PR - Who, What, Where, When and Why

There is a swell of opinion that the old PR approach is over now that companies can be their own online publishers.

There are even 'new rules' for publishing news such as detailed in David Meerman Scott's book The New Rules of Marketing & PR  described as 'A Businessweek Bestseller'' and yes, it is printed on paper. But wait. Despite the onward march of online publishing, there has not yet been the expected death of the printed medium. In fact within the b-2-b sectors we handle for clients the media we deal with has remained surprisingly resilient with only a few titles failing - but they would probably have done so anyway, not because of Internet competition. One or two have moved to online versions only, but most, albeit late in the day have developed an Internet business model to work with the traditional printed magazine. Pricing has evolved for email news delivery and web site news publication rather than use the free news model funded by general advertising revenue. Instead, charging for the news delivery, maybe with banner options in the package too, has a direct relationship between editorial content and payment. So for some publishers - and this is by no means all of them - there is a different approach needed for PR where editorial is part of the advertising deal. Writing for the trade press is evolving away from a single press release to attract the attention of an editor. As well as the traditional press release, there can be other versions which include what are in effect short articles commissioned on the back of an advertising package as well as news published free online in various ways.

Writing for news publishers in your b2b sector is no longer one press release suits all. Your press release may initially go to editors or news desks for editorial action - to publish or not, to edit to suit the publication's house style, edit to abbreviate, edit headline only or even where the originator is a trusted source, to publish  as received. Of course there is another audience to write for and that is your customers and prospects, because every business can be a publisher too - on your web site using a Virtual News Office or basic news page, on social media, via eNews and in company newsletters.

Traditionally press releases have been organised in a particular way. Usually editors will want to write their own headlines so the press release headline should be factual, concise and informative rather than some witty pun, for example. But where the story is to be published unedited or on your own site, then a good headline should attract the attention of your readers and draw them in. The headline is the first thing they all see. The opening paragraph is likewise  crucial and must communicate the essence of the story - the who, what, where, why and when. Because if this fails to raise interest, nobody - editors or customers are going to bother to read more. This is far from the whole story but if readers don't get this far, the other content is lost anyway.

The changed role of trade press

Despite the growth of online news and failure of some established trade journals, there is still a proliferation of titles. So what has happened?

Before the Internet, the trade press played an important role in publishing news about a company and its products. Generally speaking editorial content was published on the merits and news interest of the story and not, in an ideal world, by the advertising spend of the company in question. The aim was to produce a quality, interesting, relevant, informed and trusted magazine. Companies wanted their news published because of the credibility and apparent independence of appearing in a respected and well read journal. Because there were often many titles, company  strategy was to place display advertising only in the leading books and use PR to gain mention in the rest. Most employed a PR agency to cosy up to editors and get their press releases published.

Even before the Internet the trade press landscape was changing. Publishers were experiencing cost pressures and many looked to increase revenue by effectively charging to publish press releases. Of course it was not presented like that, the requests were along the lines that the editor had selected the news item for publication but would you mind contributing towards the cost of colour separations so the text could be illustrated and be more effective? Agencies initially resisted these charges but over the years and the disappearance of the excuse to pay for 'colour seps' many trade journals simply charged to print press releases. Some appeared as 'advertorial' to identify that the content was paid for but others simply published press releases collated together in product or company news sections. Because of publication dates most of it by the time the magazine lands in the letter box is not news anyway, or at least has been available online for at least a month. The willingness to print anything also ensured that there were always plenty more stories than the magazine could publish.

So other titles started - effectively product 'books' - no editorial just a magazine full of product press releases creating a different business model, one that didn't need to hire journalists, just space salesmen. And based on this model publications come and go that just publish press releases often scavenged from other publications and web sites - a weird collation of news stories with no obvious target audience and published simply because someone agreed to pay.

Of course news publication is a very effective marketing tool, but one that calls for expertise in ensuring the most effective use is made of the PR budget.

How are press releases evolving?

The traditional press release has moved on as news publication platforms proliferate.

The traditional press release, usually accompanied by a 5" x 7" glossy print and mailed to the editorial desk is presumably no more. Maybe some traditional agencies continue to issue double spaced stories typed on client headed press release paper and avoiding paper clips that might scratch the glossy photo in transit and render it unsuitable to scan. The double spacing was to give space for the editor to scribble notes and changes on material selected for publication. There has been a gradual move away from postal delivery to e-mail often now to a news desk address rather than the editor. It was once quite a big deal developing a press release, researching the story which may have involved an onsite interview at a location where the client had installed product, all accompanied by a professional photographer - it all added up to a substantial fee and took some time before the client signed off on a final copy and the release was ready to go.

Today it is rare to visit a location for a story, interviews are more typically by email or telephone and everyone has a digital camera or phone to take some pictures and e-mail them across - mainly because clients don't want to pay much for it. But with the immediacy of the Internet and new publishing opportunities the demand for content is growing. Not from the printed trade press where editorial pages are shrinking and publication intervals extending due to the relatively high costs of putting together, printing and mailing a magazine, but from blogs, Twitter, Facebook and online news sites. When the trade journals were the only show in town getting stories published was vital, but now print media is just one route to reach customers and prospects. Indeed for many trade journals one that can be bought just the same as space for display and classified advertising.

Savvy companies are investing marketing pounds in not just news creation, but in publication and with that building readership and a following amongst their target audiences. But the news piece itself no longer needs to fit the old formula of say 150 to 200 words. It can be a headline piece published on Twitter which typically will include a short link to a more expansive story that might be on a blog. Or go to more detail on the company web site, or a White Paper that sets the whole scene. All this information provides valuable research material for prospective buyers who are now far better informed when they are ready to buy than ever before. It is not just text, but good use of photographs and videos are becoming more and more important influencers in that decision making process that leads to making a purchase.

