This document outlines the PR distribution strategy and timeline for announcing that Chris Behan, President of Socius Marketing, will give two presentations at the Urgent Care Association of America’s 2016 Spring Convention. The strategy includes distributing a press release through press rooms, wire services, and targeting journalists/bloggers. Social media will also be used with relevant hashtags. Several national, local, and industry news outlets are identified as media focus points. An outreach plan details contacting these outlets, and a timeline is provided for execution of tasks leading up to the event.

1. This document outlines the distribution strategy and timeline for PR communications
regarding the announcement of Socius Marketing’s President Chris Behan giving two
presentations at the Urgent Care Association of America’s 2016 Spring Convention.
Distribution Strategy
Press Release Distribution
The following journalists and wire services will be used to distribute the news about the
speaking engagement.
 Press Rooms
o Socius Marketing News
 This is Socius’ online pressroom. A company should always
feature their own press releases in their newsrooms.
o UCAA News
 This is the Urgent Care Association of America’s digital
newsroom. As the host/sponsor of the convention, their site’s
visitors are the perfect audience as they may be interested in news
regarding the urgent care industry in general, or actually visiting
the event.
 Wire Services
o Muck Rack
 In the past, Socius Marketing has refrained from using newswires
to distribute their press releases. As I do not work for the firm I
cannot attest as to why, but I would assume that some digital
marketing companies, and marketing firms in general may be
weary of the effect it may have on their branding. Fortunately,
using Muck Rack would only further bolster Socius’ standing as
industry experts. Muck Rack is a well respected paid site that helps
the modern communication professional “identify and contact
journalists, bloggers and freelancers around the world, monitor the
news and build reports on your PR efforts (Muck Rack, 2016).”
Muck Rack’s distribution network is exemplary, provides PR
professionals with a list of journalists, bloggers and their contact
information, and is obviously very highly regarded as their listed
clientele includes Buzzfeed, Deloitte, Facebook, and Reddit just to
name a few (2016).
o ProfNet
 ProfNet is also a paid site, and was selected for many of the same
reasons as Muck Rack. I believe that ProfNet would be a perfect
match for Socius, as this wire service is known to help establish
companies and individuals as experts in their field. When these
people or businesses create and submit their content to ProfNet, it
gets matched with relevant bloggers or journalists that have an

2. audience interested in the subject matter of the article (ProfNet,
2016). The journalists and bloggers in ProfNets network are well
vetted, have a wide array of audience interests, and work with or
for some of the biggest media outlets in the world, including
Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and local newspapers (2016).
Since Socius was founded less than the years ago, the company has
experienced tremendous growth, and should look to build on that
momentum by further establishing their brand name and credibility
by getting their content featured in as many credible media outlets
as possible.
 As Neil St. Clair points out in his Forbes article Why You Should
Almost Never Pay for PR, although there are very few situations
where it is a good idea to outsource all of your company’s PR
work, tools like Muck Rack can help your firm connect with the
journalists, influencers and media outlets in your industry faster
than ever before (2015).
 Journalists/ Bloggers:
o AJ Ghergich- Ghergich.com/ Twitter: @SEO
 AJ is a well respected writer in the SEO community, and is known
for posting stories about all things affecting the SEO and content
marketing industries. His twitter account @SEO has almost sixty
thousand followers, and he tweets out links to white papers and
events on a regular basis. The Press Release I created for Socius
Marketing would fit perfectly into his media mix, and could
benefit him by boosting his exposure to marketers in the urgent
care industry while furthering Socius’ exposure to his contingent
of SEO professionals at the same time.
o Neil Patel- Quicksprout/ Twitter: @neilpatel
 Gaining an endorsement or having the press release mentioned by
Neil on his twitter account or blog would be an absolute game
changer for Socius. Neil is unquestionably one of the icons in the
digital marketing industry. He is regularly a featured columnist for
Forbes, Entrepreneur and Inc magazines just to name a few.
Critically acclaimed, some of his greatest accolades include being
named as one of the top influencers on the web by the Wall Street
Journal, one of the top ten online marketers by Forbes, and being
recognized as one of the top one hundred entrepreneurs under the
age of thirty by President Obama (Quicksprout, 2016). Not only is
he well regarded, he is a perfect target for this distribution plan
because he has almost two hundred thousand followers on twitter,
and posts industry specific articles to his twitter account and
Quicksprout blog multiple times a day.
o To optimize the campaigns outreach and effectiveness,
journalists/bloggers will receive a short and concise pitch along with
advanced copies of the rich media press release and a complete press kit.
This approach was explored in depth by Thenuka Karunaratne in his

