How Spooky Is Social Media?

June 2, 2012 Leave a comment

In a recent opinion article for CNN, Andrew Keen, a British-American entrepreneur, professional skeptic and author of “The Cult of the Amateur,” and “Digital Vertigo,” warns us about the dangers not only of Facebook, but with our growing obsession with social media.  (Opinion: Facebook threatens to “Zuck up” the human race) He describes it as digital narcissism, a narcotic, that is defining and desensitizing us.

In his article he quotes, Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who says there is a “shift” from an analog world in which our identities are generated from within, to a digital world in which our sense of self is intimately tied to our social media presence.”

Keen explains that our capacity for solitude and an inner sense of self is quickly fading and being replaced by an external sense of who we are and how we are valued.  Scary stuff, mainly because it’s true.  Don’t get me wrong, I think that Facebook, Twitter and the other social media sites are great communication tools – for marketing tools.  They are tailor made to help build and brand, sell a product and build a business, but the trouble is most people use them to build personal relationships.  Or believe they are building personal relationships.  Most people are selling themselves using social media and not their company or products and by doing so are losing any authentic sense of who they are.

So what’s the secret to learning how to effectively utilize social media?  Understand what it can and can’t do.  Social media is great for staying in touch, but not so hot for being in touch.  It’s a great promotional tool, perfect for communicating information about your company product, service or cause, but it’s a poor substitute for real personal connection or communication.  Again, it’s an amazing promotional tool, perfect for PR and marketing, but it is not so great as a communication tool.

If you want to get the word out about your product, social media is a great way to do it.  But you are not a product, you are a person – deal with it!  If you want to connect with someone you care about, how about picking up the phone and talking, or (here’s a strange idea) actually getting together and meeting face to face.  Social media has very little inflection, or nuance, you don’t hear the person’s voice; you don’t see his or her facial expression or body language.  It’s a strange static form of expression.

But people seem to forget that and believe they are actually connecting.  They feel if they’re not on social media, they’re missing out, they’re not good enough, or stranger yet, they feel they don’t actually matter.  It’s spooky stuff.  The trick is to use social media for what it is.  Have fun with it; use it as a marketing tool, use it to set up face to face meeting, then get off of Facebook or Twitter – and go outside and play!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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SEO Press Releases: Part 2

May 31, 2012 Leave a comment

The upside about learning SEO is you’re not alone if you feel you’re behind the learning curve.  The truth is everyone needs to learn to keep on track in this field.  It’s an ever changing, ever shifting process.  So, wherever you are in the process, that’s okay.  My previous article focused on how to write an SEO press release in order to garner increased online visibility and ultimately more views.  The basic how-tos include knowing your keywords, using anchor text, and including your URL

While all of this helps you in the world of search engines such as Yahoo and Google, that’s not enough.  You don’t simply want to move yourself up in the search engine pecking order; you also want to have a compelling story, a well written targeted release that reaches your target audience.  Increasing your website traffic is great but it can be useless if it’s not the right traffic, you need to be speaking to your audience.

Whereas you definitely want to use keywords and it’s important you learn and know your keywords before starting to write a release, you don’t want to get lost in jargon.  Every business has its own jargon and to those outside of the business it often sounds like a foreign language.  That is not going to make for a compelling read, so keep your jargon to a minimum.

Be sure to bold your secondary keywords and phrases in your release and include a link that will allow the reader to access additional information. Double check that you’ve included the http:// portion of the URL in your press releases or the links will not be clickable when published.

Most releases have a date included, but in this case I think that backfires.  Unless your information is timely and has to do with a specific event, season or breaking news story adding a date to your release will only server to make the release look dated.  This is particularly true with online-oriented releases.

