Newsworthiness: New context & opportunity for PR Sarah Skerik

Hello. Sarah Skerik Vice president, content linkedin.com/in/sarahskerik #prnewswire

Our agenda The media evolution: changes in information consumption & audience behavior Imperatives for PR Your internal newsmakers New tactics & approaches Newsworthiness Context OpportunityAttention Credibility

MEDIA EVOLUTION The game has changed. Has your approach evolved?

Domo.com

The new PR reality: We’re competing for finite audience attention against an infinite ocean of content.

Our behavior has changed as a result... B2B customers contact a sales rep only after 70% of the purchase decision has been made. – Sirius Decisions 2012

Study of consumers: The traditional linear path to purchase is giving way to a more winding journey. The shopper is always on” as a result of his or her constant interaction with brands. -- ARF 2013

86% of IT buyers use social media during their decision process. 89% of IT buyers prefer educational content to promotional content in their favored social media channels Source: IDG

The buying journey is not linear. Source: Forrester

We’re looking for really granular stuff

Social popularity drives content visibility in search engines.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PR?

Our brands live in ecosystems & the audiences are beating hearts.

X Your audience has already busted your silos (even if your organization doesn’t know it yet.)

New imperatives for PR: –Adapt to changing media models to generate (and measure) PR results. –Recognize different forms of earned media, and –Earn organic attention, outside of traditional media models, which requires –Creating effective messaging for today’s environment.

TELL THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR, NOT WHAT THE BRAND WANTS TO TELL.* * Or, at least use what the audience is interested in as the framework for the content you develop.

ThenNow Interaction Viral Content Influencers Measurable outcomes Print media pick-up PR “stunts” Media luminaries Fuzzy measurement

Audience interaction gives media earned credibility Earned Media (Journalists, Bloggers, Social?) Owned Media (Your web site, pitches, blog, & other channels) Paid Media (Press releases, advertising) EVOLVED When people interact with your content Press Release

Forget viral. Popular content has a long lifespan.

Interaction is worth measuring The value is in amplification. Digital activity can be measured: –Traffic to a related microsite) –Number of times something was shared –Search rank –Conversions!

NEWSMAKERS Finding the stories & story-tellers

Mine your organization for interesting stories, relevant content & news opportunities. Ask “What can the brand add to the conversation?”

Find your newsmakers*. (Okay, interesting content makers.) Illustrate & explain data. Marketing Draw back the curtain. Niche experts Share their perspective. Front-line teams Prove your worth. Customers Inspire your audience. Influencers

Leverage sponsored/owned content

Capitalize on interest created by breaking news (or extend a newsjack) with detailed expert commentary.

The news releases SecureState has issued to promote their blog are the second-largest source of referrer contacts for the company.

Pro tip: These are trackable URLs

TACTICS Branded content matters, as long as it’s relevant and credible.

Press releases are shared multiple times each minute on Twitter.

Employ multimedia elements. Visuals have their own distribution networks Visuals draw eyeballs Algorithms value visuals People like pictures. Better results accrue

Music Travelers Mom Drive interaction by atomizing content to surface different angles & appeal to different audiences. Entertainment

Market your messaging. Drive discovery with distribution.

Use measurable links deliberately

Align content and calls to action to your organization’s marketing funnel. (Yes. Your organization has one of these.) Reads Clicks Amplification # of specific outcomes

Use keywords, but not for the reason you might think. 200% incr ease in traf fic !

Headline length really matters. Keep them short. Why? –Our data. (80-130) –Search engines (65) –AP system (80) –Twitter (100) Use a subhead to keep peers happy.

Thank you. Twitter: LinkedIn: Blog: author/sarahskerik Promotions.prnewswire.com/NewsworthinessEbook