ZB Group

earned media

By

How to Influence Consumers and Customers with PR and Storytelling

Public Relations and StorytellingPeople love stories. Even before we learn to read as young children, cuddling next to a parent, grandparent, sibling or caregiver to listen to a story or book is a favorite pastime enjoyed by every generation.

This love of stories doesn’t subside when we grow up.

In the digital age of Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, Snapchat Stories, podcasting and TED Talks, the methods of telling and sharing stories may have changed, but our affinity for stories hasn’t lessened one bit.

So what’s the point for brands and companies? We’re glad you asked.

Sharing news about a person’s life, loves, challenges or career is interesting for others as it relates to their own life or circumstances. The same goes for brands and companies.

Storytelling is an effective way for you to reach the people who matter most. Brands and companies that share compelling insight can use storytelling to humanize them — gaining loyalty and positive perceptions in consumers’ minds by doing so.

A recent Wall Street Journal article by Barbara Haslip discussed how an entrepreneur’s story can be the perfect marketing tool. It cites research that suggests why humans respond well to character-based stories and memorable images, explaining the relevance for businesses. Read the interesting piece here.

Public relations professionals inherently use different tools and strategies to help clients tell their stories to the right audiences. By doing so, connections are made and buying decisions are positively influenced.

Companies should also leverage consumer input in brand storytelling. An article in MIT Sloan Management Review, says new research finds that sharing consumers’ positive stories about a brand can be a highly effective online marketing strategy.

Here are five ways we work with clients to share their stories:

Media Relations: We package and pitch your messages then reach out to the appropriate journalists to arrange media coverage for your brand, business or organization. These placements provide third-party endorsement via earned media which builds credibility, thought-leadership, visibility and SEO.

Content Creation: Produce and place bylined articles, press releases, blog posts or custom video designed for company blogs and websites, industry-specific or local and major media.

Strategic Partnerships: Arrange partnerships perhaps by creating community special events presented by companies and nonprofit organizations. This is an effective way to engage audiences, build brand equity, secure media coverage and provide an interesting story for the parties involved to tell across all of their platforms.

Live and Online Events: Identify speaking opportunities for company leadership or spokespeople at live or online events so sought-after audiences (either the press, consumers, businesspeople or partners) hear about the latest news, products or brand story first-hand and why it matters for them.

Blogger Engagement and Influencers: Reach out to mega or micro bloggers or social media influencers in your space who drive conversations among their devoted fans and followers. Some may be interested in exclusive content, brand partnerships or sponsored opportunities for their blogs, websites and social media channels encouraging readers to take action – i.e. buy the product, try the service, enter the contest or share the content.

When planning your marketing strategy, don’t overlook the power of stories to help business growth and let us know if we can help.

By

As the Year Winds Down Plan to Rev Up Your Brand with PR in 2017

PRAs the saying goes, “out with the old and in with the new.” This is the time of year when communications budgets are reviewed and new ones are set. Consider including PR in 2017 as there are many unique benefits you can expect.

PR is an investment in your brand’s equity. It’s a valuable adjunct to your marketing, advertising, influencer, social media and other promotional expenditures.

PR strengthens authority, reputation, goodwill, relationships, community connections, revenue, visibility, credibility, thought leadership, SEO and engagement to spur action.

PR uses many different strategies and tactics to tell your authentic story so that customers learn, better understand and develop loyalty for your products and services over a competitor’s. As Susan Credle, Global Chief Creative Officer at FCB says in this WSJ article, “When you are telling your brand’s story, you aren’t spending money – you are investing.” We couldn’t agree more!

Consumers are savvy and skeptical when gathering information by checking online and with those they trust before making purchases. Thus they are familiar with native ads, sponsored or paid editorial that must be labeled accordingly as required by the FTC. However earned media coverage, the type that PR delivers, appears in news outlets reported by journalists and bloggers who your audience knows, follows and trusts. Contributed content via bylined articles, OpEds and guest blog posts, are other effective ways to convey credible information under the PR umbrella.

To help you understand how to evaluate and measure PR results, we’ve cited an ebook and a few articles worth reading.

Diane Thieke, President and Founder of Simply Talk Media and a former Executive Director of Marketing, PR and Communications Solutions at Dow Jones & Company, wrote “Talk to Me” 10 Tips for Explaining the Language of PR into the Language of Business. This concise ebook explores the perceptions and attitudes of both PR professionals and senior executives toward the impact of public relations on business success among other topics.

The Barcelona Principles are the industry’s accepted method of how to measure PR. They state Measuring Outcomes is Preferred to Measuring Media Results. This principle suggests that: outcomes include shifts in awareness, comprehension, attitude and behavior related to purchase, donations, brand equity, corporate reputation, employee engagement, public policy investment decisions and other shifts in audiences regarding a company, NGO, government or entity as well as the audience’s own beliefs and behaviors.

A new Google ranking study shows that links are very important to highly rank in Google from reputable sources. PR does just that by generating coverage that brings visitors to your website or blog.

This article in the Harvard Business Review says making an emotional connection matters more than customer satisfaction, which effective PR helps bridge and strengthen.

Bospar, a boutique tech agency, surveyed 500+ CMOs, vice presidents of marketing, marketing directors and marketing managers. The results are here indicating that after top-tier media coverage ran, survey participants saw an increase in brand awareness followed by an increase in:

  • Brand value
  • Web traffic
  • In-bound sales leads
  • SEO improvement

Once a significant story is published those surveyed recommended it be supported with these activities:

  • Promoted in social media
  • Showcased on a company’s website
  • Included in a company newsletter
  • Sent to prospects and customers or clients

To properly evaluate the ROI of a PR effort it must be tied to your defined communications goals set upfront and monitored along the way. This will ensure it is a worthwhile expenditure with lasting long-term value.

