1. business and industrial
2. advertising and marketing
3. public relations

March 24, 2014
prnewsonline.com
Issue 12 Vol. 70
▶ Trend Lines
PR Managers Diving Into Rapidly Changing Talent Pool
Paid media capabilities
top the PR agenda
Morgan McLintic, executive
VP of Lewis PR, has started
to reconfigure his radar for
PR talent. Again. A few years
ago McLintic began to recruit
people who were not in the traditional PR mold, such as marketing and advertising execs.
However, in the last year or so
McLintic has started to broaden
DID YOU KNOW
1. The competition for PR
talent (outside the box) is
starting to heat up. (p. 1)
2. The biggest shift in PR
continues to be driven by
mobile media. (p.1)
3. For aspiring PR pros in
school, networking starts
before they graduate. (p. 2)
4. Most reporters think that
press releases should contain images. (p. 3)
5. Behavioral diagnostics is
getting to be a crucial part
of social media. (p. 4)
6. Thought leadership programs begin with a strategic
positioning audit. (p. 5)
7. PR shops increasingly
need to cater to new clients:
the kid kind. (p. 8)
his canvas, bringing attorneys
and management consultants
into the communications fold.
“The competition for talent
is heating up,” said McLintic,
who runs the U.S. operation
for Lewis PR. “All PR teams are
constantly searching for talent
gold. But to succeed, you have to
dig your own mine to find the
hidden talent. Think which professions have the same skills as
those you are looking for, and
SPECIAL REPORT: CROWDSOURCING ISSUE
The wisdom of the crowd is a catchall phrase, meaning that the collective opinion of a group of individuals holds more weight than a single
(and so-called) expert. With this issue of PR News, we’re taking that
notion to heart. This entire edition is based on crowdsourcing. We
asked our audience about the types of PR stories that they would like
to see covered in our premium newsletter, and here is the result. We
received more than 50 responses from all corners of the communications field (at the end of each story, we give a shout-out to the person
who recommended the topic). Many of the suggestions merit coverage
in PR News, and we plan on developing them in the future. The goal is
to provide you with insight into PR and marketing issues that are top of
mind and reflect your daily challenges in communications.
Page 6 ▶
▶ PR and Technology
How to Navigate the Electronic Landscape
Using various media to
cut through the clutter
Video, mobile, social and
emerging media continue to
force changes in the way PR
works, creating both fresh
opportunities and new challenges. Traditional media
relations, stakeholder communications, crisis management,
employee relations and measurement, for example, have to
be managed through new kinds
of technologies.
But PR agencies and brands
that are leading the charge are
blazing a trail of creativity, creating methods and techniques
that others can learn from.
In this very broad and everchanging landscape, here is a
look at how technological innovation is affecting five critical
areas of the PR practice, as well
as some perspective on moving
your business forward.
▶ The Team. The biggest
issue for CMOs today is to reskill their organizations and
build new capabilities in areas
such as big data/analytics, digital,
social, mobile, gamification and
design, according to Joe Tripodi,
chief marketing and commercial
officer of Coca-Cola Co.
“This is not just about
hiring a few subject-matter
experts, but building a team
of knowledge leaders and
practitioners in these critical
new competencies,” he said. “If
companies don’t, they will be
stuck with traditional 1980s
and 1990s brand-building
skills in the 21st century world
of an ‘always on’ consumer.”
One solution, he added, lies
in the Millennial marketplace.
“Digital natives have a passion
for connecting brands with
people in new ways,” Tripodi
said.
▶ Media Formats. Savvy
communicators for years have
shunned stale, text-only press
releases and instead provide
reporters, stakeholders and
consumers with multimedia
content designed, created and
distributed in new ways and
through new media channels.
Multimedia allows PR professionals to tap into the human
factor of visual, auditory and
Page 7 ▶
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2
▶ Future Prospects
Handicapping the PR Career Track
With so many secular changes
in the PR and marketing field,
mentoring has become more
valuable than ever. This goes
both for recent graduates about
to enter the PR field and seasoned managers who, let’s face
it, can learn a thing a two from
younger people conditioned
on social channels and digital
media. There are several steps
that aspiring PR pros need to
take in order to develop the
kind of relationships that will
benefit both sides of the table.
First, some things aspiring
PR pros should avoid:
• Cold calls. If they don’t
know you, don’t call them.
