by Andrea Gillespie, Account Executive, Business Wire Chicago
With Chicago being the third largest media market in the US, many national media contacts call The Windy City home. Whether their beat is the entire Midwest or specific industry groups, knowing who’s who in the Chicago national media scene can earn you more placements. In April, Business Wire hosted some of these national news gatekeepers to learn what types of pitches stand out and how to get national attention for your company or client.
Based in NPR’s Chicago Bureau, Cheryl Corley travels primarily throughout the Midwest, covering issues and events from Ohio to South Dakota as a National Desk reporter.
Pitch tips:
Cheryl is interested in stories that have a national or at least a broad Midwestern scope. If a story is too focused on one specific state or city, she will refer the person to the local station.
Because of the radio format, she is not as interested in video. Adding still photography is helpful to create interest in your pitch, but no attachments.
The librarians for NPR are frequently called upon by NPR correspondents to do research for stories, so they are good contacts to have. They regularly scour and post queries to social media sites for experts.
Jason Dean, Chicago Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires
Jason Dean oversees coverage of subjects including economic, political and cultural developments in the Midwest; national education issues; the agriculture and foods business; the airline and aerospace industries; and key financial exchanges.
Pitch tips:
Jason prefers personal pitches – just plugging his name into an email that went to a large group of people doesn’t fool him.
He also suggests doing research to identify which WSJ/Dow Jones reporter covers your industry. The Chicago Bureau does not cover all Chicago companies. For example, Chicago tech companies are covered by the San Francisco bureau.
Pitch visuals. With every story they cover, they consider what type of video component can be added to it. While they prefer to shoot their own video, it’s helpful to include a link to b-roll or your spokesperson in action in your pitch. He requests links only – no attachments.
Andy Fies, Producer, ABC News
Great crowd at the BW Chicago event!
Andy Fies is one of two producers based in ABC’s Midwest Bureau covering stories for World News with Diane Sawyer,Good Morning America, Nightline and ABCNews.com. His primary area of responsibility is news of national interest from the nation’s heartland.
Pitch tips:
Andy is interested in covering stories from all Midwestern companies, but he is mostly drawn to those that show how people on the street are being affected. They want to put a personal view into every story they cover.
As ABC recently merged with Yahoo! News, consider the digital version of your story. This means photos and visuals of your story are necessary.
Greg Stricharchuk, Editor, Sunday Business Section, The Chicago Tribune
As an editor in the business news section, Greg Stricharchuk works with reporters and helps conceptualize and edit their stories. He’s also specifically responsible for the Sunday business section.
Pitch tips:
While you can copy Greg on your pitches to reporters, it’s best to read the paper and know who writes about your topic. Pitch them directly first.
Greg is mainly interested in publicly held companies – not so much private companies or organizations, unless they are starting an industry trend or obtaining significant funding.
Don’t pitch experts 2-3 days after a story breaks. Oftentimes, stories are starting to form days before the actual news breaks. Get your expert pitches to the appropriate editor before that happens.
Remember that the Tribune is comprised of six newspapers, online sites and TV stations. Pitches that show how the story can cross all mediums are typically well-received.
Thanks again to all of our clients and the communications professionals who were able to join us.
For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit our events page or follow Business Wire events on Twitter, hashtag #bwchat.
For professional communicators today, there is a growing understanding that PR and marketing efforts must work in unison to be most effective. For example, the cost of the keywords that marketing bids on in their advertising outreach can be reduced when PR successfully gets those same keywords embedded and issued/posted/shared in their audience engagement efforts.
With press releases, we know that multimedia enhances click-thru rates and improves audience engagement. When public relations leverages existing marketing assets, it reinforces brand messaging and helps marketing achieve the multiple touch points needed for audiences to act. Both marketing and PR ultimately engage many of the same audiences by the very nature of how content is found and shared online.
For PR practitioners, this provides an opportunity to show how they can cost-effectively and measurably complement and boost the overall marketing impact. As you build your next press release, work with marketing to develop and use common campaign keywords, add SEO-relevant, measurable touch points such as links from press release content deep into the organizations website, include “buy this” buttons and add multimedia visuals and videos, all driving measurable traffic, revenue and engagement tied to shared campaign objectives.
The launch of our new Smart Marketing Page provides a tremendously cost-effective new platform to achieve marketing/PR message unity that is measurable. It helps PR grab a larger share of the marketing voice by pushing out press release and multimedia content via the powerful Business Wire news network to media and online audiences across the country, deep into your industry and around the web. It also posts to our EON: Enhanced Online News platform, all designed to provide easy audience engagement and SEO-boosting exposure.
The Smart Marketing Page gives marketers a branded platform that is SEO friendly with assets that are easy to share, allowing for the inclusion of polls, multimedia galleries and custom branding. It provides both with valuable multimedia tools and measurement metrics to evaluate and adjust campaigns against marketing objectives.
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.
