Keeping Tabs

We've talked a lot about the tools you need to make your public relations and social media efforts successful.  Finding the right platforms, using video, targeting the correct audience, having a conversation strategy and staying interactive are just a handful of the things you need to do to make social media and public relations work for you.

But let's assume you've been doing all of these things and you still haven't seen a measurable jump in sales or traffic to your site.  Is it time to throw your hands up and say, "To heck with it!" and walk away?  We say emphatically, no!

There are a number of reasons why your efforts haven't garnered the kind of attention you hoped it would.  Kind of like when a car breaks down, it could be anything.  Sometimes it's as obvious as having a bad battery.  But sometimes it's just a hose leaking, or a fuel pump needs replacing or maybe your cellinoid is acting up (can you tell I've had car troubles recently?). 

The point is, every campaign, every effort can be tweaked to capitalize on your outreach efforts.  Rarely do you have to do a complete overhaul.  Often it's just a matter of tweaking your content or targeting a new demographic.  Sometimes, you also just have to have a little patience.

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day:

One of the biggest issues I run across with clients is time.  Many put up social media sites and then, 1) never really maintain them, or, 2) believe that just having an online presence will turn their fortunes around overnight.  This isn't the case.  It takes a little time.  You can be online every day for a month and you won't see a major spike in sales or traffic to your website.  But, just like laying a foundation for a building or a business, it takes time and nurturing to grow into the behemoth you want it to be.

Here's a simple tip that small businesses and non-profits should remind themselves every time they take time to update and manage their social media and public relations efforts:


•  The average social media and public relations campaign can take three to six months to truly show a return on your time and efforts.

Now, does this mean that you should just sit back and "let it ride" for three to six months before you make any changes to your campaigns?  Absolutely not.  Analytics are very useful for finding out who is going to your websites, where they're coming from, what they're doing while they're there and where they go after they leave.  Analytics programs are a very valuable aspect to your social media outreach, and should be used liberally.

Unlike public relations, which often has more tangible, immediate results, social media is like trying to herd cats.  One moment you think you're headed in the right direction and then things might suddenly change.  This is why you have to stay on top of it so much.

One problem with Analytics is that they generally only give you information on a few specific online sties such as your web page or your blog.  They don't really give you info. on your Twitter or your Facebook or your other efforts.


This article from The Daily Bloggr discusses the gap between traditional analytics and how you can really figure out the return on your investment or ROI for social media.  As always, click on the link for the entire article and to see the 10 tools.

10 Social Media Monitoring / Analytics tools for Measuring Social Media

Social Media ROI ? That’s a weird term to many of us, right ? Many think that there is no ROI to Social Media, and while this topic is up for debate, I’m saying – yes and no.
No because, we know that we don’t get social for the game sake. And yes because, there are brands and products who needs numbers and obviously results, for getting social.
Many brands are jumping into the social media bandwagon these days and are experimenting with things, that’s a fact. Many a times, knowingly or unknowingly we have engaged with them as well. So it makes sense for them to monitor it and see what the results are like.
Having said that, monitoring social media is not the regular analytics stuff, that’s where many go wrong.

I completely agree with the article when it comes to ROI for social media.  It's not like a traditional marketing or public relations campaign.  When dealing with PR, you can take real numbers and plug them right into your ROI statistics.  For instance, if you spent $1,000 on a public relations push and wound up with an article in your local paper and a spot on the local 10pm news, then you can look at the advertising numbers for those outlets and get a definitive ROI number.  Let's say it costs $1,200 to advertise for .30 seconds on the 10pm show, and $500 for a half page black and white ad in your local paper.  Then you essentially received $1,700 in print and broadcast advertising for you $1,000 investment.  This is easy stuff.

But with social media, it's not so cut and dry.  Certainly platforms like Facebook have started offering some weekly traffic statistics.  And Twitter has "Twitter Counter" which keeps tabs on visitors, followers and tweets.  But those don't delve nearly deep enough to give you a complete picture of the success of your campaign.

So often, it comes down to a gut feeling.  Do you feel as if your campaign is reaching the people it's supposed to?  Can you see a rise, even if slightly, in web traffic and sales?  If so, perhaps your efforts are paying off.

I have always advised clients to find out where their customers are coming from.  This is simple marketing 101, but so often I discover not enough small businesses and non-profits are doing it.  Getting direct feedback from the people who walk through your door will give you an immediate sense of who is responding to your social media campaign. 

I'm a big fan of "Social Mention," "Scout Labs" and "MAP" that are noted in the article above.  All three are very effective and easy to use.  Yes, some of these programs cost.  Not a lot, but there is a money investment nonetheless. 

However, there's an even easier way to check to see if your efforts are paying off.  Perhaps the best way, for me, to tell if a campaign is working is to simply look at the sites and see who is participating.  You will often get a number of fans and followers who will never post a comment, but who might check your site regularly.  However, take a look at who clicks on the "like" buttons, see who is actively involved in responding and participating in conversations.  Check regularly to see how many new fans or followers or friends have signed up in the past week. 

These numbers don't have to skyrocket, there simply has to be a rise in the bar.  If last week you had 100 friends or followers, and this week you have 108, that's okay.  That's 8 new people who took enough interest to join you.  Those eight people might have a number of other friends who will also take interest. 

Here's another item:  The more active you are in your social media efforts, the more likely it will be that you'll gather followers and friends at a faster rate.  There IS a cause and effect dynamic here. As the old saying goes, you have to be seen to be noticed.  And by being active, you'll be seen.

There are a few other issues that might be hampering your social media efforts. 

