Posts Tagged ‘public relations’

My 36 Days of Brian: An “Engage” Challenge.

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 by Jennifer Kane

Brian Solis is coming to Minnesota on Tuesday, July 27 to talk about his new book Engage (and I’m sure a host of other smart things – if you’ve read the book, you’ll know what I’m talking about).

I’ve got 36 business days between now and then to assemble a tribe of people to come see him.

How am I going to do that?

In order to spread the word about this event, I’ve created a challenge for myself based on a key concept in the book (and one of my personal soapbox issues): engaging through effective social media content.

(And yeah, the title of the challenge is a nod to the movie, “500 Days of Summer,” too. Um … cause it’s summer and this dance number makes me happy).

So, why a content challenge?

As social media has grown in popularity, it has contributed to a rise in the art of “short form communications.” We’ve got a lot to say, but now we have less space to say it in and readers who will devote less time to reading it.

Applications like Twitter are forcing us to find new ways to make an impression and engage with our audiences. As James Poniewozik said in this week’s TIME, “Twitter is pure voice, an exercise in implying character through detail and tone.”

It’s a style of writing that we’re still learning to master.

If I were to tweet: “@BrianSolis is coming to Minneapolis on July 27. Register Now: http://bit.ly/aigVPP” every day for the next 36 days, the repercussions would be troublesome. And yet, this is how many people approach their social media content:

  • Facts included? Check.
  • Link attached? Check.
  • Optimized keywords seeded? Check.
  • Shorten for “retweet-ability” Check.
This is Brian Solis. We are quite fond of him.

This is Brian Solis. We are quite fond of him.

But those qualities are just scratching at the surface of what makes good content for social media engagement, (It’s akin to thinking that you’re going to get lucky at a party tonight simply because you know for sure that your breath doesn’t smell.)

You devalue and dehumanize your social audiences when you limit yourself to a checklist of content logistics.

Think of the doors that you could open, and the relationships that you could deepen, if you were to ask yourself bigger questions, like:

  • Is this content interesting?
  • Will anyone want to read this?
  • Does this content offer a solution to anyone’s problems?
  • Is this content about/relevant to “them” and not just “me?”

Professionally, I’m often tasked with teaching clients how to artfully marry the answers to the questions above with the practical logistics of short-form communications. And I’ll admit, it’s not always an easy process.

The reality is that it takes practice to write 140 characters of content that is both optimized and eloquent.

The “36 Days of Brian” Challenge

To that end, I’ve developed a “36 Days of Brian” challenge for myself, as both an exercise and an illustration of the power/practice of writing for the social web.

Each day, for the next 36 business days, I’m going to share one post, tweet or update about Brian Solis through one of our Kane Consulting social media channels. (Most likely, many of these will be tweets, primarily because I like Twitter best.)

My goal is to produce content that people will actually take a moment to read (and, ideally, share), to take advantage of all the hallmarks of short-form writing and (of course) to entice you to come hear him speak next month.

I’m human and hardly a master of the form, so I’m sure I will write some clunkers during the next 35 days (this blog post is fulfilling my requirements for day one), so I hope you will hang in there with me. But, I hope you will learn with me, too.

As Poniewozik also said in his article, “give people 140 characters and they’ll take a mile.”

I’m going to try to run mine in 36 days.

I look forward to your feedback, participation and questions along the way and hope you can join me for Brian’s talk on Tuesday, July 27.

For more information on An Evening With Brian Solis, visit our website or check out the press release.

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Posted in Education Opportunities, Kane Co Events, New Media Marketing, New Media PR | Comments Off

Marketing and PR: Can Social Media Bring them Together?

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 by Jennifer Kane

In a recent blog post, Beth Harte commented that social media gives us “a window into what our customers are really thinking, where they interact, how to engage with them, etc.”

The question I’ve been absorbed with this week is … who owns that window?

Social media is a tool we can use for marketing, public relations, customer service, sales, networking, conversation and a host of other functions.

For some companies, finding a common ground on strategy, tone and approach between all of these areas is simply a matter of compromise and consolidation.

In most cases though, this isn’t the case.

Survey Says …

My colleague, Kary Delaria, and I are currently working with Vocus on a white paper reviewing the results of a recent survey they administered to nearly 1,000 marketing and PR professionals on the topic of integrated communications. (We’ll be presenting the results in a free webinar next week.)

Social media was a common theme running through the survey data.

