Find the Story – PR Tip #18

One of the hardest jobs we have in PR is to find the story. Sometimes, the story is right there for everyone to see, other times it’s elusive. Sometimes we forget to look. We have all had times when we’re under deadline and a release has to get written and we just crank it out headline, subhead, quotes and boilerplate. But that’s not our job. Our job is to find the story.

Part of this is developing the story arc and helping readers easily navigate from beginning (the problem or trend addressed), the middle (the value proposition and how this announcement fits) and the end (how the market, customer and company benefits).  Most companies start looking for the story in the wrong place, though. They start with what they have made. Problem is, that’s like telling a story from the middle. The truth is, the story starts way before that and it starts with what the customer needs and the problem they are trying to solve. 

When looking for the story, start by finding what about the announcement appeals to you or--even better--to the person you hope will read it. Remember, people buy things (consumer goods, business technology, apps, etc.) because it has perceived value to them. It makes their life better, easier or more productive. If you can hone in on the “why this matters” to a specific person you will be way ahead of more press releases and other PR materials are written.

The story, or at least a compelling version of it, can be elusive. As mentioned above, we’ve had lots of clients that believed that the story started and stopped with the products they’ve made. They think that the world will know exactly why this technology matters and how it will change lives to their target customers. They are wrong. Often very, very wrong and then are baffled when a reporter isn’t as excited about their news as they are or the story comes out and it’s very vanilla.

We recently had a client announce a bit of new technology that was interesting from a purely technology perspective. We could have written the release and the pitch to focus solely on the technology and it would have been good. However, there was so much more that it could be and, as we peeled away the layers, we found a really interesting story about how retail stores were using the technology to help lure customers offline and back into the brick-and-mortar locations during the holiday shopping season by creating a better in-store shopping experience and helping to keep the retail store’s network secure. The technology was still a big part of the story, but now we’re focusing on the problem the customer needed to solve and how they are solving it.

Even if the story can’t be tied directly to a problem or challenge a customer faces, it can often be written to talk about how a new product or technology can change the market. It can be the first time customers can combine products to do something, or how it’s the first implementation of a new standard or even how it’s the first product to allow the market to better leverage a developing trend.  When telling a good story, a developing trend or market shift can be your best friend so take the time to understand what these trends are so you can tell a more compelling story. 

Remember, when telling a story, you can’t just say “innovative new technology will reshape the economics of blah blah blah.” You have to walk the reader through a compelling narrative that helps them understand why the story you are telling is important to them personally and professionally.  When writing your next press release, blog, contributed article or any other PR writing, you'll make it much easier for your client and the target reader to connect if you tell a good story. And if you find yourself, or your company in the wrong story, then get out of it. We've all been part of interviews that go sideways because the reporter has an agenda or your spokesperson says something they shouldn't. In this case, it's your job to try can get the story back on track or find a way out. This is my story and I’m sticking to it.  

Don’t Be or Believe the Stereotypes – PR Tip 16

In PR and in journalism, there are lots of stereotypes in play. People love them and love to band everyone together into a generic category that is ripe for ridicule and scorn. Soooo much fun! There are biases and assumptions, condemnation and narcissism, bullies and airheads – in both camps. The challenge of working in an always-on, globally connected world driven, in large part, by social media, is how do we work together without becoming jaded, bitter curmudgeons that are no fun at parties?

First, it would be good to just be nicer. Nicer in person, nicer in email, nicer on Twitter…especially nicer on Twitter. I don’t mean nicer in the Southern way when folks say “isn’t she sweet” or “bless your heart” and not mean it. I mean really….be….nicer. Treat people around you with the professional respect you’d like to be treated with, especially when they don’t deserve it.

This is more than just being polite. Nice is also about doing your job well so that the people you work with can easily do theirs better. It’s about being prepared, organized and on time. It’s about paying attention and showing a genuine interest in what the other person is saying, or at least trying to say.

It’s about doing the research required to make sure you’re reaching out to the right person, or doing the research needed before an interview so that you don’t waste everyone’s time. This can be particularly hard when you have a gauntlet of back-to-back interviews and the interviewee isn’t particular engaging.

Being nice is also recognizing you’re going to run into people every day at different stages of their careers, and sometimes they just might not know better yet. The PR person that is overly excited or the reporter that thinks snide is a good interview technique can be annoying to everyone, but it’s usually a sign the person is just trying to figure out how to do a challenging job in an unforgiving environment. It can also be taking the time to stop and think for a second what might have happened outside your own interaction with them that might be throwing their game off.