These are some of the biggest mistakes most small businesses and non-profits make when diving into the social media scene:

1.  You have no call to action - Every outreach effort has to have a call to action.  It might be as simple as, "Go to our website" or it could be something along the lines of "Do something to protect your posessions, we can help".  Either way, you have to motivate your viewers.  You have to give them a reason to actually do something like click on a link or buy a product or service or donate.  Too often organizations just put up information and leave it at that. 

2.  The content isn't appropriate -  When I was working on the Senior Olympics campaign, the client wanted to put content up that dealt with elderly medical issues in the attempt to push a healthy lifestyle as a way to avoid such medical issues.  This was off base.  People interested in participating in the Senior Olympics are already aware of the medical issues of growing older.  They wanted to see and hear stories of how participating in the S.O. could enhance their already active lifestyles.  We changed the content and suddenly interest rose significantly.  You have to make sure that the message and content you put on your platforms is appropriate for the audience you're trying to reach.  You wouldn't put Pat Boone up on a site designed to attract the under 30 crowd, would you?

3.  The content isn't interesting or useful -  Again, simply putting up information for the sake of posting is a bad idea.  Video is almost always interesting.  Articles that relate directly to the issues your followers are dealing with can be helpful.  You are now providing a service and becoming a resource for your friends and followers.  This builds brand recognition and loyalty, and those are things that can't be measure in any ROI sheet.

4.  Your efforts are too "salesy" - We don't go online to be unundated with sales pitches.  We go online to keep tabs on friends.  We go online to have fun.  We go online for information.  The magic of social media is that, if done right, you don't actually have to do any "selling" at all.  You generate a word of mouth campaign and your friends and followers do the selling for you.  People will always put more stock into something their friends tell them than something a salesman tells them.  You want people to see you as a resource, again, not as a salesperson. 

5.  You're targeting the wrong audience - If you're product or service is better suited to middle aged women who are college educated and married, but your on sites or in groups that are dominated by 22 year old students, then you're in the wrong place.  Sure, the site or group with the 22 year old students may have 7,000 members, while the one with middle aged college educated married women only has 900 members, chances are, you're going to get a lot more bang for your efforts in the room with a smaller membership than the larger one.  This is because the smaller membership sites or groups will be much more interested in your product or service.  As I mentioned in a previous entry, sometimes it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

6.  You're preaching to the choir -  This happens a lot with social media efforts.  You find a group or site that is ideal for your product or service.  You sign up and initially your traffic and sales might spike up.  But after a while, you see your numbers start to fall.  An example of this is a client I'm working with now. 

This client deals with spay/neutering issues.  So far their efforts have been targeting people who need their pets spayed or neutered.  But that demographic is pretty limited.  And, after a bit, you find that you're talking to the same people over and over.  But there are millions and millions of pet owners and animal lovers in the U.S. alone.  This is a fertile audience that just keeps growing.  Why not tap into this larger audience and spread the message among them?  While not all pet owners need to spay or neuter their pets, they probably know someone who does.  By targeting this larger audience, you stop preaching to the choir and you get your message and your call to action out among people who can, and will, help you spread that message and call to action.

Take a moment to look at your efforts.  Now take a look at the list above.  Are you doing any of these things?  If so, don't get discouraged.  These are all common mistakes and they are all easily fixed.  Start tweaking, start making some changes that will bring in new followers, new friends, a new audience. 

If you do this, you won't need a fancy analytics program to tell you what you'll already know; that your social media efforts are paying off big time.

Perfect Pitch

The press release is dead, or at least some folks would like you to think.  With the advent of social media and networking, businesses are investing more time and money into creating spaces on platforms like Facebook and Twitter and Digg and focusing their attention on maintaining and growing those sites.  Of course, this means fewer and fewer resources allotted to public relations efforts.

Give me your best pitch, baby

As usual, I'm left carrying the flag for public relations, in all of its many forms.  From media relations, to community outreach to even the lowly press release.  In previous posts, I went over how to build a basic press release.  But there's one element, I believe, is way more important than your press release; The Pitch Letter.

You have to get them to the release first:

You don't have to spend hours upon hours crafting a press release.  It has to look good, it has to have the basic information and it has to present an interesting picture of your story.  But, and here's the frustrating part for so many small business owners and non-profits, many journalists never even get to the release itself.  They take one look at the subject line, read the first sentence and quickly move on.

So what are you supposed to do if journalists either never even look at the release or, if they do, spend all of three seconds reading the first sentence or two?  Your best bet is to capture them with a pitch letter.

Actually, letter is a bit of a misnomer because it's not so much a letter as it is a paragraph.  Three, four sentences designed to grab the attention of the journalist and intrigue them enough move on to read the release. 

Think of it like this...the release is there to provide information.  Information that journalists can use as they're writing their story, your story.  If your story gets picked up, journalists will be able to refer to the release for quotes, background information and details.  No, this doesn't make the release obsolete, or mean it's dead, it just means that the release isn't your primary sales source.

It's the pitch letter, or paragraph, that will ultimately sell the story.  So how do you put together a pitch letter?  It's as simple as 1, 2, 3 (with maybe a 4 and a 5 thrown in for good measure). 

Writing the Pitch Letter:

Writing the pitch letter doesn't have to take forever and it shouldn't cause you to pull a brain muscle thinking of how to put it together.  Here are some tips to writing a solid, effective pitch letter that will improve your stories' chances:

1.  Make your first sentence a grabber - Make a statement, introduce a captivating concept or story.  For example, instead of writing:

"A Brooklyn man says his auto security system helped police arrest a suspect in a string of auto thefts."  you should write:
"Brooklyn police say a revolutionary auto security system could help lower auto-crime rates nationwide."

The second sentence is stronger and makes a bold statement.  Of course, your statement has to be true.  You can only write that second sentence if a Brooklyn police officer actually made that statement.  If so, you can go with it.

Here's another example.  You decide which is better.

