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Pinning Your Press Releases on Pinterest

December 5, 2012

by Sandy Malloy, Senior Information Specialist, Business Wire

We already know that having a photo accompany a press release will result in more views of that release. Back in April, I approached this same topic from a different angle and mentioned that Pinterest had become the third most popular social site on the Web. But did you know that a press release can easily be pinned right from the Business Wire site?

We have made the Pin It button available on the top of every release, as well as beneath each multimedia asset. While we have found that people do share both text releases and photos from Business Wire on Pinterest, people are most likely to share visuals.

Pinterest “Pin It” button beneath a Smart News Release graphic on BusinessWire.com

What this means in the context of the modern, super-charged press release is that on top of all the benefits that accrue to multimedia releases – more clicks, more sharing in general, content that can outlast the release itself – Business Wire clients now know that the images they use to tell a compelling story can broadcast that story more readily than ever before.

Who uses Pinterest? This infographic (appropriately enough) breaks down the demographics along with the most popular interests. But just because crafts, hobbies and design are among the leading topics doesn’t mean that boards are limited to these rather obvious areas of interest. As we’ve seen on the Business Wire-sourced page, anything can be pinned. So, balsamic vinegar ketchup bottles share the page with the world’s smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera and a Charmin wedding dress. (Make that an award-winning Charmin wedding dress.)

If you are distributing a press release on Business Wire, why wait until a viewer decides to pin? You can pin it yourself, just as you probably already tweet, or post to your Facebook page, or otherwise share the content you have created on social media. However, it’s best to remember that even while trying to promote your company or client, it’s best to think in terms of “how can I help someone?” rather than “how can I sell something?” Your board can be amusing or useful, practical or frivolous, but it has to give people a good reason to stop by and check it out.

2 Comments | Measurement, multimedia, social media | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

The Never Ending News

November 16, 2012

by Chris Metinko, Media Relations Specialist/Business Wire – San Francisco

Chris Metinko

With the growth of the internet, blogging and social media, the everyday news cycle has become a 24 hour a day phenomenon with no start or stop. But what does the modern news cycle mean to journalism as well as the people who help provide the information?

“Essentially, it’s impossible to keep up,” said Mike Isaac of the tech site AllThingsD. Isaac was one of four panelists to discuss the topic at a breakfast hosted by Business Wire in San Francisco.

“You’re feeding a beast that never stops eating,” Isaac added.

While some might point to the advent of social media as the origin of the 24-hour news cycle, Louise Kehoe, who leads Ogilvy’s West Coast technology practice, said the news always has been that way.

“The more things change the more they stay the same,” Kehoe said. “In the news business, the lights are always on somewhere.”

Kehoe said what has changed is so many more people can have their voices heard, and not everyone has the same tight journalist standards.

“We have to figure out how to handle people who don’t play by the rules,” Kehoe said.

Alex Wellins, co-founder and managing director of The Blueshirt Group, said one way companies can keep from getting burned with the nonstop proliferation of information via blogs and social media is to be careful of the information they put out. He said it is especially important for public companies — who are watched heavily by the SEC — to be careful of what they say, and have social media strategists and rules in place to avoid trouble.

“Things like social media create opportunities, but there also is a cost involved,” Wellins added.

Looking to the future of news, most felt there will likely be some kind of shake out as far as where people go to get their news and who is trusted.

“In our industry, we’re under peer review every day,” said Christopher Noble, assistant managing editor for international at Market Watch.

“People are smart and return to the authoritative voice,” Isaac said. “That’s what I see happening.”

2 Comments | Business Wire Events, Media Relations, MRT, new media, social media | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

The Daily Dog Interviews Marketing SVP Tom Becktold on PR’s Role in the Marketing Process

October 25, 2012

The Daily Dog, as part of their “Exhibitor Insights” video series from this month’s PRSA International Conference, spoke with Tom Becktold, our SVP Marketing, about how PR pros are in a perfect position to drive companies’ greater marketing messages, how social media has given PR a bigger presence in C-suite decision making, and how PR should be guiding marketing and advertising. Check out Tom’s interview with Richard Carufel below:

Leave a Comment » | Interview, Public Relations, social media | Tagged: Bulldog Reporter, Business Wire, Interview, marketing, Public Relations, Richard Carufel, social media, The Daily Dog, Tom Becktold | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Twitter CEO Speaks to Role in Journalism and Communications at ONA12

October 3, 2012

by Chris Metinko, Media Relations Specialist, Business Wire/San Francisco

Chris Metinko

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo made clear two points while speaking in San Francisco recently: he does not consider himself the current leader of free speech, but he does realize the company’s place in journalism and communications, and new tools are on the way to aid those industries.

