Brand Building

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How to keep your brand going strong

Auto brandingWhat makes a brand? It takes more than one sentence to answer this question. As well as it takes more than doing just one press release, or an article to create or build a brand. It takes an entire campaign that can last more than a few years to build a solid brand image.

First you need to understand what it takes to build a brand, as well as how to maintain that brands image. A good thought would be why you are buying a particular car. Why do you prefer a GM brand over an import like Toyota, Nissan, Lexus, etc, or vice versa? Ask yourself, why is a brand important?

Brands are a big part of our daily life. It is how we make decisions on our buying habits. So knowing this much, you should then realize no matter your industry, branding is critical.

Oh, you think that your company is a B2B company, and therefore you don’t sell directly to consumers. Bad thought. All people, even business people are brand conscious. They too are consumers. Take another test. Why do your business customers buy from competitors? It’s the branding. Ok, sometimes cost is a factor. But if your brand was highly respected, one that delivers excellent service with follow up, then your brand will outlast the discount companies.

If you need to read some other thoughts on building a brand, then read a column from Rhonda’s Report. She will address the 5 points that brands are based on. It is time to build your brand before your competitors knock you out of the industry.

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Get Visual With Publicity

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The Media Will Listen If You Speak

We have already accepted that everyone wants to build traffic to his or her site. Publicity people want the media to visit the site. And the marketing/sales staff wants the site to sell more products. So what’s the answer? How about a talking head?

talking head for web sitesSounds silly, but if you haven’t looked into this unique talking head add-on, then check it out. The web site is called SitePal.

I’m not a rep for them, nor do I get any commissions, I want you to know of this neat add-on for your web site. Marketing people will probably like it, publicity people will not be sure how to use it. If that’s your problem, then it’s time you put on the creative thinking cap.

Imagine this. The "press room" on the web site introduces the visitor to the different articles and the press releases about the company. Now you have a talking head that will capture the attention of the visitor and they will more likely listen and then download the press kit and other information. This can be a clever tool for publicity professionals or pr clients who feel that the words they write can be more powerful if only the visitor could “hear” them rather than read them. Just a suggestion.

An important note: you don’t go overboard using this feature. Just like creating a PowerPoint presentation, you shouldn’t use all the different slide techniques and effects in a presentation; here too you need to restrain yourself from using this feature too much.

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Using Videos For Publicity

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How to get the word out!

Branding is still a hot issue with companies. And if you haven’t yet implemented a branding program, you should do it now. The Internet has helped launch many companies by building images of national and international brands. Publicity firms and pr clients should rethink the tools they use when spreading the word. As the Internet continues to reach new levels of marketing, publicity professionals and pr clients can take advantage of these new and exciting tools for branding.

Using videos for publicityNow you can do it with videos. Broadband videos are hot. These clips now can be produced by production companies to showcase a pr clients products or service, just like they would in a TV spot. Unlike TV commercials, these can be longer in time, or cut apart into smaller shorts to create more interest.

Alan Schulman wrote an article describing "How To Build Your Brand With Video". He gives several good tips, 5 in all.
For example, if you are looking to attract sports people, make sure your clips are geared to that audience. Another tip that publicity professionals and marketers should include is: Make the Videos Interactive. Get your audience to click onto a video that reveals a promotion or tells a message about your pr clients product or service.

These are just a few suggestions and reasons why Broadband Videos can jumpstart a publicity campaign for your company or pr client. If you need help in understanding this new marketing tool, contact us or find a company that has the street smarts to get your company noticed.

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How Can Optimizing Be Bad?

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Know what you are doing first

optimizing web sitesEveryone who builds a web site claims to know optimizing. The same is true about those small startups saying they can get you listed at the top of SE’s (Search Engines). How is this relating to publicity? Because “Publicity is Everywhere!” If you direct the media to your site, but they forget the URL, they probably will type specific keywords in the SE to locate the web site.

Ok, first let me say not all these companies are out to make a fast buck. But it appears that most of them are selling software or just doing a blast listing to all the SE’s out there. How can these really help? Well, you won’t see any progress for weeks, maybe a couple of months at best. That’s how they get your money and then you just shake off that bad experience when nothing happens and your still listed 348 on Google, or Yahoo.