"A man who survived for seven days lost in Canyonlands, Utah survived after being stuck under a boulder and cutting his hand off."


"John Templeton knew that cutting his hand off would be the only way he'd survive after being lost in Canyonlands, Utah for seven days."

I posit that the second sentence is a much stronger opening sentence than the first one.  Here's why.  The first sentence takes perhaps the most compelling aspect of the story and buries it at the end of the sentence.  Meanwhile, the second sentence places it right up front, along with the individual's name, providing an instant character. 

While they both give some facts in the first sentence; he was lost in Canyonlands Utah for seven days, the second sentence uses more active tense.  This makes for a more interesting sentence as well.

This first sentence is perhaps the most important aspect of your entire pitch.  Remember, you're not writing an essay or a news story.  You're writing a simple paragraph designed to give information and grab attention, so make that first sentence as strong as possible.

2.  Keep It Short and Simple - This is a, um, a different version of the KISS that I learned in school, but it's essentially the same thing.  Simple is better.  It's always better.  You don't have to pack all of your information into your paragraph, just the pertinent stuff.  Remember, you don't want to put more than three facts in any sentence, more than that gets confusing.  You want the journalist to be able to quickly grasp the concept or focus of your story.  When you start to get beyond three or four sentences, tops, then you have to ask yourself, "what can I cut to shorten this?"

3.  Provide a Call to Action - This isn't like, come on down, or we'd sure like to see you at the event.  It's more like, "John Templeton is available for interviews on Wednesday at either your studios or at his home."  You have to let the journalists know exactly what you are offering them.

By stating that you have interview subjects, when they're available and specific locations, the journalist is now thinking of potential interviews, logistics, timing.  You have put the idea of an interview into their head.  Offer up a couple of interview subjects and let them know that you can also assist in rounding up any other interview subjects they may want to talk to.  You are making an assumption that they will do the story and that they'll need to talk to someone.

You can also state something like, "You can set up your cameras at the starting line of the race and we will grant you access to all areas of the event."  Again, you are assuming they will cover the story, which isn't an awful thing. 

4.  Give specifics - You don't want to give too many facts, that's what the release is for.  But you do want to give them some specifics, and not just about the story.  If you have an event you want covered, you need to provide some information that will grab interest beyond just the opening sentence.  Let the journalists know about potential interviews (as mentioned above) but also let them know about particular visuals, locations, times, anything you might think would be of interest to the journalist and, most importantly, make their job easier.  You can put this information in the last sentence or two.

5.  Let them know where to find you - It's all good to tell the journalist about the story and some facts, but none of that does any good if they don't know when, where or how to get ahold of you.  Your release should have contact information at the top, but this is such important information, it's worth putting in the pitch letter as well.  This is as easy as saying, "I can be reached at any time at..." then give your phone number and email address.

First Impressions...

Remember, your pitch letter is your first contact with the journalist you're pitching your story to.  Four sentences might not seem like a lot, and it may seem like a lot of pressure to place on a single paragraph, but writing a good pitch letter is a key element to the success of your story's success.

One final note.  Because the pitch letter is so important, this is an area where rewrites are probably a good idea.  One trick journalists use when writing their stories is to read their copy out loud.  This works with a pitch letter as well.  Write your pitch letter a day before the pitch if possible and then revisit it before you send it out.  If the first sentence doesn't sound strong enough to you, or grab your attention, then rewrite it.  Most of the time, it's not about doing a total rewrite, it's about rewording the sentence you have already.

So there you have it.  The pitch letter, while very important, doesn't have to be so difficult it prevents you from pitching your story. 

Focus on your release, but don't forget your pitch letter, otherwise, the entire story might just be forgotten as well.

Build It, And They Will Come...

Okay, so it's baseball season and I just couldn't resist that classic line from "Field of Dreams."  Who doesn't get chills up their spine when they remember that deep, booming voice of James Earl Jones giving the speech about baseball marking the passage of time and telling Kevin Costner to just build that damn ballfield.

I suppose the comment is just about being ready, or about putting your energy out to the universe or about taking risks.  I don't know, and it doesn't really matter.  Because this entry isn't about baseball or James Earl Jones or a baseball field in the middle of some Iowa cornfield.  It's about lists.

The List is the thing:

As small businesses and non-profits build their organizations, one of the first things they do is start building lists.  Lists of competitors, lists of potential clients and donors and volunteers.  They build lists of vendors and local officials and potential partners.

Sadly, one of the lists they don't build, is a press list.  If you've been following this blog, you know the importance of having a press list ready to go whenever you feel like picthing a story or in case anything goes wrong.  And yet, I ask you, have you started to build your press list yet?

If the answer is no, don't feel bad.  You're in good company.  Ask most small business owners and non-profits, they'll give you the same answer.  And it's understandable because building a press list can be intimidating.  But it doesn't have to be.  Here's why:

For most small businesses and non-profits, the more you interact with the press, the more relationships you'll build.  The problem is, this takes time.  But as active small business owner and non-profits, you watch the local news broadcasts, listen to the radio and read the newspaper.  If you do this, you probably have noticed certain reporters that cover certain beats, whether it's business, crime, community, etc.

As you follow the daily news, take note of these reporters and what outlet they're with.  Write their name on a slip of paper, or on your computer, in your phone.  Don't look now, but you've started to build a press list.  Really, it's that simple.

Here's a simple five step program to building a basic, local press list:

Step 1.  Identify your outlets - Regardless of what city you live in, there are local news outlets that you depend on to deliver your daily news.  In Denver, we have one major newspaper (RIP Denver Post), five major television outlets, and two to three news/talk-oriented radio stations.  We have four or five legitimate neighborhood papers, two business oriented magazines and two specialty magazines.  That's 14-15 media outlets in the immediate Denver area that small businesss and non-profits can pitch stories to.  This isn't counting outlets in the surrounding suburbs (neighborhood papers), Boulder, Fort Collins, Longmont, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and a slew of Western Slope towns.  As a small business or non-profit in Denver, I'd focus on the immediate 14-15 outlets and grow from there.

