4 Tips for Smart PR Surrounding a National Crisis

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, I was one of the millions glued to news and social media outlets for updates on this senseless event. During the nonstop coverage of my hometown, the press interviewed countless experts on a range of topics. And public relations (PR)/communications pros played a role in connecting reporters to many of these sources.

Conducting PR related to a national crisis requires a heightened degree of awareness, and there can be a significant backlash against PR agencies and brands that come across as insensitive or exploitative during these situations. 

Based on my experience in this area, I’ve highlighted four PR tips to keep in mind:

1) When in Doubt, Don’t:  On the afternoon of 9/11, many Americans were grieving while first responders and law enforcement officials were working frantically to save lives and ensure our safety. And one PR firm north of Boston sent a pitch to local media acknowledging the attack and stressing that a second “crisis” facing Americans was the high cost of college. This is one of many pitches that made international headlines, but for all the wrong reasons (article link). Although this is an extreme example, many companies damage their credibility with misguided PR campaigns that overreach and try to draw parallels that just aren’t there. Conversely, John Hancock (Boston Marathon sponsor) and other Boston-area businesses are taking another approach by quietly pledging funds for area victims.

2) Track the Shift in Coverage Focus:  Monitor how an event is being covered and how the news cycle evolves from first reporting the incident itself, to initial analysis and then a broader examination of a host of related issues. Also use social media chatter as a barometer to better understand if – or how – it makes sense for you to reach out.

3) Start with Your Established Press Contacts:  I represented a cyber security company during 9/11. And when I saw a couple of IT reporters who I worked with regularly write stories again, I reached out to see how they were doing, if their friends and family were safe, etc. I spoke with them live when I could – emails can be misinterpreted and I wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t trolling to get a client included in a story. In many cases, I talked with reporters about the conflicting feelings of covering IT security within the context of 9/11. And during interviews, my clients typically began the briefings by sharing similar hesitations.

4) Remember That Reporters are People too:  These are emotional times for everyone. Recently, I was working with a NY-based reporter on an article when Hurricane Sandy hit the NY/NJ area. After not hearing from him for more than a week, I reached out to see if his family was ok. I didn’t ask him about the article – that wasn’t my goal. It turns out that he lost power and was scrambling to find a temporary place to stay so that he could get back to work. Today, I doubt that he recalls much of our storm conversations but I would have left an indelible impression if I pestered him about an article or story idea when he had much more significant issues to deal with.

Planning your Next Move

The marathon bombing victims continue to be in my thoughts, and I am grateful for the brave first responders, Samaritans, medical teams and law enforcement officials who have performed so heroically. During incidents like these, PR can play a role in helping the media gain clarity and perspective during a time of confusion. But carefully determine if you have meaningful insights before beginning a PR campaign that can have lasting negative consequences. By focusing on the importance of maintaining trusted relationships with reporters, you can easily resist short-term press opportunities that may not help your company in the long run.

(Image used with permission from Ben Spark under a Creative Commons license)

3 Reasons Your B2B Videos Strike Out (and How to Hit Home Runs)

Like many B2B companies, one management consulting firm in Boston started out using video cautiously. The firm spent tens of thousands of dollars and hired multiple vendors to produce a series of case study videos. And then it waited for these case study videos to be found. A few months later, the company developed videos focused on recruiting. These videos were developed in-house without any budget using low-end tools. So, which videos have been more successful?

Based on the number of views, the home-grown recruiting videos are the clear winners. In fact, just three recruiting videos that I developed for the firm account for 31% of the company’s YouTube views, while the three most watched case study videos account for only 7%. This raises an interesting question: why do some videos steadily attract viewers while others don’t catch on? Based on my experience, I point to three keys to creating successful videos:

1) Content:  Substance over Style – How is your story different, and what unique insights do you have to share? Viewers are interested in tangible insights that are deeper than generic points about facing increased competition or wanting to enter new markets. Instead, offer specifics such as unexpected hurdles that you faced when launching a product, how you cleared them and missteps along the way. And what are the quantifiable results? Also think about what your videos should compel viewers to do. At the very least, include company contact information and an easy way for viewers to learn more.

2) Is Your Video Plan In Focus? – Do your video ideas fit into a cohesive marketing plan or are they just one-off activities? At the company, I was responsible for its global recruiting blog and I began developing videos with my personal flip camera because video is critical for reaching 20-something candidates. The firm's recruiting, HR and Gen Y employees that I met with had great ideas for blog content and when candidates would be searching for specific topics based on recruiting cycles in different regions (e.g., the interview process, case interview questions, etc.). Timing is critical.