• Shooting too high. Don’t
just focus on the top professionals.
• Calling only when you
need something.
• Not following up after
receiving advice or help.
• Overselling your experience and talent.
• Too much one-way
talking. Also known as “Me-Me
Syndrome.”
To gather some information for this article I spoke
with young professionals,
recruiters and mentors who are
familiar with how to cultivate
networking opportunities and
develop mentorship relationships. The consensus: Those
soon-to-graduate students who
have honed their networking
skills are able to differentiate
themselves from their peers.
“Whether you are conducting a job search, actively
interviewing, or seeking to
enlist a mentor, it is critical to
do your homework,” said Tina
Dugas, senior associate at communications recruiter Bloom,
Gross & Associates.
In addition to checking out
the prospective mentor, Dugas
stressed that recent graduates
research prospective mentors
to see if they have anything in
common.
Many students and young
professionals understand
the balance needed between
wanting to learn from their
mentors, and providing
training (read: social media)
in return.
10,000-plus
Number of members
of the Public
Relations Student
Society of America
(PRSSA).
TWO-WAY STREET
Brian Price, a graduate student at Northern Michigan
University, is national president
of the Public Relations Student
Society of America (PRSSA).
When Brian identifies a
potential mentor, he makes
sure the relationship is a twoway street. Brian said his mentors feel they get as much out
of working with him and vice
versa.
“Brian counted on me to
provide meaningful assignments, clear direction and
appropriate expectations,”
said Rich Jernstedt, senior
counselor at Porter Novelli,
who mentored Price. “Since he
performed at such high levels,
it motivated me to perform as
a mentor.”
University of Alabama
senior PR major Andrea Easley,
relies on her mentors to provide her with perspective about
the profession and notes that
her mentors are eager to get her
perspective on what makes her
generation tick.
“We need our mentors’
advice about resumes, job
applications, cover letters
and leadership,” Easley said.
“They, in turn, want to learn
from us. They want to know
prnewsonline.com | 3.24.13
By Ron Culp
how we perceive
our industry and
how we develop
ideas and use social media. ”
Asked about his observations from working full-time
while attending the graduate PR
program at DePaul University,
Robert Arredondo emphasized the importance of getting
involved in both campus and
outside organizations.
He pointed to the importance of establishing your own
network of friends, colleagues
and mentors, adding that his
constant networking helped
lead to landing a job as account
supervisor at Edelman.
“Networking isn’t
just schmoozing people,”
Arredondo said. “It’s about
building connections, learning
from them, giving back and
creating a lasting, favorable
impression.”
Another actively engaged
student who shouldn’t have
any trouble finding mentors
to support her career goals is
Adara Ney, senior public relations major at the University
of Florida and president of her
PRSSA chapter.
Summing up the importance of networks and mentors, Adara said: “Mentorship
isn’t about what you can get
from someone. It’s about
building a genuine long-term
relationship.” PRN
Special shout-out to Lawvin
Hadisi, PR intern, Enterprise
Canada, for suggesting this
article.
CONTACT:
Ron Culp is Professional
Director of the Graduate
Program in PR and Advertising
at DePaul University, Chairman
at the Plank Center for
Leadership in PR and former
IPR trustee. His blogs can be
read at Culpwrit.com.
▶ Data Points
Metrics that are helping to define the communications field.
Visual Storytelling Crucial to Online Marketing Strategies
Videos on landing pages spike conversions by 86%, according to a recent report covering online
marketing. It’s just one trend for PR pros to consider amidst an ever-changing media landscape.
▶ Every company is a media company: Online video may have
been just nipping at the margins of your online marketing efforts
for the last few years. But now it’s moving toward grabbing a
leading role. According to WebDAM, videos on landing pages
boost conversations by 86%. It’s one of several channels that will
drive business communications in 2014. Here are some of the
other stat from the report, many pointing to a much sharper
focus on visual communications. PRN
• More than two-thirds (73%) of reporters think press releases
should contain visual images.
• Nearly two-thirds (65%) of your audience are visual learners.
• Visual data is processed 60,000x faster by the brain than text.
• Nearly 50% of companies have content marketing strategies.
Special shout-out to Elise Sonnenberg, Britches, for suggesting this article.
