Florida Media Luncheon Results in Tips for Crisis Communications Planning

April 13, 2011

by Julia Sotelo, Client Services Representative, BW Florida

Business Wire Florida held “CRISIS! Expect the Unexpected: Plan, Manage, & Respond,” a media luncheon for South Florida Professionals on March 30 hosted by JM Family Enterprises Inc. and moderated by Amy Wagner, former Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Global Communications of Burger King.

Panelists included:

Laura Vann, Public Relations Specialist,  Lynn University Marketing and Communication

Don Silver, Chief Operating Officer, Boardroom Communications

Elianne Gonzalez, Hispanic Press Officer,  Insurance Information Institute

Wayne K. Roustan, General Assignment Reporter,  South Florida Sun Sentinel

Laura Vann, Lynn University

Laura Vann, Lynn University

Laura Vann gave a moving presentation on the Lynn University Crisis following the aftermath of the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which involved 12 students and two professors.

Vann discussed Lynn University’s unenviable circumstance of false information that reported some students were safe when in fact that was incorrect. The University acted quickly with a clarifying a press conference.

Don Silver opened the panel discussion with Crisis Management tips. Among them:

  • Deal with crisis immediately.  Seek a short term solution that will save time, grief, damage to your brand and the company.
  • Remind everybody, especially those that answer phones, who at the organization can speak on behalf of the company.
  • Know the media that covers your company. Understand their news cycles, how they work, what they need, and how they need it.
  • Monitor.  Keep Lexis/Nexis, Google and different news alerts active for your company, clients, brand names, etc.

Wayne K. Roustan shared 30 years of media expertise in covering crisis situations. His first insight:   how media are expected to do the impossible on multiple platforms. “It’s just non-stop feed the beast. So if the media knows when the news is coming they won’t pester you. You are controlling the situation.”

Elianne Gonzalez stated a common mistake organizations make during a crisis situation is that they forget to keep a printed copy of the Crisis Plan handy just in case the power goes out and/or loss of communication. She also pointed out the plan should include contact information for the company’s spokes persons.

Ibrey Woodall was on hand to share Business Wire’s Crisis Communications online tool. Woodall discussed a Darksite feature that allows communicators to prepare a crisis plan and implement it in the backend.

Leave a Comment » | All Things Press Release, Crisis Communications, Media Relations, Press Release Tips | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Local News Sites Going Facebook Only? Press Releases Need Local Hook to be Utilized

April 11, 2011

Last month, Maryland community blog Rockville Central moved to a Facebook only format. The decision attracted media attention from a number of journalism sites including Nieman Journalism Lab and Media Bistro’s Social Times among others. Business Wire’s media relations team spoke to Editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths in a  recent Q & A that explores this innovative move and how press releases fit in.

Cindy Cotte Griffiths, Editor of Rockville Central on Facebook

Cindy Cotte Griffiths, Editor of Rockville Central on Facebook

Business Wire: What has been the initial reaction from the Rockville Central community?

Cotte Griffiths:   Although some people expressed dismay on the website before the move, the initial reaction has been extremely positive on Facebook. Our active users have increased by over 500% and our base continues to grow each day. We are seeing many new people interacting and commenting on the site which has always been our primary goal.

Business Wire: Do you think other media outlets will follow your lead?

Cotte Griffiths: Yes, we do. We’ve already heard of a local newspaper which has informed its staff that it will be shifting entirely to Facebook. However, sites which intend to take advantage of the projected increases in local online advertising probably would not be in a position to shift entirely to Facebook, since Facebook does not offer a revenue sharing arrangement.

Some other interesting developments in the online media world include TechCrunch only allowing comments with a Facebook account, and Warner Bros. making films available on Facebook with Facebook Credits. Meanwhile, big print news outlets are setting up paywalls. Currently, Facebook takes a 30% cut of revenues from sales by third parties using Credits, so perhaps the news world and Facebook Credits might be combined someday.

 Business Wire: What makes an effective press release in your opinion?

Cotte Griffiths: For us, a press release needs to be location-based since we will only report on Rockville, Md.   We’re willing to include stories about organizations or businesses which are on the forefront of their fields since we like to highlight all the great things produced in our community. So for example, if a biotech company cured a disease or an organization started a successful worldwide program, we would be willing to share the story to emphasize what makes our community special.

For more information about PressPass and Business Wire’s other journalist tools, contact our media relations team at Media.Relations@BusinessWire.com.

2 Comments | All Things Press Release, Local Newsrooms, Media Relations, Press Release Tips | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Google Algorithm Changes Reward Best Practice SEO and Pay Off for Press Release Visibility

March 15, 2011
Matt Albers, Director of Web Services

by Matt Albers, Director of Software Engineering, Web Services

In an effort to find more high quality sites for its many users, during the week of Feb. 24th, Google rolled out their Panda update (aka Farmer).