Step 2.  Get the digits - Now you have your outlets identified, the next step is very easy.  Find their websites and note their phone number or email address.  Most media sites have a "contact us" page with this information.  Put the phone numbers email addresses next to the right outlet and you're halfway home to having your first press list built.

Step 3.  Make the call - Now you have the numbers, you have to make the phone calls.  This isn't as hard as it sounds.  You're not making a pitch, you're simply asking for information.  Identify yourself as a small business owner or non-profit and ask for a newsroom phone number and an email to send press releases to.  More often than not, the person answering the phone will give this information willingly.  Sometimes this information is available on the websites, but it never hurts to call and confirm the information.

Step 4.  Send an E-mail - This is like a follow up phone call when making a pitch.  Only you're not pitching a story, you're asking for more information.  Email the newsroom asking for the names of the assignment editor (television), city desk editor (newspaper), Executive producer (TV and radio).  If you don't hear back from the email, call the newsrooms and explain that you need the names of the individuals to send press releases to.  It's likely they'll tell you to just send all press releases to the newsdesk.  Don't give up hope.  This is where your list of reporters comes in handy.  Call again and ask to speak to your reporter, or ask for their email.  The reporter will amost always direct you to their producer or the executive producer.  If this fails, at least you have the information to every newsdesk in the city, and that's a huge start.

Step 5.  Start organizing - I put my press lists in Excel formats with names of the outlets, phone numbers, email addresses and a notation section for comments.  As you continue to follow the news and, hopefully interact more with the media, you'll get individual names and email addresses for reporters producers, etc. More often than not, newsrooms have very structured email addresses.  For instance, at KUSA, when I worked there, the email addy's were first name, then dot, then last name then @ then the name of the station.  In this case, all you needed was a name and you could figure out the email addresses for individual journalists.  Keep adding names, phone numbers and email addresses and before you know it, you'll have a very large and thorough press list built.

It's just that easy:

You can do all of this in a fairly short period of time.  Take one weekend afternoon or a weekday afternoon and you can complete this in two to three hours, four tops.  And believe me, this will be time well spent.

You can even cut down on this initial time investment by simply gathering the newsroom direct line and email address.  This is a fine way to start as well.  One thing to keep in mind is that turnover happens in newsrooms, particularly local newsrooms.  This means every four to six months or so you'll need to contact the newsroom just to make sure the phone numbers are the same and the emails haven't changed.  You can also take this opportunity to ask again for the assignment editor's name, or the Executive producers name.  Hey, it never hurts to ask.

So there it is.  In just a few hours, you can build a press list that gives you at least initial reach into your local newsrooms and give you a step up on your competitors when it comes to conducting your next public relations pitch.

Now go forth and build, my friends, for if you do, they will come.

Of iPads, Tiger and Choices

It's that time again, friends.  Time to look around and take some lessons from some of the high-profile stories making the news today.  No, I'm not talking about Opening Day in baseball, although I am a huge baseball fan (Go Rockies).

I'm talking about two stories, one that made the headlines in a big way over the weekend and another one that will be dominating the news in about three days.  I'm talking iPads and Tiger.

Small businesses and non-profits can learn a lot from both of these stories, from marketing, image building and reconstruction, to developing brand loyalty and crisis mitigation.  These are all very VERY important aspects of growing your bottom line.  And the beauty of it all is that these entities (Apple and Tiger) are blazing a path wide enough for everyone to follow.  Another added benefit is that you can learn from their efforts without suffering similar growing pains and without spending your life savings achieving success.

First, the iPad:

To be clear, this isn't a review of the iPad.  In fact, for our purposes, the the iPad itself isn't the focus of our lesson today.  The story of this past weekend, as more than 700,000 freshly-minted iPads landed in the hands of eager consumers, wasn't the device itself.  No, the story is actually Apple and how it has cornered the market on new technology buzz and nearly fanatical brand loyalty.

I have to confess, I'm a Mac guy.  I've always used Macs, I always will.  However, I'm not getting paid by Apple to endorse any products.  With that said, I didn't buy the iPad this weekend.  Not just because of its $600 price tag, but because if we've learned anything from the iPhone, this alpha version of the iPad will be obsolete by Christmas.  Plus, versions two and three will likely be significantly improved and enhanced.

Still that didn't stop nearly a million people from gobbling up the latest Apple gadget.  Which leads me to the question, "why?"  Why would people be willing to shell out that kind of money for a product they KNOW will be gathering dust on a shelf within a year?  This is the magic of Apple.

Apple learned some time ago that you don't necessarily have to outsell your competitors in order to thrive and be successful.  All you need to do is create a base so loyal, they will pay hard earned money for your products until the day they die.  PC's continue to dominate the personal computer market, meaning Microsoft outsells Apple products by a significant margin worldwide.

But Apple isn't trying to sell to everyone.  Much like certain auto manufacturers or furniture makers or home builders, Apple has a specific audience and they focus all their efforts and budget on targeting that market with their product development and outreach efforts.

While Microsoft and PC's are generally viewed as better products for business, Apple targeted the creative market.  Their base consists of individuals who tend to be slightly more affluent, working in a creative field and college educated.  But then Apple went beyond just the demographics of their audience.  They went for the "cool" factor.

Apple focused on aesthetics over basic function at times, meaning even when a product failed miserably, at least it looked great.  Of course it helps that they have had way more hits than misses in their long history.

