How To Maximise PR For Your Charity

How To Maximise PR For Your Charity Presented By: Paul Asinor Golden Stool Productions ‘ ’ If I were down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.’’- Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder

Session Outline
In this session we will cover:
What is Public Relations
Press Releases-Importance, SEO Techniques, Distribution, etc
Targeting Various Audiences
Social Media and How It Can Be Used to Boost Your Organization’s Profile

What is PR?
Public Relations describes the way issues and messages are communicated between an organization and the public.
It is the discipline that looks after corporate reputation.
It is the aim of PR to win understanding and support from, and to influence the opinions and behaviour of an organization’s key audiences.
Working to gain corporate sponsorship or creating excellent media relations to ensure good press coverage of fund raising activities eg. Live8, Make Poverty History
PR must communicate to both potential and current donors, how donations are spent and also highlight past successes

What is a Press/Media/News Release?
A release is simply YOUR news story , written in a journalistic style.
It is extremely powerful marketing tool
Must be factual
Interesting
Timely
Newsworthy

Advantages/Disadvantages of Press Releases
Advantages
More valuable/ can be low cost
Can reach a wider audience
More memorable/ impactful
More credible than advertising
Disadvantages
Competition with other stories
Can’t dictate what is said about you
Sometimes difficult to evaluate

Why do 99% of releases end up in the bin?
Is your story good enough?
Tip 1
Think like a journalist and treat them like colleagues
Tip 2
Planning your release: 95%
Execution: 5%
It doesn’t matter how pretty your release looks like
You can spend hours stuffing releases when one email to the right target could get more results

Tips cont’d
Tip 3
Get yourself some media training, if possible
You’ll have a better understanding of the media and how they work
You’ll gain more confidence in how to deal with the media
Tip 4
Convince yourself/ and or your boss
Would you be interested in the story?
Write a brief for yourself-objectives, key messages, headlines
Be specific
Keep it simple but smart-you should able to summarise it very simply

Tips cont’d
Tip 5
Journalists work to deadlines-make sure you meet them
Be opportunistic. The best coverage often times comes from being opportunistic
Tip 6
Avoid sensationalism and puffery, words like leading, top, etc

What Makes News News?
Identify a Hook for your story
A hook is an element of a story that attracts the attention of the media. Answer the question, why should I care?
Possible hooks
Controversy-agreement, different point of view
Human interest-real people, their triumphs
Anticipating trend
Something new
Date-specific stories eg. Back-to-school ..a hook for swine flu in children’s schools, Mother’s Day for breast cancer project
Special events-conferences, gatherings. Frame your story to capture
the issue and importance

Hooks cont’d
Give an old story a fresh angle. New research findings
Anniversaries/Milestones
Celebrity. They draw media attention
People… like community leaders, individuals having interesting stories that tie in with your story
Anticipate trends. Stories that suggest new opinions, patterns, behaviour

How to write Powerful Releases
Headline
Lead paragraph (containing brief who, what, where, when, why & how including key words, tags
Several supporting paragraphs including a quote or two from key management
Concluding paragraph/Call to Action
Boiler Plate about organization
Contact details
Remember the inverted pyramid-reporters cut from the top
Edit story/Proof read

Media’s Changing
Newspapers are going bankrupt
24 hour media, cable, satellite, Internet
But still, media, customers, partners, public want to know what’s going on
The way want their news has also changed. They want it :
Now
Direct
Ability to comment/ pass on information to others

How Do You Target Your Release for Maximum Effect?
Local/National Newspapers, TV/ Radio stations
Trade Publications
Use press release distribution sites
Become your own media outlet
Website (news page –information about your organization, history, number of employees, archived press releases, pictures, contact details)
Corporate Blog
Social media networks using linked in, facebook, twitter, engaging where customers, media are