This update was said to touch nearly 12 percent of all Google search results in an attempt to weed out or de-value content farms and “low quality” sites.  Wired.com offers more in depth coverage with Google engineers Matt Cutts and Amit Singhal weighing in on specifics about the change.  If you’re an engineer like me, you’d already heard complaints in the tech sector for a while now.

So how did this change affect the visibility of your press releases?  We’re glad you asked, because in the case of Business Wire, we’ve noticed a positive change.  That’s correct: since Google tweaked their indexing algorithm, Business Wire has seen an increase in traffic, and higher rankings for our client’s press releases.

Meanwhile, according to Sistrix, a German search research company, our competitors have not fared as well, some losing nearly 70% of their keyword rankings.  In addition, our rival says they lost 20% in traffic, showing a Hitwise graph of search clicks.  But look closely and you’ll see the only site on that graph trending UP is Business Wire.  Yes, quality rises to the top.

We don’t know specifically why some press release services were dinged.  We can only confirm that Business Wire was not affected negatively by the Panda update based on our analytics analysis.  Why the difference?  I suspect it’s because we’ve been following “best practice”, “white hat” SEO for years.

Business Wire has been known for excellence and customer service for 50 years now, and we have deliberately avoided SEO gaming, allowing our highly vetted content to speak for itself.  As an engineer and Director of Web Services, you can bet I place a high value on technology, but good decisions and people behind them are what really make a difference in the quality our clients enjoy at Business Wire.  It turns out taking the high road and considering long term over short term success results in excellent SEO outcomes for us and our clients.

2 Comments | All Things Press Release, Business Wire Events, Engineering, Press Release Optimization, seo | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Daylight Saving Time And Other Timing Tips for Your Press Releases

March 10, 2011
by Rebecca Rose, Business Wire Editor, Atlanta

If you’re sending a press release in the next couple of days, please factor Daylight Saving Time into your plans.

Rebecca Rose, Editor, BW/Atlanta

Daylight Saving Time was first enacted in the U.S. in 1918 and in classic “spring forward”  fashion, it begins Sunday, March 13, this year.  Clocks will jump forward an hour at 2 a.m. local time in most areas. The time shift will also occur in other parts of North America, including Mexico and most of Canada.  The European Union (EU) won’t change their clocks until the last Sunday in March.

Exceptions to Daylight Saving Time include the entire state of Arizona, northwest Indiana and the province of Saskatchewan, Canada.  We recommend verifying the local time in your targeted distribution area.   And, if you’re at all unsure about the correct time zone, contact your local newsroom – we’re always here to help!

The most common goof we see on news releases during time change season is communicators failing to note event timing announcements in the current timing scenario.  For example, a press conference taking place at 8 o’clock in the morning in New York City will be noted as starting at 8 AM EST versus 8 AM EDT.   Our editors are on the look out for such errors.

Here’s a good reference to see which locales change when.  Below we’ve assembled a few extra timing tips to get you through the night as that extra hour gets shelved until autumn.  On November 6, we’ll “fall back” and get those 60 minutes back.
  • When writing and scheduling your press release, be sure to consider the time zone of your desired geographic circuit. If you’re located in Atlanta, but are targeting media points in California, sending your release out at 8 a.m. ET (5 a.m. PT) probably isn’t going to get you the most bang for your buck.
  • Templates are frequently used when crafting press releases, so be sure to double-check that time zone abbreviations are updated and correct.
  • A simple, albeit effective, strategy for boosting pickup is to release your news slightly past the hour. For example, rather than scheduling your release to cross the wire at 8 a.m., try scheduling it for 8:01 a.m. or 8:06 a.m. This will set your news apart from the rush of releases scheduled to go out on-the-hour.

With 32 bureaus around the world and more newsrooms than all of our competitors combined, Business Wire is proud to provide local expertise and superior service, backed by the most accurate editors in the world. In Editor’s Corner, we ask some of our best to chime in on how to get the most out of your press release, based on their years of experience in the industry.

2 Comments | All Things Press Release, Business Wire, Editor's Corner, Editors, Press Release Tips, Public Relations, WiredIn Articles | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

PR Peeps Poll: Generating Clips Still Most Important in Measuring Press Release Success

February 22, 2011
by Monika Maeckle, Vice President New Media 

Our first PR Peeps Poll for 2011 suggests that while generating clips is still the number one marker for  press release success, general branding/visibility and traffic-driving capabilities of the press release come in not far behind. 

Of  280 PR Peeps polled, 88 said the most important measure of press release success was generating earned media and clips.   Branding and general awareness-raising came in second with 79 votes, while driving traffic to websites came in third with 73.   Getting link clicks only garnered 20 votes, the same amount as “other.”

