April 17, 2012
by Shawnee Cohn, Media Relations Specialist, Business Wire/NY
Shawnee Cohn
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what about a thousand hits? Defined as “graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge,” infographics are more likely to be shared via social media than your standard text article. Therefore, both journalists and PR professionals are taking notice of this visual phenomenon. (Need some examples? Take a look at this slideshow from Mashable).
Here at Business Wire, we encourage clients to create infographics and include them as Smart News release assets in their press releases. For example, Kaplan Test Prep recently utilized an infographic to summarize their annual survey results. Convio also offered a visual look at the data included within their press release about online giving, and Mashable later republished that same infographic.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
So if you’re a PR professional embarking on the infographic challenge, what do you need to know beforehand? The Publicity Club of New York recently hosted a discussion about these popular visual representations of data. The panel included:
Here are some highlights offered by the experts:
Infographics help us cope with information overload: With the abundance of raw data that is available to consumers today, the average person’s “attention span is declining,” and infographics are an effective way to spark a reader’s interest, says Spurlock. Pachal agreed, stating that infographics are “more clickable” than other multimedia, such as video, which may turn a reader off since it usually requires sound, as well as investing more time to watch. Consequently, including the word ‘Infographic’ in your press release headline is a great tactic to increase your number of hits.
Not all infographics are created equal: If you’re compiling numbers into a graphic, yet those numbers do not relate, the purpose of the infographic is lost, notes Spurlock. Bergmann agreed, suggesting that PR pros evaluate the usefulness of an infographic on a “story-to-story basis.” At the Associated Press, staffers are very interested in interactive graphics as well as animations. However, Neesa pointed out that “not every story renders well into a visual,” and PR pros should be cautious of jumping to the assumption that every poll translates into a legitimate news story. The panelists agreed that pitching an infographic that blatantly promotes your brand is a major faux pas. If your visual looks the least bit like propaganda, any legitimate news organization will be reluctant to post it, as it could hurt their brand value, says Bergmann.
Be clear and concise; editors and readers will thank you: One of the main advantages of creating an infographic is that it allows you to “mold and present information in a way that’s clear to the reader,” commented Bergmann. If you cram too much information into your graphic, you’re defeating its original purpose. Pachal mentioned that your infographic should easily translate to Pinterest, which drives much of the online traffic today. Whether you’re pitching an idea for an infographic or an actual infographic itself, make sure you are presenting “tabulated, nugget-style information,” suggests Neesa. Focus on how you can break the product/idea up; if your information is already organized for the visual staff at a news outlet, this makes their job that must easier. Lastly, stick to the facts, and facts only. The editorial team will vet and research the data you present before they post or link to your infographic, so you must be absolutely sure that your methodology and sampling are valid beforehand.
For more information on the Publicity Club of NY, visit www.publicityclub.org. You can get the latest news with photos/multimedia by registering at www.businesswire.com.
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Media Relations, MRT, multimedia, social media | Tagged: Andy Bergmann, Chris Spurlock, infographics, media relations, multimedia, Pete Pachal, Pinterest, PR, Public Relations, Publicity Club of New York, Shawnee Cohn, Shazna Neesa, social media | 
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Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
February 17, 2012
by Laura Sturaitis, Executive Vice President, Media Services & Product Strategy
Did you know that you can add your logo to every Business Wire release using LogoLink?
This is a free benefit of Business Wire membership and offers instant online branding of your news release with a link to the key URL for that logo, which drives traffic to your website.
Here’s how you get started:
- Upload the logo to include with each of your releases on the Business Wire Connect order screen under “Logos Added”.
- For best results, send logos in .gif, .jpg, .png or .tiff format; resolution between 72 and 300 dpi; and size (in pixels) not smaller than 220 x 220 and not larger than 720 x 720.
- Your original logo will be scaled down to a thumbnail size of 120 pixels wide by 70 pixels high and appear within this rectangular dimension on your news releases. Larger logos work better, as they scale down well. Logos which are much taller than wide will look smaller because they will be scaled down to 70 pixels high, so if you have both a horizontal and a vertical logo, the horizontal is preferred.
