Marketing Matters Blog

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So There’s This New Podcast…

I’m about a week behind in posting this announcement (darn clients making me do stuff like “work”), but wanted to share news of a new podcast I’m proud to be a part of. Once a month I now have the fortune of connecting with several of the brightest minds in worlds of social media and AV to produce AVSocial, a new podcast from AVNation designed to help individuals and businesses in the AV industry better understand and utilize social media.

 AVSocial Episode 1 Image

 

I have the pleasure of joining AV industry vet, blogger, writer and all-around cool guy, George Tucker as a co-host on AVSocial. Each month we’ll have any number of guests who will share insight, best practices and more on everything from Twitter to Facebook to Google+ to blogging and more.

 

Our first episode, “Join, the Conversation”, featured special guest, Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO of ifwerantheworld.com, and equally special guests, Dawn Meade of AV blogging fame and Matt Scott, owner of Omega Audio Video. Our debut show touched on the driving principals of social media, how and why it’s important for business and offered a few tips on how to get started.

 

We’ve got a lot of great ideas planned for AVSocial and I’m eager to hear your feedback on the show.

 

I would also like to offer the opportunity to send me any specific questions you may have that perhaps we can address on the show. Have a question about setting up your blog? Can’t quite get a grasp on Twitter hashtags? Have no clue what a Google+ brand page is? Shoot me an email with your question (s) and I’ll see if we can bring them up on the show.

 

Enjoy!

- Scott Moody

 

Three Cost-Effective (read: FREE!) PR Tools

Bill Gates is believed to have said, “If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” It’s no secret that public relations is one of the most effective tools in building awareness for your company, regardless of its size or service and product offering. However, given its effectiveness, many companies fail to utilize the benefits of PR because of lack of resources or lack of budget. You should know that not all PR efforts have to be on the same budget as Apple to be successful. In fact, there are actually free, yes FREE, tools out there to help you manage a very effective PR strategy.

 

So let Bill Gates spend a dollar on PR while you utilize these free public relations services:

 

HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

One of the best ways to give yourself and your company instant credibility is to demonstrate your expertise in a particular subject. HARO is an email-based service that connects sources—which could include you and your business—with nearly 30,000 members of the media. Once you register as a source, you can choose to receive emails from HARO (sent out three times a day) with an extensive list of reporters looking for sources for a wide variety of stories. While you may feel your company’s only expertise is in topics like home automation or loudspeakers, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see the range of topics (e.g. customer service, business management, etc.) in which you could easily provide a reporter with a quote or advice.

 

Register: http://www.helpareporter.com

Cost: Free

 

PitchEngine

As we all know, the days of sending your company press release out to a list of every media member you can find an email address for are well behind us. Just like you, many members of the press have their own preferred way of receiving information, whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, search engines, or in some cases, still via email. PitchEngine is a publishing service that allows you to create a “social media release” that can be easily shared through virtually any network or platform. PitchEngine makes it easy for you to set up a press release to include your press release, images, video and SEO-content galore.

 

Register: http://www.pitchengine.com

Cost: User account and press release posting for 30 days is free.

 

Google Alerts

From Yelp!, to Facebook, to Twitter, to message boards, chances are if your company is even mildly successful, people are talking online about your brand. To help stay on top of what your customers—current and future—are saying about your company, sign up for Google Alerts. Set up alerts featuring your company name, your name, your company’s products or services and even your competition to be delivered to your inbox. By finding customer raves and rants regarding your company as it happens, you’ll be able to snap into action quicker should you need to send the nice “Thank You” note or have a customer service representative follow up.

 

Register: http://www.google.com/alerts

Cost: Free

 

Scott Moody is the Director of Public Relations at Marketing Matters (http://www.marketingmatters.net), a communications and design firm specializing in technology, consumer and custom electronics, audio-video, and related industries.

What Does PR Look Like in 2011?

At a recent trade show, while talking with the president of a hopefully-soon-to-be-partner of Marketing Matters, he turned to me and posed a question: “so in your opinion, what does PR look like in 2011?”

I spouted off an intelligible answer, but there was a lot I couldn’t cover in our brief chat. The answer, I told him, has everything to do with the tools in today’s PR toolkit.

In years gone by, general PR responsibilities were to help develop messaging, publicize events, get products in all the right media outlets, get news out to the media and coordinate interviews. These general responsibilities are still at the forefront of any PR activities today, but the methods in which they are implemented have changed drastically. Not to mention, the number of places you need to actually do some implementin’.

Today, you’ve got to be aware that your audiences—which include customers, critics (yes, them, too), media outlets, employees, stakeholders, etc.—have no shortage of vessels in which they can, and choose to, receive information. No longer can you be dependent on sending out the ol’ press release or e-newsletter and expect everyone to hear the good word. Your challenge is to make sure you deliver your message to your audiences using the medium they prefer.

To give you a brief overview of the different ways you need to approach PR and a few suggestions on tools, I’ve put together a list of areas you need to consider to get better PR results:

Media Relationships – Work to develop relationships with members of the press. Take the time to get to know them a bit, know what they cover and how they cover it. Subscribe to their blogs, comment on their online stories or offer story ideas that don’t always include you or your company.

Social Media – Social media gives you a unique opportunity to connect directly to your audiences and by now, most companies have at least a minor presence in the social media world. However, most think it’s simply a “set it and forget it” strategy. You have to constantly, constantly, CONSTANTLY work social media. Although it seems overwhelming to stay on top of it, there are several social media management tools out there (Mashable: 5 Social Media Management Tools) so take the time to try a few out and see what works best for you.

Video – YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine. While it would be hard for a company to see no value in video, most don’t take the time to make them because they all think they have to be the quality of a Christopher Nolan flick. The reality is that technology has advanced so much that you can produce a great 1-2 minute video clip featuring your product or service without extensive video production knowledge. Pretty much everything has a camera in it, and most computers have at least basic video editing software that’s more than enough for the common Joe. The key to video is to keep it brief, keep it interesting and make it relevant. A great format to follow is the simple elevator pitch that the gang at rAVe Pubs does at trade shows.

SEO – Even a little bit of SEO knowledge goes a long way. Every person on your PR and marketing team should have at least a working knowledge of SEO and better know your company’s top three keywords (one of which shouldn’t include your company name). Understand how to utilize SEO in all your online marketing and PR efforts including press releases, website content, blogs, social media, video, etc.

Metrics – It’s vital that your company has some kind of evaluation, monitoring and measurement systems in place for your PR or marketing efforts. Companies would never consider just letting the sales team go about its business without regular reporting, objectives and goals, but some seem to be OK with investing in marketing and PR without analyzing its effectiveness. Work to develop your communication goals and objectives and figure out how you will measure them.

These are just a few tools you need to have in your modern day PR toolkit. I would love to hear your thoughts on which are most effective and why as well as any other tools you feel are necessary in today’s market.

Scott Moody is the Director of Public Relations at Marketing Matters (http://www.marketingmatters.net), a communications and design firm specializing in technology, consumer and custom electronics, audio-video, and related industries.