It was often cited as the impetus for companies to revisit integration strategies. But, just as equally, it was also cited as the source of some of the biggest turf battles that are preventing integration from being fully possible.

While I imagine these battles are playing out among many departments, this particular study focused on one that may be perhaps the most gnarly: the struggle for ownership between marketing and PR.

Not surprisingly, one of the key findings in this study is that social media is blurring the lines between marketing and PR.

Personally, I think this is a great thing. I love that social media can serve as a “common denominator” for both marketing and PR objectives.

But, apparently not everyone is such a fan of this idea.

Now play nice, you two.

While the big picture data in the Vocus survey was pretty straightforward, it was in the responses to the open-ended questions in the survey where some of those turf battle claws started coming out.

The big surprise to me? How much sharper they were on the PR side than the marketing side.

When it came to their views on marketing, there was an underlying tone of exasperation, frustration and even condescension in many of the PR responses. For instance,

  • “Marketing thinks everything a company does is ‘newsworthy’ when it’s not.”
  • “Whereas I believe PR people understand how marketing works, for the most part, I have found the opposite to be true.”
  • “PR is often used when marketing is unable or unwilling to support either due to resources or timelines.”
  • “Integration shouldn’t be allowed to reshape how PR functions based on others limited understanding of what it is/can do; but should allow it to enhance marketing efforts in its own way.”
  • I believe they should ultimately role up to the same executive, however you need a senior PR person to help refine messages. Otherwise you end up sending messages to the press that are too ’salesy’ or marketing.”
  • “PR and Marketing should work together, but PR should report to the top person of the organization so it is not encumbered with other corporate agendas, which might make it counterproductive.”
  • “PR does more than marketing – it should be integrated as needed with one reporting line for specific programs/projects dependent on the objective.”
  • “Companies that place their Public Relations functions under the Marketing department are missing the boat in terms of building a relationship with customers and potential customers.”

Whoa.

I mean, seriously … whoa.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the vast majority of the respondents were in support of better integrating marketing and PR functions. Also, there were undeniably a few snarky marketers in the mix that had their own, “over my dead body,” spin on the topic.

However, the number and flavor of these PR responses is of note … and I think, of concern.

Social media is quickly becoming the lifeblood that runs through the veins of both of marketing and PR, whether we want it to or not.

As one respondent said, marketing and PR “Are two peas in a pod … both are an important part of any communications program.”

While two peas they may be, apparently we’ve still got some work to do before everyone is willing to jump into the same pod.

For more on this topic, register for the Vocus webinar on April 29 and receive the complete research report and analysis.


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Posted in New Media Marketing, New Media PR, Thoughts on the Industry | 1 Comment »

Client Disclosure on Twitter – When do you do it? How do you do it?

Thursday, April 8th, 2010 by Kary Delaria

“I’ve developed an acute awareness of (and questions around) how PR professionals talk about their clients on Twitter … There’s no steadfast rule to when or how PR professionals disclose client connections in social media. It’s a choice, up to you, as to how you will proceed in this very gray area.”

Read my guest post on the Minnesota Public Relations Blog.

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Do you integrate PR with your marketing strategy?

Thursday, February 18th, 2010 by Kary Delaria

“A decent PR campaign, rooted in traditional media relations, can be executed on its own. A great PR campaign will work in harmony with each of these other disciplines and guide their success.”

Read my guest post on the Minnesota Public Relations blog.

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TALKING 'BOUT AN EVOLUTION (of PR, that is)

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 by Kary Delaria

PR is in a state of flux. It’s teetering on the edge of what it was, and what it can be.

It’s opportunistic. As professionals, this is a time for us to break all of the stereotypes and “bad PR” that our industry has garnered (flaks, manipulators, schmoozers) and shape the future of our trade.

This morning, Sarah Evans posed a call to action to PR pros, “Jot down (or type) your perception on the current state of PR.” Well, thank you, Sarah, for finally giving me the motivation to pull this post out of my head and put pen to paper (err…key to screen…?)

Social media is allowing us to get back to the very essence of our craft – managing the communication between an organization and its publics by building rapport with key stakeholders – in a more meaningful and authentic way than ever before.

In her post on June 30, Beth Harte backs up the claim that “PR has never been truly authentic.” Think about it. We write articles for our clients and slap another person’s name on it so they can get the byline. We draft press releases and quotes that can be published for the public to read it as another person’s word. We craft key messages and train our clients on speaking points and ways to always incorporate these messages into interviews and conversation as though it’s natural.