Write a concise descriptive headline that includes your primary keywords. Don’t be shy about them.  This is the real estate that counts.  You want to utilize your important keywords in the headline, in the lead and then pepper them throughout your message.  I’m not sure this makes for the best releases from a journalistic standpoint, but from an SEO perspective it reinforces your message

The writing and the story are the parts of your release that will engage your audience, SEO is the science of being discovered by your audience and in the online world – you need both.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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SEO Press Release Tips

May 30, 2012 Leave a comment

Business Wire, Marketwire, PrimeNewswire, PR Newswire, and PRWeb: these are the main paid wire services that American companies use. On any given day a couple of thousand press releases are sent out in the U.S. by those wire services.  So, how can you separate yourself from the pack?  How can your PR efforts and press releases be noticed in such a throng?  It’s not easy, but it’s possible.

It’s no longer enough to concern yourself with interesting the traditional media with your releases.  Yes, you need to create press releases that meet the needs of the traditional media, but you also need to maximize the use of search engine optimization (SEO).  Why do you need to concern yourself with SEO?  Will it help you land a story in the New York Times or an interview on the Today show?  Most likely not.  But it can help in other ways.  For example, when someone is searching online for a company that offers your type of product or service, are you the one they’re going to find?  Where do you show up when it comes to a Google search?

That’s where search engine optimization comes in.  SEO’s primary function is to help you rank in Google and Yahoo News and for your keywords.   And this is generally accomplished by knowing your keywords, and creating anchor backlinks for your blog or website.

Anchor text is the hyperlinked text on a web page.  They are the highlighted words you click on when you click a link.  It offers readers information about the nature of the page you’re linking to.  For example, this is my Public Relations Firm’s website linked to a keyword.  More importantly anchor text communicates with search engines.  In essence it tells search engines what the page is about.  It’s incredibly important to use in your press releases; used effectively it can boost your rankings and particularly your Google rankings.

Your first step is to learn your primary and secondary keywords.  Your press releases should reflect the keywords used on your website.  You want your releases to work for you by driving search engines to your site.  Don’t make the mistake of only using your keywords on your homepage.  Make a concerted effort to have a minimum of one of the keyword links in your press releases lead to a page on your site other than your homepage.

Focus on the first 200 to 250 words of your release.  These initial words set the tone not only for the release itself but for your overall search results.  You want to choose those words carefully and you want them to be targeted.

In most of my articles about press releases, my main focus is on the content; on telling a strong story with a compelling narrative.  Those are points you always have to keep in mind and my follow up article on SEO press releases will cover that in more depth, but here the focus is on making sure that your releases not only are interesting but that they also are SEO friendly.  A few points to keep in mind are to make sure your headline contains your primary keyword  and that you pepper the release itself with three target keywords.  Also, never forget to include at least one URL in the release.  You never know, your release might be republished without anchor text and by including your URL you’ll assure that the reader can find you.

SEO is an ever changing field and one I don’t think anyone fully masters.  So keep experimenting and keep writing new releases with SEO in mind, but also remember, when all is said and done, it comes down to telling a compelling story.  Don’t get so lost in the SEO game that you forget the basics.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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The Secrets of Fiction For PR Success

May 26, 2012 Leave a comment

I began as a fiction writer and then moved into journalism.  From there I found my way to PR.  It wasn’t a career path I was thinking of taking, it more or less was a process that evolved.  But, whether I’m writing fiction, journalism or for public relations campaigns, the basic tenants remain the same.  It all comes down to a good, compelling story.

When I worked as a journalist I wrote with my readers in mind.  I wrote with the intention of being relevant to my target market.  When I write a novel or a play, I’m looking to tell a good story, but I’m also looking to connect with the public.  In essence, as a fiction writer, I’m once again, looking to connect with my target market. To some writers that sounds crass and although I don’t write my fiction with the market in mind, I do hope and try to write a compelling enough story that the play, novel or screenplay directly connects with my audience.  From my perspective, that is part of my job as a writer.

I’ve written quite a bit on how PR comes down to effective storytelling, which is in fact what public relations is all about.   Here again, it’s not just telling a story, it’s telling a story that resonates with a specific audience.  When it comes to traditional media, your job is to convince that editor or producer that the story you’re pitching is going to captivate his or her readers, listeners or viewers.