Web Site Optimization is more than placing a bunch of keywords into the HTML of your site. It isn’t the key phrase either. Because if you do this incorrectly, the search engines will pass you by!

The keywords you selected…how did you find them? If these are the most popular, then you are going to get zero traffic for a long time. Knowing which are the best keywords and what people are using is completely different. Plus, using multiple words can be even more productive and generate traffic. Ok, stop for a moment. Is traffic what you want? I hope not. Because I can get you thousands of people a month easily, but they won’t be qualified to purchase your products or services.

Qualified buyers are what you need. The number of visitors is important, if they are qualified. Keep that in perspective. We can give you the optimization to get listed at the top of Google, Yahoo and MSN among other search engines.

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A New Marketing Tool For Publicity

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Behavorial Targeting


Another marketing tool for publicity is called "Behavioral Targeting"(BT). This term is in most respects new. It addresses how people are purchasing on the Internet.

If you have a publicity campaign and your pr client is selling a specific product to a selected market, then you need to know and learn about BT.

An author of this is Jack Smith. He addresses this new tactic so that marketers and publicity professionals can locate their pr client’s audiences faster and more cost effectively.

Mr. Smith best describes the BT marketing as follows: "BT does its job by tracking what people do online: the pages they visit, where they click and how often. It filters the anonymous results into marketing-relevant categories of those with like behavior and like tastes." Just reading this description should show you that BT is needed in all areas of marketing and publicity.

With budgets getting tighter, it now means that smart marketing and publicity targeting are more important to be effective. You can no longer run a series of “testing campaigns” to see what works best. I am not suggesting you eliminate tests, just limit those by doing the BT study of customers for your client’s products. This will then help to isolate the target audience so that your results can be more productive.

Mr. Smith’s “5 step plan for BT beginners” has a lot of examples, but can sometimes be confusing. His examples are based on fictional companies and products, which is ok. Sometimes it is unclear when trying to follow the steps. But in all fairness, it does help you get closer to learning about behavioral targeting.

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Optimizing Press Releases and Web Sites

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How to get productive in pr

blog site optimizingI am sure that the word "optimize" is overused, over said, and most likely is more than overdue. How can it be overdue? When it relates to publicity. Such things as press releases, or articles for the media all should be optimized for maximum exposure.

The Internet has re-born how we write press releases and how they are distributed. Just as know that a web site needs to be optimized, so do your press releases.

There are a lot of articles that help people learn what to do to optimize their web site. One for example by Yaro Stark gives his 10 tips for web site optimization.

Many of the same optimizing tips for web sites apply to press releases. Let’s look at a few of them:

  • Title Tags. Make sure your title has the important words that best describe your release.
  • Keyword density. Use your keywords and any phrases wisley, don’t repeat them too often. Your text should read clearly, not like a book on all your keywords.
  • Structure. Keep the structure simple. Unlike a hard copy, an Internet media release should follow the traditional rules for online publishing.
  • Links. Yes, with those allowing to use HTML, use links properly and that will help SEO’s find your site faster as well as the media.
  • Contact Info. Without this, the reporters cannot waste time locating the person to interview or ask questions. Make sure all contact information is easily noticed.

If you need more help with the web site or press release optimizing, give us a call. We can make things happen for you. Call us at: 949-477-9400.

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Web Site Blogging

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Keep a daily blog and publicity will increase

If you are interested in getting more visible, then you need to add a blog site to your publicity campaign. It is true that most anyone in your company can probably write the blogs on a daily basis, but it is the use of the correct wording and use of keywords that make a business blog productive.

Not everyone can write a short novel, or a radio commercial, or a sales brochure. Each of these examples requires a different writing talent. A publicity pro can write successful press releases and articles for publication, but they might not be a good copywriter for brochures or ads.

But a good publicity writer can adapt easily to writing blogs than an advertising copywriter. Why? The reason is simple. Publicity writers are not writing text for people to buy, but rather to act upon. Therefore, their style is more informative in their writing. That’s what blogs (for business) are about. Getting the information in front of readers who will react more to a blog than an ad.