Also think about your video promotion strategy. In addition to launching the company’s YouTube channel, I also interested the Vault, an influential recruiting site, in including the firm's videos in its content library to reach more candidates.

3) Tell a Story (and Make it Quick) – The passion, enthusiasm and honesty captured in the recruiting videos more than made up for the lack of budget, resources and production shortcomings on my end. I had associate Kevin talk about how he negotiated a transfer from the U.S. to Southeast Asia. Also, a senior consultant shared interview tips as someone who went through the process and now sits in the interviewer’s chair. And Dave provided the recipe to answer a case interview question that compares two breweries. Now I’ll drink to that!

The recruiting videos are also short – typically two minutes or less. Certainly it depends on the topic, but the content needs to be really engaging to keep viewers’ attention longer than that. So rather than an employee covering a range of topics during a long video, I created a series of short videos that each focused on a specific theme.

Producing a Fan Favorite

A good story will engage consumers in any medium. And video has a powerful ability to bring your ideas to life and personalize your company. Think of how video will fit into your marketing program – and will amplify your brand. In some cases, I developed campaigns that included video along with branded reports, PR, social media, etc. to help broadcast a specific theme across multiple channels. And by all means, learn from my early missteps making videos on the cheap. But that’s the subject for another post. 

(Image used with permission from cmun_Project under a Creative Commons license)

Think Carefully Before Gating Your Content With Online Registration Forms

With consumers tuning out traditional advertising, many companies are redoubling their content marketing efforts to lure customers. This has fueled a seemingly exponential increase in the volume of free reports and white papers available. Google, for example, listed 163,000 results for healthcare accountable care organization (ACO) white papers. That’s a lot of competition for just one focused term.

Given the flood of thought leadership, when does it make sense to create another barrier to readership by adding online registration forms, and when should your content be available without any strings attached? While lead generation from gated content is critical, your decision depends on who you’re trying to reach and where they are in the sales cycle.

Example of a Two-Tiered Approach

Let’s say that your company wants to position itself as an authority on electronic health records (EHR) solutions for ACOs. First, consider your sales targets and their priorities. Busy healthcare CEOs may be primarily interested in the business impact of their EHR decisions, leaving the details of compliance, IT integration and other issues to department heads.

Given this dynamic, one approach is to offer select, high-level EHR content without requiring online registration. This strategy can increase the likelihood that time-strapped executives will read your piece rather than leaving your registration page to find a competitor’s white paper. And in addition to helping to raise brand awareness, quality content can entice readers to register for additional company information.

For example, if you create a survey on ACO IT integration challenges, you could develop a high-level report and infographic that promotes your findings – and make it available without registration requirements. Also use public relations and social media to help promote your new report. Online registration, however, is ideal for a webinar that provides added insights based on your research, as well as related reports with deeper levels of content. This could include separate ACO-themed reports designed to reach distinct decision makers, such as:

• Compliance executives:  “Spotlighting EHR compliance mandates for ACOs”
• IT executives:  “How to ensure that your hospital’s IT strategy has the flexibility to support emerging care models”

Registration is also suited for prospects further along in the buying process who are looking for product and pricing information. And many companies gate their older reports to capture new prospects.

Key Takeaway

While it can be tempting to gate your content to help quantify sales leads, consider making at least some of your content as widely available as possible, especially if you are a growing company that needs to build its market visibility. Marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, and prospects need to be targeted based on their purchasing authority and their timeframe for selecting new products or solutions.

(Image courtesy of twobee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Timing is Everything: Why You Should Think Twice Before Buying a Christmas Tree on Sale

As a kid, my Uncle Bill was nicknamed “the book” by my dad and his siblings because he was a fountain of knowledge. He was smart enough to get a free ride at M.I.T. and was successful enough in his career to retire early. While he’s definitely book smart, his street smarts are debatable. 

One winter when he was in elementary school, Uncle Bill dragged an enormous Douglass Fir Christmas tree home and proudly recounted how he shrewdly negotiated a great deal for the tree. The problem? It was December 27 and to pay for a Christmas tree after the holidays is kind of silly (to put it mildly).

  

Best Times to Reach Your Customers?

