Content and legal marketing, marketing & public relations agency

Aug

They’re just not that into you: why journalists aren’t covering your press releases

August 21, 2014

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You take the time to write a compelling press release with a great email subject line to hook the journalist…and nothing happens. Journalists don’t respond to your emails or phone calls, and there’s no sign of a written piece when you search the internet. Sound familiar?

I want to take you inside the mind of a journalist. Outside of my duties at Reputation Ink, I’m a sports business reporter and analyst. As such, I receive dozens of press releases and pitches each day, much like any other journalist. Generally speaking, there’s a lot of noise and not a lot of quality pitches. I always try to keep that in mind when I’m on the other side and am the one drafting and distributing a press release for a client.

The shockingly low number of press releases that are picked up

Unfortunately, there are times when clients want to send press releases even when we’ve warned them their story might not be newsworthy. It’s understandable – when you’ve worked hard on a transaction, lawsuit, product rollout or other major project, it’s the center of your universe. It can make it hard to understand why it’s not newsworthy to others.

That’s why I thought it would be helpful to let you into the minds of journalists for a moment. The most shocking fact I can tell you is the percentage of press releases and pitches I receive that I end up writing about: five percent.

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Aug

Still using newswires as part of your public relations strategy? It’s time to reconsider that

August 19, 2014

by: Michelle Calcote King in B2B , Public relations

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Remember the good old days when you would publish a press release to a newswire like PR Newswire or BusinessWire and suddenly your news flooded the Internet? Well, no longer.

I’ve personally never been a big fan of newswires, as I believe a targeted public relations strategy (tailored media pitches sent to specific journalists) is more effective. However, over the years, I often relented and posted stories to newswires due to their search engine optimization (SEO) benefits. A press release posted to a newswire meant high online visibility, and for many clients, that was worth the often $1,000-plus cost per press release distribution (note that I’m not addressing newswires’ role in financial disclosure laws, as that’s another subject).

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Aug

That’s a Wrap! Capitalizing on Shark Week, PR mistakes surrounding the death of Robin Williams, the growing pay gap between public relations and journalism and why women are taking over PR

August 15, 2014

by: Reputation Ink in Public relations

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If you haven’t gotten your Shark Week fix, it’s time to act fast. Shark Week ends on Saturday, and plenty of savvy marketers have already capitalized on Discovery Channel’s most popular week of the year. However, while those marketers were cooking with gasoline, others seemed intent on only burning themselves and their clients with ill-conceived public relations pitches surrounding the death of comedic legend Robin Williams. Capitalizing on shark week? Great idea. Capitalizing on a tragic celebrity suicide? Terrible idea.

Here’s the best and worst from the world of public relations this week, along with some new research showing public relations is not only a growing field but also an industry full of women.

Marketers cash in on Shark Week

Cue the Jaws theme…it’s Shark Week! Along with Discovery Channel’s own Shark Week promotions, this week we’ve seen several marketers creatively piggyback on Shark Week. Our very own Heather Kingry tweeted about Shark Week and received a fun and unexpected response. Here was Heather’s tweet:

Love learning new things and getting scared! Addicted to #SharkWeek

— heather kingry (@yrgnik) August 14, 2014

Season Sardines decided to get in on the Shark Week action and respond to Heather:

@yrgnik Here’s something to learn about that is really good for you #SardineWeek pic.twitter.com/cMdeIXSygi

— Season Sardines (@SeasonSardines) August 14, 2014

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Aug

This isn’t your mama’s public relations anymore

August 12, 2014

by: Michelle Calcote King in B2B , Marketing strategy , Public relations

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I’ve worked in marketing and public relations for nearly two decades now, and the only constant in this field throughout those two decades? Change. And while the speed with which this industry changes has greatly accelerated over the past few years, I’m still surprised at how slow many companies are in adapting their marketing and PR strategies to the rapidly changing environment.