To me, the very act of pitching any of this to a journalist has always felt terribly inauthentic.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALLOWING US TO EVOLVE

Sometimes in order to embrace innovation we need to blend it with existing methodologies and processes (what we know and how we do it) to eventually propel change, technology and comprehension across the bell curve of adoption. – Brian SolisDictionary Series - Religion: evolution

Everything evolves with time. Why are some PR pros so defensive of this natural progression? Technological advances are evolving (and revolutionizing) the medical field, the music industry, e-commerce – why should marketing/communications/public relations be any different?

And, let me state for the record that this evolution doesn’t necessarily make our job easier. In fact, if done correctly, it’s requiring us to take a more strategic approach. Clearly define our audiences. Tailor messages to individuals. And, (gasp) engage in ongoing, open, dialogue.

Using social media platforms, we can and are:

Evolving the press release.

Earlier this summer, Kane Consulting invited Jason Kinztler, founder of Pitch Engine to Minneapolis to deliver the keynote address of our PR 2.0 conference (an homage to the wonderful works of Brian Solis). During his keynote address, Jason asked, “Is the press release dead?” His response, “No, but it is evolving.”

Social media releases allow us to deliver a message in an optimized package (including images, podcasts, and additional resources) to add momentum to the conversation. Instead of blasting journalists on the wire, we can share the message unobtrusively (and, ideally with a well-targeted pitch) to bloggers, journalists, web writers, and even the public. And, with optimization and social sharing features, the message keeps on moving.

Evolving the pitch.

As a young(-ish) independent PR pro not working for a notable agency, I started to get very frustrated with placements always going to the big dogs. (Again, let’s think about Beth’s argument for how authentic we’ve been.) Enter social media. It has leveled the playing field. It gives us an ambient awareness of what journalists are interested in or working on. It enables the opportunity to engage with journalists, bloggers and influencers on everything from industry issues to taking the dog to the groomer. And guess what? When I have a relevant pitch, I’ve already established a rapport with this person.

(Easier or faster than blasting a release across the wire? Hell no. More effective in the long run? Hell yes.)

Evolving Measurement.

I’ve already argued that press reports, and the old-school way of measuring PR efforts, don’t translate to social media. How can it? If we’re evolving the press release and the pitch, and creating momentum through Social Media Optimization, the standards by which we monitor, report and calculate ROI must evolve. KD Paine has long been a thought leader and advocate for evolving measurement standards and looking at things like increased market share rather than trying to calculate the number of impressions and the ad equivalency of a blog or a Tweet. Additionally, PRSA is working to issue agreed upon standards (to which Katie also is contributing).

So, what is my perception on the current state of PR?

It’s evolving, and evolving at an incredibly fast and exciting pace. Incredible thought leaders have emerged, and we have the privilege and opportunity to contribute to the evolution – perhaps the revolution – of the very definition and techniques of the trade.

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Posted in New Media PR, Thoughts on the Industry | 5 Comments »

The Social Media Secrets That No One Wants to Tell You

Friday, July 24th, 2009 by Jennifer Kane

Every time I hand someone a strategic plan I get a little sad.

Not because the project is over (I’m usually pretty happy about that.)

Mostly it’s because – if I’ve done my job right – at that moment I’m staring face-to-face with a client who has a little spark in their eyes that seems to be saying, “Awesome. Now we are done.”

Then, like a oncologist looking at a suspicious mass on a CT scan, I have to be the bad guy and say to them, “Know what? Actually the hard part has just begun.”

This is particularly confusing when the client and I are talking about strategies for social media.

This stuff just looks so darn easy. They figure that once I give them a roadmap, some pretty apps and some technical partners to support them, they’re all set up for “strategic success.”

But what I CAN’T give them (and what they’ll need most to succeed), is the “social” part. That part they have to do themselves.

And that’s going to take some work.

There…I said it…successful marketing using social media takes work: dedicated, frequent, thoughtful and innovative work done by someone with some sort of interest and investment in your social circle and your brand.

(so, no…it’s not a good idea to outsource this stuff to a “Twitter intern.”)

Writing this blog post took some work. Sending a tweet out later to share with my network that it’s posted will take some work. Finding the time to read and respond to comments that are posted in reply will take some work.

And it’s going to cost some money.

(Man, I’m just full of fun news today, aren’t I?)