Since Apple started in an age well before social media, they had already built a very loyal following by the time Facebook and Twitter took over the scene.  But they have taken advantage of both social media and their loyal base by effetive use of outreach and interaction on various platforms and using various methods, including video, direct email, newsletters and, of course, one-on-one interaction with customers at schools, their stores and at community events.

They also know that even though Apple users are outnumbered nearly two to one worldwide, their base is very vocal and passionate.  This means Apple has supporters and voices in chatrooms all across the internet, talking up their products, their services and their organization as a whole.  Now, all it takes is a simple rumor (like iPhones will be available on the Verizon network in the Fall of 2101) to create huge buzz and keep the companies name in the headlines.

Loyalty Can Work For You Too!

As a small business owner or non-profit, you can learn from this kind of branding and brand loyalty to grow your business.  You have competitors, it's a natural state of business.  Take a look at who your competitors are marketing to.  See who they're talking to online.  Are they targeting a specific audience?  Are they trying to target everybody?  Either way it can be a boon to you.

You can target specific audiences, both in your pr efforts and your social media efforts to help build your brand, your identity and customer loyalty.  You don't have to be the biggest seller to be successful, you simply have to grow a very loyal base; people who will always come back to you for their needs.

A loyal base will also help your social media efforts explode.  These people will talk about you to their friends, their social media groups, their entire network of contacts.  It used to be a satisfied customer would tell a few people about a good experience and that would be it.  But now, these same people are reaching thousands of others through their Facebook, Twtitter, LinkedIn, etc.

This kind of thinking is why so many "cottage industries" like microbreweries are so successful.  Coors and Budweiser significantly outsells beers like Sam Adams or Buffalo Gold, but these beers and their breweries thrive because they have done such a good job at targeting their audience and then going after them aggressively and in a way that the targeted audience relates to.


And Now, A Little Tiger:

Some time ago, I posted about how well I thought the Tiger Woods press conference went.  At the time, I mentioned that I thought he did everything he needed to do in order to mitigate the damage from his, ahem, "issues".

I opined that day that I thought Tiger's image would rebound nicely, that he would recover and that once he began play again, all would be forgotten, if not immediately forgiven.  I proclaimed that he would make the talk show rounds, go on Oprah, say he was sorry and that we could all move on.

I was wrong.  Not in the fact that I thought the press conference was well handled and served its purpose, I still believe that Tiger's conference met its goals and was successful in putting a human face on a previously mysterious athlete that often seemed more automoton than human.

Here's where I, and Tiger, missed the mark.  There's still information out there to be had, still secrets to uncover, still scandals to leak.  One of the surest ways to ensure that the media, and the public at large, will be talking about you after a crisis is to withhold information.

During his press conference, Tiger met nearly all of the requirements for handling a crisis.

1.  He apologized
2.  He took responsibility
3.  He offered a solution and a timeframe to enact the solution

The problem is, he missed the fourth and key piece to any crisis communications effort; he didn't fully come clean.  Because there is still a story to be told about what really happened that night and the events leading up to the incident.  Plus, Tiger remains mum on the status of his relationship with his wife and kids.

This means reporters will continue to dig in an effort to uncover the sordid details of Tiger's married life.  Agree or not with the ethics of this, the fact remains that had Tiger come clean with everything, given details, appeared with his wife during an interview and "set the record straight" reporters simply wouldn't have anything else to write about.  At least not if Tiger told the truth.

Don't Just Go Halfway:

That key element, the one where you give all the pertinent information of a crisis is the difference between a story simply going away, or at least limiting the amount of time it exists, and a story hanging around for a long, long time.

On Thursday, Tiger will play his first round of the Masters Tournament.  Questions will surround him and the pressure will be on.  But it didn't have to be that way, at least not in the magnitude it is right now.  He could have spent his time dealing with the pressures of the tournament and answering questions about golf, instead of fielding queries about last weeks GQ tell-all article.

This is important to keep in mind anytime you or your organization faces a crisis.  If you only go halfway in handling a crisis, the results could be disasterous.  And that's a lesson best learned by Tiger's mistake rather than doing it yourself.

In a Flash, It's a Mob

I wanted to give you a quick update before moving on to today's topic.  I have been diligent about preaching that small busiensses and non-profits can use social media to help their PR efforts.  Yesterday I received this email from a local television news producer:

    From:     djshaw@cbs.com
    Subject:     FW: Grassfire in Colorado Springs is a reminder that wildfire season is upon us - 
                      Allstate provides tips to ease wildfire fears
    Date:     March 31, 2010 1:17:18 PM MDT
    To:     cdgallegos01@earthlink.net


Chris – here’s a great example for your blog.  About 12:15pm, we found out about a grass fire threatening homes near Colorado Springs.  We just got this press release.

This is a great example of a local business staying on top of breaking news.  Allstate did a great job of finding out about the news event (I'm assuming from KCNC's Twitter feed) and they jumped on it as a way to generate information about their organization.  They sent a press release (not pictured) that provided useful tips about wildfires based on a news story that hand't even aired.  They were on top of this and they benefited from it by being noted in the news coverage later that day.  An A-plus for Allstate in this situation!


 And Now, Our Regularly Scheduled Program:

Social media is an interesting world.  It allows you to reach out to long lost friends, make new ones and spread a message, thought or concept to the world in an instant.  Social media helps bring people together, can tear them apart, spurs debates and is a wonderful resource for information.

But every now and then social media has a darker side.  For small businesses and non-profits, security is always a concern when using social media regularly.  You information is out there for the world to see and sometimes you have to take extra precuation to guard your privacy.

And then there's this story out of Philladelphia recently:

Violent Flash Mobs Becoming a Problem in Philly

Flash mobs are usually associated with randomized fun (or pantlessness), but in Philly, they’re basically akin to randomized violence. Last night, Mayor Michael Nutter and District Attorney Seth Williams took to the streets to spread a message to the city’s young, social media-savvy inhabitants: Flash mobs will not be tolerated.