Reporters and PR folks are just people. They get up in the morning, brush their teeth, send their kids to school, pay their taxes, etc. There are hundreds of things that can happen on any given day that can impact how they are perceived in the brief moment you might interact with them. It’s a shame most people, on either side of the fence, don’t take the time to step back and give someone the benefit of doubt. Because you know, it’s so much easier to take to Twitter and try and shame them.

One of the things that makes my skin crawl on Twitter is #PRFail. Yes, sometimes PR people pitch the wrong person, but reporters also get things wrong. We all do because that’s human nature. The truth is, PR and journalists inhabit the same world and we’re all moving at a break-neck pace. It would be a much nicer world if we could all, bless our hearts, be a little more polite.

Getting a Little Face Time

Life in high-tech PR is filled with travel. There is no getting around it. From tradeshows to client meetings to road shows to hosting press junkets, travel is just a part of the business.  While travel delays are certainly frustrating (let’s just say I had a really bad streak of luck in 2014) and flying cross country and around the world can be exhausting, there are some key benefits from travel that are invaluable.

Time with clients face-to-face is so important. As great as the promise of video conferencing is, it really is not the same as an in-person meeting, especially when you are mapping out new messaging or strategies. The back and forth banter as you work through a topic really does lead to the best results. Tradeshows also provide an opportunity to relax and get to know the people you work with on a daily basis. Many an inside joke has been created in settings such as this – how else would you learn who are the closet Beyoncé or diehard Cubs fans?

The same idea applies to building relationships with the press and analysts. This audience is so important to the work we do on a daily basis and personal relationships can really make a difference. However, these days, press and analysts are dispersed all over the country. A publication can be based in New York, but it’s highly likely the editorial team is spread from sea to shining sea. So what is a PR pro to do?

At Connect2 we do as much as we can to maximize our travel to get that all-important face time with our press and analyst colleagues. As much as budgets allow, we encourage our clients to host a press and/or analyst day at their corporate headquarters. When done right, these events give the press and analysts valuable insight into the company, their customers, executives and product managers they don’t normally have access to. The time they spend on campus can really deepen their understanding of who the company is and what they are trying to accomplish.

There are also great opportunities to have individual conversations with the press and analysts that have nothing to do with the client. I have learned about the ups and downs of the college applications process from an analyst whose kids are older than mine. I’ve also had the chance to hear about a potential career move before it actually happened. All of this makes the connections stronger and increases the chance that my email will get answered over some unknown person.

We also try to have fun with our press and analyst friends. In the past we’ve hosted “No Pitch Nights” at major industry tradeshows. We pick the last night of the show and invite all of the press and analysts that are attending to a baseball game without any clients present. After all the craziness of the week, everyone appreciates the opportunity to sit back and relax and NOT hear about the latest and great product announcement. We’ve even kept it simple and taken a handful of journalists out for tapas and cocktails at smaller tradeshows for the exact same results. We get the chance to learn more about the people we talk to everyday and they get a chance to just have fun.

The opportunities I’ve had to get to know people in person all over the world make the long days and even longer airplane rides totally worthwhile. 

Four Tips on How to Advance in PR Faster

More than eight years into my career as a PR person, I continue to wonder what I could have done to climb the career ladder a little faster. I feel lucky to work in a firm where superiors try to mentor their teams instead of manage them, and I try to practice this approach while leading our teams of interns and entry-level Account Coordinators. However, I would love to travel in a time machine and tell my 23-year-old self a few tips that would have made that climb a little easier.

No matter how old you are, everyone can benefit from another’s experience. Regardless of whether you’re just starting a career in PR, looking to change professions or know someone who is looking for tips, here are my personal tips on how to get to a higher rung in your career during those first five or so years.

1. Office experience: Many college students hear this all the time. In many PR study programs, internships are even mandatory to graduate. But that’s not enough. Once you get to your junior year of college, let the babysitting and waitressing jobs go and find an office position. Seriously, any office position is better than none. Even if you’re just answering phones at a front desk or organizing files in a back room. Even if you are doing something completely unrelated to the career you are studying for, the experience you absorb in an office environment is priceless. You will learn how to conduct yourself professionally in person, over the phone and digitally, and it really shows when you’re applying and interviewing for post-grad positions.

2    2. Keep in touch: I’ve found there tends to be two kinds of people. First, there are people that will drop by unannounced just because they were in the neighborhood and had a free minute (not caring if the person they’re visiting had a free minute, too). The second type is people that need a reason to drop by. Be the first. I’m not suggesting that you drop in on old bosses unannounced, but an unexpected e-mail or Linked In message is always a good idea.