Source: WebDAM
June 3, 2014 | Grand Hyatt, NYC
In just one day, you’ll get dozens of practical takeaways to help you maximize your
Facebook, Twitter, online video, SEO and measurement initiatives and become the
top digital communicator (and measurement expert) in your organization.
www.socialmediaconf2014.com
Sponsored By:
Questions? Contact Kristina McHale at [email protected]; 301-354-1609
prnewsonline.com | 3.24.13
23682 sms&tot Strip ad.indd 1
3
3/20/14 11:35 AM
▶ Social Marketing
Communicators Start to Don Their Psychological Hats
Behavioral diagnostics
bigger part of the mix
In the movie Field of Dreams,
the classic line “If you build
it he will come” is delivered
from heaven above. But when
it comes to social media
marketing, communicators
may want to try some reverse
engineering. As PR executives
and communicators play an
33%
Percentage of
consumers who cite
social networks as a way
to discover new brands,
products and services.
eMarketer
increasingly important role in
creating social media strategies,
they need to be careful to first
cultivate their audiences—and
make sure they’re fully engaged
and their interest isn’t half-
baked—before they start to
seriously ramp up social media
spending. Otherwise, they may
end up throwing good money
after bad.
most companies, the journey
toward making social media a
legitimate marketing tool will
require a circuitous path.
To take better advantage
of the opportunities afforded
HUMAN NATURE
by social media, “you have to
Wendi Leggitt, director of DKC be open-minded,” Leggitt said.
Connect, the digital division
“You may start at Point A, but
of DKC, uses a chicken-egg
new tools and brand discovanalogy to describe how social eries in social media can take
media marketing is evolving.
you down more of an explor“The egg comes first,” said
atory and alternative route
Leggitt, who manages social
before getting to Point B.”
media campaigns for consumer
She added that gauging
brands such as Bazooka Candy behavioral changes is a critical
Brands and New York City’s
and growing component of
South Street Seaport.
developing social media mar“You need to build commu- keting programs.
nity and engagement around
Take Minibar, a new app
the brand and then make long- that delivers wine and spirits
term investments” into social
door-to-door in less than
platforms, Leggitt said. “This
60 minutes. The company is
contradicts the strategies of
catering to people residing in
entrepreneurs and new compa- Manhattan and Brooklyn who
nies who need to demonstrate
don’t want to go to a bar or
their value right away.”
liquor store and prefer getting
But, in many respects, there
alcohol on-demand via a few
isn’t a huge gap between startups taps on an iPhone.
and legacy companies when it
Minibar will soon offer
comes to how to monetize social up exclusive happy hours for
media and make it a profit center media companies, in which
rather than a cost center. For
Minibar reps visit media out-
3 Ways to Disrupt Your
Social Media Strategy
Some of the best ways to disrupt your social media
strategy involve getting more disciplines involved
in their creation and transformation. Here are three
ways to disrupt your social media strategy:
1. Get everyone involved. Social isn’t just a function of marketing, communications or sales. It’s
customer service. It’s employee engagement.
It’s executive visibility. If you want to shake
things up, start by involving everyone. Set up
stakeholder interviews across the organization
to audit how everyone uses social and discover
where passion and competencies lie. The better
your social strategy can serve your business as
a whole, the healthier it will be (you’ll find the
budget will be healthier, too).
2. Make your systems work together. After the initial
frenzied Gold Rush that saw companies activating
social media accounts before sorting out staffing
or governance, there came the backlash that social
4
wasn’t capable of producing a
meaningful ROI. The problem,
however, was the lack of energy
given to establishing the necessary measurement foundation in
order to properly measure social’s
impact. Use the conversations
Danny Olson
from suggestion No. 1 as a way of
getting your company’s systems to
better work together—bring social, Web, customer
data and other streams together to inform strategy
and build the case for more budget and resources.
3. Embrace ambiguity. The accelerated pace of
business ushered in by the adoption of the social
Web demands a greater level of flexibility than ever
before. The addition of a new social platform or a
new platform feature can ruin your perfectly manicured plans overnight, so building in budget and
resource flexibility is critical.
This article was written by Danny Olson, director
of digital strategy at Weber Shandwick. He can be
reached at [email protected].
prnewsonline.com | 3.24.13
lets and treat workers to their
favorite drinks.
Leggitt said the onus is on
communicators to figure out
what their fans and followers
want (and don’t want) and let
that knowledge inform the content developed for social media.