As always, you can click on the link above for the entire article on Mashable.com (I went to the Philly paper, but the article had been removed.  The Mashable article has links to other Philly papers for more research if you're so inclined).

Flash mobs have long been popular among social groups to raise awareness, to shock or simply for fun.  As the photo above in the article shows, anything can happen during a flash mob (they're involved in an impromptu pillow fight).  But recently, flash mobs in Philly have been more violent, causing damage, vandalizing local businesses, etc. 

I suppose this shouldn't be a HUGE surprise, I mean, "mob" is right in the title of the event.  I don't know about you, but generally, a mob isn't something you want to be involved with, or be the target of.  Still, a flash mob can be a useful tool when trying to get attention for a cause or business.

Recently I was having beers with some friends at a local bar and chatting with a fellow who happened to be a juggler.  Really, a juggler.  This individual was in the process of putting together a burlesque, juggling, musical.  I know, it sounds strange, but intriguing.  He was lamenting the fact that promoting the show was going to be difficult.

I wasn't so sure about that.  Jugglers aren't mimes.  People like juggling.  It's fun to watch and when it's performed by people who REALLY know what they're doing, it's amazing.  I floated the idea of a flash mob by him.  Here was my thinking on this:

1.  The National Western Stock Show was in town
2.  The stock show had thousands of visitors every day
3.  The individual could rally a hundred jugglers and performers to simultaneously show up and 
     juggle
4.  The flash mob would definitely grab the attention of those in attendance
5.  Members of the flash mob could bring spectators into the mob and teach them something fun

It would definitely make an impression on those in attendance and, since it was the stock show, it was a sure bet that TV cameras would be in attendance as well.  It seemed like a perfect opportunity to get some free publicity and be memorable at the same time.

Sadly, the individual didn't take me up on the idea, but I stand by the fact that it would have been successful.  No matter how well-planned and executed your social media efforts are, face-to-face interaction is always going to be a key element to building an audience or customer base.  The problem is, sometimes face to face interaction can be risky.

Let's assume for a minute that the juggler followed up on my idea.  He rallies a hundred jugglers and performers and hits the stock show.  There's a risk that maybe someone might have been hurt by a stray bowling pin.  There's a risk that security might not have been as "cool" with a juggling flash mob as the attendees might have been and tickets may have been issued, or worse, arrests might have been made (although this could be mitigated by performing the flash mob right outside the gates of the stock show where people are exiting and entering).  What if people just weren't impressed by the display of juggling prowess?  What if.... 

There are a lot of what if's when you decide to create a community outreach event designed to force face-to-face interaction.  It is a risk.  But there's a risk anytime you are in public as a representative of your organization.  Maybe someone doesn't like your tie, or the way you talk, or smell or look.  That's why social media can be such a powerful tool.  It's a representation of your organization online.  There are still risks online, but you can control some of those variables in a virtual environment.

In person, those variables tend to be out of your control.  That's why it's so essential to take time and care when putting together any kind of community outreach event.  The last thing you need is to make a bad impression, or worse, have a violent mob on your hands.


What This Means To You:

As a small business and non-profit, you have spent time creating an image online and on various social media platforms for your organization.  This image should carry over to any public event you participate in or create.

Here are some tips when putting together any kind of community outreach event:


1.  Keep it manageable - Dont' let it get so big you lose track of who is involved

2.  Maintain your online image - If you have branded yourself online, keep that brand in public

3.  Know the players - Know the participants in your event.  Make sure you know and trust everyone
     who will be an active participant in your event

4.  Stay on top of the little things -  Generally, it's the overlooked details that mean the difference
     between success and failure.  The last thing you want is to be surprised by anything during your
     event

5.  Keep your message clear - Events have a way of taking on a life of their own and when this
     happens, your message can get lost.  For instance, PETA does these public events about animal
     cruelty, but most of the time, the focus and buzz is just about scantily clad, attractive women in
     cages.  The message gets lost to most people.  You want to avoid this issue.

Community outreach events should be part of your social media and public relations campaigns.  Use a flash mob if it's appropriate.  Just be aware of the dangers.  Events like these can be a huge boost if used correctly and done well.  They can also be damaging if you lose control of them.

The last thing you want to do is try to explain why a mob of teens tore apart a neighborhood as part of a pr stunt.  That's just not good for business.

Video Killed The Radio Star...

With all apologies to the Buggles, video didn't really kill the radio star (the title is a song reference, if you don't know the song, look it up, it's pretty good, AND it was the first ever video played on MTV...so...a little knowledge for you at RPR). 

Does social media mean the end of traditional TV news?  We say no!

There's been a ton of angst about the future of news now that social media has taken a firm grip on our society and doesn't look to be letting go anytime soon.  As a former journalist and longtime fan of the news, I have to say; I'm not overly concerned.  There's a reason for this, and I think if you ask most journalists working today, they'd also say that they're more worried about budget cuts than any impact social media might have on their end product.

To be fair, though, the emergence of social-media-as-news-breaker does confuse many small business owners and non-profits, not to mention many in the public relations field.  I can understand this confusion since social media certainly has forced traditional news outlets to change tactics.  But here's one thing you should be clear on; social media is NOT the death knell for traditional news, whether they're newspapers, radio or television.

As Americans, we seem to thrive on conflict.  We like things to be black or white, one or the other.  Republicans vs. Democrats, chick flicks vs. action/adventure, good guy vs. bad buy, traditional news media vs. social media.  But real life doesn't usually operate that way.  Sometimes both sides of the aisle actually work together, sometimes the good guy is deeply flawed and the bad guy does bad things for good reasons, and, let's face it guys, even your favorite action/adventure movie has an element of chick flick in it, deal with it.