In comments attached to the survey, PR pros chimed in with their own ideas on what constitutes press release success. ”Getting the phone to ring!”  “developing direct business leads,” and ”a smiling client when they see the ROI,” were among the remarks.   We couldn’t agree more with this comment from one PR Peep:  “…distributing a release is only one step in a five- or six-step process (including follow-up pitching, an engaging photo, etc.)” 

The poll was conducted in January and February  through Twitter, Facebook, email and Business Wire’s webinars.   Details below:

What’s most important in measuring press release success?

73, or 26%–Driving traffic to our website

20, or 7%–Getting link clicks

88, or 32%–Generating earned media/clips

79, or 28%–General branding/awareness

20, or 7%   — Other

To those who participated, thanks for taking the PR Peeps Poll.  Now we need your help on our February survey: How Good Are Your Headline Habits?

Thanks for the help.

280 respondents via Twitter, email, Facebook and Business Wire webinar polls. Poll conducted  January 3 – February 18, 2011.

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Posted by Monika Maeckle

Importance of Writing Good Headlines Magnified as Attention Spans and Space Decrease

February 3, 2011
Free “How to Write A Good Headline” Webinar to Offer Headline Writing Tips
by Monika Maeckle, Vice President, New Media

Gawker rolled out its redesign this week, provoking an echo chamber of speculation on what it means for blogs, Twitter and new media in general, and the blogosphere in particular.

One theme was constant in the online nattering:  headlines have never been more important.

With our miniscule attention spans, a firehose of content, and search engines that systematically weigh the first 70 characters of any content page, headlines today carry an unprecedented burden to deliver readers.   And with Twitter and Facebook referring so many pageviews, we no longer enjoy the luxury of the lead paragraph to tell our stories.

The headline stands alone.

“Headlines on websites—particularly those found on news websites with content heavy homepages—carry a very heavy load,” wrote Jake Brooks, Chief Strategist and Project Director of Hazan+Company, in a February 1 blogpost. “For these types of sites, the difference between 10,000 pageviews can rest entirely on the quality of the headline and how well it sells a story.”

No kidding.  And when it comes to press releases, a great headline can make the difference between your carefully crafted news release flying high or detouring to the delete heap.

If you can use some help with headline writing, please join us February 16 for a FREE educational webinar on How to Write  a Good Headline.  Registration is free.

We’ll look at headlines from both sides of the aisle–from the perspectives of readers and robots.   Our guests will be veteran journalist Terry Scott Bertling, niche/products editor at the San Antonio Express-News; and SEO-meister  Greg Jarboe, President of SEO-PR.

Hope to “see” you there.

How to Write A Good Headline
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
10 AM Pacific/ Noon Central/ 1 PM Eastern
FREE
Register Now

 

 

4 Comments | All Things Press Release, Business Wire, Business Wire Events, Education, new media, Press Release Tips, social media, Webinars | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Happy Chinese New Year! And Make Sure Your International Target Audience is not on Vacation

February 2, 2011
by Matthew Allinson, International Media Relations Supervisor

Matt Allinson, Business Wire International Media Relations SupervisorThe wisdom of sending a news release to a country that’s on holiday is a frequent question at our news desk.  Our response?

Unwise.  And when the news is sent anyway, our clients wonder about the lackluster  pick-up by media.

A better question is why would you spend your company’s hard-earned dollars/euros/pounds/yen sending out a news release that virtually no one is going to read because they’re taking a day—or a week–off?

The practice of forcing news during holidays is predominantly an American one.  The U.S. penchant for a 24/7/365 go-go-go news cycle has made us believe everyone else in the world operates likewise.

Yet most countries and cultures work at a much more leisurely pace, often enjoying twice the vacation time as the American worker.  With the exception of New Zealand, Americans work more every year than any other industrialized nation.

What this means is that if you’re responsible for sending news overseas, be aware of what’s taking place in your target countries or regions so that your news doesn’t fall on deaf ears.

Here’s what David Lore, the bureau chief at Interfax Shanghai, had to say about doing business in China during a holiday:

When it comes to doing business in China, there are a host of “dos and don’ts” that can make or break a deal. You don’t embarrass your Chinese partner in front of his subordinates, and you do take major holidays into consideration when preparing press releases. Especially the week-long Chinese New Year holiday (CNY), also known as Spring Festival. Without question the single most important holiday on the Lunar Calendar, CNY is a time when tens of millions of Chinese are on the move, returning to hometowns to reunite with family and friends.

On a business level, top decision-makers and opinion-shapers usually depart on extended vacations that often encompass the week before and the week after CNY. For all intents and purposes, China’s economy (with a few exceptions, like retail) goes into a kind of hibernation from Feb 2 – Feb 8.