Because while I’m blogging and tweeting and replying, I’m using my billable time. I’m making a choice to invest my time in people and relationships and that may produce a (possibly career-transforming) return on investment down the road…or, just as easily, they may not.

So why bother?

First, It’s about the most fun work you can snag these days.

If you are using social media as a marketing or public relations tool – and you are using it effectively – you won’t feel like a human press release feed, “socially” distributing lame marketing spam to the masses. Instead your job will be to have relationships – share stories, listen to concerns, offer advice, (and yes, from time to time, share your salesy news.)

If you make the process a habit, build a network based on authenticity and genuine interest in others and treat each social contact as the prime client engagement vehicle that it should be, you actually might have a delightful time.

Secondly, the stuff you put work into will last longer and ultimately have more value.

Look at weight loss. There are a million books, plans, tools and services out there that are essentially designed to avoid smacking you over the head with the cold hard reality of the matter: if you want to lose weight, you need to eat less and move more.

No one really wants to hear that.

But the ones who do, and who accept it, are the ones who lose the weight and KEEP it off.

Same holds true for this “micro marketing” approach. Do the work, do it well and avoid being an ass while you’re doing it, and it will work.

Even better, it will deliver benefits to your doorstep that you could have never planned for.

And that, my friends, is the thing that puts a spark into my eyes.

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Listening – the first key to unlocking the potential of social media.

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 by Kary Delaria

In my last post, I asserted that traditional press reports have no place in social media – online public relations campaigns simply can’t be measured the same way.

In Jason Baer’s (@Jaybaer) May 21 Twitter interview with Radian6’s Amber Naslund (@AmberCadabra), he asked, What do you see as the PR/ad/digital agency’s role in listening and social media?

To which Amber replied, “Translating intelligence into strategy and action. Being a guidepost and putting execution in the hands of the company.”

Beautifully put, Amber. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The value in reporting on social media monitoring lies in how we as PR professionals steer our clients to appropriate action.

Whether clients are active in the social media space or not, we first advise them that at the very least, they need to start listening to the conversations happening about them, their brand, their competitors and their industry.

These conversations are taking place on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, nings and more.

First, figure out what you need to listen for, and start monitoring.

• Establish keywords. Other than your company name, what do you want to listen for? People talking about industry trends? About your competitor? Establish a lean set of keywords that will offer glimpses into relevant conversations that can shape future communications strategy.

• Find your audience. Pay attention to where your key demographic is. If your primary audience is business women over the age of 40, you probably don’t need to spend a lot of time listening to the conversations happening on My Space.

• Observe search engine ranking. Think of SEO is the new “earned” PR placement. Pay attention not only to the rank of your company name, but to how the name ranks with key search terms.

• Consider opinion polling. Recently, I heard someone say they were working to establish a budget to poll a target audience. Gasp! Welcome to social media, where seeking the opinion of your audience is free, as long as you listen.

After monitoring the social media space, (and, making constant adjustments as needed) it’s time to start doing what Amber referred to as, “translating the intelligence.”

What can we glean from this information, and how can it be used to guide communications strategy?

• What is the tone of the conversation? (positive, negative, neutral?)
• Who is having the conversation? And, who is listening to them?
• On what social networks are these conversations taking place?
• How often do these conversations occur?

From this information, PR professionals can help clients to:

• Set benchmarks and establish goals.
• Determine and shape existing key messages.
• Make observations regarding timed release of information to coincide with when the conversations are taking place.
• Guide decisions on when and where to enter the conversation.
• Identify key influencers of your target audience.
• Recruit brand “evangelists.”
• Manage online reputation.
• Improve search engine ranking.
• Set benchmarks, goals and measure results.

So, are you ready to start listening?

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RIP Press Reports.

Monday, April 27th, 2009 by Kary Delaria

For decades, PR professionals have demonstrated their performance and value by providing clients with regular press reports accompanied by press clips – quantifying every media mention of the client, and proving that time spent on press releases, news distribution, pitches and interviews was worthwhile.

Enter social media.rip-tombstonel

With the rising popularity of social media, PR pros monitoring every mention of their client (and oftentimes, client’s industry, competitor’s, etc.) are inundated. TweetBeep and Google alerts flood our inboxes with Internet chatter. Fellow PR people have asked me, “How do you report on all of this?”

My answer?

There is no place for social media in the traditional press report.

That’s right. I said it. PR people need to cut the chord from the coveted press report and take a step back and take a look at what we’re actually trying to achieve.

