What’s changed in how media function in the last few years ...€¦ · customer reviews. Those reviews are then shared on our various social channels. The social media team also

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© Copyright 2015 MichaelSMARTPR, LLC © Copyright 2015 MichaelSMARTPR, LLC

@michaelsmartpr

Pitch Perfect

How smart PR pros ignite the media,

bloggers, and fans to share their message

© Copyright 2015 MichaelSMARTPR, LLC

What’s changed in how media function in the last few years?

• Discuss with your neighbor


One observation

Traditional media

Producers of

popular social

feeds


Which describes you best?

• Social media background looking to blend in media relations

OR

• Media relations background looking to blend in social media

• After this session, no distinction necessary


Today’s purpose

Combine the best tools and techniques of social media and media relations to boost success in both.


Examples we’ll discuss include:

• Celebrities’ social media feeds

• Niche Facebook page with 20M followers

• Major market TV newsrooms

• Journalists at top-tier national outlets

• Traffic spikes to owned web sites

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5 SMART tips

1. Expand your universe of potential targets


Ranked by unique visitors

Traditional media

• NYTimes.com

• WSJ.com

• WashingtonPost.com

• USAToday.com

Merge the two columns and re-rank

Digital-first media

• BuzzFeed.com

• HuffingtonPost.com

• Mashable.com

• Forbes.com

Compete, Dec.

2104


NYTimes.com

Buzzfeed

HuffingtonPost

WSJ.com

Mashable

Forbes.com

WashingtonPost.com

USAToday.com

Ranked by unique visitors Compete, Dec.

2104


Olympics tie-in

Luge contestant and BYU student Kate Hansen


Caught dancing to Beyonce


Jon McBride, BYU

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What’s the takeaway?

Find new outlets – even non-media – that are already reaching your audiences


Kim Ward, Michigan State

• Pitching physics

• Extinction of science writers

Subject Line: Black Holes Don’t

Entirely Suck….

…because, Elise, Michigan State

University Professor Chris Adami believes

he has plugged the hole in Stephen

Hawking’s black hole theory — the

information paradox hole. Here’s the link to

the release and study:

[continued]

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Your next steps

Identify one new outlet that’s reaching your key audiences that you aren’t pitching.

• What’s the IFLscience in your niche?

• What non-media personality reaches your audience?


5 SMART tips


2. Mimic how journalists are pitching their own content to each other


My unique training gig

• Client was a media company with a news site that’s Top 25 in page views nationally

• Asked me to train their journalists how to get their work linked and shared by other journalists at other sites


Short version of what journalists are doing

• Connecting with peers (competitors?) via Twitter

• Start sharing each other’s stuff via Twitter

• Eventually moving convo to email

• In many cases, writing “roundups” that include links to other sites’ work


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“Read & React”

• Consume their content

• Let them know you did!

• Twitter is great way to start – stats later from Gregory

• Or you can go old-school and actually email a journalist!


Laura Crovo

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If you don’t have time to build up to the pitch . . .

• Just checking them out on Twitter in advance

Millennials changing the way cars are sold

Millennials are avid researchers, so part of the [regional

auto dealership’s] digital/social strategy encourages

customer reviews. Those reviews are then shared on

our various social channels. The social media team also

utilizes programs that allow them to measure

followers/commenters temperature and tone when

talking about our brand and that helps decipher which

content elicits the most favorable and participatory

response.

This is key, as millennials always do their research

before making purchasing decisions.

(more details . . .)


Next step

• Who thinks doing Reading & Reacting consistently would increase media responsiveness to your pitches?

• Schedule 10 minutes a day to Read & React


5 SMART tips


2. Read & React

3. Involve partners who will bring their own audiences

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Weird Al’s “Tacky” video


Weird Al’s “Tacky” video

• Starring Aisha Tyler, Margaret Cho, Eric Stonestreet, Kristen Schaal and Jack Black

• Gave exclusive rights to Nerdist.com

• Album hit #1

• (other SM tactics helped too)


Your next steps

• Who can “star” in your upcoming content and then share with their audiences?

• What content creators can you fund or enable?


5 SMART tips


2. Read & React


4. Play by the rules and amplify your work on social sharing sites


Guess which site?

• 160 million monthly uniques

• 1.8 million registered users logged in each day competing to share useful content

• Yet is studiously avoided by PR and SM reps for organizations?


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But Michael!

• Fiercely protective culture

• They pillory “spammers” and self-promoters

• Handle with care – not for everyone

• But it can be done



reddit: one PR pro’s results

• Record before using reddit:

30,000 page views to single page on employer’s site


reddit: one PR pro’s results • Separate pieces of contents’ page views

from reddit:

• 142,000

• 70,000

• 32,000

• Driven 350K total page views

• 20 percent of all traffic to his newsroom

• Journalists saw these and ran with them


reddit: work within rules

• Must actively post and comment on links NOT from your domain

• Rule of thumb – Only 1 of every 4 links you post should be yours at MOST

• Know the culture of the subreddit you’re posting to

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reddit: build a presence

• Two days a week, post something

• Also comment on other posts

• About 30 minutes a week building a presence

• You’ll see what works, how to write headlines

• What does this sound similar to?


reddit: then post your own stuff

• Target the largest relevant subreddit

• r/science performs better than r/hydrology

• Should be obvious, but just in case:

• Write headlines strong on reader value

• No hint of promoting your organization

• Also, amplify placements you earn


Not enough time?

• Then don’t experiment with it . . . or:

• Hire an experienced reddit user


Next steps

• Experiment with posting other sites’ links to reddit


5 SMART tips


2. Read & React


4. Amplify on social sharing sites

5. Mimic content that performs well online when pitching influencers


What formats get page views?

• Think Buzzfeed . . .

• Photos

• Videos

• gifs

• Listicles

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Nancy Crowley, San Francisco


Kristy Kennedy, rbb PR

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Top math student in the nation


Mathletes rap video

• Shot in one 3-hour session

• Cost $500

• All “talent” from within department


Video

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Next step

Change one upcoming pitch into a piece of content to share.


5 SMART tips


2. Bring in partners’ audiences

3. Amplify on social sharing sites

4. Read & React

5. Mimic what performs well socially when offering ideas to influencers


Next steps • ID one non-traditional outlet that reaches

your audiences

• Schedule 10 mins/day to Read & React

• Find a “star” who will bring their audience

• Experiment w/ posting links to reddit

• Change one upcoming pitch into a piece of content

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Copyright 2014

MichaelSMARTPR LLC


Bonus tips

Email [email protected]

so I can send you:

• Media Relations Road Map

• 5 templates for email pitch subject lines that get your pitches opened

• And then brief weekly pitching tips


Keep in touch

[email protected]

@michaelsmartpr

michaelsmartpr.com

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

What’s changed in how media function in the last few years ...€¦ · customer reviews. Those reviews are then shared on our various social channels. The social media team also