 

 

 

By

PR’s Place in the Multi-Platform Digital Age

PR Relevant in Digital AgeIf you thought the digital age was making PR irrelevant – think again.

The vast number of media outlets today has actually increased opportunities for PR. No longer are TV and radio programs heard or seen once on-air at a scheduled time or are newspapers and magazines just read in print on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. According to NiemanLab, more Americans today are working for online publishers and broadcasters than newspapers.

Content is posted or streamed 24/7 across multiple platforms consumed by individuals on their mobile devices, tablets, laptops and desktops to read, listen or watch live or on-demand. It is often shared, blogged, liked or tweeted about on social media. This means if you, your brand, event, products, book, organization, cause or services are mentioned in the media, it has a long online life.

News outlets large and small have become integrated multimedia informational platforms with complementary websites, blogs and podcasts. Their online counterparts usually feature video, images and feedback from readers and viewers about the content. You’ll often hear radio and TV hosts telling listeners and viewers to follow them on Twitter or find them on Facebook to foster two-way conversations and build a loyal community.

Programs Have Become Platform Neutral

People want to trust news sources for curation since there’s so much information available it’s hard to decipher what’s credible. As Chuck Todd, Host of Meet the Press on NBC explains, the long-running show has stayed relevant by being platform neutral in a 24/7 digital journalism world.

Bloomberg cites the top new media companies and why established media companies have invested in them. Here the Host of Bloomberg’s daily program “What’d You Miss?” explains how he sees the TV program as a source of online video content. Acknowledging that many people get their news from social media, Bloomberg Media will now live stream three shows on Twitter as well as their markets coverage.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PR?

New Opportunities for Building Relationships and Reaching Your Audiences

The digital age provides new opportunities for all kinds of experts to comment, weigh-in and be featured on-air, in print, online or in a podcast. Visibility and credibility via third-parties in respected outlets or when featured by consumers’ favorite bloggers, influencers or podcast hosts, helps marketing efforts gain traction and be successful.

We read about publishers’ digital-only platforms launching all the time such as Sports Illustrated’s new tech vertical covering sports, tech and media to broaden its scope. Fortune Live, a weekly web show with guest interviews from Fortune Magazine, launched last year.

This WSJ piece discusses how the marketing and culinary manager of the Andy Boy brand hired PR and advertising agencies for a campaign with TV personalities, digital and social media influencers. Together they worked to raise the cool factor for broccoli rabe and its nutritional benefits targeting young, food and health conscious consumers.

There are myriad ways to use PR and media relations for reaching niche, local or broad audiences to influence those who matter most for your business.

Coverage in Business Media

Business focused media has evolved along with the new digital landscape to remain profitable and serve the shifting habits of their audiences. Regardless of the platform, interesting stories and experts that are a good fit for the outlet, will resonate with the right journalists. For Global Context we arranged media interviews that resulted in coverage in Bloomberg Businessweek, WCBS’ CEO Radio, BBC.com’s Capital, Crain’s and others.

Contributed Content Is Sought

Some editors from major news outlets to those at trade publications, seek outside expert sources to write contributed articles due to small staffs and the need to regularly post new compelling content. They welcome help from PR pros and their clients to contribute relevant interesting articles and offer a variety of fresh topics for their readers.

  • NJBIZ – This prominent New Jersey business publication features blogs such as Millennial Minded, Breaking Glass for women in business and Industry Insights. We placed a by-lined article by Bart Jackson about why he believes humor is important in the workplace for the Industry Insights blog.

Many things have changed in the digital age but as far as PR is concerned, the opportunities have only increased.

 

 

By

How PR and Media Relations Help Cut Through the Clutter

Cutting a ribbonThere are numerous ways to engage consumers so they will think favorably about your brand, product, service, business, specialty or new idea.

In the “old days” the separation between the advertising and the editorial or production sides of a magazine, TV, radio program or industry trade publication were clear. Today, not so much.

Consumers are now deluged with “native advertising” which are paid messages that blend in with content and are presented as advertorials, sponsored blog posts, promoted tweets, Facebook ads and the like.

It’s easier for consumers to differentiate between the program content vs. the commercials on TV and radio shows than it is for them to know whether they’re reading a paid native ad or not.

So what should you do when planning a communications campaign?

The key is to understand what you’re buying and how the consumer will perceive your message.  Consumers today are savvy and more wary of paid messages than of those that are unpaid.

Time Inc. recently announced it’s planning a big push into native advertising already running with its People and Entertainment Weekly brands. Farhad Manjoo, a technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal, worries that the lines between advertiser-sponsored or commercial content and independently reported content are blurring as legacy media and news and other sites embrace native advertising as a new source of revenue. His concerns are explained in this video and in his column today, “Why ‘Native Ads’ Muddy the Water for Web Surfers.”

The services provided by PR and media relations professionals cut through the clutter to communicate our clients’ messages in the “unpaid”or “earned media” arena which I believe will become even more valuable in today’s increasingly commercial environment. We’re skilled at uncovering what’s newsworthy and unique about our clients and then convey this information in a way that appeals to the media professionals whose audiences would be interested.

Our clients don’t pay and therefore don’t control the space or air time where the messages, interviews, surveys, videos, photos and other content appear, therefore the impact is more genuine and meaningful. Let’s hope that these opportunities for media coverage continue to exist in the future without having to pay for them.

So what do you think about the growth of native ads on the Web? Is this a good thing or not?

——

UPDATES:

The F.T.C. held a public workshop today (December 4, 2013), “Blurred Lines: Advertising or Content?” to examine “native advertising.” They’re concerned that sponsored online ads can be misleading and will be taking a harder look at such practices. Here’s the story as reported in The New York Times.

The New York Times plans to start its native ads in January as digitally only. Click here for the details.