Providing public relations and marketing communications counsel, strategy and support
People who know me well, know I like to have fun yet take business seriously. I believe in and appreciate good writing. I came upon this (see below) in a social media post this week and laughed. Words don’t just communicate ideas and thoughts, they give the reader and listener a sense about you, your business and your ideas. That’s why writing well (good writing) is important. I hope you find this humorous too.
Business sectors have jargon. Public relations practitioners use words and phrases that set us apart. Here’s a list with definitions to help guide your next conversation with your PR team.
Advertorial: It is a paid ad that looks like a news article.
Analytics: The data generated via your public relations tools. Google analytics should be programmed into websites to show visitor traffic, page hits and more, for example.
Angle: Reporters want to know the hook behind a story idea. That’s the angle. What makes your story interesting?
Audience: Who do you need to talk to? Our clients often have multiple audiences and need tailored messages for each of them: employees, vendors, clients, prospects, for example.
Boilerplate: This is the last paragraph of a news release. It explains what the business publishing the news release is and does.
Corporate ID: Every organization should have a corporate ID. This is a document outlining the colors of your logo, how a logo can/cannot be used. It also should include the organization’s message.
Dashboard: Monthly dashboards show our clients key analytics including social media, email open rates, news articles published and more.
Editorial Calendar: While daily newspapers and television stations do not have editorial calendars, business journals and trade publications often post their editorial calendars online or in their media kit. It outlines what topics will be addressed and when providing an opportunity to pitch a story.
Exclusive: Sometimes a public relations professional will offer just one reporter your story. The strategy is used to get maximum visibility so other media will follow.
Lead time: The amount of time required to pitch a story, execute a project, create a strategy and more. Public relations professionals like a large amount of lead time.
Link structure: When a company is creating a website, a public relations professional will create a wire frame (think blueprint) with a link structure for your important information.
Media Directory: Public relations firms subscribe to media directory services to research reporters. Most online media directory tools allow public relations teams to issue news releases too.
Media pitch: Public relations teams are not literally pitching something at a reporter. We’re offering (or pitching) ideas based on editorial calendars and reporter beats.
Message: This is also called the company story. Is everyone on your team talking about your business the same way? This is your company message.
PRSA: Public Relations Society of America is the trade association for public relations professionals.
Social media channels: These aren’t actually channels, such as a TV. The channels are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on.
Style Guide: Whether it’s Associated Press or Chicago Style (or a company variation), public relations professionals working on a team write using the same system. Business leaders should know what style their team uses to write to ensure how titles are capitalized, how company products are written and more.
Public relations and communications plans take focus and consistency. Many business leaders work in companies with in-house marketing/communications professionals or own companies with outsourced marketing communications teams in place. Each month, these leaders review spreadsheets, P&Ls, balance sheets and other reports to be sure the business is financially healthy. Do those reports include marketing/communications dashboards? After all, isn’t it the marketing/communications that’s driving branding, new business, consumer purchases–your cash flow?
Some say public relations is intangible. With the advent of Google Analytics, email newsletters and social media, I disagree. And even before these tools were available, communications could be measured via qualitative and quantitative surveys, if not bumps in sales. A well planned and consistent strategy includes goals. And those goals should align to regular monthly marketing/communications dashboards. Before starting a dashboard consider these questions:
1) Do we have a public relations or marketing/communications plan?
Without a plan, it’s hard to determine what you’re measuring. A strategic plan has goals with tactics that align to what your team is trying to achieve. That drives your measurements. Maybe you want to lower your cost per click in your pay per click campaign while driving more consumer calls/emails. Tracking starting with a baseline and then reviewing monthly reports allows you to see if the campaign works.
2) How many people participate in your plan/tactics and who’s the lead?
We have clients with robust advertising, social media, and Internet presence. Our team acts as the conduit to not only plan the public relations and communications, we oversee the overall message, strategy and goals. Each month, we pull together a dashboard to tell the client how each tactic is performing. That means we’re reporting items such as: are campaign landing pages tracking new consumers, are those consumers using coupons, do consumers from pay per click campaigns produce calls/clicks. We’re also watching Google analytics. If we ask customers to write blogs or create content, we know that’s their time. We want to be sure it’s well invested. Is anyone reading the content? When emails are sent on behalf of a sales team, are they opened and read?