3. article Startup PR: How I got my product featured in Time, Business
Insider, and others with a $10 budget, and highlights how taking this
approach lead to his product being featured in some of the largest
publications at a ridiculously inexpensive cost per exposure (2016).
Social Media
The following social sites will be used to distribute content and encouraging sharing
within the online community. This list also describes how these outlets will be used to
spread communications about Chris Behan’s presentations at the UCAA’s 2016 Spring
Convention.
 Socius Marketing Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram
o Post about the Urgent Care Association of America’s 2016 Spring
Convention with the hash tag UCAOA16 on twitter to help maximize
exposure and track the campaigns effectiveness.
o Post pictures and videos of Chris and the staff at the event on Instagram
with the #UCAOA16.
o Create posts on Google+ and Facebook before and after the event to
encourage discussion, garner interest, and receive feedback. Doing so will
take advantage of the differences in approach that are necessary to
maximize social media campaign effectiveness, and will also help Chris
improve as a public speaker for future engagements.
 Urgent Care Association of America Twitter, Facebook
o The UCAOA regularly posts on their Twitter and Facebook accounts, and
has historically posted about speakers and their presentations at past
conventions.
o Ideally, they would tweet a picture of Chris with the Socius logo and the
titles of his two presentations along with the same #UCAOA16 hash tag in
order to maximize exposure.
o Preferably the association would tweak the press release a little to fit their
brand voice and post the press release on their Facebook page along with
the same UCAOA16 hash tag.
Media Focus Research
The following news outlets will be targeted to announce Chris Behan’s speaking
engagements at the Urgent Care Association of America’s 2016 Spring Convention.
 National News Outlets
o Business 2 Community
 While urgent care center marketing is a rather niche market,
Business 2 Community (B2C) is the only national news outlet that
has mentioned Socius before, and their website is well regarded in
the business community online. Furthermore, according to their

4. mission statement their target audience is business professionals
that wish to establish their thought leadership, increase exposure
for themselves or their companies, and network with other business
professionals (Business 2 Community, 2016). Furthermore, B2C
proclaims that their goal is to provide a current view of business
landscape by providing content regarding industry news and
trends, real-life experiences from their expert contributors, white
papers, and other compelling and thought provoking content. I
therefore believe that this would be a great time to get Socius back
in front of B2C’s audience, and further establish Socius Marketing
as industry leaders.
 Local News Outlets
o The Orlando Business Journal
 The UCCOA’s 2016 spring convention is being held in Orlando
this year, so it would make sense to get this press release in front
of the relevant audience in the area. The Orlando Business Journal
is perfectly suited for these purposes because it is well respected in
the community, has both print and digital channels, and regularly
publishes content on SEO and local conventions.
o Tampa Bay Business Journal
 The Tampa Bay Business Journal was selected because they
publish content on similar subject matters as The Orlando Business
Journal, are highly regarded in the Tampa Bay community where
Socius is headquartered, and has published content mentioning
Socius before. Tampa is also less than two hours away from
Orlando by car, and likely home to many people that would be
interested in both hearing Chris’s speeches, and attending the
event.
 Industry News Outlets
o Content Marketing Institute
 The CMI is a well-reputed source for all things affecting the
content marketing industry. The site posts articles, white pages,
opinion pieces and more from a wide array of subject matter
experts, multiple times a day, every day. Chris’ two presentations
are perfectly suited for this audience, and would further solidify
both his and Socius’ standing as experts in this field while also
garner a lot of views from people that may be interested in
attending the event. CMI hosts marketing events, offers consulting,
and publishes on both print and digital channels. Furthermore, the
site attracts large numbers of viewers according to Alexa, so it is
imperative that Socius approach this outlet early and often to
ensure it gets the content posted.
 Also important to note, CMI accepts blog posts from
reputable members of the industry for free so long as they
find the content to be worthy and meeting their editorial
guidelines.

5. Outreach Tactics
The following outreach tactics will be applied to get the announcements regarding Chris
Behan’s speaking engagements at the UCAA’s 2016 Spring Convention to the right
contacts, ensuring it can be posted in a timely manner.
* It is important to note that, as mentioned earlier in this distribution strategy, ProfNet
and Much Rack were selected newswires for this press release. Both are paid subscription
based services that I do not currently have access to, and provide the user with detailed
contact information for bloggers, journalists and publishers that are not available for free.
 Business 2 Community
o Brian Rice: Co-Owner & Site/ Content Strategist
 brian@business2community.com
 No phone number available
o In order to become a contributor to the B2C site, the company requires an
application be submitted to their website at the link provided below, and
approved before any individual submissions are published.
o Therefore Chris Behan would apply directly on behalf of himself as a
representative of Socius Marketing.
o The original application will be submitted with hopes of establishing Chris
and Socius as industry experts, and this press release will be pitched to
specifically highlight the event’s networking opportunities, current
industry trends and opportunities, and applicable real-life experiences that
members of B2C’s audience can learn from.
 http://www.business2community.com/become-a-contributor/apply
- ZmbGgsq7H8cA5zyB.97
 The Orlando Business Journal
o Socius’ PR team will contact Matthew Richardson
(http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/bio/18961/Matthew+Richardson).
He is the Orlando Business Journal’s lead journalist on technology, events,
and general assignments for their online and print channels.
 407-641-2410
 MRichardson@bizjournals.com
 *Any upcoming business events in the Orlando area can be posted
in their calendar both digitally and in print for $99 directly on the
page below.
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/event/
 Tampa Bay Business Journal (TBBJ)
o Socius Marketing’s PR team will contact Alex Nuñez
o Alex is a contributing writer for TBBJ, and a marketing professional with
over fifteen years of experience in the digital and print marketing
industries.
o His personal contact info is not available online, but links to contact him
on Linkedin and Twitter can be found in the link below.