Call it the next frontier of
psychographics, where PR folks
need to figure what’s driving
social media engagement from
a psychological standpoint,
rather than strictly relying on
the creative.
INTEGRATED PACKAGING
Behavioral diagnostics aside,
social media marketing is
becoming more and more integrated with a brand’s overall
communications, as the shelf
life for standalone social media
programs is fast expiring.
“Roles such as community management have to be
handled by a team that really
embodies the brand,” said
Gemma Craven, executive
director of social customer
engagement at OgilvyOne.
Asked how PR pros integrate
social media into the company’s
overall marketing strategies,
Craven stressed that PR execs
need to work with key stakeholders and create a “Social
Council” encompassing communications, legal, HR, recruitment and other disciplines.
This way, Craven said, “each
department can understand
what it is responsible for, and
how the company can continue
to grow using social technology
to its benefit.” PRN
Special shout-out to Amber
Conger, doa lottery, for suggesting this article.
CONTACT:
Gemma Craven, gemma.
[email protected]; Wendi
Leggitt, Wendi_Leggitt@
dkcnews.com.
▶ Business Development
Branding Bigger Part of Landing New Accounts
What distinguishes an
agency from the pack?
Or the ones that carry the
headline: “We prefer to be judged
by the company we keep” and is
littered with a host of client logos.
I’d like to begin this how-to
That type of marketing may
exercise by telling you what I
make the employees feel good,
tell my employees: “PR firms
but clients want agencies that
are just like baseball managers
are focused on bottom-line
and football coaches. We’re
results, not industry awards.
hired to be fired. It isn’t a
The second, and far more
matter of if, but when.”
effective form of agency marSure, there are a few examketing, is thought leadership.
ples of decades-long clientThat’s where we focus our eneragency lovefests but, trust me,
gies (and our limited marketing
they’re scarcer than a longdollars).
standing marriage between
Any thought leadership
A-list movie stars.
program should begin with
That’s why I’ve always
a strategic positioning audit
treated Peppercomm as
that determines exactly what
Peppercomm’s most imporseparates your agency from the
tant client. It’s why I insist we
competition. Our mantra is:
assign a dedicated team with
“Listen. Engage. Repeat.”
preassigned hours to market
The first word is our key
our firm.
differentiator. Check out the
It’s also why I ask the agency websites or ads of other agenmarketing team to craft a year- cies. They also boast about their
round proposal that is perfectly ability to engage their clients
aligned with our larger, strawith the client’s target audiences.
tegic business goals.
We do the same thing. But,
Before I share a few best
first, we listen long and hard to
practices, though, I’d like to
the target audiences in order to
point out the two types of
determine how best to engage
agency marketing I see today:
in conversation. We see ourThe first is chest-thumping selves as equal parts client and
nonsense. Think of the selfaudience advocates.
congratulatory ads you’ve seen
And, thanks to acquisitions
proclaiming the number of
of smaller firms with a range
Silver Anvils an agency has
of marketing disciplines, we
won.
also see ourselves as channelneutral.
So, depending
upon a client’s audiences’ wants and
needs, we might recGenerating publicity
ommend an iPhone
about having a “comedy/
app and new website
workplace culture has...
as opposed to a traattracted clients who now
ditional media campaign. Or vice versa.
pay us to train their
We leverage our
employees in how to
positioning with a host
leverage humor as a
of tactics ranging from:
competitive advantage.”
• Including clients
and prospects in our
outreach. We’ve had
clients and prospects
By Steve Cody
join our podcasts, serve as subject matter experts in opinion
pieces and co-byline articles.
gaps, but also
could provide recommendations and best practices for
closing them.
• Four different agency blogs.
We’ve also done something no other PR agency in
• Multiple Twitter,
America can lay claim to—
Instagram, Facebook and
we’ve trained every single
LinkedIn posts.
employee in the art and craft
of stand-up comedy.
• Commenting on breaking
We do so for two reasons:
business stories (especially
to help improve their presenthose concerning crisis or
tation skills and to build a
merger and acquisition).
tighter, more collegial workplace culture.
