practical

Tips and information for effective public relations - Spring 2013   

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Name Dropping

 Here's a sampling of what's going on with our clients and staff:
Congratulations to

Wisconsin Plastics, Inc.  on being one of 58 companies nominated statewide for the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Award.

    

Hoffman Planning, Design and Construction, Inc. had the media buzzing about their work on the renovation of the Oshkosh Premier Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center (formerly the Oshkosh City Center Hotel). Hoffman gave the media a sneak peek of the progress of the eight-story, 131,000 square foot facility in February which resulted in some great community awareness and excitement about the project. Congrats!

 

Problem Gambling was in the Spotlight as more than 150 people from across the state attended the recent Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling Statewide Conference at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay. The conference generated considerable media attention, including coverage by the
Green Bay Press-Gazette,
Appleton Post-Crescent, WFRV-TV5, Fox-11, NBC-26 and other Wisconsin media. 

 

    

 Leonard & Finco is working on media outreach and public involvement for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Madison Beltline project. The Beltline is a vital transportation link for Madison and Dane County.

 

 The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary has partnered with the Green Bay Area Public School District to offer a nature-based 4K program for the 2013-2014 school year. Planning is underway for what is sure to be an amazing experience for kids! Congrats to the Sanctuary on the program!

  

 Reuters.com recently featured  Stevens and Stevens Business Records Management's news release, "For the record, good record keeping is a good thing."

 

 

The Port of Green Bay kicked off the 2013 shipping season with the first ship arriving in port on Tuesday, April 2. The SS Alpena arrived at 4:05 p.m. at the LaFarge North America terminal carrying cement. Here is to a busy and productive shipping season!

 


Quick Quote

"To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them."

~Charles de Montesquieu 
Time for a Social Media Tune-Up

 

How long have you been using social media? If your answer is "oh, forever," then it's time for a social media tune-up. Here are some quick tips for a quick tune-up:

  • Revisit your original goals and objectives for each social media platform you're currently using. Have your goals changed? Does the platform continue to meet those goals?
  • Are you maximizing what your social media platforms can do for you? Effective social media requires more than an occasional written update. Platforms continually offer new ways to reach your target audiences, so check out what they can do and how you can maximize engagement.
  • Are you up to speed on new forms of social media? Even if you're not going to use a newer platform, like Pinterest or Instagram, you need to at least have a general understanding about them and what they're being used for.
  • Look into new measurement tools and metrics. Most social media platforms offer some form of analysis or evaluation. These measurement tools can change or are updated on a fairly regular basis. You need to know what they can - and can't - do.
  • Have fun with it! If you view social media as a chore; that's what it will become. So if you're now slogging through those updates, brainstorm what you can do to make things interesting and fun again. If you're not excited about what you're doing, no one else will be either!

The one thing that's constant about social media is that it's constantly changing. Don't get complacent or you may miss out on some great opportunities to engage your target audiences.
Instant Media Creates PR Challenges and Opportunities
 

If no one has said it to you yet, let me be the first to welcome you to the age of "instant media." 

 

What do you mean you ask?

 

Today's technology, including smart phones, electronic tablets and social media tools, has created a new generation of reporter that is able to report on a story as it's happening. An example is a news conference I recently coordinated for an airline. During the news conference, several reporters attending the event tweeted about the announcement while we were still making it.

 

Another example happened just a few days ago. I was sending out a news release to about 15 reporters. When emailing a news release to the media, I prefer to send it out to one reporter at a time instead of the less personal, "shotgun approach." By the time I had sent the release to the last of my 15 contacts, the first reporter I sent it to had already posted the story onto their website and tweeted about it. This was in the span of about 12 minutes.

 

Are you starting to understand how fast the media is becoming?

 

Now add "citizen journalists" to the mix and you have a whole new group of "reporters" to be aware of. You may even know some of them or may have been one yourself. It's the person who happened to see or capture a photo or video of something happening and then uploaded the information to one of their social media sites or shared it with traditional media.

 

The significant challenge with instant media is that there isn't much time for the business or individual being reported on to plan and react to what's being reported. Plus, in some cases, reporters in a rush to report the news first aren't always reporting the entire story, but instead, bits and pieces of it. Not necessarily the worst situation if it's good news they are reporting. But, what if it's not?

 

That's when pre-planning becomes essential. The first step is to understand just how quick instant media can be and to recognize that you or your business are not immune to it. From there, your next three steps should include: Prepare, Prepare and Prepare. No, that's not a typo. Being prepared prior to making an announcement or pre-planning for worst case scenarios and developing messaging for how to handle the situation is the best method to address issues that happen unexpectedly. That way, if you're ever caught off guard by an instant media news story, you are ready to react.

 

The plus side to instant media is that reporters are sharing more information, faster than they ever have before. This creates opportunities because reporters are seeking to gather information quickly and efficiently. The more you can provide to them, the more likely you are to get a story outcome you are seeking.