As the Hispanic population grows within the United States, many companies develop concerted marketing campaigns that target US Hispanics, but without a full understanding of the demographic. The 2010 Hispanic Marketing Trends Survey, conducted by Los Angeles-based Hispanic advertising agency Orcí, polled 9,300 senior marketing and advertising executives of top-tiered businesses in the US. It revealed that “while the vast majority of respondents recognize the market’s impact on American culture, there is a lack of understanding of the Hispanic market’s power as a driver of business.”

Other revelations included: (more…)

One of the most asked questions I’ve received from our Social Media Fitness Program participants is in regards to Twitter and how to optimize one’s Twitter page.  I’m glad many of you are taking the initiative to consider social media optimization as part of your strategy.

In this session of Tips from the Trainer, I will go over how to optimize your Twitter profile and your Twitter background. (more…)

A couple weeks ago, Marketwire launched its own Haiku contest to celebrate National Poetry Month and to give kudos to the CEO who brought new meaning to the term “letter of resignation.”  If you’re thinking of entering, we’ve listed a handful of submitted entries to give you an idea of what you would be up against. Can you do better? (more…)

At the last “At Breakfast With” panel discussion, a series that the Los Angeles Area Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) hosts every so often, the focus was online news media and how to get editors’ attention. Panelists included:

• Steven Rosenberg, Online Editor, Los Angeles Daily News
• Christine Miceli, Executive Producer/Online Editor, KTLA.com
• Alysia Gray Painter, Editor, NBCLosAngeles.com
• James Macpherson, Editor, PasadenaNow.com

Three of these four online news organizations were born from traditional media, if that’s any indication of where these online offshoots currently stand in the whole scheme of things. Not so different from slightly rebellious teen-agers, continually developing a mind of their own but still living under their parents’ roof. (more…)

Next time you are riding the bus or train to work in the morning, look around you. How many people are staring down at electronic readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle?  How many people are holding a newspaper, a book or a magazine? According to some, the amount of the former is on the rise, which leads one to believe that the number of the latter is on the decline. (more…)

As a part of my role as a client relations manager at the Vancouver Marketwire office, I attend numerous networking events every month. Among them are association events for CIRI, CPRS, IABC, BCAMA and many more.

Networking, which I considered a formidable activity when I started my career at Marketwire, has become one of the most enjoyable parts of my work day.

Here are some of the lessons I learned over the past three years: (more…)

Connecting your product or service with seasonal, lifestyle and special interest stories can make your news and business flourish. A feature press release does just that yet is often overlooked as a marketing tactic. This type of content is what media outlets need to fill occasional holes and create interesting, thought-provoking articles that consumers like to read. Feature releases cater to certain lifestyles or provide benefit to those with special interests. With a longer shelf-life (sometimes called “evergreen”), feature releases can be recycled and can thrive in markets outside your industry, allowing your news to reach new audiences and consumers.

Let’s entertain this idea further… (more…)

In a recent Marketwire-sponsored SEO and social media webinar, Sally Falkow made a compelling argument that any press release should do more than just distribute your news. Press releases are a valuable resource that can boost search engine visibility of your news and your corporate website. But how do you choose the best keywords that will give you high rankings in popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing?

Here are four easy steps that will help you choose the best target keywords for your press releases: (more…)

It’s a well known fact that Marketwire has its own media relations department. But, unlike what most people know “media relations” to be, we do not build relationships with the media in order to garner publicity (that would be our marketing department’s role!).

As a company that provides services for PR, IR, marketing communications and media professionals, we have a different perspective and a different definition of media relations. Perhaps “media liaison” might be a more appropriate name because, essentially, we act as a bridge between the media and Marketwire clients to ensure that journalists, analysts and online communities receive news and information on their areas of interest, in the formats and via the distribution mechanisms they desire. (more…)

It may seem like a minor typo, but one letter can completely change the meaning of a word. For example, is your company hosting the Premier Awards in Copyediting (as in the top awards), or the Premiere Awards in Copyediting (as in the first)?

The Marketwire editorial team often encounters such mistakes.  Here are some of the most common: (more…)

Many of you may recall a rather non-traditional, yet wildly popular haiku from Jonathan Schwartz, former CEO of Sun Microsystems, who tweeted his resignation earlier this year.

Brilliant! So, on his coattails and in celebration of National Poetry Month, Marketwire is holding a haiku contest of its own for aspiring poets and social media enthusiasts alike. (more…)

Unlike Lisa Davis’ initial impression of SMX Toronto, I walked into the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit knowing many of the speakers and attendees for years – these are my people.  Being a member of the Web Analytics Association (WAA) has its privileges, as I started the conference a day earlier than most at the WAA Industry Meeting and Elbow Rub Reception.