In the rapid-fire, real-time era of the digital age, there’s lots of debate about the best times to reach your target audiences – and how this can vary significantly by digital channel. Here are some of the theories out there:

• Blog:  Timing is all over the map and depends on who you are trying to reach (B2B vs. B2C). KISSmetrics and others have treasure troves of data to analyze (link)
• Facebook:  Mondays between 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET according to bit.ly (link)
• Twitter:  2:00-5:00 p.m. is the best window to get retweeted says HubSpot (link)
• Email (B2B):  Tuesdays between 8:00 a.m.-noon, based on a report from Pardot that MarketingProfs published (link) 

Alternatives to Following the Herd
On the face of it, a lot of these recommendations seem pretty straightforward. But you can also miss some fantastic opportunities if you spend most of your efforts trying to reach your core audiences during these peak times. Successful search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns, for example, look beyond the most popular keywords to also cast a wider net of alternative terms.

So, if you are a consulting firm that helps companies improve their sales operations, you might not be able to unseat global firms like Bain for the top search engine rankings for popular search terms like “sales force effectiveness.” This keyword phrase has a high search query volume and is highly competitive. Global firms have the content, site traffic and other requirements to garner the top search results for this phrase. But you can try to rank for terms that aren’t as popular – such as “sales operations” and “sales operations strategy” – to reach people who are searching for alternate, less popular terms.

What lessons can we draw from this? Like rush hour traffic, social media channels also become highly congested during peak times, and this increased competition could cause your content to be overshadowed.

So think beyond benchmark best practices and better understand when your key targets are the most responsive. Tools from Sprout Social and other companies can help you analyze your social media activity to better identify when your audiences are typically the most engaged. Flexibility and experimentation regarding the timing of your content are keys to improving digital engagement and outmaneuvering your competitors.

Who knows, maybe you’ll score the equivalent of selling a Christmas tree after the holidays. After all, timing is everything.

(Image courtesy of Dream Designs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

3 Reasons Valentine’s Day is Like Content Marketing

“She loves me, she loves me not,” can be a fretful refrain of both lovebirds and exasperated marketers struggling to keep fickle consumers. Just like in dating, brands that are overbearing (or too self-centered) may be left out in the cold as the consumers that they’re trying to court may look for a better match elsewhere. 

But what’s the right mix of showing your brand’s good side without coming on too strong? Try these three lessons from Valentine’s Day to help get content marketing right and build long-lasting relationship with consumers. 

1. It’s All About You, Not Me:  Red roses and jewelry are selfless gifts for that special someone – there’s nothing in it for you aside from seeing your mate smile and having the satisfaction of a job well done. (But chocolates that you can share can make it seem like you have an ulterior motive). Similarly, instead of focusing your brand’s messaging on specific features, spotlight the benefits that are the most important to your customers. So rather than promoting the new management capabilities of your cloud-based IT solution, specifically outline how this upgrade will save customers time and simplify their business operations. And use case studies/customer testimonials to demonstrate your value.
   
   
2. Start Hot and Keep it Up:  In the early stages of a relationship you typically try to pull out all of the stops to make a good impression. And it’s not that your effort wanes as the years go by (ok, sometimes it does), but the nature of your relationships change. Just because you’ve already given a number of big gifts over the years doesn’t mean that your loved one isn’t still expecting a token of your affection, even if it is a small one. Customers are always looking for something new, and those needs change depending where they are in the sales cycle. A longstanding customer may find a few specific tips as valuable as a prospect looking for a detailed analysis of a specific market or technology. So think through the path from prospect to customer, and create informative content to help entice buyers through this process.
   
   
3. Your Valentine Never Forgets and Neither Will Your Customers:  Gifts are just one way to show that you pay attention to someone’s likes and that you truly understand them. But be prepared to face significant wrath if you don’t pick up the hints that your significant other leaves for you. (In my case, my wife definitely does not like roses. And by no means can I celebrate her birthday and our wedding anniversary together – even if they are only three days apart!). The more consumers engage with you, the more they expect you to remember their interests and pain points. So provide them with specific content to help make their jobs easier. After all, they are expecting it.

Although Valentine's Day is overhyped, it is a good reminder to pay special attention to the people closest to you. And for marketers, it’s a good way to remember what customers are looking for and how you can help keep them coming back for more.

(Image courtesy of Master Isolated Images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)