It needs to be compelling, but it also has to be relevant to that particular target market.  For example you could have an incredibly captivating tale that has to do with sports or fitness.  From your perspective it’s a slam dunk.  It has all of the elements of a strong, powerful story.  But creating that pitch is simply step one, now you have to present it to the right media contacts.  If you spend your time pitching your sports-oriented story to the beauty editors of the top women’s magazines, I’d say your chances of landing an article are slim.  Yes, you have the story, but there is a disconnect when it comes to the media you’re pitching.  In effect you haven’t built the bridge necessary to take your story from being a strong concept to being a produced segment or published article.

There lies the secret.  You need to develop a strong story with a compelling narrative, but you also need to know when to pitch it and who to pitch it to.  In other words you need to know your audience.  Combine those two elements, a strong story and a defined market, and, regardless what style or form of writing you work in, you’ll succeed.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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How to Figure out what Marketing Is Right For You

May 24, 2012 Leave a comment

Mashable’s definition of Marketing is a great place to start thinking about your own company’s marketing mix:

How do you decide what marketing direction is the best for you?  That’s not necessarily an easy question to answer.  You need to know your company, your product or service, your target market and the direction you want your company to go.  Begin by writing out a marketing plan.  Initially have fun with it play with it, then start to hone it down.  Start with a list of questions and then fill in the answers.  But do it a few times and set it up so your answers can’t always be the same as the previous responses.  Look at your company and your business from a number of angles.

Do you need to:

  • drive sales?
  • find new clients?
  • build your brand?
  • reach a new target market?

PR and media relations can achieve a number of goals, but before launching a campaign, you need to define exactly what your specific goals are.  Once you have your marketing objective list, your next step is to review your marketing budget.  How much can you realistically spend to achieve your marketing goals?  Your budget is going to help define your approach.  If you have thousands that you can dedicate to marketing each month you have different options than if you have a couple of hundred or less to put towards your marketing efforts.

If you have a finite marketing budget, your first focus should be on establishing an online presence, by building an easy to read, informational website that speaks to your clients’ needs.  The Internet offers you a way to position yourself and your company online without breaking the bank, but simply having a presence on the Internet does not mean anyone is going to see it.  You need to drive visitors to your site.  This is when a social media outreach program, article marketing program and a blog can help.

But back to the PR question, although your budget will dictate how you’re going to implement your marketing campaign, your budget, or lack of it, does not need to stop you from utilizing media relations.  Draw up a campaign blueprint.  Then move forward.  Don’t waste valuable marketing time trying to figure out if you should launch a PR campaign, focus on how.  It is the one form of marketing that reaches your target market, offers you validation, credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field.  Define your needs, your objectives, your budget, the most appropriate approach and move forward.  The worst decision you can make is to do no marketing.  That’s a sure way to go nowhere fast.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Marketing. Mashable. Retrieved May 24, 2012. http://mashable.com/follow/topics/marketing/page/2/

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How PR Drove Facebook’s IPO

May 16, 2012 Leave a comment

Sometimes an amazingly effective PR campaign can be a dangerous thing.  Take Facebook for example.  The company raised the price range for its IPO to $34 to $38 a share, from $28 to $35 a share.  That illustrates how the media frenzy has hungry investors biting at the bit for this offering.  It also shows how perception can create what could be a false reality perhaps blinding investors to the reality of the situation.  Facebook’s initial price range put its valuation at $77 billion to $96 billion, but now that shifts to $93 billion to $104 billion under this revised price range.  That, my friend, is a lot of money.

Facebook has yet to prove that its $3.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion in profits last year can justify such astronomical evaluation. . Last month, Facebook disclosed that its first-quarter profit and revenue shrunk from the fourth quarter of 2011.  The company claimed that it was do to seasonal trends in advertising.

Facebook going public can be dangerous.  The pressure of being a public company can make companies lose sight of what made them so successful to start.   When it comes to Facebook, the pressure will be particularly great. Its earnings are quite a ways below its projections.  It’s hard to see how it will find a way to grow at the lightning speed investors will not only expect, but demand. 