Costolo made the remarks while speaking to more than 500 journalists and communications professionals at the Online News Association’s annual conference attended by Business Wire. During an onstage interview with Emily Bell, director of Tow Centre for Digital Journalism, Costolo laughed off a question about how it feels to be the head of the free press in the 21^st century.

“I don’t view that as my job,” said Costolo, adding he considers Twitter a tech company in the media business. He, however, did acknowledge Twitter’s growing impact on the world of journalism and news dissemination.

“Hopefully Twitter has become a tremendously valuable tool to journalists,” said Costolo, who spoke at the same conference three years ago when Twitter had 80 employees. It now has 1,300 employees.

Twitter’s growing impact among communication professionals could be seen at the conference — where there were more than 34,500 tweets about the conference with hashtag #ONA12, compared to 20,000 tweets for last year’s conference. In a recent study, just under half of all journalists surveyed said they use Twitter for sourcing stories.

Realizing that impact, Costolo said Twitter is working on curation tools he hopes to make available to newsrooms to host live events on the social media platform.

“We have known for a long time that when events happen in the real world, the shared experience is on Twitter and we want to create an ability to curate events,” Costolo said.

He added that Twitter will have the ability by the end of the year to allow users to download past Tweets — something that could help many in the communications field with research and gauging public opinion. Although he cautioned the proposed timeline may not be exact.

“The caveat is that this is the CEO saying this,” Costolo laughed, “not the engineer who’s building this.”

Other tidbits form Costolo:

When asked about a Twitter phone, Costolo said he never says never but that is “not the way we think about the company.”
Costolo cited New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the person he would most like to see on Twitter who currently is not.
Costolo declined to give disclose Twitter’s revenues when asked — noting the positives of being a private company.

Leave a Comment » | journalism, Media Relations, MRT, new media, social media | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

MINNEAPOLIS: Newsroom 2012: Best Practices for Engaging the Media

September 24, 2012

by Jane Cracraft, Senior Client Services Representative

Business Wire/Minneapolis

Jane Cracraft

Business Wire Minneapolis’ Meet the Media event in downtown Minneapolis was at full capacity with IR and PR professionals from around the region.

The panel consisted of David Brauer, of MinnPost; Julio Ojeda-Zapato, of the St. Paul Pioneer Press; Todd Stone, of the Star Tribune; Dirk DeYoung, of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal; and Michelle Cortez, of Bloomberg. The quintet discussed many topics, and the meeting was very capably moderated by Brad Allen, longtime IR exec, journalist, university adjunct instructor and consultant.

(l-r) Brad Allen, moderator; Julio Ojeda-Zapato, Pioneer Press; Dirk DeYoung, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal; Todd Stone, Star Tribune; David Brauer, MinnPost; Michelle Cortez, Bloomberg

The event focused on how to best pitch your company’s story and reporters’ increasing use of social media such as Twitter for story leads. In fact, Twitter was mentioned far more than any other social media topic.

Below are a few tips captured from the event:

Pitching:

Introduce yourself to reporters before making your pitch by writing a personal note.
Schedule a meeting with the reporter; it is their job to know their sources.
Cultivate and nurture those media relationships.
Do not pitch to a reporter without knowing his/her beat.
Well-crafted pitches are crucial: the size of a company is less important than the quality of the pitch.
The pitch should be concise and strong. Brevity is encouraged.
Write in plain English. Avoid overuse of acronyms.
Be specific. Explain what is new and why it matters.
It is impossible to send a beat reporter a timely copy of a press release you have already issued via any traditional source. They have it; they measure in seconds.
Include more multimedia! This is one of the first things they look for.
Don’t get discouraged if they don’t pick up your story; try again. They want news. Keep in mind the reduced staff in most newsrooms.
For public companies: noteworthy pitches are those that effect the movement of money.

Twitter:

Twitter enforces brevity, which is a good thing.
Twitter can be useful for finding sources for stories.
Twitter pitches via “direct message” are increasingly popular, and welcome (again, brevity is key, and well-crafted messages are crucial).
A wise PR person will form a Twitter relationship with key reporters.
Twitter is a perfect place to tease a story, but be careful not to expose baseline reporting.

Earnings:

Earnings: try to release other info around the time you release your earnings. It will make your earnings more noteworthy to those watching your company or industry.
Earnings: growth is important. Put that at the top.
Provide numbers of revenue and employees.
While full earnings are often geared toward analyst audiences, your earnings releases will catch journalists’ eyes more readily if the stock price is dramatically affected or other noteworthy changes are announced.

Social media is ever in flux and you might feel like you need to be on your toes all the time. You do! The Twin Cities scene is a highly literate and educated market with many great publications; these factors make for one of the healthiest media markets in the nation. PR and IR folks can form a relationship or trust with a reporter via social media. If you use it wisely it can help you as a PR person.