• Co-branded surveys with
Our “Comedy Experience”
credible third parties.
has generated amazing publicity, ranging from extensive
• Bylined articles in unexfeature articles in human
pected media. While we’re
resources and business magahonored to appear in PR
zines to MSNBC, Taxi TV and
trade publications, we spend
WNBC-TV.
just as much time placing
The comedy/workplace
Peppercomm features in
culture publicity, in turn,
leading vertical industry trade attracted clients who now pay
media that cover hedge funds, us to train their employees in
insurance, lifestyle and luxury how to leverage humor as a
goods, spanning our core
competitive advantage.
client categories.
We also give our marketing
efforts an edge that, in some
CALLING CARD
ways, is a function of having a
One of the smartest things
comedy-based culture.
we’ve ever done was to partner
And that edginess has
with a major PR trade journal
attracted several clients
to host a series of co-branded
looking to work with strategic
breakfast roundtables.
thinkers who take business
Rather than focus on
very seriously but don’t take
the issue du jour (i.e. social
themselves seriously.
media, content creation, etc.),
An agency-marketing prowe chose, instead, to discuss
gram needs just as much care
a much higher-level corpoand counsel as the work you’re
rate issue: the very real gaps
doing on behalf of your clients.
that exists within Fortune 500 Figure out what differentiates
corporations between PR and your brand. Then, market the
legal, PR and purchasing, and hell out of it. PRN
PR and sales.
We leveraged the panels
Special shout-out to Sarah Rall,
to invite clients and prospects
BG Communications, for sugrepresenting each occupation
gesting this article.
and held an open discussion.
Our aim: to begin a dialogue
that would help close the gaps.
The PR trades covered
CONTACT:
each and every panel, and
Steve Cody is managing
we used the reprints to posi- partner of Peppercomm. He
tion ourselves as an agency
can be reached at scody@
that not only understood the peppercomm.com.
prnewsonline.com | 3.24.13
5
Trend Lines
▶ Page 1
develop ways to bring them into
the communications sector, and
get them up to speed.”
And while it’s no longer novel
for PR agencies and departments
to hire journalists who have been
downsized because of the erosion in America’s newsrooms,
the trend is starting to pick up at
breakneck speed.
“The fact that the media
landscape is shrinking doesn’t
negate the fact that there is
more and more demand for
content,” McLintic added. “That
vacuum will be filled with
brand journalism.”
A rapidly changing talent pool
is just one of several key trends in
PR and communications.
Many of the current PR trends
are a function of the explosion in
content marketing. It’s no longer
sufficient for PR executives to
simply produce “content” (in
whatever form it takes), distribute
it to the appropriate media channels and monitor the results.
Content, regardless of where
it’s distributed, has to be strategically aligned with an organization’s overall goals, brand
architecture and, perhaps most
important, financial objectives.
Indeed, to better monetize
their social media efforts, a
growing number of organizations are starting to boost
spending on social media
advertising and are looking to
Percentage of Twitter
their PR agencies to allocate
users who think that
those ad dollars.
Twitter
ads are effective.
“If you’re going to build the
content you need to put it out
Ask Your
there via [social media] adverTarget Market
tising to accelerate it,” McLintic.
“It’s an area that’s definitely up
for grabs, so PR departments
and agencies need to build
SentiMenter, a sentiment analthose capabilities.”
ysis tool that uses an individual’s cell phone to gauge perBEEFING UP RESEARCH
sonal reactions to content, and
Another trend that’s coming
“Reputation Index,” a index that
on fast for communicators:
measure a company’s standing
research that can fuel a PR
across 22 various metrics.
campaign (as opposed to just
“The profession is moving,”
tracking the returns).
Collender said. “The CEO is
“It’s not just metrics, but
saying, ‘You’re asking me to
using research to create stratespend how much? Why?’ That’s
gies and tactics for the campaign encouraging for the profession
upfront,” said Stan Collender,
because it will enhance its perexecutive VP of Qorvis
ceived value.”
MSLGROUP. “Clients no longer
want to rely on instinct, but take STANDARDIZATION
advantage” of research tools
The groundswell for more
throughout the PR process.
sophisticated PR research plays
Clarus Research Group,
into the growing trend for the
a wholly owned subsidiary of
industry to develop measureQorvis MSLGROUP, recently
ment standards that communibeefed up its staff and started
cators can adopt.
to offer new tools that go
“You need multiple [meabeyond pure research, such as
surement] standards to establish
45%
reliability for the evaluation of
outcomes for communications
spending,” said Don Stacks, a
professor of Public Relations
at the University of Miami
School of Communication and
Chairman of the Commission on
Public Relations Measurement
and Evaluation. “If a campaign
is implemented and you claim
success how do you measure that
success?”