3) What happens if a tactic is not working?
Public relations and marketing/communications professionals know if a tactic isn’t producing then it shouldn’t be repeated. Sending out news releases and no one is picking them up? Spending time loading social media posts and no one is engaging? Ask why and analyze whether or not to continue.
4) What happens if something is working?
Pat yourself on the back. Then consider doing more of it and investing more time/budget.
Finally remember tracking public relations and marketing/communications work to creating dashboards isn’t a tool to bring someone to task for poor performance. It’s a tool to see results and re calibrate as needed to ensure dollars are invested well for ROI now and in the future. That’s why you measure twice and continue cutting and adding to find the perfect plan for your business.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about teamwork. What’s it really mean? How does a team of people come together to become highly functioning? Two experiences this week sparked me to write this blog as I continue thinking about it and how it pertains to my daily work with great clients throughout central Indiana.
1) Strengths complement strengths: My son just started his freshman year of college. He’s at a very small engineering school in Indiana that focuses on academics, yes, but also leadership skills. Last night he was telling me about orientation week. During one activity, dorm floor teams had a race. Sounds fun, right? He didn’t tell me about the part where he and others raced and cheered. Instead he told me about how he and his roommate stood at a wall that his teammates were supposed to go over. He and the roomie helped each person to success over the wall. Wise choice from two just-starting-out college freshman. Why them? First they’re football players–strong guys. Second, they know the value of team work after years on the football field. While I thought wow, I’m so proud, it’s occurred to me what they did is second nature–help your teammate by using your strength, literally. How have you helped a teammate today, or better yet, let a teammate help you? Sometimes the latter is harder since we have to step back and recognize someone else is better at something.
2) Please and thank you: Last week I sat through a client meeting that focused on culture and mood. Basically it was about how we treat each other in the workplace. Are you happy to see people? How do you greet each other? Are you curious and appreciative? Or do you get defensive when someone questions you and your work? Saying please, thank you and how are you today are the easiest tasks of anyone’s day, yet it often doesn’t happen enough. Have you thanked someone today? It could make their day.
During the course of the business day, we can often forget that helping a teammate, trusting a teammate can actually help us saying thanks with a smile is the first step to develop a highly functioning team. Our team says we act as an extension of our client’s internal staff. We’re part of your team. And we mean it. We bring strength to your team to complement your organization. And when we’re invited in, we appreciate the relationship as we learn, grow and deliver together–as a highly functioning team.
Let’s face it, public relations measurement isn’t fun or exciting. Creating dashboards, reviewing data and figuring out the why behind the metrics is great if you’re an analyzer who likes to dig into the data. Yet it’s probably one of the most important areas where we as business leaders and owners need to focus.
In public relations, I’ve heard it said that programs and projects cannot be measured. Not true. A well organized and thought out plan includes a lead up to the expected metrics. And honestly, I can be a bit of a data geek when I dive into Google Analytics or review details on an email newsletter campaign.
Often, we meet with prospects who want to get straight to the tactic. Their expectations are high. They want their news release to hit the mark and generate article after article. Others want a social media program, yet when we ask what’s the message and goal, they aren’t sure. This is why it’s important to have a plan with realistic measurement tools embedded.
Think of it like this. If you build a house, you don’t jump in picking flooring, countertops, paint, backsplashes and all of the other selections that make the home look nice and impress the guest. You think big picture: where’s the lot, what’s the home’s floor plan, what’s the timeline, how much will it cost and more?
So ask: what’s the lead up to your public relations plan and what’s your expectation. What are you measuring? If you’re not sure if it’s realistic, consult a public relations professional.
While thinking through measurements for this blog, I did what most professionals do—searched Google. Most of what I read was a refresher, but overall it made me think this: PR professionals have been trying to unravel the measurement mystery for decades. Most of our clients want to keep it simple, and those clients range from top global companies to local non-profits.
In 2010, the Barcelona Principles were adopted by PR professionals during a conference in none other than Barcelona. This is a set of seven principles that provide the first overarching framework for effective public relations (PR) and communication measurement.
Measurement takes planning, organization, time and commitment. It’s done in partnership with clients. And when it’s done well you don’t just feel the impact, you see it in data, dashboards and reports. And for us, that’s the fun part–impacting a client business by meeting their goals and objectives.