The ability to editorially control the publishing platform allows the tone of voice to be more conversational and less formal than before and give a personality to brands previously mainly communicated by logos and icons.

Are blogs changing PR?

An interview carried by iMedia Connection – ‘Steve Rubel on how blogs are changing the face of PR’- brings forward a debate of the technical possibilities versus their relevance to the target market and the interest, uptake and commitment of clients to participate. The figures seem compelling. According to emarketer "Once a haven for techies, there are now blogs for everything from celebrity gossip to political commentary to the most mundane personal minutiae. By 2012, more than 145 million people - or 67% of the US Internet population - will be reading blogs at least once per month." 

They reckon 12% of US internet users, some 25 million write blogs. Surprisingly more than 100 million internet users, more than 50% are also blog readers. Big numbers then. Consider now some unofficial statistics from our own research in PR activity in the UK industrial market. Whilst the most active portal web sites carry news free of charge and archive thousands of stories, a sampling revealed that the vast majority were generated by relatively few companies or their PR agencies. The larger group of companies submitted very few stories. Some just one token story before presumably losing interest or running out of news. 

Talking to other PR people confirmed that news output from their clients was hardly prolific. Most needed quite a good portfolio of clients to make their PR business work. In our experience many clients don’t even think they have any news and a key task of a PR professional is teasing out stories in the first place. Then few have any people in-house that can write anything about their business sufficient to interest and editor, let alone a reader. 

But blogs demand a far bigger commitment by company personnel as there is both an immediacy and inside knowledge that the traditional PR practitioners will find difficult to embrace. For example not just getting the story, but getting client approval introduces a delaying factor. The blog is more of a personal view and works against the secrecy culture many clients have. 

Only recently a PR professional was lamenting a decision by a client to stop all case studies and third party endorsement stories as they did not want their competitors to know. We all have clients like that – great stories are blocked because the credibility associated with their blue chip customer cannot be mentioned. So the challenge is getting not only the commitment to write a blog, even if ghost written by an agency but also the openness to actually reveal the sort of compelling inside news content people want to read.

Press release work for social media too

Although press releases lack the newness and novelty of social media what is basically an old idea actually works well in these new communication channels. In fact the news content is no longer just for the press as an intermediary but can be aimed straight at customers and prospects.

The old model of writing a press release and distributing to the traditional press list has changed only slightly in so far as the method of delivery is by e-mail rather than posting out printed releases and glossy photos. From this point on selection for publication remains within the decision of the editor. But the web enables press releases to be sent directly to anyone and also offers the opportunity for comment. 

The most established of new options is the blog. This can afford to be less formal than a press release allowing the news content to be addressed directly to the reader rather than aiming to grab the attention of an editor or journalist. 

RSS has also been around for a while and is really a neat solution that provides headlines and opening text of recent news items allowing readers to keep informed quickly and easily of news streams that interest them.

For those for whom even this is too much, then Twitter provides a useful medium to publish just headlines or short links to longer stories. And if followers like the story they can 're-tweet' to their followers.

Let's not ignore putting news on your own web site as well - a Virtual News Office provides a great solution and includes RSS as an option and eNews as an additional communication channel.

 

Not only does this multiple approach give readers plenty of options to choose from but it also leaves a trail of activity across the web that will assist with search engine ratings. To discover more about how these powerful web based strategies can help promote your business, contact Technical Marketing Ltd.

Press Releases are good for search

A recent article titled, How Press Releases can be great for search, provides important endorsement for the value of online press releases - not only for conveying their own intrinsic news message, but the benefit derived from driving web site traffic and search. The article draws on case studies that demonstrate increases in web site traffic following a news release. The point is made that journalists are actually searching the web for news and advise that " you're out there where the journalists are looking." Another important item of advice from the article is "to include your press releases on your own site". " Your site should have a section for press releases".

We have been operating Virtual News Offices for clients for several years now and discovered the benefits of search early on for news content. Because the VNO is integrated with the client web site but hosted on our own news server, not only does this provide searchable content, but all important in-bound and highly relevant links to the client web site. News stories often provide useful search results for alternative terms. For example a press release about a company's role in a new project may be discovered by search on the project name. Say this is a prestigious new building that interests architects, then your company could well be identified as a potential supplier for work they are commissioned to do. Or if the press release is about an upcoming event, again your listing will be found when searching for details of that event. 

When it comes to content marketing, then news is an important tool that is a regular source of new content. To learn more about Virtual News Offices, you can download a PDF Guide.

Instant marketing is not a cheap fix

As the recession deepens and gloom spreads  I have noticed an increase in articles about marketing on the cheap. Typical sub heads such as, "Instant Press Releases", "Cheap business cards", "Free Marketing Plans" and"Free Sales letters" are promoted on one  web site referred to in a marketing newsletter. It all gives the impression that marketing can be applied like a fresh coat of paint to cover up the blemishes and that by using these free tools - and of course buying the book - business success will follow. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. What do cheap business cards say about a company? That the company has little substance, is amateurish and it just creates a negative early impression. And what about instant press releases? Just because you submit a piece about your company it does not mean it will get published. In fact it is very unlikely to be published in a journal that addresses your target audience. Here is the point of marketing. It is not a short term fix to be applied when sales enquiries slump. Savvy companies will already have their marketing plans in place, will have professionally designed business cards, support literature and web site; have regular editorial coverage in the appropriate trade publications because they had taken the time, given the commitment and made the investment to develop a marketing philosophy throughout the enterprise.