Tips In Writing Releases For The Web
Use keywords that are relevant to your target audience
Determine the theme and determine a list of keywords that will represent it.
Identify two or three of the most relevant search items that your audience is likely to use when searching
Write a keyword-rich thematic headline
NB: Your headline is the most important sentence. Keep it keyword rich
Utilize keywords in the lead paragraph and throughout the body of the release.
Be careful of ‘spam’ so don’t overdo it

Tips for Writing For The Web cont’d
Write in a naturally flowing manner
The aim is to make your audience click through to your website via a link at the end of the release.
The more natural and conversational your writing style, the more likely they are to follow the link

Who Are Your Right Targets/Mix?
Know your publics and where they go for information
Is it trade publications that cover the industry?
Is it the features editor at your local newspaper?
Is it where your competitors are advertising?
Is it the leading bloggers in your sector?
Next..
Subscribe to these publications
Review the masthead to build a master list
Utilize search engines to find online editions of publications/relevant blogs…contact us, about us

Who Are Your Right Targets/Mix cont’d?
Get target audiences in directories like BRAD, Willings Press Guide, Hollis Press, PR Annual
Use a media base
Use a blog specific search engine such as Technorati ( http://www.technorati.com )
Google blog search ( http://www.blogsearch.google.com )
http://www.mediauk.com

Use Press Release Distribution sites
http://www.Bignews.biz
http://www.PRnewswire.com
http://www.PRLog.com
http://www.Pressreleasepoint.com
http://www.PRUrgent.com
http://www.PR.com
http://www.24-7PressRelease.com
http://www.PageRelease.com

Use Your Company Website
Create a Press Page
Separate sections of your website where the media can come for relevant but up-to-the-minute information,
download images, watch videos, listen to podcasts, etc
Organizational information-location,
When founded, past achievements, press releases, contact details
Put information regularly

Why Corporate Blog?
The original social media, the ultimate word-of-mouth technique
A vehicle to post new link-worthy content
Keeps search engines coming back to your website, improving your SEO
Helps to disseminate information quickly to the public
Provides feedback from customers

PR Through Social Media Networks
LinkedIn -biggest business social media network where you can communicate with similar-minded professionals, form and join groups, publish articles, comment, broadcast events provided with 3 free backlinks
Facebook - open a fan page separate from your personal page
Twitter -a micro-blog using140 characters, good for summary, links to website, retweets, etc
Del.icio.us
Digg
MySpace, etc

How To Do It/Rules In Social Media
Get others to brag about your event, organization, cause
Repost, retweets, comments, invite others in your sector to join
Online reach is significant
Retention high
Response potentially great
Consistency across channels
Choose friends wisely
Be social and personal, not private
Listen first, broadcast second

Twitter Do’s and Don’ts
Do:
Post links and retweet information that relates to, parallels or complements your organization
Add value to others Twitter experiences
Be clear about the action you want people to take
Talk back and provide solutions to let tweeters know you are listening
Don’t:
Promote shamelessly
Feel obligated to follow back
Ignore people or leave your account unchecked
Be indulgent and irrelevant

Some Twitter Applications
TwitPic ( www.twitpic.com ): allows the user to post a photo and tyhen share the Twitpic link via Twitter
Tipjoy ( www.tipjoy.com ): lets users send small amounts of cash to charities and businesses across Twitter and then tweet about the payment as another way to share news about donations
TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com) : provides desktop software so that users can organize their tweets into columns such as @replies, direct messages, groups, etc

Summary
You should now be able to:
Understand the importance of press releases and how to write them
Be able to use press releases to raise your profile and promote your organisation
Understand how to use search engine optimisation techniques
be able to use social media for your organisation

Thank You!
Paul Asinor, Executive Director, Golden Stool Promotions
Email: [email_address]
Personal blog: http://www.paulasinor.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/pages/Golden-Stool-Promotions
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulasinor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Paulasinor
For more information visit http://www.goldenstoolpromotions.com

How To Maximise PR For Your Charity

by paulasinor on Jan 01, 2010

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How To Maximise PR For Your Charity — Presentation Transcript