Another red flag is that Facebook has real exposure to Europe. Apparently over twenty five percent of its users are fromEurope, giving Facebook definite financial exposure on that front. With the state of the European economy, and Facebook’s reliance on European advertising, that could be dangerous.

According to the media, most savvy investors seem to be shying away from Facebook’s IPO.  There are probably some credible reasons for that.  This is not to say that Facbook is not an amazing success story.  Its success and growth have been astronomical; still that doesn’t necessarily justify such aggressive valuations.  And that’s where the media and PR frenzy comes into play.  From newspaper and magazine articles to radio and TV segments Facebook’s IPO has been a front page story for weeks. And then of course, there is Facebook itself.  The social media outlet is its own non stop marketing machine.  The buzz creates more interest and investors start beating the investment drums.  It looks like a difficult road for Facbook to live up to those projections; time will tell whether the drum beating will lead to success or investor disappointment.


Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Flauraud, Valentin. “he loading screen of the Facebook application on a mobile phone is seen in this photo illustration taken in Lavigny.” Photo. Chicago Tribune. 16 May 2012. 16 May 2012. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/sns-rt-us-facebook-retailbre84f0x2-20120516,0,4596444.story>

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Is Traditional PR Still Relevant?

May 11, 2012 Leave a comment

According to a study done by PR newswire “ In both the US and Canada, pitches through a social network resulted in coverage approximately 70% of the time. In contrast, the standard pitch to a US or Canadian journalist rarely leads to coverage, with 66% pegging the success rate at 0-20%.”

Needless to say social media has forever changed the way PR works.  Whereas the traditional media still offers the best validation and credibility, that sort of seal of approval and trust factor is becoming its primary function.  Sure, if you land a segment on the Today Show or an article in USA Today, you are still going to get a huge boost, but overall the landscape has changed dramatically.  It used to be you could launch a very effective traditional PR campaign without landing any of the major media coverage.  Trade, local and regional media could and did carry a campaign.  But just as the music world has been turned on its head, so has the world of traditional media.  There are fewer outlets and there is a smaller audience.

So, does this mean that traditional PR is dead.  No not by a long shot, but the game board has changed dramatically.  Traditional PR is still vitally important, but to be truly effective it needs to be augmented by different forms of outreach.  This is no longer the time to only reach out to writers, editors and producers. 

Social media has become as important as traditional media, but each has a different function and must be addressed in a different manner.  Neither one on its own is as powerful as the combination of the two.  Social media offers a conversational style of communication with a connection to your audience.  This generally requires greater transparency.  It is a different type of communication and can lead to stronger and deeper personal relationships.

Conversational style—PR people used to interact primarily with industry journalists. “Pitching” and “spinning” were terms often used (not always with a positive connotation) to describe much of that interaction. Those days are fading, which is welcome news to many PR practitioners as well as their audiences. Greater availability of information requires greater transparency, but also leads to richer conversations.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Cwinters. “Media Free Agency.” Photo. Return on Reputation. 25 Oct 2010. 11 May 2012. <http://www.returnonreputation.com/2010/10/25/media-free-agency/>

 

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Ann Convery’s Total Money Makeover Mastermind is Today, Wednesday, at 2:00pm PDT—-There is one Seat Left! Train’s leaving the Station! Don’t let the train leave without you!

May 9, 2012 Leave a comment

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And get ready to accelerate your sales and master your financial future.

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How To Decide Which Marketing Approach Is Best For You

May 8, 2012 Leave a comment

Marketing can be tricky. How, where, when and to whom you market all depends on the specific needs of your business.  The media mix that works for a physician will probably differ from the approach that will work for a coffee house.  But then again, maybe not, maybe the same marketing mix will perfectly fit both and it’s only the approach and implementation that needs to shift.

Before you decide on and implement marketing, advertising, public relations or a social media campaign, do some soul searching and figure out what marketing approach is going to most effectively serve you and your company.  Each company’s needs are different, which is why your approach needs to be individualized and tailored to your specific business.