I always encourage our interns to e-mail or call me after their position with us, even if it’s just to say “hi.” I am always willing to give advice and our company will always look to hire great previous interns once they have graduated and if a full-time position on our team is open.

This is something I have to work at every day, but the younger you start making it a habit, the more natural it will come later. In PR, the ability to build and nurture relationships is crucial because your success depends on the connections you develop.

3    3. Ask lots of questions, but answer them first: I am a big fan of my team asking questions. I much more prefer that you ask me 100 questions throughout your project to ensure you are doing it right, rather than you ask none, get it wrong and then you have to do it over again. However, before you ask any question, think about if you have the resources to answer it yourself first.

I realize this might sound contradictory. The real lesson here is to understand that you are included in every e-mail, meeting and discussion for a reason. Also, the Internet is a powerful tool to help you educate yourself. Don’t know how to turn a Word doc into a pdf? I bet Google will tell you. Creating a report on weekly activities? Include everything you have e-mailed, talked, heard about over the past week to demonstrate you were paying attention.

Before you ask any questions, think about if you have used your own resources to find the answer, first. If the question still needs to be asked, do it! If you can tell your manager the answers you already found or the steps you took to try to find the answer, you will demonstrate that you are thinking for yourself and ultimately bringing more value to the team.

4    4. Proofread everything, and then proof it again: I have found that graduates often think they are expert editors. However, I have yet to meet a graduate that never had any typos. I often hear “Oh yeah, I had to take an editing class in college,” but then submit content with spell check alerts still underlined in red. I admit this still happens to the best of us occasionally, but work looks sloppy if “your” is used instead of “you’re” and it’s distracting if spell check is yelling at the reader from the moment a document is opened.

Read over your work, then read it again, and maybe one more time, then submit it. There’s no doubt you have worked hard on the content, so don’t ruin it with typos. This will also help you transition to a client-facing role faster because your work is already closer to the finished product.

I won’t hold my breath for the time machine, but hopefully some young graduates out there will find value in my tips. I hope to keep climbing the PR ladder and will continue to offer my insight. I also welcome any tips others might have. As I would tell myself, keep those communication lines open!

Be About More Than What You Make – Tip #15

Most companies focus their communication efforts on the products they make and the services they offer. That makes sense as it’s these things that drive revenue and growth. However, in PR, that’s only part of the story that can be told. In my last blog, I wrote about creating a story telling engine. What I’m going to cover with this blog is creating a story line fueled by a different type of gas. 

At every major business publication (Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times, New York Times, Fortune, etc.) there is at least one reporter covering management and leadership. Often times, this same reporter also covers HR, employee issues, recruiting and compensation. If your company is public, or in an interesting or hot market, there is a good chance you can get them to talk to the CEO of your company. You’ll need to figure out a hook, something that the reporter can latch onto, but this is often a very good way to showcase a smart company leader and get a placement in a top tier publication. If this is a thread you’d like to pursue, spend some time with the CEO and talk to them about their management style, how they view leadership and cultivate development internally. Also ask them about groups they are involved with outside of their corporate role and how they see those positions as relevant to their job as your company’s chief executive. 

Next, read about the latest trends in management and then interview your CEO on their views so you can craft an intelligent pitch. Finally, read what the reporters at these publications (and dozens more) are writing about so you can fine tune the pitch to help them tell a story they are interested in telling.

Let’s say the CEO angle won’t work for you. Maybe you’re company is too small or your CEO isn’t interested in talking with the media. There are still plenty of other story lines that can be created that showcase your company’s path to market and the reasons you are likely to win in the marketplace. These story lines could center on your manufacturing process or channel programs, your social media strategies or community leadership.

We have a client that makes these amazing videos that help tell their corporate story, the value of what they bring to market and the challenges faced by the industry they are in. Their videos are one of the company’s primary lead-generation methods—creating awareness in the videos and driving traffic to them is a priority. To help raise the visibility of these videos, we’ve submitted them for, and they have won, numerous industry awards. These awards, and the announcements announcing the wins, have driven traffic to their YouTube channel and their website.

Another client has built a really interesting campaign called Enabling Communities, Connecting Lives that allows its customers to tell stories about how technology is having an impact on their community. We’ll look into this strategy of using customers to tell your story in the next blog of this series.

Using different types of fuel to get your story engine running means you’ll cover more miles on your journey.  And yes, I know that’s a corny way to end this blog but hey, it’s my story.