- Logos should be web-ready. RGB is one web-ready color format. CMYK is a print-ready color format not intended for the web.
- The thumbnail shown on your Connect order under “Logos Added” is the actual size of the logo as it will appear on your release on www.BusinessWire.com.
- Provide a URL link under “Edit Details” and we will link the logo displayed with that URL from the Business Wire site.
The "Add Logos" section in Business Wire Connect
Your logo appears at the top of your press release on BusinessWire.com
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Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
October 19, 2011
by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire Los Angeles
This week, Business Wire was once again a proud sponsor and exhibitor at the 2011 PRSA International Conference, aka #PRSAIcon. Our conference team had a great time meeting so many of our amazing clients in person and learning the latest about the always changing PR industry. We tweeted updates on our @businesswire feed throughout the conference of interesting lessons from many of the keynotes and sessions. Here are eight key takeaways:
- PR is about storytelling. It was only appropriate in Orlando, home to the most magical place on earth, that the unofficial theme of the conference was storytelling. Opening keynote speaker Soledad O’Brien of CNN talked about storytelling being more than a statistic. You have to find the character behind the statistic & tell the story with their passion. The closing keynote speaker, Joe Rohde from Disney, talked about compelling stories coming from the interruptions in expected patterns. “We don’t have time for things we think we already know.”
- Video and visuals make for compelling storytelling. YouTube is the number two search engine in the world behind Google. Video makes for great content and is not as expensive as it’s perceived to be. (After all, every phone is a camera.) It’s also a good idea to get your executives on video talking about your brand . . . it helps qualify them as spokespeople for journalists.
- Customer service is the new black. Like it or not, part of PR is now customer service. In fact, thanks to social media, PR people are often the first to hear about the problems. There is still a level of awe right now if you just reply when your customers try to talk to you.
- Media training is not just a C-suite sport anymore. Keynote speaker Chris Brogan talked about how everyone is on some kind of media these days, so everyone should be trained. Soledad O’Brien discussed media training from a journalist’s perspective, saying passion and emotion can’t be trained. Ultimately, what people relate to is the authenticity and passion behind the messaging points.
- You can’t ignore Google+. Chris Brogan pointed out that you have to care about Google+, if only because it’s the only social network currently being indexed on the top two search engines in the world. Every PR professional should at least be conversational about it. Additionally, Google+ profiles can help with personal online presence since it ranks so highly on Google. Optimize your title and introduction and include links to all your other sites and networks, as those appear in your search results.
- Empower your employees on social media. If you’re terrified to give control to others in your organization, you will not be successful in social media. Train them and have a social media policy so you can be. Your policy should be short and understandable without legal assistance and should be in every new hire’s packet when they start.
- If it can be searched for, it can be optimized. Keyword optimize your blog posts, landing pages, press releases, online newsrooms, multimedia and social content. In press releases, optimize in the headline and subhead, include links and a call-to-action. For photos and other multimedia, optimize the file name of the file you are uploading, include alt text and captions.
- We are all fighting for budgets. PR should get credit for the leads it generates. Set goals before your campaign so you can track conversions with tools like Google Analytics. Track traffic with tools like Google URL builder, which tags your URLs so you know where your link clicks are coming from (press release versus AdWords versus Facebook ads, etc).
At the conference, we also announced our new partnership with Critical Mention, which will provide clients with access to Critical Mention’s real-time television and radio monitoring platform. As an introductory promotion, Business Wire clients who subscribe with Critical Mention for 2012 will receive the remainder of 2011 at no charge.
We’d also like to congratulate Elizabeth Rowland at Strat-igence, who was the winner of our iPad Giveaway. And thanks again to PRSA, the speakers and all the attendees for a great conference!