When I launched my company I focused primarily in traditional public relations, that approach is still the most effective way to do if you want to reach your target market and gain the legalization and credibility that being featured in the media affords you.  Appearing on a TV show or in a magazine or newspaper can separate you from the competition, establish you as a news story and present you as an expert in your field.

That is one approach, but there are several others that sometimes work on their own and other times work in conjunction with a PR campaign.  A short marketing list would include:

  • Traditional advertising (including print ads and commercials)
  • Online advertising (including ads, banners, pop ups, etc.)
  • Direct marketing (including flyers, mailers, etc.).
  • Traditional public relations (including print, TV and radio)
  • Social media (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, GooglePlus, etc).
  • Email marketing
  • Seminars
  • Workshops
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Cold Calling
  • Article Marketing
  • Digital Media Apps
  • Mobile Advertising

That covers a pretty good marketing spectrum.  Chances are if you are doing some type of marketing outreach (which you definitely need to be) you’re utilizing one of the approaches listed above.   But again the question remains, how do you know when to use which type of marketing approach?  It took me a while to learn that this generally needed to be my first step when working with clients.   First we needed to define the objectives.  What did the client want to achieve with his or her marketing campaign?   Once we have that defined, we then decide on which approach or which combination of approaches are best suited to meet those objectives.  We developed a questionnaire to help clients define their needs, objectives and target markets, once we have that information, we then use that as a guide to help develop their most effective marketing plan and approach.  It could be one approach or a combination.  Or it could be an orchestrated sequential shifting from one approach to another.  It all depends.  Each business has its own specific needs.  Before you jump into a marketing direction take some time to define your objectives, your needs and your most effective marketing approach.  In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Petronzio, Matt. “47 Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed.” Photo. Mashable. 05 May 2012. 07 May 2012. <http://mashable.com/2012/05/05/digital-media-resources-39/>

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Cold Calling in Reverse: A Unique Approach to Signing Clients & Selling Products

May 4, 2012 1 Comment

You know what it’s like, you have your list (which you’ve either put together on your own- spending a lot of your time, or you’ve purchased one, spending a lot of your money) and you’ve practiced your pitch.  Now it’s time to pick up the phone and start making the calls.  Off you go trolling for clients, hoping to turn a cold call into a warm prospect into a paying client or customer.  It’s not easy.  It’s actually one of the toughest parts of business.  Keeping the pipeline filled with warm prospects is never an easy task, and cold calling is only one approach.  What if there was a way to get prospective clients to call or email you?  A dream?  Nope, it’s possible.

Media relations is a unique form of marketing. Unlike advertising or direct marketing, with public relations you can’t pick and choose specific outlets and dates that your story or segment will run – that is the challenge of PR. Yet, on the other hand, when a news story does run on you or your business, you are positioned in a unique and powerful way. A feature in a magazine or newspaper or a segment on TV or radio positions you as an expert and positions your company or product as a news story. That type of coverage offers you validation and credibility that no amount of advertising can buy. With PR you reach your target market and build your brand via the media.

Now combine traditional public relations with a social media approach. The lines between traditional PR and social media are blurring.  Land a story in a traditional magazine or newspaper and chances are that media outlet will have an online presence.  With that one move you’re suddenly edging closer to the social media world.  All you need to do is tweet the link or post it on Facebook and there you go, a traditional media campaign has now melded with a social media campaign. On the other hand, an interesting social media campaign can grab the attention of a magazine, newspaper or TV show and a social media phenomenon can become a mainstream news story.  It’s a two way highway and one that if worked well, can be an amazingly effective approach.

Marketing-wise, social media is opening new worlds of possibilities.  By combining your social media strategy with a traditional PR campaign you can create a powerful two-pronged approach which results in more followers, more buzz, more customers and more business. Also social media is a great example of how people can create conversion through conversation. It is also an avenue that can be used to transform public relations into personal relationships in order to build and grow a brand and a business.

The best part of this blended approach to marketing is that instead of you making cold calls to interest prospects, suddenly the phone rings and emails show up from prospects wanting to talk to you.  That’s always a nice conversation.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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