ROI vs. ROE – Investment vs. Engagement.

Before, we measured Return On Investment.

Traditionally, if a client was announcing a product launch, for instance, the PR pro would draft a press release, distribute it, pitch the appropriate editors/reporters, follow-up as necessary, and ideally, it would result in print coverage on the client and their new product.

This is earned placement, old-school style. That diligent PR pro would then summarize each of these mentions in a press report, along with quantitative information (often things like circulation, ad equivalency) to provide the client with a monetary ROI.

Now, we can measure Return On Engagement.

And, return on engagement can’t be quantified.

In today’s socially networked world, a PR pro may announce a client’s product launch with an SMR (social media release) and share via social networks.* By nature, these mechanisms are designed for sharing – the information spreads naturally between people and across networks.

This coverage does not belong in a traditional press report.

Why?

It’s not an accurate measurement of the conversation.

Conversations about your clients take place in countless places – dinner parties, parks and in phone conversations. Do these get included in press reports? Of course not. It’s just as ridiculous to think that social media coverage can be reported in this way.

Because we have the ability to monitor social media, however, (it’s much more difficult to monitor all those dinner party conversations), it is our job as PR professionals to listen, report and respond in a meaningful way.

We could try to attach a “hits viewed” or a Nielsen NetRating or Alexa rank to these online mentions, or make an attempt to arbitrarily calculate some sort of advertising equivalency for what the space would have cost had we purchased an ad on Facebook and on Google, but why? What would that tell us about the conversation, those who shared it and those who received the message?

A message spread through social networks is PR, but this engagement not a direct result of PR.

Take for instance, Kane Co’s efforts to promote our recent workshops. I created an SMR and shared it with our networks, which include media and bloggers. Suddenly, we had “coverage” in places we didn’t know existed. My favorite example – a long-time friend of Jen’s got wind of the event via our Facebook Group. He shared the information on his blog. A friend of his then shared the event with her Google group. Within the Google group, another friend of Kane Co sparked a conversation on the speakers and the relevance of social media.

In this strain, there were at least four mentions of Kane Co and our event. And not a single one of them was earned as a direct result of our PR effort. Rather, because of the equity we have in a network that we nurture, ambassadors told the story for us. Reporting them as separate mentions wouldn’t do justice to the value behind the conversation and how it spread.

The success lies in the return on engagement. In this instance, Kane Co learned that:

1) We’ve got some excellent, fertile soil in our online networks

2) We’re planting our seeds in the right places

3) These seeds will sprout and grow, on their own, into beautiful flowers

4) We need to nurture the garden so flowers continue to grow

(What can I say…we like metaphors).

The fourth point, above, is where, as a PR person, I find my place. What’s the next story we tell? With whom do we share it? With which of these “flowers” can I cultivate a more personal relationship?

Brand equity is built over time. In the same way, the extent of social media “results” will continue to surface over time. Because results are ongoing and dynamic, it’s nearly impossible to accurately measure them at any given time.

The most immediate, quantitative results from ROE might be increased sales (our in our case, registrations). The more valuable results, however, are qualitative, and occur long term. It’s not possible to quantify the value of a brand ambassador, who is essentially doing your PR for you. One exchange could plant the seed that eventually grows into a lead, a new client, or a partner.

*Please, don’t get your panties in a bunch – online efforts aren’t always a replacement to traditional media relations campaigns. They can, and often should, co-exist.

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Posted in New Media PR | 2 Comments »

Are PR Agencies a Dying Breed? Riding the wave of change to stay alive.

Friday, March 20th, 2009 by Kary Delaria

While at SXSW interactive last week, I sat in on, “Are PR Agencies a Dying Breed?” with panelists, Erin Portman, Brian Solis, and Peter Shankman and moderated by Karly Hand.

What ensued was a great discussion on the evolution of PR strategy, and the changing role of the PR professional in the face of the new competition from advertisers, interactive marketers, web content strategists, and my pet peeve, “social media experts,” who also are active in the online space.

PR professionals are in a real make-it or break-it time. The online world continues to change the way we interact and provides us with new ways to connect with individuals.

[Side note: individuals can be media, customers, consumers, other businesses – "It's not B2B or B2C, it’s C2C social media" as stated by Jared Roy of Risdall Marketing Group in a social media presentation at the Minnesota Business Marketing Association's event last week.]