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Aug

That’s a Wrap! Google’s autocomplete headache, PR firms freeze out climate change skeptics, John Oliver skewers native advertising, Nine West steps in it, B&B’s bad bridal policy

August 8, 2014

by: Reputation Ink in Content marketing , Public relations

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As wild weather bombards parts of the nation, it’s time for Reputation Ink’s round-up of the week’s wildest stories in PR, marketing and social media. Which companies and tactics weathered the storm? You be the judge:

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Aug

That’s a Wrap! Air New Zealand’s response to delay, Jesse Ventura’s reputation battle, Facebook integrates Instagram into ad strategy, and TSA crowdsources

August 1, 2014

by: Michelle Calcote King in Public relations

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Thank goodness it’s Friday! We’ve had an exciting week here at Reputation Ink and are about to have even more fun as we move to a new office this weekend (more details to come). Here is what you might have missed in the world of marketing, public relations and social media this week:

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Jul

That’s a Wrap! LinkedIn acquires Newsle, Tide may have crossed a line, a Seattle utility’s failed attempt to scrub negative search results and a Comcast customer service call goes viral

July 18, 2014

by: Reputation Ink in Public relations

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Another week is almost in the books! We hope you had a great week. Some brands had better luck than others this week when it came to PR, content marketing and social media. We’ve rounded up the good, the bad and the ugly….

THE GOOD

LinkedIn’s acquisition of Newsle gives you the power to stay in touch

It’s easy to send that first email to a new contact saying it was nice to meet them, but how do you find excuses to stay in contact? Newsle makes it easy by allowing you to receive alerts when the person is mentioned in the news or in articles around the web. With LinkedIn’s acquisition of Newsle this week, you can automatically start following alerts for all of your LinkedIn contacts. A similar capability exists for Facebook and your email contacts in Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook and more. You can also add contacts manually.

Newsle is like Google Alerts on steroids. Not only does it have the capability of integrating your current connections automatically, but instead of delivering email-only alerts you can view updates in a user interface that looks and feels like a social media dashboard.

THE BAD

The fine line between “trendjacking” in social media and breaking the law

A couple of years ago, Tide missed out on a great social media opportunity during the Daytona 500 to capitalize on its product being used to clean up jet fuel that leaked on the track after a crash. The Proctor & Gamble brand has upped its social media game since then, but has it crossed a line?

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Jul

Developing your marketing strategy: why an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach is more important than ever

July 15, 2014

by: Reputation Ink in B2B , Marketing strategy , Content marketing , Public relations

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Reputation Ink INKsights Developing your marketing strategy why an all-of-the-above strategy is more important than ever

Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket

Remember when traditional marketing was dead?

It was only a couple of years ago that everyone from the Harvard Business Review to Forbes magazine was trumpeting the demise of traditional marketing and public relations strategies. In a world of social media and online marketing, they contended, old-school tactics for connecting with customers just wouldn’t cut it.

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Jul

Working with PR agencies: hold the fluff!

July 1, 2014

by: Reputation Ink in B2B , Marketing strategy , Content marketing , Public relations

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Fluff belongs on your dessert – not in your press release!

Working with a professional public relations agency can offer significant benefits for both large and small companies alike. So much so, in fact, that USC’s Annenberg Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center reports that 95 percent of all large public companies and nearly half of all small private companies rely on outside PR/marketing counsel.

In selecting a public relations firm with which to work, however, companies would do well to remember three words: Hold the fluff.

In media parlance, “fluff” is the term for the flowery language and effusive frippery in which some publicists drown their copy. Rather than simply stating the facts and letting their client’s product or project speak for itself, some PR reps seem to believe that applying a thick coating of hyperbole to their prose will catch the eye of that jaded reporter and score their client a primo placement.

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They’re just not that into you: why journalists aren’t covering your press releases

The shockingly low number of press releases that are picked up

Still using newswires as part of your public relations strategy? It’s time to reconsider that

That’s a Wrap! Capitalizing on Shark Week, PR mistakes surrounding the death of Robin Williams, the growing pay gap between public relations and journalism and why women are taking over PR

Marketers cash in on Shark Week

This isn’t your mama’s public relations anymore

That’s a Wrap! Air New Zealand’s response to delay, Jesse Ventura’s reputation battle, Facebook integrates Instagram into ad strategy, and TSA crowdsources

That’s a Wrap! LinkedIn acquires Newsle, Tide may have crossed a line, a Seattle utility’s failed attempt to scrub negative search results and a Comcast customer service call goes viral

THE GOOD

THE BAD

Developing your marketing strategy: why an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach is more important than ever

Working with PR agencies: hold the fluff!

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