So it's no surprise that traditional media outlets are learning to work with, not against, social media as it continues to grow and develop. 

Many of the small business owners and non-profits I talk to and work with seem to believe that pitching their local newspaper or TV outlet simply doesn't provide the same bang for their buck as it used to.  In fact, many of these organizations have turned their entire marketing and outreach focus towards social media.  This is a mistake.

Recently the BBC issued a statement following a snafu with Twitter and breaking news.  You can see the entire story here.  FOX News, CNN and other major television news outlets are following the lead of the BBC and stating that they will attempt to limit breaking news over Twitter.  The thinking behind these decisions is that breaking news on a social media site such as Twitter hurts their traditional news broadcasts.  At the same time, however, every one of these outlets admitted that there might be times when social media tools might be necessary to break new or provide information before a story can be fully vetted.

So what does this mean?  It means that you are watching the transformation of traditional news, not the death of it.

What's Old Is New Again:

Let's take a trip in the "Way Back Machine" for a minute.  At one point in our history, news was distributed primarily by newspapers.  This all changed early in the 20th Century with the introduction of radio.  At the time, many observers felt that this new, "almost immediate" form of communication meant the end of newspapers. 

Fast forward a few decades and television hit the scene in a big way.  Suddenly you could actually SEE Edward R Murrow instead of just listen to him report on bombings from a London rooftop.  He was in your living room, a trusted companion.  Again, observers cried that television rang the death knell for radio.

The thing is...it didn't.  Radio didn't kill newspapers, tv didn't kill radio and, believe it or not, social media won't kill tv.  News adjusts, it adapts.  Newspapers suffered initially, but they rebounded and discovered that while breaking news could be covered better by radio, newspapers did a better job of providing perspective and analysis, not to mention covering local stories that larger radio networks couldn't get to.

Television was able to provide both breaking news as well as some more in-depth reporting.  Radio stations, like newspapers before them struggled at first to find their niche.  They did. They switched from soap operas and stories to talk radio.  Instead of Jack Benny and Bob Hope, radio turned to talk radio and more local personalities starting in the mid-60's.  Of course FM radio helped keep radio alive until the talk radio phenomenon really exploded in the late 70's and early 80's; a phenomenon that continues today.

Now we have social media making inroads into territory that once exclusively belonged to more traditional news outlets.  But this isn't a new challenge.  Earlier this decade, heck, spanning back into the late 90's bloggers were insisting that they were doing a better job of covering "real" news than most existing networks.  And, in some cases, this was true.

The Smoking Gun site did a good job of breaking news in true journalistic style, through diligent fact checking and confirmations.  Regardless of the ideology of the site, many of the stories it reported turned out to be factual and impactful.  The problem was, bloggers had no oversight.  In many cases, bloggers were simply spewing opinion as fact and calling themselves journalists. 

These bloggers made it hard for the bloggers doing actual journalism to gain respect among the more traditional news outlets.  Now, in 2010, social media tools like Twitter and Facebook has made everybody a journalist.  We can shoot photos and videos on our phones, talk to people on the spot and post a Twitter or Facebook post almost immediately.  Much faster than most tv or radio or newspaper outlets can scramble a reporter to the scene.

Case in point.  

A month ago I was in Longmont at the Seagate facility.  While I was there, a plane towing a glider ran into another glider, resulting in a grizly crash that killed three.  The glider being towed managed to land safely.  I received a tweet on my iPhone notifying me of the crash and that roads outside of Boulder had been closed.  The Tweet came from KCNC in Denver, but it also noted that the information came from an individual on the scene, someone not working as a reporter. 

Within minutes of the crash, a Denver TV station had photos and eyewitness information without having to send out a single reporter.  In this instance, social media helped a traditional media outlet break the news within minutes of the event.

Certainly, traditional media outlets have to be careful, very careful when dealing with information being posted by the general public.  There is no editor, there is no ability to know whether the information is true or accurate until the news station does its own follow up.  However, most of the time, this kind of follow up can be done simply by placing a couple of phone calls. 


What this means to you.

For small business owners and non-profits, this new symbiotic relationship between social media and traditional news outlets means you can get a jump on pitching related stories.  For instance, let's say you use a program like Yoono to keep track of your social media postings on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. 

Suddenly, you see a post pop up with some breaking news about a deadly shooting between neighbors resulting from a festering dispute.  You just received this information and it's likely the TV stations just received it as well.  The TV stations haven't yet reported on it because, A) it's hours before their scheduled newscast, and B) they are probably still in the process of confirming the story.

Now let's say you run a non-profit tht specializes in conflict management.  This is a great opportunity to drop your local news outlets an email stating who you are and how you can provide insight and analysis to their coverage of this tragic event. 

You have just made the job easier for producers, editors and reporters.  Now, if the story is confirmed, they already have a resource they can use to help advance the story for their next broadcast.  You have helped the local TV and radio stations get ahead of the story instead of simply report on it.  You have also now made yourself known to local journalists who may come to you again for future stories.

Social media and traditional media can be friends, to completely butcher a line from the musical "Oklahoma".  News outlets are already figuring out how to use social media to enhance their coverage.  But they also know that social media really can only do so much to provide information and breaking news.  Traditional news outlets know that their job is changing to provide even more analysis and insight to their reporting and in many cases are using social media to get ahead of the news, rather than chase it. 

This means that as a small business owner or non-profit, you should be doing the same thing.  You can get the same social media feeds newsrooms get.  By watching these posts regularly, it can help you come to the aid of a newsroom as an expert or analyst.  It also means that while using social media can positively impact your bottom line, it still doesn't work in a vacuum. 