The best resource we’ve found to monitor holidays all over the world is bank-holidays.com.  This site provides information on when banks and stock exchanges are closed for public or religious holidays. Other major events (elections, planned strikes, festivals, etc.) are also listed which can help when determining the proper timing of a news release.

Other, less detailed resources include Onada, Who is on Holiday and Wikipedia.

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Posted by Monika Maeckle

PR Peeps Poll: Twitter the Favored Social Media Tool, Facebook Not Far Behind

January 5, 2011
by Monika Maeckle, Vice President New Media
PR Peeps let us know their favorite social media tool in December.  The winner?   Twitter.
A full third of 277 PR Peeps polled chose Twitter as their social media tool of choice in 2010, followed closely by Facebook, with 29% of the vote.   The results amplify a similar poll we conducted in November of 2009, in which more than 41% said they tweet but don’t blog.

No doubt the commitment required from running a company blog has many PR folks turning to link sharing of existing content on social networking sites.  Even hardcore investor relations officers we’ve consulted say they prefer Twitter over a company blog because they don’t have to commit to churning out time-consuming blog posts.

The poll was conducted in November and December  through Twitter, Facebook, email and Business Wire’s webinars.   Details below:

What is your company’s preferred form of social media outreach?

33, or 11%–Company blog

81, or 29%–Facebook

91, or 33%–Twitter

22, or 8%–LinkedIn

13, or 5%   — Other

39, or 14% — We do none of the above

To those who participated, thanks for taking the PR Peeps Poll.   Our January poll needs your input.  What’s most important in measuring press release success?

Thanks for the help.

277 respondents via Twitter, email and Business Wire webinar polls. Poll conducted  November 3 – December 31, 2010.

10 Comments | All Things Press Release, Business Wire, Business Wire Polls, Polls, PR Peeps Polls | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

Editor’s Corner – November Edition

November 16, 2010

With 31 bureaus around the world and more newsrooms than all of our competitors combined, Business Wire is proud to provide local expertise and superior service, backed by the most accurate editors in the world. In Editor’s Corner, we ask some of our best to chime in on how to get the most out of your press release, based on their years of experience in the industry.

A Tip from Business Wire: Own Your Headline!

by Christina Jahnke, Editor, Business Wire/Chicago

Think your release will stand out in a crowd? If you don’t own your headline, think again! Hundreds of headlines scroll across the Business Wire website (and the multitude of feeds we reach) on a daily basis. How is it possible to draw crowds to you, when the only tools you have are words? It’s simple, really: Choose words wisely.

Having run the Chicago Marathon over Columbus Day weekend, I was entertained and inspired by the many spectator signs on course. Unfortunately, there were so many signs and only a passing moment to read them. The slogans that took hold were clear, witty and, most importantly, could be read inside three seconds. Anything longer and I missed the punch line en route to the next aid station. This is a great analogy for those scrolling feeds. Eyes are moving fast over those headlines. If you don’t stand out, you may be passed over. Take a tip to own your headline!

Here are three to consider:

1.  Include your organization’s name.
Ownership implies a name, and that is perhaps the most important element. Don’t assume the public knows who you are, no matter how big you are. These press releases are the story of your organization on the Web. Give your company the recognition it deserves! Additionally, those who search by your company’s name will have a way to find your release on the Internet.

2.  Be concise.
The three-second rule fits perfectly. Be brief in summarizing the content of your press release. Longer headlines are less likely to be picked up by search engines. Be concise. Less is more.

3.  Stay on point.
You have something important to say. While it’s good to be concise, don’t let the effort to be succinct overshadow the message. Read and re-read your headline. Are you staying on point or trying to fit too much in too small a space?

The headline is the first appearance of your message to the world. Own it, and help your release go the distance!

-Christina Jahnke, Editor, Business Wire Chicago

3 Comments | All Things Press Release, Editor's Corner, Editors, Press Release Tips, WiredIn Articles | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Consider Daylight Savings Time When Sending Press Releases This Weekend

November 5, 2010
Most areas of the United States are “falling back” an hour at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 7.   Please make note should you be distributing  news releases this weekend.
 
Here’s a great reference to see which geographic locations change when.  For those sending press releases to Business Wire this weekend, no worries.   The time zones in our Business Wire interface update automatically to reflect relevant changes on Sunday.
 
Also keep in mind that daylight savings time has already ended in Europe.   As of Sunday London will once again be five hours ahead of eastern standard time and Paris will be six hours ahead.
Enjoy your 25-hour day!
 
 

Leave a Comment » | All Things Press Release, Business Wire, Press Release Tips, Public Relations | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Monika Maeckle

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