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2 Comments | Customer Service, Measurement, Media Relations, multimedia, new media, Press Release Optimization, Public Relations, Publicity, search, seo, social media, video | Tagged: #PRSAIcon, Amy Yen, Chris Brogan, Joe Rohde, link tracking, marketing, media training, PR, PRSA, PRSA 2011, social media, Soledad O'Brien, storytelling | Permalink
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
March 14, 2011
In 1997, Business Wire introduced the Smart News Release (SNR), which allowed users to embed photos, audio, video and other multimedia into press releases. Not only does multimedia help a press release stand out to reporters or readers, but it also increases the reach of a release in search engines. Although often overlooked, Google Images receives a huge amount of search traffic and can actually drive readers back to your release. Our research has found that releases with multimedia receive 1.7 times more reads than those without.
Back when we first introduced SNRs, clients would often provide us with hard-copy photos, which were then scanned by Business Wire editors to be made available in high resolution to media and web viewers. Today, we distribute hundreds of releases with multimedia every week.
Check out what some of our experienced editors have to say about how best to submit multimedia and best practices for writing photo captions.
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Leave a Comment » | 50th Anniversary, Business Wire, BW Fun Facts, multimedia, seo | Tagged: 50ht Anniversary, Business Wire, Business Wire fun fact, BW Fun Fact, Google Images, multimedia press release, Press Release Optimization, press release photos, press release SEO, Press Release Tips, press release video, seo, Smart News Release | Permalink
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
February 28, 2011
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.
Captions: Get Your Photo Ready For Its Close-Up
by Lori Brown, Business Wire Phoenix
Adding a photo to your press release is always a smart idea. Photos grab the attention of readers, making your news stand out from the crowd. When you send a Smart News Release through Business Wire, your photo not only reaches major web portal sites like Yahoo! and Google, but also hits the desks of photo editors who want eye-catching, interesting content for their publications. And the first thing those editors look for is a good caption.
Photo editors with the Associated Press or other agencies won’t look at a photo without a caption; they need to know context and details. Your caption should answer, in a couple of sentences, questions like:
- Who or what is it? Identify everyone and everything of interest in the photo. If it’s a product shot, give the full name of the product. If it’s a group photo, list the names and titles of everyone in the shot.
- Why is it important? What’s the occasion for the photo? Maybe your company rang the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange or unveiled a new, faster, more powerful version of your product. Include a brief summary of the story behind the photo, so that readers understand the significance of what they’re seeing.
Your caption should also be able to stand on its own, without being accompanied by the press release. Photo editors are often looking for “standalones,” photos and captions that can tell a story by themselves. If you’ve got a compelling photo and an informative caption, it’s a great chance to get some extra visibility for your news.
Remember, having a good caption is just as important as having a good photo. Your picture may be worth a thousand words, but with another sentence or two, you can turn it into something that will really shine.
-Lori Brown, Senior Editor, Business Wire Phoenix
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4 Comments | Business Wire, Editor's Corner, Editors, multimedia, Press Release Tips | Tagged: Business Wire, captions, Editor's Corner, Lori Brown, photo captions, press release captions, press release multimedia, press release photo captions, press release photos, press release pictures, Press Release Tips, press releases | Permalink
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
October 21, 2010
by Joseph Miller, EON Product Manager, Business Wire Austin
Business Wire’s distribution and technology products have evolved considerably throughout the years (we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary next year!).
With the advent of Internet distribution and other standards along with prolific creation of digital media such as photos and videos, we’ve been quick to adopt multimedia distribution solutions along with more traditional “text” distribution of our press releases. Today, we distribute hundreds, if not thousands, of releases with attached photos or videos every week.
And while it will likely always be true that journalists do not prefer to be bombarded with attachments, a succinct release with links to relevant multimedia and related resources can be extremely useful in telling your stories. This is especially true as newsrooms continue to evolve and journalists across the world are being asked to do more with less every day.
With that said, let’s get on to the data! Thinking of the impact multimedia has on release performance, we recently examined data from our internal NewsTrak reports across all Business Wire releases year to date. One metric we examined was the Top 500 releases based on “release reads”, an analog to page views, of each release. Of the top 500, a full 23% of our Top 500 releases include multimedia (photos & videos beyond logos), while only 5% of all releases include multimedia.