6.  (http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/bio/34852/Alex+Nuñez)
 Content Marketing Institute
o Pam Kozelka
 pam@contactinstitute.com
 Her personal phone number is not available, but the general phone
number for CMI is:
 1-888-554-2014
o The request to have the information from the press release published on
the website will be presented from the angle of teaching CMI’s audience
the current best practices regarding content marketing to millennials, and
using Yelp to grow a business’ online presence. Both of these topics
would appeal to CMI’s audience, fall in line with CMI’s theme and
happen to be the subjects that Chris will be presenting on as discussed in
the press release.
 AJ Ghergich
o Twitter.com/seo
o aj@ghergich.com
o ghergich.com
o 1-877-960-7767
 AJ will be approached to tweet about Chris’ presentations at the
#UCAOA16 event.
 AJ consistently posts about news and events affecting the SEO and
digital marketing industries, and the #UCAOA16 event is
differentiated enough that he would be wise to consider it.
 AJ owns his own SEO/ digital marketing firm, so he would be
exposing his brand to people in the urgent care community.
 Neil Patel:
o Twitter.com/neilpatel
o Neil’s personal contact information is hard to come by, and his website
requires visitors to fill out an application to be e-mailed back, which can
be found in the link provided below.
 https://www.quicksprout.com/contact/
o Chris will approach Neil directly, with the pitch being geared towards
appearing on the Quicksprout blog, or Neil’s twitter page.
 Important to note that Neil does not sell advertising space on his
blog, but regularly publishes links about SEO and digital
marketing events that he finds relevant on his twitter account.
Timeline
The following timeline outlines when each task must be completed by in order to ensure
an optimized PR campaign and distribution strategy.
 November 2015:

7. o Conduct website content keyword research: page titles, Meta descriptions,
and content keywords.
o Research possible outlets to distribute to using Muck Rack and ProfNet,
for influencers, bloggers and journalists actively covering the SEO and
urgent care industries.
o By completing these tasks six months prior to the event, these content
writers can be approached effectively from angles that their audiences will
be compelled to learn more about.
o Contact Neil Patel about press packet for the UCAOA’s 2016 Spring
Convention.
 December 2015
o Press release packet design
 Create multiple visual design variations of the press release, so as
to maximize reach across various channels.
o Press Release Content:
 Create multiple variations of the copy to be used in the press
release.
 Have coworkers and peers review and finalize the copy for mass
distribution.
o Contact the Urgent Care Association of America for photographs and
videos of past events, and any content they are sharing with guest speakers
to possibly feature in press release.
o Contact remaining selected journalists and bloggers about featuring the
press release on their various outlets so that they have enough time to
coordinate release with their content calendar.
 January 2016
o Notify individuals in charge of UCAOA and Socius’ internal channels that
Chris speaking engagements at the UCAOA 2016 Spring Convention will
be announced at the end of March and early April.
o Create ads that will be placed in Business 2 Community, and Content
Marketing Institute.
o Update Socius Marketing and UCAOA’s News pages to include
“#UCAOA16” hash tag to all social media posts concerning the
engagement.
 February 2016
o Get final approval from the Urgent Care Center of America and Socius
Marketing’s executive and legal teams for press release and blog/social
media content.
o Deliver advanced copies of completed press release with distribution
requirements to all selected journalists/ bloggers.
o Completing all of these tasks by the end of February ensures that
distributors are prepared to hit the ground running at the end of March.
 Monday, March 21, 2016:
o Upload press release to Muck Rack and ProfNet, ensuring they have
enough time to review and upload them in time for review and approval.
 Monday, March 28, 2016:

8. o Add announcement on Socius’ News page.
o Announce the speaking engagement on internal channels.
o Verify information has been uploaded seamlessly across all selected
channels.
o This date was selected because it fell in step with UCAOA’s 2015 Spring
Convention speaker announcements.
 March 28- April 17, 2016:
o Actively research social media mentions across all channels for
opportunities to engage people that are talking about the engagement.
According to all of the research I conducted on best practices while
preparing this PR distribution plan, during this time mentions and traffic
will be the highest, so we need to seize the opportunity to affect customer
sentiment while we can.
o