WAA members were treated to a great show from Theresa Locklear and her team from NHL.com, who provided a run-down of the organization’s online goals (no pun intended), their approach to web analytics and real-world examples of reports they provide across the organization.  In what had to be a first in our industry, real reports with real numbers were presented by the team to the crowd assembled, showcasing one of their latest email campaign wins.  (more…)

“You don’t get something for nothing.”  This adage is tried, but often true, and certainly comes into play when considering free press release distribution services. Perhaps an obvious question that many communicators ask themselves is: Why pay for the services of an established newswire service when I can distribute my press releases at no cost? The answer, simply put, is: “You get what you pay for.” And, sometimes, you don’t even get that.

Before joining Marketwire as their search marketing and social media specialist, I was the marketing manager at another company and was responsible for sending out press releases on their behalf. Because we were on a budget, I thought that submitting company news through a free distribution service was a smart, budget-friendly solution. In hindsight, I made a mistake.

Having learned the hard way, I would like to share six reasons why free press release distribution isn’t always what it promises up to be: (more…)

Okay, I don’t mean just any mouse. I mean THE mouse — Mickey Mouse.

A few weeks ago, like thousands of others, I went to Walt Disney World, and the exceptional customer service and professionalism I experienced first-hand was remarkable. Disney is renowned for their high standards of service to their customers (Disney calls them “guests,” actually, regardless of whether customers are at the theme parks or shopping online),  and at every touch point, from hotel check-in to dinner reservations, I was astounded by the level of service afforded to every guest.

We don’t all work at companies as large and resourceful as Disney, but there are lessons to be learned by any size organization, in any industry or practice and by anyone who deals with people on a daily basis. Here are four essential customer service tips that Disney has perfected: (more…)

When I took a look at the agenda for SMX Toronto, I thought the content was not for me.  Personalization algorithms, offline conversions, ranking tactics and Google Sitelinks were surely not what I had in mind when I signed up for a marketing conference.

As I sat through the sessions however, it quickly became apparent that everyone really was talking about marketing:  best practices and tools for optimizing the exposure of our companies; products and services to the marketplace to tell our stories; how to forge relationships, boost our brands and grow our customer bases.  Even if I didn’t understand every technical conversation or Droid in-joke, I learned a lot. The sessions and speakers were tremendously insightful into the current state of search marketing and the five places it is headed: (more…)

A few weeks ago, I attended this year’s Search Engine Strategies (SES) New York Conference & Expo, intent on searching for some useful information for Marketwire customers and prospective clients. Here are a few highlights.

One of the panels I went to treated the audience to a perky case study from the food phenoms at Chicago’s Foiled Cupcakes, who have deftly used social media to extend the gourmet cupcake craze by at least 4,234,982 calories. Foiled Cupcakes employs many best practices I frequently suggest to Marketwire clients, including: (more…)

The hot topic du jour at IR magazine’s West Coast Think Tank 2010, an invitation-only event held in Palo Alto, California on March 18, was social media – the good, the bad and the ugly. Social media is definitely a love-hate relationship for the investor relations officer and the publicly traded company. It seems that larger companies are more out there with Twitter feeds, blogs and Facebook pages than are smaller companies, and several attendees suggested it’s because larger (and often retail) brands tend to be earlier adopters and have more resources to dedicate to social media. But that also puts them at greater regulatory risk. (more…)

It didn’t happen. Social media didn’t go away. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred: Social media has exploded in its usage and ubiquity, and now significantly influences many communications around the world. The challenges of strengthening corporate reputation and building trust among stakeholders can prove difficult for any professional communicator. Across investor relations circles, the practice of supplementing more traditional IR strategies with social media is not widespread. Certain functions specific to IROs, namely the disclosure of material news, make adopting social media and using its channels as primary communication tools something to be thoughtfully considered. So, for the sake of this brief discussion, let’s sidestep the legal department and address the “relations” function of the IRO so that we can better understand how channels like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogs can work to enhance shareholder relations and improve the corporate bottom line. (more…)

Many people involved in social media feel there is just too much information coming at them.  They feel overwhelmed, and that social media just doesn’t work.  This week, I received a question from an SM 10X30 participant about overexposure and information overload.

As a reminder, all questions are welcome, whether you are new to social media or are someone who is already very familiar. I love to help and chat about social media.  @ me on Twitter and let’s talk!

Q.  What are your suggestions in preventing overexposure and information overload when it comes to using all these social media sites?  Can you recommend a percentage mix of content and conversation to keep your fans and followers interested? (more…)