Meet the Legal Media: Angel Coker, The Birmingham Business Journal

March 4, 2020

Meet the Legal Media: Angel Coker, The Birmingham Business Journal

Name any major metropolitan area in the United States and it more than likely has a local edition of the American City Business Journals. Birmingham, Alabama is no exception. The Birmingham Business Journal keeps local entrepreneurs and professionals up to date on the trends and issues that affect their bottom line. 

While not every Business Journal has a dedicated legal reporter, most have someone covering law firms as part of their beat. For the Birmingham Business Journal, that’s Angel Coker. She joined the publication two years ago. Before that, she was an editor at a small paper in Mississippi, and also worked at the Tuscaloosa News for three years. 

We asked Angel about her beat, how she finds sources and story ideas and what she’s looking for when working with law firm marketing and PR folks. 

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Meet the Legal Media: Rebekah Mintzer, Bloomberg Law

February 20, 2020

Meet the Legal Media: Rebekah Mintzer, Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law is known for its coverage of the business of law, particularly Big Law. It has become a go-to source for information on the legal industry as a whole, as well as specific practices with newsletters published under the Bloomberg Industry Group banner. 

Rebekah Mintzer is a Deputy Team Leader with Bloomberg Law. For our Meet the Legal Media series, we asked about how she finds sources and story ideas, her preferences for working with law firm PR professionals and what tips she might share for getting coverage. 

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Legal marketing ethics: How specific can a law firm get with targeted social media advertising?

February 10, 2020

Legal marketing ethics: How specific can a law firm get with targeted social media advertising?

Law firm advertising and social media. These two subjects are complicated enough on their own, not to mention when you put them together.

Unlike radio ads and the Yellow Pages of yesteryear, today’s social media platforms allow marketers to appeal to users in a more targeted and personal way than ever before.

But how much is too much? And where does that leave law firms?

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Spread the cheer! How to do holiday marketing the right way for B2B and professional services

November 20, 2019

Spread the cheer! How to do holiday marketing the right way for B2B and professional services

Ah, the holidays. A time when we’re surrounded by warm wishes, those we love — and a never-ending sales pitch to get us to spend, spend, spend. The holiday fervor seems to start earlier every year, too (I swear I saw toy Santas alongside the American flags in one store this past July 4th). 

This is the noisiest time of year in consumer marketing, with brands of all kinds clamoring for attention. So why would B2B companies and professional services firms — which have much different sales cycles — choose to enter that fray? Wouldn’t it be best to just lie low and go big in January?

Unfortunately, that would mean disappearing from view for weeks, maybe even a couple of months. In today’s connected environment, that can be a death blow when you’re trying to maintain a consistent brand. 

Done tactfully and in line with the spirit of the season, holiday marketing for B2B companies and professional services firms can help you maintain awareness while leaving a warm feeling behind that clients and prospects will remember all year long. 

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What to do when the media gets it wrong

July 17, 2019

What to do when the media gets it wrong

You carefully craft a press release. You go through rounds of internal edits and approvals. The quote is massaged more than LeBron James’ ego. You send it out to the media… and the published story has errors.

Sigh.

Unfortunately, this scenario is becoming all too common. In today’s web-driven, social media-centric news landscape, some journalists can prioritize being first more than being accurate. The reality is that reporters are forced to do more with less and crank out stories faster than ever before.

At the same time, misinformation now spreads faster than measles at an anti-vaxxers convention. And, once people are exposed to misinformation, it’s incredibly difficult to remove its influence. As the saying goes, mud sticks. So what can you do if the media gets your facts wrong?

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How a former journalist can take your PR strategy to the next level

April 2, 2019

How a former journalist can take your PR strategy to the next level

Let’s not sugarcoat it: Journalists and public relations professionals don’t always get along. But, both camps play an important role in the world of communications, and oftentimes one’s job can depend on the other.

If your business is looking to grow its presence and revenue through earned media and public relations, who better to help than someone who’s played for both teams?

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What’s old is new again: Why earned media is rising in importance

March 19, 2019

As digital media companies like BuzzFeed, Vox and Vice have recently lost web traffic and made staff cuts, The New York Times has grown to a record 4.3 million digital and print subscribers while expanding its newsroom to 1,600 journalists, the largest count in company history.

Wait, I thought old-school news organizations were dying? What gives?

Here’s the reality: In a world of fake news (the actual kind), disinformation, bots and social media echo chambers, people are turning to traditional media outlets more than ever for information they can trust.

So what does this have to do with you, the business-to-business (B2B) or professional services marketer?

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6 ways to get the most from your public relations agency [updated]

March 5, 2019

If you’ve ever worked with a public relations agency — or any consulting firm or professional services provider for that matter — you know that the outcomes can widely differ. There are many, many PR firms out there, and their level of expertise, experience and ability to consistently deliver results varies greatly.

But let’s say you lucked out and hired a high-quality public relations agency (yes, that hyperlink is to us… wink, wink). What’s your role in ensuring the success of the relationship?

It’s pretty significant.

As with most things in life, you get back what you put in. A successful PR initiative requires investment — not just the cost of the PR agency, but your own time and expertise.

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The top 9 media mistakes lawyers make

February 12, 2019

The top 9 media mistakes lawyers make

A solid public relations strategy is an essential part of a savvy legal marketer’s arsenal.

PR is a unique and powerful tool unlike other marketing efforts because it offers third-party validation: When a lawyer is quoted in an online news story, appears as a pundit on a news show or publishes something in an industry trade journal, that establishes his or her credibility in front of potential clients.

A lot of effort goes into securing that perfect PR opportunity: targeting relevant media outlets, pitching an attorney as a knowledgeable source and landing the interview. So it makes sense for lawyers to be prepared every time they jump on a call with a reporter or sit down for a broadcast interview in order to get the most out of it. This includes knowing the most common pitfalls when attorneys interact with journalists.

Here are some of the top media mistakes we’ve seen lawyers make in the past, and how to avoid them.

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