Always remember, stories with multimedia get more traffic.

For more in-depth discussion of the “big 3” social media sites – Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook – check out this Business Wired post by Chris Metinko, Media Relations Specialist.

To follow our panelists and moderator on Twitter:

David Brauer: @dbrauer

Julio Ojeda-Zapato: @ojezap

Todd Stone: @StribBizEditor

Dirk Deyoung: @ddeyoung

Michelle Fay Cortez: @FayCortez

Brad Allen: @Brad_D_Allen

Leave a Comment » | Business Wire Events, Media Relations, MRT, new media, Pitching, social media | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Putting the Big 3 to Work for You

August 14, 2012

by Chris Metinko, Media Relations Specialist,Business Wire/San Francisco

Ever wonder how to use Pinterest or Facebook to push your campaign? Can you reach out to journalists via Twitter?

These questions and many others were tackled at PR News’ The Big 3 Conference: Twitter/Pinterest/Facebook in San Francisco last week. The conference — which was sponsored by Business Wire and attracted a few hundred media and public relation specialists — featured nearly a dozen panels on the do’s and don’ts in using social media’s biggest names for marketing and outreach.

“Social media is a remarkable tool for self annihilation,” joked Walter Neary, a public relations director for Comcast in Washington state, while sitting on a panel discussing how to use Twitter to gain a competitive edge in media relations.

The panel examined if and how journalists use Twitter in their reporting. A recent study by Oriella showed 55 percent of reporters use social media to find stories from sources and 43 percent verified stories using social media. Nearly 50 percent have professional Twitter profiles.

With so many journalists on Twitter, the social media platform can be an important tool for building a relationship with reporters and even pitching possible story ideas.

Laura Perry, director of communications at UCLA School of Nursing, said in order to do that, it’s important to create a profile that attracts reporters. She added you also must be active and participate on the platform to effectively use it with journalists.

“Listen, reply, retweet,” Perry said was a good mantra.

Perry added Twitter even could be a good way to meet face-to-face with reporters, since many journalists use Tweetups — an event where people who Twitter come together to meet in-person — to build relationships with sources.

Neary said there are a handful of keys to keep in mind while using Twitter in communications work, including: know your community and who you are engaging, have a clear purpose, read anything at least three times before you post and be genuine.

“Reporters expect you to be full of crap because you’re a PR person . . . Be genuine,” said Neary, adding it also is important to take chances.

”If you don’t take risks, you aren’t using (social media) tools properly,” he said.

Follow Neary (@wtneary) and Perry (@UCLANursing) on Twitter, and view Chris’s presentation below:

3 Comments | journalism, Media Relations, MRT, new media, Pitching, social media | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

Journalists Offer Pitching Tips at SoCal Media Breakfast

August 6, 2012

by Kathy Tomasino, Client Services Representative, Business Wire/Newport Beach

Kathy Tomasino

It was a full house last month when Executives and PR professionals from Southern California attended Business Wire Newport Beach’s Meet the Media event in Costa Mesa.

The event was moderated by Daniel Rhodes, VP Public Relations at Global Results Communications, and our panel of experts included Tom Berg from the Orange County Register, Chris Casacchia from the Orange County Business Journal and Kyle Ellicott from TechZulu.

The event was focused on how to best pitch your company’s story to both local and national press and how reporters are now using social media sites such as Twitter for story leads.

Below are a few tips captured from the event:

Make introductions with a reporter before you pitch your story idea.
Reporters use social media sites such as Twitter to find story leads.
Email is the preferred way to pitch over a phone call.
Have a story and be genuine about how you present it.
Find a way in – use “nuggets” to grab reporters’ attention.

Although Twitter is a great resource for story ideas, Casacchia advised our audience to only tease their story ideas on such sites and to also use a wire service such as Business Wire for the full press release. (Business Wire does automatically tweet press release headlines via dozens of industry-specific feeds.) Casacchia also recommended that you know your audience when delving into social media. Although social sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest are great outlets to promote your story ideas, you must only use the outlets that fit your company style and business as not all may work for a bank or law firm, for example.

Ellicott mentioned that mobile ads have a huge potential especially since more and more people are using their mobile phones for news and all other things. Luckily for our clients, all Business Wire press releases automatically feed into the AP Mobile app and other mobile applications.

Berg is a great storyteller and uses sites such as Twitter for story ideas. He recommended our audience use social media to get the buzz going about a story, although the wire is still the first place he will look for news directly from the source.