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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:
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.
by Julia Sotelo, Client Services Representative & Pilar Portela-Webb, Media Relations Supervisor, Business Wire Florida
Business Wire Florida held “Measurement, Engagement & Influence with Katie Paine- Moving from Theoretical to Tactical,” a memorable breakfast discussion for South Florida Professionals on March 6th. The event featured measurement guru Katie Paine. The event was held at Nova Southeastern University’s main Ft. Lauderdale-Davie campus. The panel was moderated by Laura Sturaitis, Executive VP Media Services & Product Strategy for Business Wire.
L-R: BW Florida Regional Manager Janice Essick, VP of Web Communications Ibrey Woodall, EVP of Product Strategy & Media Services Laura Sturaitis, speaker Katie Paine and Media Relations Supervisor Pilar Portela
Katie Paine shared her 25 years of measurement expertise and offered valuable information on evaluating the success of communications initiatives. In general Katie taught us that what matters isn’t new. For example: Conversations with stakeholders, relationships, and reputation and behavior.
Some things don’t change:
What matters has been measured before
In a crisis, success is still how fast it goes away
Your influencers haven’t changed, they just have different titles
She advised to get past measuring followers and story hits and to look at SEO and Page Rank; Influence; Engagement; Relationships; Advocacy; Sentiment and ROI.
Here are Katie’s 7 steps to Measure What Matters:
Define Results
Understand your audience and what motivates them
Define Investment
Determine what you are benchmarking against
Define metrics (what you want to become)
Pick a tool and undertake research
Analyze results and glean insight, take action and measure again
Among her insights was the importance of involving all departments – PR, marketing, web, sales, SEO – in the strategic planning of communications decisions- “break down the silos.” This is directly in line with what we encourage our clients to do. Of particular importance is connecting web analytics in crafting your release and communications efforts. Katie also talked about the “Kick Butt Index.” How does management define ‘kicking butt?’ Know their definition and set up your communications metrics accordingly. Learn more at Katie’s The Measurement Standard or Business Wire’s Press Release Measurement.
For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit our events page or follow Business Wire events on Twitter, hashtag #bwchat.
by Penny Sowards, Client Services Representative, Business Wire Charlotte
Business Wire hosted a “Meet the Media” luncheon at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center in Durham on March 15. Panelists included Rick Martinez, News Director, NewsRadio 680 WPTF; Rick Smith, Business and Technology Manager, WRAL-TV, and David Bracken, Assistant Business Editor, The News & Observer. Kristi Lee-John, Principal at Crossroads Public Relations, was moderator.
Panelists discussed current trends in journalism and tips on effective pitching.
L-R: David Bracken, Rick Smith, Rick Martinez. Kristi Lee-John, moderator at podium
Important points made during the discussion:
Make sure someone from your company is available by phone or email at all times after making an announcement
Keep the lead information at the top
Have all answers available if possible
Pitch should always be professional and go to the appropriate reporters
Subject line on emails should be “to the point”
The company website is very important to journalists for gathering information
Blogs are a great tool and have great potential provided quality is there
Make an effort to contact the media before 3 p.m.
No jargon-filled releases
The journalists all agreed that press releases are important and relevant in conveying news to the media. Specific guidelines were discussed on what the media deems a good press releases:
Headlines should be clear and to the point
The focus of the news should be at the beginning of the release
Bullet points are a great tool to create a clear and concise message to the reader
Multimedia and web links are great added features to make the release more informative and interesting.
For more upcoming local Business Wire events or to see what’s coming up in our award-winning webinar series, visit our events page or follow Business Wire events on Twitter, hashtag #bwchat.
– by Shawnee Cohn, Media Relations Specialist, Business Wire/NY
Shawnee Cohn
If you think mobile apps are solely for fun and games, think again.
A recent study conducted by Flurry showed that consumers are spending more time on their mobile applications than on the Internet. The tablet revolution is changing the way in which journalists tell stories, as well as how they prefer to be pitched.
However, PR pros do not have to sit back and wait for their clients to generate media coverage. Smart businesses can ‘go mobile’ by creating their own apps to connect with customers and build their brand.
However, not every application hits a high note, and many have failed in the past. So what is the formula to create a successful mobile app?
Recently the International Association of Business Communicators/NY Chapter hosted a panel covering the ways in which brands can utilize mobile strategy to strengthen their PR, communications and marketing efforts.
The panel featured:
David Weiner, Digital Media Manager, PepsiCo
Lou Tosto, SVP Digital & Mobile Sales, CNBC.com
Sarah Meron, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications, American Express Company
Adam Carey, Client Services Director, Imano
Nicole Kuritsky, Senior Manager Emerging and Social Media, Rodale
The group of mobile marketing experts had a wealth of beneficial tips to offer regarding best mobile practices. Here are some key take-aways:
The customer is key: The panelists agreed that positive user reviews are highly influential when it comes to the success of your app. Make sure that your design allows for both a seamless and engaging user experience. Also, keep in mind that including polls and surveys within your app can be a valuable tool to help you learn about your audience.