A handful of brands are
now testing new PR measurement standards, including
GE, GM, McDonald’s and
Southwest Airlines.
It may have originated as
an art form, but PR is quickly
morphing into more of a science, as economic forces alter
the nature of the business. “You
need the science,” Stacks said,
“beneath the art to show that
you’re moving the needle.” PRN
Special shout-out to Neta Yoffe,
NetaPR, for suggesting this
article.
CONTACT:
Stan Collender, scollender@qorvis.
com; Morgan McLintic, Morgan.
[email protected]; Don
Stacks, [email protected].
Social Media as Part of Workflow
This is the year that social media
spreads across the enterprise.
It’s no longer the domain of a
single department. Data from
indeed.com shows that jobs
with social media in the title are
growing slower than jobs with
social media in the description.
In other words, a PR executive
might use social media to listen
and measure reach; a marketing
manager might use social to
drive lead generation; and a
customer service department
might use social media to
provide customer care. Without
the right resources, commitment
and leadership in place, this
6
cross-departmental undertaking
will fail, risking your customer
relationships and leaving your
brand open to a serious crisis.
Complaints, reactions and
rumors spread more quickly than
ever. Offer the social experience
your customer expects by
publicly resolving issues in
the same channel from which
they sought help. Not only will
customer appreciate the quick
response, but your fans and
followers will also observe your
dedication to providing excellent
service. Here are a few other
ways to use social channels
more effectively:
1. Join the conversation. Not
only can you have a real
impact on the discussion if
you’re a part of it, but you can
also increase your customer
value and customer satisfaction, reduce costs and improve
your business processes.
2. Integrate social across your
business. It’s not a matter of
one department surrendering
ownership of social, but rather
an opportunity to create clear
processes for how each part of
the business can work together.
3. Spend time choosing the
right tools. An all-in-one social
prnewsonline.com | 3.24.13
media management tool
might be an
easy choice
but comes
Josh March
with a number
of significant
drawbacks. Since smooth integrations are a reality in the era
of software as a service (SaaS),
choose social media tools that
meet the different requirements
of each of your departments.
This sidebar was written by Josh
March, founder and CEO of
Conversocial. He can be reached
at [email protected].
PR and Technology
▶ Page 1
kinesthetic communications.
Not everyone is a great
writer, but multimedia
includes a variety of communication methods that can grab
the attention of your audiences. Attention—otherwise
known as “engagement”—is
a hot commodity that can
be amplified by effective PR.
Deciphering the signal from
the noise reminds practitioners
to focus on messaging.
Tellabs, a global provider
of network technologies for
companies such as AT&T and
Verizon, is committed to new
forms of storytelling.
George Stenitzer, VP of
communications for Tellabs,
said his team distributes
everything from enriched
news releases featuring links
to videos, infographics and
studies. “We are fighting a
battle to first win a little bit of
attention, and then build on it
over time,” he said.
He added: “In part, we do it
to ourselves, as users. I seldom
watch TV without a tablet in
my lap. When the TV loses my
attention for a second, I use my
tablet, and vice versa. We all do
it. It means your message has to
break through the noise, either
through sound or picture, and
be able to convey a complete
story, even if it’s on the TV
without sound, or if the sound is
on and I’m in the next room and
I only hear the message.”
▶ Pitches and relationships. If stakeholder communications is now done
through many channels—with
traditional methods by no
means the most important or
effective pitch anymore—then
the same applies to media
pitching and developing relationships with reporters and
editors.
PR pros are, essentially,
in the relationship business, according to Tim
Marklein, CEO of Big Valley
Marketing, a Silicon Valley
consultancy that leverages
data to forge marketing and
communications strategies for
tech companies.
But Marklein stressed that
most practitioners are ineffective at managing relationships
From Engagement to Conversion
Monitoring online conversations and website activity is the
norm these days, but how are large companies turning these
conversations into customers? George Stenitzer, VP of communications at Tellabs, a global provider of network technologies, stressed that his communications department uses a
three-step soft conversion process:
1.We want Web visitors to read a blog, read an article from our
magazine, watch a video or read a white paper. What we measure is the percentage of site visitors that do one of these four
things. For example in a recent month, close to half of our website visitors did what we wanted them to do. In particular, with
white papers, we use Marketo, a marketing automation tool.