All of our speakers may be followed via Twitter at @OCStoryteller (Tom Berg); @ccasacchia (Chris Casacchia); @kyleellicott (Kyle Ellicott) and @GlobalResults (Daniel Rhodes).

Leave a Comment » | Business Wire Events, journalism, Media Relations, Pitching, social media | Tagged: journalism, pitching, social journalism, social media, Twitter | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

3 Areas to Automate in an Online Newsroom

July 11, 2012

by Ibrey Woodall, VP, Web Communication Services, Business Wire

Ibrey Woodall, VP, Web Communication Services

A few weeks ago, I was invited to join a panel that discussed “Smart Digital Tactics.” Since this conversation took place at the PR News Social Media Summit in NY, those particular tactics pertained to social media. Although all of the information was extremely helpful, I saw a lot of attendees sport an information-overload glaze after the first day of the two-day conference.

As the last presenter of the conference, my goal was to help ease the minds of overwhelmed and overworked communicators by illustrating how technology can be used to manage multiple communication steps. This can be done with one single tool – the online newsroom. It’s all about automation. Automation is the essence of digital technology.

I’m always amazed at how many different responsibilities fall under the realm of the public relations department, how few resources are available to that team, and how little time there is to meet all of the deadlines. Out of sheer survival, communicators must automate as much as is suitable within the online newsroom. Suitable, in this sense, means that it must have an actual purpose, be expedient, and alleviate some of the workload.

Below are three areas within an online newsroom that should be streamlined.

Press release posting
Social network posting
Social media integration

1. Press Release Posting

Online newsrooms are for multiple publics, but the core audience is still the journalist, according to the 2011 Communicators Online Newsroom Practices Survey results conducted by Bulldog Reporter and Business Wire. All press releases, self published or distributed via a wire service, should be available and searchable within an organization’s online newsroom. All press releases that are distributed through a wire service should always post automatically into an online newsroom. Depending upon the amount of releases, this automation could save a communicator several hours, days, even weeks of valuable time over the course of a year.

To facilitate the process even more, all wire-distributed releases should be organized into a selected category. Those categories should be labeled by subject matter. Organizing press releases by date alone is no longer sufficient. Journalists also have a very long to-do list with tight deadlines. They need to be able to quickly access a specific type of release related to their research. It’s much easier to find that release under “Product Releases” or “Financial Releases” instead of trying to remember if it is under “2012” or “2011.”

For greater efficiency, a communicator should also be able to feature that release and generate an email alert at the same time it is distributed, posted and categorized. A featured release is not only placed into the archive, but it is also highlighted on the Home Page of the online newsroom. Despite the date of the release, the communicator can choose to keep it featured as long as they desire, even if other releases are published after the date of the featured release. This tactic persuades journalists to view this release first upon entering the online newsroom. The email alert links to the releases, increasing traffic to the online newsroom.

Communicators should be able to simultaneously distribute and post a press release onto their online newsroom, along with categorizing and featuring the individual release.

So that the corporate site also remains current, the three most recent press releases headlines should also feed and display onto the Home Page. This is done through really simple syndication (RSS) feed from the online newsroom and fulfills two objectives – making fresh news available and again, directing more traffic to the online newsroom.

The most recent news posted onto the online newsroom can also be automatically displayed on an organization’s main site via an RSS feed.

2. Social Network Posting

Now that a great deal of time has been saved by distributing, emailing, posting and highlighting a press release simultaneously, it’s time to delve even deeper into the benefits of online newsroom automation.

When self-publishing a press release within an online newsroom, the communicator should also be able to choose to post a message onto the official Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts without having to spend the time going to each interface to log in, prepare the message and then post. This is even more important now that Twitter no longer displays tweets on LinkedIn.

When self publishing a press release, communicators should also be able to optimize the content for search engines, dispatch a message to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and generate an email alert.

3. Social Media Integration

Now that content has been pushed out, it’s time to pull some content into the online newsroom. This is especially helpful if the social media accounts are managed by someone outside of the public relations department.

The automatic integration of social media content into the online newsroom will let site visitors know that the organization does indeed have official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, along with links to them. This creates an entire page of content in the online newsroom that does not require maintenance.

It’s a good idea to also link to the organization’s social media policy, as well as integrate the Twitter stream into the Home Page of the online newsroom as seen in the P&G Corporate Online Newsroom.

The P&G Corporate Online Newsroom integrates Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube content into http://news.pg.com.

In summary, if automation within an online newsroom is not present or utilized, especially in the areas of press release posting, social network posting and social media integration, valuable time is being wasted.

Leave a Comment » | online newsrooms, Press Release Tips, social media | Permalink
Posted by Phil Dennison, Senior Marketing Specialist, Business Wire

by Sandy Malloy, Senior Information Specialist, Business Wire

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