Ask yourself, “Do I need an app?”: Sarah Meron of American Express notes that brands must consider whether their application creates a new experience for the user, different from that which is available on the original website. Will your iPad app offer value that the customer cannot find on any other platform? David Weiner of PepsiCo commented that brands should first place emphasis on becoming mobile-friendly before beginning the app development process. You might be convinced that your app is the first of its kind, but take a thorough look at the various stores to make sure an app similar to yours does not already exist, suggests Nicole Kuritsky of Rodale.
If you build it, they might not come: Building an app does not necessarily guarantee that customers will automatically rush to download it; thorough marketing and PR efforts are still as critical as ever. Make sure all systems are go before the app is live, and remember to include a link to the app store in whatever marketing materials you release to promote the new development. Adam Carey of Imano also suggests including a casual game within the app to spark the interest of potential customers. But be careful before you try to create the application yourself; development is a complicated undertaking. Partnerships with mobile consulting firms are the “name of the game,” and you “will fail if you try it yourself,” according to Sarah Meron of America Express.
In the wake of 250 million tweets per day, professional communicators continue to embrace Twitter with 55 % of those polled citing it as ”more effective” than it was a year ago for messaging, a recent PR Peeps Poll found.
Of 161 public relations professionals who responded to our survey, 88, or 55%, found Twitter “more effective” as a communications/broadcast messaging tool than it was 12 months ago; 65, or 40%, found it “less effective.”
Twitter as a search tool seemed less improved in the past 12 months. Almost half of communicators labeled it “about the same” in its effectiveness for search compared to last year, while a third (33%) said it was “more effective.”
Interestingly, communicators are 3.5 times as likely to use Twitter primarily for messaging as they do for search–125, or 78% vs. 36, or 22%. Details below.
Compared to a year ago, how effective is Twitter as a communications/broadcast messaging tool for you?
More effective 88, or 65%
Less effective 6, or 4%
Same 65, or 41%
More effective 53, or 33% Less effective 34, or 21% Same 74, or 46%
As messaging tool 125, or 78% As search tool 36, or 22%
How else do communicators utilize Twitter? Survey comments included PR professionals lauding the real time info network’s myriad abilities, including: ”creating connections with target audiences,” ”efficient information gathering,” “as a pitch tool” and “shameless self promotion!”
Most areas of the United States ”fall back” an hour at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 6. In fact, about 70 countries utilize Daylight Saving Time around the world. Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that don’t observe some form of daylight saving.
Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday
Those sending press releases this weekend should keep the time change in mind when sending out their news.
Here’s a great reference to see which geographic locations change when. For those sending press releases to Business Wire, no worries. The time zones in Business Wire Connect, our secure, client interface, update automatically to reflect appropriate time zone changes on Sunday.
Daylight saving time has already ended in Europe. The European Union and United Kingdom turned the clocks back an hour at 1 a.m. on October 30. As of last Sunday, London will once again be five hours ahead of eastern standard time and Paris will be six hours ahead.
For those who enjoy sleeping in on Sunday mornings, here’s your chance for the rare 25-hour day.
Ever since “the father of modern public relations,” Ivy Lee, sent out what most consider the first press release following the 1906 Atlantic City train wreck, companies, individuals, governments and news agencies have participated in an unofficial competition to win what I call “the best told story contest.” It’s a race that is not won by the “best story” per se, but the victor is usually either the first to get there, truth-tellers, or the best re-arranger of reality. It’s a race that must be run whether you own a newly opened restaurant or a tech company.
Let’s travel to more modern times, and take as an example the most recent Blackberry outage issues which have turned out to be a PR nightmare for Research in Motion (RIM). During a crisis, a company should never have a slow response because it shows a lack of control over the situation. And even if the situation is not under control, your PR assault should always confidently be the first to storm the beach.
These days, companies need to be aware of how critical it is to have a quick line of communication with customers, whether through issuing press releases regarding recent events or via direct statements to the press. A company always has to appear like it’s in control as far as good PR is concerned, even if it isn’t. Ivy Lee knew that as soon as word got out of the Atlantic City train wreck, rumors would swirl, the story would grow legs of its own and it would no longer be his client’s story. That’s why the first rule of crisis management is to communicate. The beginning of the crisis is the most critical period, and it sets the tone for the rest of the incident.
So let’s finish this crisis management lesson with thoughts Ivy Lee espoused so long ago, and which are now a golden rule of PR: “Tell the truth, because sooner or later the public will find out anyway. And if the public doesn’t like what you are doing, change your policies and bring them into line with what people want.”
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.
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!
With Chicago being the third largest media market in the US, many national media contacts call The Windy City home. Whether their beat is the entire Midwest or specific industry groups, knowing who’s who in the Chicago national media scene can earn you more placements. In April, Business Wire hosted some of these national news gatekeepers to learn what types of pitches stand out and how to get national attention for your company or client.
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire 
In the wake of 250 million tweets per day, professional communicators continue to embrace Twitter with 55 % of those polled citing it as ”more effective” than it was a year ago for messaging, a recent PR Peeps Poll found.