2. In order to have access to our most valuable white papers, visitors have to register and give us information about themselves,
such as company name, job title, contact information, etc.
3.That brings engaged visitors into our demand generation process.
If we see someone downloaded a white paper and hit 15 other
pages on our site, we figure they are serious, so we forward their
information on to sales for follow-up.
with reporters and
bloggers.
“This is a very
Percentage of senior
individualized activity,
so if you were accusexecutives who worry that
tomed to having three
complacency keeps the
channels to engage
pace of technology change
people—email, phone
in their companies too slow.
or in-person—we now
we have 20 channels,”
MIT Sloan Management
he said. “It makes it
Review and Capgemini
more complicated, but
Consulting
we can’t make it any
easier....We need to
know what reporters
prefer. We need a full view of
deep into a process-driven
the relationships we’re mandiscipline called “Business
aging.”
Intelligence.”
It’s a place typically
▶ Breaking News: The
occupied by IT and human
biggest shift in PR revolves
resources executives, and
around mobile communicacommunicators are reluctant
tions, with consumers hyperto venture into BI because it
connected, Tellabs’ Stenitzer
pushes wordsmiths and soft
said. “Everyone is reporting all skills-type people out of their
of the time. In social media,
comfort zones.
there’s no particular editorial
It’s about business operastandard. It’s more of a ‘Wild
tions and revenue margins
West,’ because it’s unfiltered,”
more than communications
he said.
techniques.
But fast and unfiltered
The good news, Marklein
can spell trouble for PR pros. said, is that every PR person
The instinct of PR execs is to
doesn’t need to be an analyst;
react to things very quickly.
they merely need access to
Stenitzer suggested that prac- one. “PR and marketing comtitioners be patient when
munications need a full-time
news hits Twitter and other
dedicated data jockey who
social channels.
really understands what’s
“It used to be that the
going on in the data and of
wire services were filing every
the data,” he said.
minute, newspapers had one
The bottom line:
day, and the 6 o’clock news had Technology can solve all kinds
a 4 p.m. deadline,” Stenitzer
of problems. But for his part,
said. He added: “In the end,
Stenitzer said technology can’t
even if the response is not
fix a broken strategy or a weak
immediate, PR pros still have to message. PRN
be able to at least make a decision about whether to respond
Special shout-out to Emma
to what’s posted in social media Carey, AxiCom, for suggesting
or what the news media are
this article.
reporting.”
63%
▶ Measurement.
Connecting the PR function with business outcomes
will move the industry
prnewsonline.com | 3.24.13
CONTACT:
This article was written by
Susan Young, a freelance
journalist covering PR and
marketing.
7
▶ Work-Life Balance
Measuring a Different Kind of Return in PR
on your iPhone. And, oh, you
actually want to spend some
time with your child.
In a recent survey, fewer
than 3% of women felt they
The public relations industry is had enough hours in the day to
fast-paced and can be extremely do what they had to do while
demanding. It’s even been rated 97% said they felt stressed,
as one of the most stressful jobs according to a survey by
in America, right behind jobs
Working Mother.
where there is actual physical
What’s a parent who wants
danger, including military per- to maintain a successful public
sonnel, firefighters and airline
relations career to do? Join a
pilots. Just when you think you mom’s work/life balance group?
might have mastered the skills
Probably not, because that just
to anticipate and effectively
takes more time.
address most any public relaIn talking with some of the
tions situation and have kept
most successful professional
the stress level under control,
working moms who I know,
you add a new client or two to
here are six tips:
the mix—the kid kind.
Suddenly you are doing an
▶ Stop trying to have
already demanding job on little work/life balance—think of
sleep. You wake up on the day
each day as a work/life penof an important presentation
dulum. Some days we need to
to a sweet little person who has give more time to our families
a double ear infection, and the and personal lives. Some days
only pediatrician appointment
we need to give more time to
that’s available is during the
work. Trust yourself to make
time you’re supposed to have a the right decision for that day.
status meeting with your boss.