Your social media efforts should work hand in hand with your traditional PR efforts.  There is still a credibility and reach provided by traditional news outlets that you should be taking advantage of.  If you're not including PR and local news outlets in your planning, then your missing a key component.

And if that's the case, you will likely be going the way of the radio star in that classic Buggles song. 

Labels, we don't need no stinking labels!

Demographics is a word tossed around a lot by industry experts.  It's always been that way.  Even back in my radio and television days, we were always concerned with reaching the right "demo".  And it makes sense why demographics are so important to not just media outlets, but to small businesses and non-profits as well.

Demographics are a quick, easy way to identify a particular group of people you want to reach out to, whether it's in your marketing efforts, your public relations efforts or your social media efforts.  By identifying your audience, you can better structure your content to appeal to those specific individuals and, hopefuly, drive more traffic to your website or business.

But demographics can hide a trap that many small businesses and non-profits, even large corporations, fall into regularly; and that's labeling.

Don't Label!

I recently held a meeting with a client that is preparing a large social media campaign aimed at a specific target demographic.  This particular client is looking to reach pet owners under the age of 35.  That is a fairly specific demographic on one hand, as it specifies and age as well as a particular lifestyle, that of pet owner.

But it doesn't delve into education, financial situation, relationship status, ethnicity or location.  There are some campaigns that have stated their target demographic includes Hispanic women 20 to 25, college educated, unmarried, professionals with a household income between $30-$50k per year living in San Diego.

Now THAT'S a specific demographic.  And when dealing with such specific demo's, it's fairly easy to put together a campaign that speaks directly to that crowd.  And yet even with such detail, organizations can run into problems when approaching that group as a monolithic entity.

In other words, even within such a specific demographic, there are many different tastes, desires, goals, etc.  To treat them all the same is a huge, huge mistake.

For instance, let's go back to the client I had the meeting with.  According to recent studies we know a few thing about under-35 year olds when it comes to social media.  We know that they are very community oriented, we know they tend to be more skeptical of advertising and marketing, they don't blog, but they do read blogs. 

Currently, according to the organization, their largest current user base is women 40-years and older.  Now this organization has some decisions to make.  First, do they focus so much attention on their new target demo that they risk alienating their current users?  Or do they try to find a balance and take a risk that something less than an all out effort will carry their message to the target demo.

The primary danger when dealing with a specific target demo, any target demo is trying to lump them all together.  Let's face it.  We all hate being labeled.  I'm supposedly of the Gen-X ilk.  I know there were numerous studies done on what we liked, what kind of lifestyle we preferred, how we gathered information.  But when it comes right down to it, I only fit a handful of their findings, as did many of my friends. 

This is where the many companies got into trouble when trying to create advertising campaigns for Gen-Xers.  Many of those campaigns failed, miserably.  And they failed for one reason.  Instead of creating campaigns that were simply good, and would naturally appeal to Gen-Xers, these companies made it very clear that these campaigns were specifically targeted at us and, by goodness, we were SUPPOSED to like it.

One Size Does NOT Fit All!

The problem is, we didn't.  I think that's because we were being told that a particular image represented all of us.  When in fact, no one generalization fits well with any demographic.

In our efforts to create this campaign for my client, one of the things we have to avoid is creating social media platforms that scream out, "THIS IS ONLY FOR THE UNDER 35 CROWD!"  That's the fastest way to turn them off of your campaign, and alienate your current base.

Instead, we're looking to create pages and groups that will naturally be appealing to that specific demographic.  This includes creating pages that deal with relationships, financial issues, time concerns and futures planning.  These are all issues that this particular demographic is particularly interested in.  Postings that deal with perhaps a more risque side of relationships, or with balancing professional and personal needs are natural draws.

We also understand that we have to utilize video to its utmost effectiveness and, knowing what we know about blogs and this particular demographic we will delve more into micro-blogging than with more traditional blogs.

We also have to keep humor, irreverence and cleverness at a premium.  By creating content more in line with Collegehumor.com, or funnyordie.com, we'll have much more success than mirroring content more likely to be found on NPR or more staid sites.

However, regardless of what we do, it has to be created and presented in a way that says, "here, take a look at this, it's good...period."  NOT "Here, look at this, you'll like it because you're under 35."  If we go the second route, we'll fail.

Small businesses and non-profits should always focus on quality of content over demographic generalizations.  Demographics are best used when helping to determine what kind of platforms to use in your social media campaign and to guide the kind of content you post.  Note that I said, guide, not determine, but guide.  Good content will take care of itself, but if you know that your audience, by and large prefers video over long articles, funny and irreverent over dramatic and respectful then you can tailor your content to meet those standards.

Spending some time on sites that cater specifically to the age group you are trying to reach will help you in your content delivery and even help you speak the language to an extent.  But don't try to act like your 28 if you're 50 years old.  The demo will sniff you out and turn on you.  But if you treat them with respect, don't label them and present quality content in a way that appeals to them, you'll find success.

Keepin' It Real:

One final note on that.  Let's say you want to reach out to a 30 and under demographic and tell them about CPR classes.  Your facts say everything you really need to say, but you need to present it in such a way that will appeal to your target audience.  You COULD write out a series of stories in a blog, but you already know that probably won't impact your demo and drive them to your website.

But, you COULD put together a micro-blog together with video and photos that would have greater appeal to your demo.  You could also find ways to relate CPR to relationship issues, health issues, professional concerns or futures planning.  Yes, this may be a little difficult, but if you could find a way to make CPR sexy or somehow a relationship-enhancer, you're going to find a great deal of success in reaching out to your target audience.

If this means spending time with members of your target audience to find out more about what they find fun or interesting, then do it.  Just don't try to BE a member of this target audience unless you really belong there.  In other words, in the verbiage of the kids today...just keep it real.

Word.