From this, we can conclude that including multimedia greatly increases your chances of distributing a “hit release.”
Beyond that, we looked at the average number of release reads across all releases. Once we segmented out releases with and without multimedia, we found that the average release with multimedia has received 1.7 times more release reads than those without.
So there you have it. If you want to increase the odds of your press releases outperforming their peers, it’s a great idea to add multimedia.
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2 Comments | Business Wire, multimedia, Press Release Tips, Smart News Release | Tagged: add multimedia to press releases, Business Wire, Business Wire research, Joseph Miller, multimedia, multimedia press releases, press release distribution, Press Release Tips, Smart News Release | Permalink
Posted by Joseph Miller, EON Product Manager
September 3, 2010
On August 19, Business Wire LA hosted a media breakfast and panel discussion titled “Video & SEO: Best Practices for Effective Marketing & PR” at the Olympic Collection in west Los Angeles. Our expert panel discussed the increasing popularity of online video in brand communications and shared tips with the audience of LA area communicators on how to use video to drive web traffic, generate leads and help SEO.
Hanna Pantle (far right), Assistant Vice President of Corporate Communications and Media Relations at BMI, moderated the panel, which also included (R-L):
Here are some key insights from the panel discussion:
- There are two major benefits to online video: it increases engagement with the audience and it enhances the SEO of your content.
- Universal search is becoming increasingly popular and represents a major opportunity when it comes to video content. Because universal search spotlights multimedia, any video you use in support of your news has a good chance of being highlighted in search because there is still not that much video content out there yet.
- Although video isn’t used by all media yet, particularly print media, it can still help explain things to reporters quickly. Press releases that include video tend to have higher open rates.
- Another benefit of video is its built-in social interaction. Embed codes and social media sharing links that are regularly included in online videos make them easily sharable and creates multiple posting points online, which helps SEO.
- Know your audience and where they will be. You can’t neglect YouTube, but you have to put your video where your audience will naturally find it. A lot of the time, people won’t be searching YouTube looking for your video, you have to put it where the audience you are trying to reach already views content.
- You can think of video sites like you think of other kinds of media, in terms of reader or viewer demographic. Different audiences go to YouTube than go to Daily Motion. The YouTube audience has specific characteristics & the videos on YouTube tend to have specific characteristics. Short-form videos, particularly humorous ones, tend to do well on YouTube, but long-form videos don’t really belong there.
- Statistics show that if you post your video to a half dozen sites other than YouTube, it increases traffic by 80 percent.
- It’s also important to know your audience because that will tell you whether it is necessary for your brand to be on certain platforms, such as mobile. Video is a good way to tell your story over mobile because often people are willing to watch a short video on their phones and read the full article or press release once they are back on their computers.
>>Click here to download to a full audio recording of this event.
For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/business-wire-events.
Follow Business Wire events on Twitter! Hash tag #bwevents
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Leave a Comment » | Business Wire, Business Wire Events, multimedia, Press Release Tips, seo, video | Tagged: Bender Helper Impact, BMI, BreakMedia, Business Wire, Dave Toole, Hanna Pantle, Joel Russell, LABJ, Los Angeles Business Journal, Matt Meeks, MEDIAmobz, Meredith Kendall, multimedia, Press Release Tips, press releases, seo, universal search, video, YouTube | Permalink
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
July 6, 2010
- by Claudia Perez-Bonilla, Client Services Representative, Business Wire/Florida
On June 22nd, Business Wire Florida media luncheon attendees were able to partake in a lively discussion with video experts and marketing, PR and corporate communications professionals on the benefits of adding video to press releases to gain visibility and exposure.