Knowing how to write a blog is only one aspect of a good blog site. Now you need to know how to use the site to gain traffic and visibility. This requires learning how to make links, use photos and inserting keywords into your text and in what order. Once you begin using blogs, it will open more opportunities for your company, or your pr clients.

So I again recommend that pr clients, publicity firms look into the serious positive effects that blog sites can offer.

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Publicity and Email

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One is a series

Email marketing isn’t new, but how we use this tool for marketing, shows that it is now making positive advances in using email for publicity. To make any publicity campaign successful you need to make sure that all your options of marketing tools and resources are in place. This is not saying to use email to contact reporters, editors or the media. That should be part of your normal activity.

A Study Reveals Reasons To Use Email Marketing
There is a lot of discussion about how email has helped different companies gain recognition and increase sales. Not through spamming, but through controlled distribution. Several new studies show that a majority (out of 259 companies surveyed), 93% use email to reach consumers. This and other studies are important to pr professionals, because it clearly indicates how people rely on email and how they are thinking and how they can be reached.

If you have a pr client and they want to gain awareness, then it is your responsibility to examine the options of email marketing. The study I read, called "Email Goes Viral" shows the marketing tactics of manufacturing companies will increase their spending on email marketing, direct sales and even publicity. As much as a 42% increase on publicity alone! Another Internet activity is Webinars, a 35% increase for next year.

Publicity Agencies and PR Professional Need To Act Now
This should give reason for publicity firms to act upon and use other marketing sources like email. As I have said many times, publicity needs to interact with the IT departments and Marketing departments of a company in order to develop successful campaigns.

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Presenations Are Part Of Publicity Skills

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One in a series for publicity

Not everyone can be a great presenter, or speaker. But anyone can learn the skills required to improve your presentation to the media.

When you are arranging for an interview for your pr client, you need know how to present and pitch the story to a specific media. This is one of the many skills that takes time to develop. Unfortuantely, time isn’t going to help you when that story needs to be in the news immediately. So what is the answer?

Try to learn from others who are more experienced. Take notes when you see a presenter or a seasoned pr professional make the pitch. There are a lot of things you can learn. If you have the opportunity to meet with the press use some of these suggestions.

Some helpful tips:

  • Keep your hands out of your pockets
  • Always look at the person you are speaking to
  • Know your subject (topic you are pitching) well in advance
  • Allow the reporter the opportunity to ask questions
  • It is ok to be selective on which questions to answer, that will help your pitch go smoother
  • Be sure to leave all your contact information
  • Speak clearly and not fast. Don’t be a slow talker, but keep the pace moving
  • Don’t digress and begin a new topic thinking it will help get the story published

I can go on, but as you can see, these are easy skills to improve. It doesn’t take a lot of time to learn, and no books are required.

If you want to learn more there are a lot of resources. For those wanting to improve personal presentation skills, the SkillsStudio in the UK offers training courses. If you need to speak better, there are also many resources like Impression Management. Just Google the term "pesentation skills" as a start.

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How Are Your Communication Skills?

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One in a series for publicity tips


Knowing how to write a press release, or an article for publication is in itself a talent, a skill. But do you know how to communicate your pr client to the media? Oh yeah, that’s right, you’re a pr professional, so how can you not know! Well, don’t be surprised, but many of the new people in the industry are just not "listening" to their pr clients. This is alos true of companies that have in-house publicity departments who are probably experiencing this same problem…no one is really listening.

This is a skill that seems to be lacking within the publicity industry. Everyone wants to be heard, but no one wants to take the time to really listen.

Listening is much different than hearing.

For example:

  • When we are asleep, we still "hear" things. That is how we wakeup to an alarm clock, or a dog barking.
  • Listening is when you are understanding to what someone is saying

This is the main difference. We are seeing that young publicity professionals are too busy THINKING of what to say in response to the person talking. That holds true with pr people not completely listening to clients about the new product or service they want to promote.

This skill is very important when communicating to the media. The way you speak to a reporter, how you "hear" and Listen" to what they are asking, can make a big difference in getting a story, or a press release published.

Look into getting a refresher course, or ask for help from professional pr people who know how to communicate. There are a lot of sources, courses and books. Make yourself be a good listener, it can only help you communicate better.

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