You have to work against
▶ It takes two. No parent can
the clock each day to get to
do it all, and you have to expect
daycare. You feel guilty that you and allow the other parent to
should be spending more time help. Moms tend to think that
on your child’s development
if they aren’t doing more of the
because that other kid at daycaretaking, they are failing. And
care is saying 52 new words.
for goodness sake, other moms
Putting together that spec- should not talk about those
tacular baby book has been
moms negatively; they should
on the list for 10 months and
support them no matter, even if
all of your pictures are still
you’ve made a different choice.
Helping new parents
stay on an even keel
▶ Let go of the guilt. We
actually spend more time with
our kids now than moms did 20
years ago. In 1995, mothers spent
an average of 12 hours a week
actively attending to their children, not including regular time
“around” their kids (e.g., dinner).
By 2007, that number
rose to 21 hours. That’s a 43%
increase in parenting every
week, per a University of
California, San Diego study.
Dads remain behind moms in
terms of the amount of child
care they provide, but in that
same time period they also
doubled their hours of handson parenting.
▶ Get some help. A successful public relations professional who is also a mom mentioned to me that she was, “not
sure I can do this anymore.” I
asked her what her main source
of stress was. She said it was
leaving work with incomplete
projects on the table to get to
daycare pick-up on time.
I suggested she hire a nanny
to take her son home two or
three days a week and make
those her later days to catch up
or get ahead. The amount of
stress it relieved was huge. And
her son is learning new things
from his part-time nanny.
▶ Rely on your fellow
moms. My colleagues and
I cover for each other when
By Julie Batliner
one of us has a
preschool play
or parent-teacher conference
during the workday. Parents
will support other parents
because they know they’ll need
a favor returned.
▶ Stay in the race. A young
woman once said to me that
she was going to change careers
because she might be having
kids in the next few years.
What? Give yourself time to
show yourself what you can do.
You can always change later, if
you need to, but don’t become
so focused on what might
happen that you don’t make
what is right in front of you
happen.
After all, being a parent
brings newfound creativity to
ideas while allowing you to
reach your efficiency potential. And you’re setting a great
example for your children,
demonstrating how they (or the
women in their lives) can be
successful. PRN
Special shout-out to Angela
Byrne, Cognito, for suggesting
this article.
CONTACT:
Julie Batliner is managing
director at Carmichael Lynch
Spong. She can be reached at
[email protected].
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April 7, 2014 | 12 - 2 p.m.
National Press Club | Washington, D.C.
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April 8, 2014
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National Press Club, Washington D.C.
Join us on April 8 for PR News’ annual, essential PR Measurement Conference, taking place at the historic National Press Club
in Washington, D.C. Commit now to grounding all of your PR efforts in metrics that connect to organizational goals and prove the
crucial role that communications makes in thriving b2c and b2b companies, nonprofits and professional associations.
Speakers Include:
Conference Sessions:
•
Wake-Up Call: The State of Measurement
•
How—and When—to Report Measurement Results
•
Measuring and Reporting User Engagement
in Social Media
•
What Your Measurement Dashboard Should
Look Like
GE
•
Case Study: PR Measurement at Work in the
Real World
MasterCard
•
Keynote Presentation: The Path to Being Brilliant
in Business
AICPA
•
Circles, a division
of Sodexo
Social Media ROI Mythbusting: What You Need
to Do to Truly Prove Social’s Value
•
PR Measurement Clinic: Assessing the Success
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How to Tie PR to Sales
•
Ask the Experts: Your Must-Know Measurement
Questions Answered
Pennsylvania
State University
Carrie Schum
Assistant Professor of
Public Relations, College
of Communications
EVP, Strategic Planning,
Analytics and Research
Katie Paine
Measurement Consultant
Paine Publishing, LLC
David Hebert
Internal Communications
Chief
Director, Digital
Communications &
Media Relations
SR VP Corporate and
Digital Communications
Manager of Digital and
Social Media Marketing
VP Communications,
Advertising and Brand Mgt
General Manager,
Marketing and Operations
EVP, Measurement,
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Director, Global Business
Communications
Director of North America
Communications
U.S. Geological Survey
Marcia DiStaso
Sebastien Duchamp
Andrew Bowins
Stephanie L. Schierholz
Cheryl Reynolds
Marla Bace
Allyson Hugley
Dwayne Roark
Therese Van Ryne
Porter Novelli
Raytheon
Weber Shandwick
Dow Chemical Company
Motorola Solutions
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23483
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