign on your website or social media channels.

5. Reach People Where They Are

Understand when and where your target audience will be most receptive to receive your cause marketing message. For example, is your demographic likely to attend sports events, reside in a senior living facility or eat healthy foods such as yogurt? Take your message to your audience.

6. Measure Success with Strong Calls to Action

Before your cause marketing campaign launches, define what success will look like. Use a hard number versus a goal like ‘to drive awareness.’ Do you want 10,000 new donors? 2,000 new email subscribers? And don’t forget to report the success of your campaign to educate and ‘close the cause marketing loop’ for your consumers.

(W)right On’s nonprofit clients will agree: doing good business is just good business. If you’re a business owner looking for a cause to represent, just look to your own values and follow your heart!

WOC Client Shoutout: E-World Online’s Cindy Erie

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By Kristina Houck, Research and Online Content Specialist

At the end of (W)right On’s bi-weekly team meetings, we give shoutouts to our colleagues for their great work. At our latest team meeting, the team decided to also identify one client deserving of a shoutout. After all, we can’t be successful for our clients if they don’t collaborate with us. When clients provide a clear vision and business objectives, we can then develop appropriate strategies to produce desired outcomes.

For March 2012, (W)right On would like to recognize E-World Online President Cindy Erie. E-World Online administers comprehensive e-waste take-back programs across the country for leading consumer electronics manufacturers. In 2011, E-World collected over 45 million pounds of e-waste through its Manufacturers Interstate Takeback System. E-waste accounts for 2-5 percent of municipal solid waste streams, and according to the U.S. EPA, only 18 percent of e-waste is recycled.

The (W)right On team would like to thank Cindy for her leadership, industry knowledge and responsiveness.

As the co-founder and president of E-World Recyclers in Vista, which is a leading recycler of electronic scrap, and the parent company to E-World Online, Erie has received far greater recognitions than our client shoutout. She was named the 2011 Small Business Person of the Year by the San Diego district office of the Small Business Administration. Still, the (W)right On team would like to show our appreciation to Erie for being so great to work with.

Follow Cindy on Twitter at @EWorldPrez and learn more about the business of electronics recycling at E-World Online’s website or by joining the EPR Forum for professionals like Cindy who administer or have an interest in Extended Producer Responsibility programs.

Thank you, Cindy Erie and E-World Online!

Communications Tips from the Team

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By Kristina Houck, Research and Online Content Specialist

Whether you are an intern starting out at an agency or a seasoned PR pro, you should always keep learning to better your craft.

In (W)right On’s latest newsletter, each of our team members provided a tip to share with others in the communications industry. Read these helpful tips from our team and share your favorite tips below.

1. Keep it Simple

"As communicators, we need to break through the clutter to be heard. Keep your message simple and direct if you want it understood."

-Julie Wright, President & Founder

2. Communication is Key

"Good communication is much more than meets the eye. Like law, medicine, fire fighting and sky diving, it's not something we should wing and hope for the best."

-Grant Wright, CEO & Managing Partner

3. Know Your Audience

"Getting a story covered by media is often the result of months of relationship building. Knowing what topics a writer doesn't cover is just as important as knowing what they do cover."

-Rebecca Chappell, Account Executive

4. Update Your Media Lists

"Newsrooms and editorial teams are constantly changing. Refresh your media lists often so they reflect the most current contacts."

-Chancelor Shay, Account Executive

5. Follow Up

"Most reporters receive hundreds of emails every day. After you send an initial email, make sure to follow up with your contacts by phone to ensure your pitch is heard."

-Maureen Legg, Account Executive

6. Proof Your Work

"For accuracy of written materials, make sure at least two people proof your work before it is sent to clients or the media."

- Elyse Charlesworth, Account Coordinator

Timelines March On: Facebook Company Pages Changing

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By Rebecca Chappell, Account Executive

As you may have heard, like Facebook Profiles, Facebook Pages will be changing to the new timeline automatically by March 30. This month, do some early spring cleaning and update your personal and company pages to make sure you take advantage of the new Timeline format.

Besides the layout, what else will change? Well, for one thing, you will no longer be able to create a ‘like gate’ a page. Read more in this helpful post from Constant Contact, which we use for our email marketing campaigns.

This change is a bit of a bummer if you’ve invested a lot of time in a good ‘like gate’ which was a powerful way to help ensure more people ‘liked’ your page. (They would have to like it in order to receive a coupon, enter a contest or benefit from some similar incentive.)

So why does Facebook keep changing things? (Seeing as these changes are a big ‘make work’ project for its users.) They do it for the same reasons car companies offer a new model every year or consumer electronics devices become obsolete the moment you buy them. It keeps its users engaged and keeps its brand fresh and product ahead of the competing social media networks.

Here are a few examples of brands that have already made the switch. 

This new timeline layout requires a completely new way of thinking about Facebook business pages.

Here's a great article with a rundown on the new change that suggests now "brands should be translating their key messages into visual images…"

No longer is Facebook allowing us to build a mini website within our page. Now it's all about the visuals.

All the content that you want to feature on your business page is going to have to be formatted as some kind of a status update, link to an external blog post or webpage, or image.

The good news is that the Facebook Timeline approach will allow companies more opportunities to drive their fans to their website or blog for longer form information or background, rather than keeping all of the information in Facebook’s ‘walled garden.’ This also means less duplication or redundant content between what’s on Facebook and what’s on your company’s other sites and profiles.

It also forces businesses on Facebook to be far more social. They will need to behave like humans, in other words, and share and post frequently in order to make their Timeline effective.

What do you think? Are you inconvenienced, excited, or worried about this change?


Contact Rebecca: rchappell@wrightoncomm.com

What are the Qualities of a Good Reporter Today?

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By Julie Wright, President

Reading GigaOm's post to recruit a new Bay Area startup reporter paints a good picture of the skill sets needed and pressures put upon reporters today.

The volume of press releases crossing the newswires are about as welcome by journalists as a swarm of locusts. Getting a good story published requires valuable information and relevant story angles that are pitched and developed one-to-one with a good reporter. If this is not yet clear to you or your clients, then read this job description closely and try to see your communications from the reporter's perspective. If you can help him or her do their job well, everyone wins:

"We want a reporter who can look at a startup and see compelling storylines, rather than just a bunch of names and numbers. We want a reporter who doesn’t just regurgitate press releases, but who can conceive of and then report out their own fresh ideas. We want a reporter who is a great networker and who has a knack for picking up nuggets of news along the way. The best candidates will be both fast on their feet and creative: able to blast out a piece of news quickly but equally capable of producing an original analysis piece."