To stay alive, or, shall I say, to stay relevant, cutting edge, and effective, we need to adapt and apply new tactics as part of our time-tested strategy:

Listening to target audiences:

Before social networks, focus groups were among the best tactics for gathering thoughts and opinions of our target audiences. Now, by monitoring social networks like Twitter and Facebook, the information is available in real time, and for a fraction of the cost.

In addition to great crowd sourcing, taken a step further, listening can provide direction on where your client needs to become involved in the social media space.

Writing and distributing press releases:

If anything is truly dying in the PR industry, it just may be the press release itself. The SXSW panel discussed this, and it’s further evidenced by Oracle’s PR staff, which changed the face of its press releases as discussed yesterday in this Regan media post.

The “old school” press release, if used, is a mere formality and takes a back seat to online press releases and targeted pitches.

It’s imperative to capitalize on social media releases and online pressrooms for the coveted “Google Juice.” People – editors, bloggers and consumers – are searching for information online. PR pros can’t ignore the opportunity to capitalize on this and drive traffic to press releases, and ultimately back to the client’s Web site.

Communicating with the media:

Distributing a press release (via the wire, fax or email blast) and then following-up with a journalist with “Did you get it?” is still such a common formula for PR pros and, quite frankly, it’s giving us a bad reputation.

New media tools and social networks provide the opportunity to clearly research the journalist and provide a place were we can build the relationship, before slamming them with news.

Additionally, we’re able to identify countless others in the online space who may have an interest in our news. “Media” should now include online editors and bloggers, who may be just as influential and receptive, if not more, than traditional journalists.

Having the opportunity to develop a relationship with the media online opens the door to sharing information that’s far more customized and meaningful to the reporter, (or blogger) therefore increasing the likelihood of receiving coverage.

Communicating directly with the intended audience:

This is a new one for PR pros. The traditional approach is to communicate with media gatekeepers who would then share the information with their audiences. The online world allows us to put the “public” back into public relations and bypass the gatekeepers, providing that it fits the overall strategy.

PR pros need to at least consider this tactic as part of their overall strategy, define the space where they will have a presence, and at best, begin to communicate directly with unique conversations (as Solis remarked, “Every conversation deserves a unique response…don’t cut and paste the same crap.”) PR pros need to help the clients develop an online personality and voice, and teach them to participate in the conversation.

Reporting the results:

It’s still widely accepted that the success of public relations efforts are measured by press coverage received. In today’s online world, this is incredibly shortsighted. Social media strategies need to be taken into the mix, and we need to be looking at analytics, click-through rates and return on participation (ROP).

To sum up, attending this panel reminded me once again that I’m riding the wave of the changing PR industry and will continue to roll with it.

Are PR agencies a dying breed? Well, some of the old tactics are dying, while new ones are taking shape. The agencies wiling to embrace and explore them will remain strong.

I believe that PR pros are needed at the table now, more than ever. PR has become an inter-disciplinary profession. The tools and tactics are changing, but the strategies and goals remain the same. To survive, we need to understand the most effective way to bridge the gap.

What about you? What are you doing to keep up?

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PR Pros Need to Grasp SEO

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 by Kary Delaria

While participating in a webinar a few months ago titled “New Media PR,” the featured speaker was asked about “search engine optimization” and replied that (and I’m paraphrasing) it’s very important; there are tools available to help you do it; and PR people really should check with their IT department for information on how to do it.

REALLY? Not quite the answer I was looking for. It made me think of my husband, who is an IT guy. Not that I don’t think he’s a smart dude, but he’s just about the last person I want messing with my press releases.

Optimized “content.” CONTENT. It’s as much a part of a press release (or social media release) as the header or the dateline. And, that’s my job, not the IT person’s.

Why do I care so much? Consider the following:

According to the “2008 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices”:

• Nearly half of journalists report visiting a corporate website or online newsroom at least once a week, while nearly 87% visit at least once a month.

• More than 75% of journalists say they use social media to research stories.

• Nearly 75% follow at least one blog regularly.

Are they finding you and your clients?

If your press releases, press room, blog and web content aren’t optimized for search engines, it’s almost as though you don’t exist. Even worse, when journalists search for facts or experts, they may just stumble upon your client’s biggest competitor.

Kane Consulting is sharing the SEO love. Join us, and the search specialists from Nina Hale Consulting on March 27, 2009 for an intensive, one-day seminar that will cover the basics – how it works, why it works, and how to start dong it. For details or to register, visit http://www.kaneconsulting.biz/kane_registration.html

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