L-R: Rick Christie, Doug Perry, Pilar Portela, Rachel Toole
Hosted by JM Family Enterprises Inc., and moderated by Business Wire Media Relations Supervisor Pilar Portela, the panelists were:
- Rick Christie, Breaking News Editor, The Palm Beach Post
- Doug Perry, Executive Producer for Digital Content, WPBF-TV
- Rachel Toole, Sales & Marketing Manager, MEDIAmobz
With the topic more timely than ever — video press releases having a 300% message retention rate and 500% more views than text-only releases — our panelists discussed video trends, tips on how to get started using video and how to make the best use of your FLIP camera.
Trends show an upswing in the use of video not only for traditional press releases, but also to promote:
- Upcoming events
- Testimonials
- New Product Launches
- Company Profiles
Rick Christie of The Palm Beach Post noted the “3 must-haves” for a successful video campaign. The clip must be:
- Interesting
- Relevant
- Important
He also advises to go to a media point’s Facebook/YouTube page or follow them on Twitter to get an idea of the type of video they prefer and are most likely to use.
When asked for tips on creating video, all the panelists agreed:
- Target an audience/know your demographics.
- The video must have a message/tell a story.
- Keep it brief (2 minutes is optimal).
- Keep it real.
- Don’t make it purely product based advertising.
MEDIAmobz Sales & Marketing Manager Rachel Toole added further to the discussion by noting that using video is:
- Cost Effective: the footage/material can be repurposed.
- Improves SEO: video is more prevalent in search engine results (i.e. Google).
- Good for increasing your ROI.
- Visually engaging.
Doug Perry of WPBF-TV shared how their newsroom is a “Next Generation” newsroom. As part of a Hearst Television Inc. initiative, news reporters were outfitted with Blackberrys that can shoot video, and laptops that can live stream. Doug advised that when including video for media usage:
- Content is critical.
- Give users a reason to click on the URL. Don’t simply state “click here.”
- When shooting video, zoom with your feet. Get close to the action.
Florida Regional Manager Janice Essick with FLIP camera raffle winner Mark Sell
During the media luncheon, an Ultra FLIP Video camera was raffled off. One lucky audience member, Mark Sell of the Miami agency Wragg & Casas, won the camera. Mark is already using his FLIP for client interviews. In regard to tips for using the popular FLIP, our experts recommend:
- When filming, be as close to the subject as possible.
- Do not use high contrast.
- Remember to also post on your company’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts.
For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/business-wire-events.
Follow Business Wire events on Twitter! Hash tag #bwevents
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Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
June 21, 2010
South Florida-area PR & IR pros, don’t forget about the free Business Wire Florida event tomorrow, “Adding Video to Maximize Your Reach, Exposure & Pick-Up.” Speakers will include Rachel Toole, Sales & Marketing Consultant for MEDIAMobz, Rick Christie, Breaking News Editor for the Palm Beach Post and Doug Perry, Executive Producer for Digital Content for WPBF-TV. The panel will discuss the power of video & the benefits of including a visual element to your press releases.
View a video invitation for this event here:
Tuesday, June 22 at 11:30 a.m. ET
JM Family Enterprises, Inc.
111 Jim Moran Blvd., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442
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Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
June 21, 2010
– by Angela Hayworth, Client Services Representative, Business Wire/Charlotte
Business Wire/Charlotte recently hosted back-to-back events in Durham and Charlotte, NC entitled Adding Video to Maximize Your Reach, Exposure & Pick-Up.
These events, held on June 16th and June 17th, provided a forum for PR professionals to learn not only why video (and multimedia in general) is important to include in a company’s PR strategy, but also tips on how to make a video effective.
The panel of speakers for the Durham event on June 16th included:
L-R: Valerie Aguirre, Scott Sharpe, Rachel Toole
The panel of speakers for the Charlotte event on June 17th included:
- Joe Carleo, Owner, Advanced Media and Language Services
- Jason Silverstein, VP Product Development, ACBJ/Bizjournals.com
- Rachel Toole, Sales & Marketing Manager, MEDIAmobz
L-R: Jason Silverstein, Rachel Toole, Joe Carleo
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Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire
