By Michal Sorensen, Associate Editor

Cloud computing originally began as a way to back up files, photos, data and the like in case of a computer or server crash. If your files were stored “in the cloud” (read through the Internet on someone else’s servers), you were protected from losing all of your information at once. But then, companies began to realize that so many more things could be accomplished by using the cloud as an everyday working environment. For example, when your files/data are stored in the cloud, they can be accessed from anywhere that has an Internet connection: computer, tablet, or phone. This makes an employee completely mobile. Not only can employees work from home, the train, or a hotel, but they can work with anyone: different city, state, or country. With instant access to the most up-to-date version of their files, employees become more productive. Plus, many of the costs associated with IT are passed along to the cloud provider; no longer is an IT person needed on staff to install and update software, servers or run backups. But the cloud provides so much more for SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses)..

By taking advantage of the mobility and social business aspect (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) afforded by cloud computing, SMBs can identify, engage, and/or collaborate with new customers or partner businesses. This allows for innovation and partnerships that could have been left undiscovered.  In a world where immediacy is key to survival, cloud computing allows SMBs to meet their customers’ expectations for information at their fingertips in the form of mobile and tablet apps. An added convenience for consumers and the SMB: feedback made easy. With a presence on Facebook/Twitter or with an easy-to-use app, client feedback can be addressed immediately and from anywhere to redress an issue and track to see if this is a one-time problem or a bigger issue that needs immediate attention. But is cloud computing all hearts and roses?

As with all new technology there are concerns that need to be given careful consideration. For example, if your data/files are stored ONLY in the cloud, and that cloud service provider goes down, you go down with it. Or if your cloud provider acquires a virus or is hacked, your information could be compromised. However, most cloud-stored data is now encrypted for safety reasons, and most cloud service providers work very hard to create a secure environment for their data storage, often investing more resources in data backup and security that SMBs could for their own companies. Plus, no one can eliminate all risk from a computing environment.  Anyone can get a virus or get hacked, hard drives and servers can fail, or laptops with private work data can be stolen.  It is up to SMBs to research their cloud service providers to ensure they are reputable and then, as with any business decision, weigh the benefits vs. the risks.

How and when SMBs take advantage of the cloud is up to them, but eventually they will. Let’s face it, the cloud is not the future, it’s the present. How, though, can SMBs advertise their cloud computing capabilities? Is it enough to just use the term “the cloud” in press releases, email marketing campaigns, and on company websites and assume readers will be impressed? Right now, hundreds of press releases a week are distributed to reporters and websites by SMBs about their cloud computing capabilities. “I can hardly stomach the term ‘cloud’ anymore because it has become so overused by marketing personnel,” said Eric Kilgore, a member of the information technology infrastructure team for Severstal North America, a Dearborn, Mich.-based manufacturing company.

To stand out, SMBs need to explain how cloud computing is setting their company apart from the competition, not just that they are now a part of the cloud in some way. What feature are they using (in the cloud) that makes them outshine everyone else, makes them faster, makes them smarter, easier to use, more profitable, etc.? Where does the competitive edge come from? “In two years’ time, […] I don’t think we’ll be talking cloud,” said Nigel Beighton, international VP of technology for Rackspace. “I think it’s an old word, almost. Look at some of the advanced markets, areas like the West Coast; the phrase is starting to die down.” The mentality is changing from ‘who is in the cloud’ to ‘what are you doing with the cloud?’ and that is what SMBs should be focusing on explaining to their current and future customers.”

Eric’s quote source: http://www.altaflux.com/enterprise-skepticism-remains-despite-cloud-benefits-growth/

Nigel’s quote source: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2249408/in-two-years-time-we-won’t-be-talking-about-the-cloud

By Dagmar King

Today’s marketers are in the midst of a massive strategic shift as traditional outbound strategies like advertising are giving way to customer-driven, inbound programs based on two-way conversation.  They’ve had to learn how to listen, create relationships with their customers, and find new ways to define and measure success.

In this new environment, do you ever wonder how your perspectives, strategies and practices compare with other marketers – and what those marketers consider “ideal”? If so, you might find that you have a lot in common.

Success factors defined

According to a newly released study, “Defining the Modern Marketer: From Real to Ideal,” sponsored by Oracle|Eloqua and conducted by B2B, the digital marketing professionals surveyed rated themselves at only 65% of the ideal based on five factors they felt define marketing success today:

• Marketing Technology
• Analytics
• Conversion
• Engagement
• Targeting

That percentage seems fairly high considering that the components the survey participants say define their success were all largely or completely nonexistent just five years ago.

Survey participants rated the importance of five essential competencies impacting their work (left) compared with how they believe they measure up to the ideal (right).

A new media environment opens new doors of opportunity

The massive and accelerating changes facing marketing professionals show no signs of slowing down. But these changes open new doors of opportunity. More than ever before, marketers must demonstrate the value of their efforts, so it’s no surprise that survey participants said the ability to track marketing ROI due to technology is the most transformative factor they face today. Following that is the ability to leverage social media as power shifts from the brand to the consumer, along with the capability to market to mobile and fragmented media environments.

What activites are digital marketers actually using?

While email is still considered their most important and frequently used digital channel, the digital marketers surveyed rated social media just behind that. It’s rapidly gaining ground, which is a phenomenon that couldn’t have been predicted a few years ago.  PR, blogging and case studies point to the importance of content marketing as do webinars/virtual events, while pay-per-click and organic search remain important marketing staples.

The bottom line

Today’s marketer must possess the creative skills required for traditional marketing while also knowing how to market in a social culture that fosters two-way communication rather than top-down promotion. Challenges include reduced resources and the ability to respond to the market quickly with tailored, effective messages. Factors defining success include targeting, audience engagement, lead delivery, measurement and generation of ROI – and all require the ability to leverage new tools and technologies that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

Are we there yet? Not quite, but survey participants give themselves credit for coping relatively well in the midst of dramatic change and feel they are making progress in adopting the concepts required by today’s marketing realities.

Survey methodology

In January 2013, BtoB surveyed 556 b-to-b marketing professionals representative of the market: 54% of respondents said their company revenue is less than $100 million, 18% reported revenue of $100 million to $499 million, 8% said their companies have revenue of $500 million to $999 million, and 20% reported annual revenue of $1 billion or more.

Marketers from technology companies comprised 29% of all respondents, with financial services companies (including accounting, banking, insurance and real estate) at 9% of the total, and consulting firms, publishing/media companies and manufacturing companies each at 8%.

This post originally appeared on the Sysomos blog on Tuesday March 5th (just in case you’re wondering why it’s 2 days short of some data)

We’re just days away from what may be the worlds largest gathering of geeks, nerds and lots of new apps. That’s right, South By South West Interactive (SXSWi) starts on Thursday and brings together thousands of marketers, PR professionals, social media specialists, techies and app makers in Austin, Texas.

Of course there’s also a lot more to SXSW, like the music that the festival was built around in the first place, but it’s the interactive portion that is attracting us. Probably you too.

While our excitement is building as we look forward to five great days of learning, meeting new and old friends and the infamous SXSWi parties, we thought we’d take a look through MAP, our social media monitoring and analytics software, to see everyone else’s excitement as well. And you can actually see it building. In the last month we found over 393,000 mentions of “SXSW” OR “SXSWi”. We found 8,466 blog posts, 9,449 online news articles, 9,136 forum postings and 366,428 tweets. Some would probably call this the calm before the storm.

As I said, the excitement and chatter is visibly rising as the start nears. A look at the mentions of SXSW and SXSWi over time shows that week over week the talk has been increasing. As well, we can see that yesterday was actually the most chatter we found around the event. We expect to see that continue rising as this week goes on as well.

It’s interesting to see just how many people the event attracts. A look at people tweeting around the world about SXSW or SXSWi shows that people from around the world are gearing up to either head to Austin to attend or try to keep up with it online. It appears that SXSW attracts people from every continent.

We then took a look at the conversations happening. Since Twitter was mainly driving the conversations we pulled up the most RT’d tweets around SXSWi. For this search we had to remove SXSW because all the retweets around it were retweet contests to win wristbands to the music festival. The tweets we found around SXSWi though seemed to be all about getting people ready for the event. The most RT’d tweet was from The Next Web telling people about an app designed to find all the SXSW parties. Others show how many people are expected to be there this year, surviving the event and The Wall Street Journal asking if it’s still worth it to attend. Of course, our favourite is the map of where all the tacos in Austin are located.

Lastly, we looked at the sentiment around the event. Here we found an astounding 54% of the conversations to be positive. SXSW has a 96% favourable rating around it. Apparently we’re not the only ones excited.

This was just a quick look at what’s coming up, but keep an eye out after SXSW because we’ll be releasing an in-depth report about the entire Interactive section.

Are you going to be attending SXSWi? If so, there will be a bunch of us from Sysomos down there and we’d love to meet you.

By Denielli Dy, Associate Editor

In today’s world, people rely on their mobile devices and electronic gadgets to connect with others near and far. They obtain information about the world and their surroundings via these handheld devices and these tools assist in making activities easier and more enjoyable.

‘Apps,’ or small software applications designed to operate on mobile devices, are developed for each social media platform to allow users to download and browse data in real-time. Users can gather information, organize files, expand their networks and be more productive. They can collect data from various applications using different devices, and even connect with people anywhere in the world to help them carry out their day-to-day tasks with ease and comfort.

People utilize their mobile devices in many ways — from learning about the most ground-breaking news, to finding the most mundane information like the weather report. There is no doubt that press releases and news that are delivered via the mobile app platform have a huge audience that can span the world.

So how can public relations professionals adapt their press releases to ensure they’re most effectively utilized on mobile devices?

1. Keep content concise. People who get information through their mobile devices are usually on-the-go and need to obtain facts quickly, hence, most prefer to read information that is readily available and can be easily understood. Therefore, the text should be direct to the point and written with plenty of details in a small space without sacrificing clarity. Unnecessary details and lengthy explanations should be avoided in order to keep the text clear and easy to read.

2. Make the headline simple but catchy. A brief, easily scanable headline gives readers the general essence of the article and holds their interest longer. An inviting header provides a good opening for more details while supplying the basics of the overall information.

3. Use short text. Information shared through the Internet should not be too wordy and long-winded. Long news with big file size requires more data transfer from the server to the device and takes more time to download. This not only hinders the reader attaining information quickly, but also requires more data usage (and will directly affect your reader’s bottom line).

4. Avoid too many multimedia enhancements. Images and other multimedia enhancements surely make an article more interesting and appealing when viewed from the comfort of a tabletop computer screen, however, images and videos have huge file sizes and will make the download time longer. Instead of including the actual image and video in the article, use SEO (search engine optimization). This allows you to hyperlink words or phrases in your text to other websites, which help extend the reach of the article by optimizing the visibility of the website in search engines and allowing faster file transfer. By linking words or phrases to multimedia-hosting websites such as YouTube and Flickr, you can share your multimedia assets without weighing down the size of your press releases.

Modern technology makes information sharing easier and faster. Mobile devices allow communication and information transfer possible among people – whenever, wherever. Using the mobile device platform to disseminate news is without a doubt beneficial to both the news provider and the consumer

By Daniel Kushnir, Associate Editor

When it comes to pop music, video may have killed the radio star — but in the world of marketing and public relations, it is rapidly becoming the lifeline. Currently YouTube estimates its site receives over 4 billion views per day and is projecting gross revenue for 2012 somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.6 billion, placing it as the fourth most-viewed website in the world.

Business owners and marketers see this data and understand the importance of including visual media when attempting to spread a name, product, or message. In fact, 70% of B2B content marketers use video, with this segment growing from 52% in 2011 to 70% in 2012. And 58% of B2B marketers rate video as the most effective content marketing tactic. For the B2C market, the average Internet user in the US watches 19 hours of online video each month, and shoppers who view video are 174% more likely to purchase.

However, as including embedded video/visual media in a press release becomes more common, we now begin the search for ways to ensure that the media we upload doesn’t get drowned out among the billions of other videos that reside in cyberspace. The content of your video may be ground-breaking and absolutely relevant to your target market, but it must be put in a position to be seen by that market.

Here are several tricks that will help your release and video “pop” (be more visible) than others’:

1. Direct readers to your video by putting a sentence in the text of the body that describes the video as well as gives a link for where to view it.

EXAMPLE: View the [your name] video on [your subject] here: [www.yourvideourl.youtube.com]

By putting the link and a short description in the body of the release text, not only will it increase the video’s accessibility and visibility for the reader, but it will also increase the chances of search engine crawlers seeing your video and placing it on the first page of related searches.

2. Another great way to enhance your press release and video’s searchability — which naturally will increase the number of eyes that see your video — is through the use of embedded links.

Identify ahead of time what your target market is. Next, pick a phrase in the text of your release that is both related to your video and also seems likely to be used by that market in a related search. Finally, embed the URL of the video within those words.

EXAMPLE: Our research team has put together this extensive video on how to [get more views on YouTube]

It is very important not to over-use this technique as too many embedded links will end up being looked at as spam by sites like Google or Bing. A general guideline is to try to include one embedded link for every 300 words. Of course, this is not an exact science, so if your release calls for a few more or a few less, then so be it! Just use discretion and be conscious that web crawlers do factor these things in when organizing a search query.

3. Finally, as obvious as it may seem, make sure to stay relevant. All videos, along with their descriptions, hyperlinks, embedded text, etc., must be totally relevant to the topic of the press release. Yes, making a video can take a lot of hard work and time, so it is completely understandable that we would want to show it off to all audiences as much as possible. But, while not having visual media in your release won’t help the visibility of your release, putting an unrelated video or video link in your press release can actually have a negative impact on its pick-up.

While the obvious reason is that “tricking” people into going to your website or viewing your video – having a misleading video title or an incorrect description of the video – will eventually only damage your credibility in the eyes of the public, it also will work against all of your other efforts to optimize the video’s searchability. If the keywords, tags, descriptions, embedded links, etc., in your release don’t match those on/in your video, if will confuse search engine crawlers and, in turn, have quite the opposite effect of what you had hoped for (more views).

There is no exact science to getting more publicity, but keep the three aforementioned tips in mind next time when putting together your press release and you may be pleasantly surprised with the response you receive.

This past Sunday while you were curled up on your couch with Twitter in your hand and the Academy Awards on your TV, we were hard at work. We spent all night watching what the world had to say about the Oscars. From the red carpet to the best picture award, we saw it all. And today, we want to show you what we found.

First, we tracked the red carpet ceremony to see which celebrities and fashions were generating the most talk. Three glorious hours of finding out who was wearing what and then judging them. As soon as the red carpet ceremonies ended we took a look at the Twitter conversations that happened around it and put together the following infographic. In those three hours we found 403,862 tweets about the red carpet (this is not including tweets that only mentioned the Oscars and not the red carpet). From those tweets we were able to determine that the public at large thought that Jennifer Lawrence in her Dior Haute Couture and Bradley Cooper in Tom Ford were the best dressed woman and man, respectively, of the night. We also found that viewers at home weren’t huge fans of what Anne Hathaway decided to wear. You’ll also find some social media savvy bands, the top hashtags used around the red carpet and that women out tweeted men 69% to 31% when talking about the red carpet.

But we didn’t stop there.

Our amazing Marketwire Reports team put together a full report around the 6.4 million tweets about the actual Academy Awards show. Inside this report you’ll find an analysis of almost everything that people were talking about during the Oscars. In this report you’ll find what people were talking positively and negatively about around the show. You’ll also find out that the highlight moment of the evening was when Michelle Obama presented the Best Picture award, which generated over 85,000 tweets per second. We’ll show you the talk around the #BestDressed hashtag. As well, we looked at the amount of conversation and sentiment around the Best Picture nominees leading up to Oscar night. Take a flip through the report below to see even more info from social media around the Oscars.

Does any of this information surprise you? We want to hear your thoughts in the comments.

By Courtney McManus, Associate Editor

Journalists today get hundreds of press releases per day, spanning all topics and industries. Because of this, they scan releases quickly in their rush for news and may overlook a release that isn’t spam, but has tell-tale spam indicators. Don’t want your release to get thrown out with the rest? Here are 8 quick ways to make sure your release stays out of the trash can.

1. Headline! This is the first thing most journalists will see, so it’s important that your headline is relevant and informative. Your company name should be included, as well as what the release is about (e.g., launching a product, appearing in a trade show). Punctuation plays a big role in your headline too — adding a swarm of exclamation points can look shout-y and unprofessional, and flag your release as spam before anyone gets a chance to read it. For example, very few people would read my release if my headline was [Marketwire Is Super Awesome!! Press Releases Are Great!!!!] because it looks sensational, and not like valid news.

2. First paragraph. It’s crucial that your first paragraph really explains your release. It should include the who/what/why of your release, including tickers, special people, product names, etc. This is essentially the summary of your release — make it a snapshot that keeps your readers interested and well informed of what they will be reading.

3. Voice. Your release should be written in third person. This reads more factually and less emotionally, giving journalists something to really work with. The exception is, of course, a direct quote in the text, which should be attributed to a person, with a first and last full name, job title and the name of the company for which they work.

4. Grammar and Punctuation. Correctly punctuating your release shows that you took the time to make it accurate and well written, which will automatically elevate the quality of your release.

5. Sensationalism — the big no no! WRITING IN ALL CAPS or extensively using exclamation points makes the quality of your news plummet. It’s the written equivalent of a terrible infomercial (complete with shouting!), where you are definitely not going to buy the product but are fascinated by the enthusiasm. While funny, that doesn’t bode well for your announcement.

6. Quantity. Sending the same release with one word different in the headline (say, announcing a seminar series in multiple cities and ONLY changing the city name throughout) can be considered spam. Even if each release is sent to a different distribution circuit (one to Los Angeles, another to Detroit, etc.), there will always be overlap. The journalists receiving the news at online points — or, for example, the Associated Press — will see each of those releases, and it can have a negative impact on your pick up. And, let’s be honest here, it’s probably not financially smart either.

7. Quality. Your release will have better pick up if there is more information in it. The more facts you include, the better. If your company recently did a study about job growth, include your most poignant statistics — something relevant to what’s going on in the economy as a whole that journalists can use easily. The more information you provide, the bigger the chance you have for pick up, because the information is already easy and accessible.

8. Relativity. Your release should remain current with what is happening on some scale — maybe it reflects on a big-picture issue, like a national election, or on something more focused in the industry you work in, like a new battery type for cell phones. The more current your release, the more attention it will receive simply because journalists are always looking for new information. If the release is about the results of something like how different demographics tweeted about the Grammy awards, it should be distributed as close as possible to the end of that event to capitalize on the hype the event already commands.

While there is no guaranteed, tried-and-true way to always have your release picked up (there are too many contributing factors), following the above 8 guidelines will, at a minimum, increase your release’s chances of making it in front of the right journalists.

By Adam Lovinus, Associate Editor

What is a journalist looking for on Twitter?

News, of course!

A better question is, How is a journalist looking for news on Twitter? A savvy journalist uses Twitter to excavate story angles in a variety of ways. PR pros with a handle on how journalists are looking for news are in a better position to offer valuable, timely expertise and generate media exposure for their clients.

Here are five great ways to leverage your company’s Twitter profile.

FIND YOUR WRITERS: The number-one reason journalists use Twitter is that it is probably the fastest, easiest way to keep up with what news sources (you!) are up to. The first step is getting in touch with them. Acquaint yourself with the search tool in the Twitter platform, peruse contact pages of news organizations, and see who your industry peers are following to bolster your feed.

• PR Tip: There are online services offering journalist directories searchable by news organization, beat, and region. PressPass (www.presspass.me) and Seek or Shout (http://seekorshout.com) are two FREE online programs that can help get you in touch with relevant media entities.

LISTEN TO YOUR WRITERS: Journalists frequently pose questions to their followers to aid in the newsgathering process. Make sure to monitor this, and deliver exactly what they’re asking for whenever possible.

• PR Tip: Journalists looking for sources will post their requests @JournoRequest or #journorequest. Search those handles for potential media opportunities.

ENGAGE YOUR WRITERS: Relevance is the key to good sharing; every tweet should tie in to something else happening on Twitter. This is what is meant by “engaging” with social media. Random posting directed at no one in particular tends to be ineffective. Imagine Twitter as a giant conversation; when it’s your turn to speak, make sure to offer something that fits in with what others are saying.

• PR Tip: Use #hashtags to start conversations. For example, when tweeting at a trade show, always add in the tradeshow hashtag. That way, journalists covering the show will see your input.

PITCH YOUR WRITERS: Every journalist has a preferred method of getting pitches. Some use Twitter, some don’t. Check their profile; it’s often a good indicator. Journalists that prefer Twitter pitches do so because the 140-character limit ensures a quick, to-the-point pitch. Ultimately, it is up to the PR pro to feel out an editor’s preference. When in doubt, simply ask — “Hello @editor, I represent @company; I have #something you might dig; what’s the best way to reach out?”

• PR Tip: A good way to warm up to an editor is to retweet stories he or she posts.

GET IN FRONT OF BREAKING NEWS: Nothing is faster and more useful than a Twitter feed for a developing story. By searching tweets with #hashtags that denote a specific topic, a journalist is able to cultivate leads in real time. 99% of breaking news stories will not have any meaningful connection with your PR, but you never know when you can get in front of a breaking story and turn it into a nice chunk of earned media.

• PR Tip: Use Advanced Search to search by topic and location for happenings that present an opportunity for getting in on news coverage. For example, a tech manufacturer that supplies electrical components for a weather-tracking device could find itself in a position to provide timely information for news media covering a storm system. Refine your search to find news opportunities specific to your client.

We all hear it echoed again and again. Content is what attracts and engages. In fact, for more than 200 years, the basic ingredient in good marketing has been content.

Now that social platforms have opened up information access, sharing and publishing to the masses, forward-thinking marketing and PR professionals have an opportunity to extend the reach and usefulness of their content and influence growth in media and new business in ways that didn’t exist even a few short years ago.

On Thursday, February 21 at 1 p.m. EST, Marketwire hosts a free webinar featuring Lee Odden, a 15-year Internet marketing veteran and nationally respected author and consultant. Lee will show communication professionals how to optimize their content-focused digital marketing and PR programs. He’ll explain how optimization using keywords and links is making room for a new set of signals and tactics, resulting in the need for a more customer-centric approach.

As Lee says, many online marketers “get” the value of SEO, social media and even content independently, but working them together in a way that makes sense is often a challenge.

At this free Marketwire-sponsored webinar, attendees will learn how to integrate SEO, social media and content marketing to maximize outcomes and influence growth in media and new business. Lee will share his proven three-pronged model to help attendees leverage content to attract, engage and convert.

• What: “Optimizing PR for a Content Marketing World” – a free webinar presented by Marketwire.
• When: Thursday, February 21, 2013, 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. EST
  The one-hour session will be archived for later viewing. All registrants receive access to the archived webinars.
• Who: Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and author of Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing.
• To Register: Click here to register for the webinar.

On Twitter? Connect with @Marketwire and @LeeOdden in advance of the webinar.

By Renee Sylvestre-Williams

The buzz for your event is strong and journalists and VIP guests are sending their RSVPs. How do you maximize your momentum?

In the previous article on event planning published on January 21, we looked at the preparation necessary before an event. Now we’re going to look at how to make your event successful and follow up with media after the event.

Kei Baritugo, founder of BoldLove Communications says there are many ways to make an event successful. As she said in the previous article, figure out the overall event goal and objectives and identify your target audience.

Once that’s done, at the event, Baritugo recommends the following:

Have a guest list but be flexible. If an important person shows up at your event and they’re not on the guest list, let them in. “Instruct your staff to be friendly and cordial, especially if it’s a VIP party. Always be polite and when possible, accommodating–even toward people who may not officially be on your guest list. Remember: kindness is free,” says Baritugo.

Set up a photowall or visually interesting area(s) for media and guests. Have press kits and one-sheets handy to address basic questions on name spellings, facts, and other pertinent information.

Grant journalists access to your key spokesperson(s) for interviews. As a backup, set-up a designated quiet space for interviews in case the event area is too loud or noisy.

Make sure attending photographers and videographers have a great vantage point if there are speeches or special presentations or performances. Great visual documentation is important for coverage so give them the space and access they need to take good shots.

Have official photos with suggested captions available the following day by hiring your own event photographer to capture the highlights of the evening.

After the event, Baritugo likes to send thank you notes. “It is very important to thank people for their time,” she says. This includes media and personnel working the event.

After a few days, she follows up with media to inquire when she can expect their coverage to be published or aired. If some journalists who attended the event are unable to give your event the spotlight it needs, be understanding and remain cordial. It’s not personal.

“PR is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You don’t know what long-term impact this event has on your future endeavours and relationship with media. They may have not covered your event this time but maybe next time they will. In the end, it’s important to base your success on whether the overall event goal and objectives have been met and your guests had a great time,” says Baritugo.

By Karen Geier

A quick check of your browsing history should tell you the power of blogging. Whether you have to get your celebrity fix from “Oh No They Didn’t,” your ideas for dinner from “Food52,” or just find out “10 Reasons the 90s Were Awesome” on Buzzfeed, everyone has their trusted blog sources to enrich their lives.

In the last five years, brands have sought to tap this vast landscape of hyper-focused (and in some cases, hyperlocal) trusted online voices. Some have been incredibly successful and have built long-term relationships with brands, and others have had profoundly negative experiences (either from not correctly defining the relationship, or from a blogger being “too honest” about a brand, and the brand treating this as a betrayal.)

As with all digital and social media programs, blogger outreach is part of a long term strategy. It takes a lot of time and a lot of relationship-building to get the most for yourself and the bloggers with whom you work. It is neither a quick fix, nor a “sure thing.” Your brand needs to be on its best behaviour and have a deep comfort level with transparency to maintain the trust between your brand and your bloggers.

How Do You Know if Your Brand is a Good Fit for Blogger Outreach?

Every brand has the potential to benefit from blogger outreach because there are trusted subject matter experts for EVERY type of product or service. Not every brand is familiar with this type of program, nor are they comfortable working with bloggers who are free to say whatever they want. In addition, these bloggers could potentially have issues or scandal outside of the brand relationship, and that could be a tough spot for a brand to be in (the chances of this are very small, but you need to understand various objections.)

If your brand likes to experiment, and you have a team who has the time and enthusiasm to build and maintain blogger relationships, you should definitely try leveraging bloggers.

Getting Started Working with Bloggers

The first step to reaching out is the easiest. Ask people in your company, your friends, and anyone with a passion for the vertical your company falls into for suggestions. Check Google. Often, bloggers are part of groups and readily recommend their competitors and compatriots. Make a spreadsheet with their site names, URLs, editors’ names, and contact email information.

Next, GET READING. Take copious notes of what excites each blogger, or specific niches they are fond of, brands they talk about, and HOW they talk about brands. Follow them on Twitter or Facebook to get a clearer picture of what they are about. Take note on their site as to whether they have advertising information or take cash to review items. Put these details in their own columns on your spreadsheet. You need to know this information

Once you have a clearer picture (and you’ve culled bloggers who don’t fit from your list) you should reach out to the bloggers in question. DO NOT reach out when you have something to promote in a few weeks. Reach out with NO AGENDA. Relationship-building is the goal.

Your e-mail should be short and sweet and include some important information:

• A courteous greeting
• A comment on what you like about their blog
• An introduction to you, your brand, and your team (with contact information)
• An invitation to talk some more
• An offer to provide that person with information on your brand; and invite them to events.

That’s it for your first outreach. You might hear back right away, you might not. What do you do in the meantime? Sign up for a commenting account on their blogs. Comment, fully identifying yourself, and keep the conversation going. The more proactive you are, the more seamless it will be to ask for a review or participate in your future outreach.

When You’re Ready to Launch

When it’s time to actually activate a program, you need to send another e-mail clearly outlining:

• The goal of the campaign
• The complete request, including estimated time investment on the blogger’s part (don’t devalue their time; you’ll burn a bridge)
• What you’re prepared to trade for their time – this can be buying advertising on their site, a review fee, a gift bag, an experience, an invitation to meet and greet someone important, or anything else of intrinsic value to that blogger (if there is an exchange of time, there needs to be an exchange of value)

Once you have interest from your bloggers, you should formalize the agreement using a Memorandum of Understanding. All you really need for an MOU is:

• The date
• The outline of the exchange taking place (including dates of events, dates a story should run, etc.)
• The names and addresses of the two parties
• Signatures of the two parties

You should both keep copies of this document. You can also outline a few additional items that might be important to your brand including:

• Requests that the blogger not do similar work for a competitor
• Requests for embargoing a story (include dates)
• Requests for other forms of promotion: Twitter, Facebook, newsletters, etc. (be prepared for extra charges)

Once you have this agreement in place, you will need to stay close to your bloggers, communicating with them regularly, and ensuring that they are kept happy.

What To Do If Things Happen That Are Out Of Your Control

There is always a chance with a blogger that they may drop out of participation in a campaign. To solve this problem, you need to have some bloggers in your “back pocket” who you can pull out on short notice. The more you outreach and have positive experiences with the community, the less this will happen (and the more you will be able to call people at the last minute and have them help you out).

If your blogger posts a negative review or negative comments about your product, you need to look back on the experience from their point of view and be honest about whether your team was responsible for a bad experience in some way. If this is the case, FIX IT IMMEDIATELY. Pick up the phone, and ask what you can do to help them out.

If they have made a negative comment about your product where you know you have a weakness, address this with them either personally, or in the blog comments. You can turn a negative experience like this around if you acknowledge an issue and tell people you are addressing it.

If someone who blogged for you has some kind of problem that you are worried might reflect negatively on your brand, you should really tread lightly. You can post in the comments section of the post a very rehearsed PR pitch, and then say nothing more.

When To Call In the Pros

If you have the budget and you need blogger relationships in a hurry, you might want to call in an agency to perform blog outreach for you. The advantages of hiring an outside company are sheer reach and exposure on short notice, but the drawbacks are that you haven’t really made those relationships yourself; so you might not be hitting as targeted a group as you would if you do your own blogger research.

Blogger outreach programs are a great layer to add on to digital campaigns, and the relationships you make with bloggers can sustain you through some slower business news periods. As long as you approach outreach as a relationship-building exercise, you will get great mentions and reviews from the effort you put in.

This guest post was provided by Karen Geier, the co-founder of Shyndyg.com. Previously she was a digital marketing executive, most recently with Ogilvy; she headed up social media strategy for Canadian start up Kobo, and has consulted for startups and Fortune 500 companies.

I promise, this is the last you’ll probably hear about the Super Bowl, but we have something so great that we have to share it. Our fantastic Marketwire Reports team has put together a deep analysis of how Twitter played a role in this year’s Super Bowl.

Below you’ll find our Super Bowl XLVII Twitter Mention Report. Inside this report we’ve taken a look at the over 24 million tweets that we found associated with Sunday’s big game. We’ve gone through all of the tweets and broken them down so you can see what people were talking about in relation to the game, the teams, the halftime show and, of course, the commercials.

Inside the report we’ll show you:

• A breakdown of what the 24 million Super Bowl tweets were about
• The most used hashtags during the game
• What people talked about positively and negatively during the game
• How Beyonce was the single biggest talked about “event” of the entire Super Bowl
• How the Twitter followers of both the Ravens and the 49ers grew exponentially on game day
• How being “always on” helped get Oreo and Tide get over 100 million Twitter impressions
• Some of the most retweeted tweets about the game
• And much more

By Leland Humbertson, Associate Editor

Public relations professionals are always looking for ways to more effectively distribute their messages to members of the media and other influencers. One way — which is often very cost-effective — is to create a custom list of professionals to augment news distribution through a wire circuit.

Custom lists — also called custom wires, email blasts or personal lists — are collections of email addresses and fax numbers of members of the media and others that are assembled by public relations professionals with the help of a newswire. The service is called Custom Wire at Marketwire. A typical Custom Wire list includes journalists outside the distribution of a wire circuit, or people associated with the sender’s company whom the sender thought should receive a copy, or even stakeholders who have requested information about the company. In general, the recipients are people who media and marketing professionals would want to receive the news being reported.

In addition to compiling a list of known Custom Wire contacts, Marketwire clients can take advantage of Mediahub, a database of more than 1.5 million individual contacts and editorial opportunities in the US, Canada, Europe and the UK, to augment the list they have already compiled. For example, if a public relations officer had a list of 200 affiliates in the sports industry, but wanted even more coverage, Marketwire’s Mediahub sports professionals’ index might be used to augment the list.

Aside from achieving more coverage, sending a Custom Wire in addition to a wire distribution has the advantage of making a message more personal. Press releases going across the wire are often delivered to the general inboxes of targeted media outlets. While this is an effective way of making sure a message “gets out,” a Custom Wire ensures a message reaches a specific, named individual. To further personalize the communication, the message comes from the sender’s email address, and faxes arrive on the sender’s letterhead.

All business professionals know the benefit of collecting customers’ e-mail addresses and sending out e-blasts; this type of email networking is a way to make customers more engaged with the goings-on of a business by personally addressing new products, deals or exciting events directly of interest to them. The principle is the same with Custom Wires — writers acquainted in some way with the sender company are receiving individually addressed emails in their inboxes. This process goes a long way toward building relationships between two parties.

Having a Custom Wire attached to a Marketwire profile – a pre-determined set of distribution criteria residing in Marketwire’s submission system – is another way to ensure the same people receive a sender’s messages regardless of other areas a company might wish to target.

For example, a company that makes electrical components may want to send out a release to the Biotech Hotspots circuit to communicate news about a new medical device. However, if the company’s next release is about a device dealing with airport security, the wire circuit might change to the High-Tech Hotspots circuit. By attaching a Custom Wire list to each release, the same group of writers and professionals interested in the company’s news will always be included.

PR agencies or other companies with linked Marketwire accounts can also have multiple saved Custom Wire lists, easily allowing anyone to send releases to one or several different groups of people. Managing all these lists through your Marketwire account can be easier than trying to juggle them in an email program.

Once a Custom Wire is distributed, the user can monitor the impact of the communication by logging into his or her Marketwire account and viewing a comprehensive report, by Custom Wire list, which shows how many addresses it was sent to, the number of emails individual contacts received, how many recipients opened the message, and how many distribution errors occurred.

Whatever the reason — be it a cost, targeted coverage or merely convenience — Marketwire can help compile and manage custom distribution lists for every type of industry.

By Shannon Woods, Associate Editor

Buzzwords—those infamous words and phrases like “paradigm shift,” “long tail” and “game-changer” thought to grab people’s attention—seem to have lost what used to be their key role in marketing, and specifically press release writing. But while buzzwords are still alive in many industries, one should be wary of basing an entire marketing campaign around catchy, heard-that-before industry jargon. The Internet is oversaturated with every buzzword, colloquialism, and verbal circumlocution you’ve heard of (and many you haven’t!), so it is imperative when you write your press release to use them carefully and with purpose.

Here are some ways that buzzwords can be beneficial in press releases, but it is important to keep in mind how to use them to best help you achieve your goals.

To avoid overusing popular search terms and running the risk of making your press release sound like a reprint of countless other releases, be strategic and deliberate when you include buzzwords and balance them appropriately within the entirety of the text. However, don’t disregard the trending terminology altogether, as this will negatively impact your release’s potential search engine visibility.

Your content should be pioneering in its newsworthy potential, but not too original in its presentation. You want it to attract noteworthy buzz and generate hits through keyword searches. Popular marketing lingo alone may do little for SEO due to oversaturation, but using keywords that incorporate industry wordage can help your content get noticed. For example, instead of using the popular phrase “real-time” alone, try making a compound keyword for your release that makes the search term more specific, such as “real-time analytics.” The compound will help your release’s online pickup, while the creation of this more-detailed keyword will likely help pull up your release when your future audience searches for the term.

The primary focus of your press release is your organization’s announcement, not the currently fashionable buzzwords; let your company take center stage while you find ways to make search engines work for your news. Think about how your company sets itself apart in relation to the particular metadata – the keywords that define your brand – you’d like to include, and make that terminology more precise and detailed in relation to your company’s news.

Sheldon Levine, who works in marketing at Marketwire, puts it nicely: “… the goal of a press release is to reach your key audience and elicit some sort of response or action from them. If a buzzword will help you to do this, regardless of whether it’s a widespread word, then use it. Some buzzwords play better to certain audiences than others though, so just know who you’re trying to reach and what gets them to react when crafting your communication.”

Too many marketing idioms in your headline and first paragraph may cause journalists to think you are overhyping your news. Keep placement minimal in the beginning of the text for optimal pickup results.

Consider how buzzwords are used in the industry you are trying to target. Experimenting with their usage can help you find a good balance to keep your audience’s attention with intriguing content. To maintain a high level of SEO visibility, Marketwire’s SEO Analyzer tool can be an invaluable source, as it gives insight into how well your press release will perform in search engines. If your release scores high, it’s likely that it’s risen above other similar content online.

Buzzy phraseology is still vital in maintaining some sort of familiarity with the news you’re discussing and in helping your content be searchable in the ever-expanding online world, but make sure it’s your news being heralded, and not the business world’s new favorite novelty expression.

By John Miles, Associate Editor

Bigger is not always better in finding an audience for your press release. Not every news item demands the entire world’s attention. In fact, the content of most releases appeals to a very specific audience – oftentimes a targeted industry segment or consumer demographic. However, sometimes your most valuable readers are just down the street. Continue reading Think Local: Tips for a Community-Focused Press Release »

Happy Community Manager Appreciation Day!

What’s this, you ask? Well, Community Manager Appreciation Day (CMAD) was created back in 2010 by Jeremiah Owyang to celebrate the tireless efforts of community managers around the world. Community managers spend their day acting as a bridge between their company or brand and the world at large. At any given time you can find a community manager acting as the PR, marketing, sales, customer service and voice of a brand all at the same time. Today is the day we give them thanks.

Does your company have a community manager? Have you had a great experience from a brand thanks to their community manager? Today’s their day, so thank them for the wonderful job that they’re doing. Presents aren’t required (although I’m sure they also wouldn’t be turned away), but your thanks and appreciation is welcome.

Now, when I said that presents aren’t required, I meant it, but we have two for all the community managers out there anyways.

First, we have the ebook “A Collection Of Community Management Advice.” We teamed up with TheCommunityManager.com and issued an open survey of seven questions to community managers around the world. We got some great responses and put them together for anyone that’s interested in learning what it takes to be a successful community manager. Inside, you can find advice from community managers from EventBrite, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Syracuse University, Edelman, The Community Roundtable, The U.S. Department of State and more.

You can click here to download and keep A Collection Of Community Management Advice.

Our second present is also packed with useful advice for community managers, but comes in the form of a video. We had a few friends at New Media Expo a few weeks ago answer a couple of community management questions. We asked some social media professionals “What makes a great community manager?” and who some of their favourite community managers were. Check out their answers:

So to all those community managers out there making their companies better 24/7, we say thank you!

How do you throw an event that will get the right media to attend and gain valuable coverage for your product or client? It takes a little more than just throwing a party, inviting everyone you know and hoping for the best.

In our webinar we looked at how public relations professionals can get journalists to call them. In this series, we’ll look at how the experts put together an event from deciding who to invite to following up after the event.

This week, we look at the preparation before an event.  Continue reading How to Plan a Successful Event »

From MarkBlevis.com

Mark Blevis analyses the social space using Sysomos’ MAP and Heartbeat tools. He took a look at the Idle  No More movement for the week of January 13-19, part of his monitoring since December 23. Here’s what he has to say:

“Despite a week of continued momentum, media interest and online chatter, and much hype around the National Day of Protest, Idle No More posted a significant drop in online activity between January 13 and 19.”

You can see the full analysis and how Blevis used Sysomos Heartbeat to analyze the data at this link.

Community managers are becoming a big part of most brands’ communication and marketing teams. Over the years we’ve seen this role expand from just a few companies to almost any company that has an online presence. Not that online dealings are the only thing a community manager is charged with, but in today’s online economy, the online aspect does play a huge role.

But don’t let me tell you what a community manager should or shouldn’t be (even though I’ve been doing it for a few years myself). We actually want to know your thoughts on being a community manager.

Today we’re happy to tell you that we’ve teamed up with TheCommunityManager.com in preparation for Community Manager Appreciation Day (which is coming up on January 28th). On Community Manager Appreciation Day (#CMAD) we want to release an ebook on thoughts, tips and advice about being a community manager and we want your help to populate it.

Below is a link to a survey that we’re asking community managers to fill out so we can highlight you and your thoughts on being a great community manager. It’s not long, only about 7 questions, and would greatly help us, TheCommunityManager.com and your fellow community of community managers. So, if you’re a community manager, please take a few mins to fill out the survey.

Even if you’re not a community manager but you know one (maybe a friend, a colleague, a person behind a brand’s Twitter profile that you love talking to) please pass this along to them.

CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT

THE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT SURVEY

Thank you in advance and we’re really looking forward to seeing your responses!

We’ll also be sure to alert you when we release the ebook on Community Manager Appreciation Day.

I had an awful customer service experience recently and while I won’t name the company, it certainly soured me on ever using their products again. It’s hard to believe that in the age of social media when reviews – good and bad – can be posted in seconds, some companies still haven’t invested in customer service.

I’m not the only one. Mark Evans points out how social media can affect a company. (Reposted from the Marketwire Small Business Blog). Continue reading Customer Service in the Age of Social Media »