Digital PR for Growth

© K2 Global Communications
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Digital PR for
Growth
Strategy and Tactics

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Your Speaker
Amy Kenigsberg, Principal Consultant
K2 Global Communications
Bachelor of Journalism, magazine & newspaper journalism
MBA
20+ years in PR and marcom
Experience ranges from the first Internet agency to GE
industries from alumni relations to telecom
Co-founder, K2 Global Communications, international PR, marcom,
and content marketing from Israel

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Introductions
Your Turn

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Linking Your
Business Goals
Making PR Relevant

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Audience: Internal and External
“Customers”
• Employees
• Every employee
• Every department
• Clerical to CEO
• Customers
• Influencers
• Potential customers

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Messages
Delivery Channels
Audience

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Messaging
• Critical success factors
• Competitive advantages
• Unique selling propositions

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The Ultimate KEY Message
What’s in it
for me?

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Requirements
•Consistent messages
•Internal buy-in
•OPEN communication channels

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Delivery Channels

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Be Aware of “Telephone”

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You’re NOT DONE
• Need SYSTEMATIC, ongoing communications
• Daily/weekly newsletter
• NOTHING formal
• Two-three sentence status updates from each department, e.g.
• Sales lists potential customers
• Tech support lists issues for the sales engineer
• Marketing provides link to new version of product brochure
• Weekly “Stand-up” meetings
• Ongoing communication to department heads regarding management
initiatives

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All customer-
facing team
members
need to be on
the same
page

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The Failed Sale
Inside sales rep has the customer ready to
buy – based on information he received
from the product manager
The inside sales rep schedules a follow-up
call with the CTO. The CTO disputes every
spec made to the customer by the sales
rep

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Practicum, Step One
Write your company’s main value
proposition/key message: “We
create solutions that…”

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General PR Overview
The Basics

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If you build it…
“ It doesn’t
matter if you
have the best
solution on the
market if nobody
knows about it.”
L. Kenigsberg, to an irate CEO

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Public Relations, K2 Style
Building relationships with influencers
to create third-party endorsements,
attracting customers to buy and/or
repeat purchase

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Four out of Five Experts Surveyed…
Third-party endorsement adds value to your solutions

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What is a media outlet today?
• Website
• Print
• Blog
• Analyst report
• Analyst blog
• RSS
• Newsletter
• Social media

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Advertisingv. PR
•Budget
•Control
•“Coupons”
•TRUST…Third-party
endorsement

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Looking Outward
Defining Your Audiences

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All PR & Marcom Outreach
Should Appeal to Clearly
Defined Target Audiences

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Tiered PR
• B-to-B
• B-to-B-to-C
• B-to-C
• Partners v. End Users – Where does the revenue come
from?
• B-to-P

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Defining Your Audience
•What is in it for each
level of the tier?
•Influencer
•Customer

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Multiple Audiences
•Clearly define the messages for each
•Separate efforts
•Separate materials
• Two landing pages/website sections, etc.

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Reaching Your Targets
• You have your goal
• You know your audience
• Find out who is influencing them
• Journalists
• Bloggers
• Analysts

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What Do You Want to Achieve?
• Drive more sales
• Too general
• Drive sales in markets A, B & C
• Too general
• Drives sales in markets A, B & C from C-level and
project managers

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Practicum, Step Two
We create solutions that ABC for
KEY TARGET AUDIENCE MEMBER,
who needs to achieve/conquer
challenge of XYZ.

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The Process
Getting it Done

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PR + Social Media + Content
Marketing =
CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
COMMUNICATIONS

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Everything needs to follow…

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What is News?
• Industry specific
• General
• Product news
• Corporate data
• Deals with major partners
• Company news
• Reputation building
• Expertise
• Analysis
• Opinion

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NOT News
• We’re going to a show (unless…)
• We met with a potential investor
• We’re taking it on the road
• We’re joining 20 other Israeli companies at…

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The Basics
• Inverted pyramid
• Tell a story
• Who, what, when, where, why , how
• What’s in it for me? Journalist/reader

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The Press Release
• Be clear about your key messages
• Get to the point
• Compelling writing gets read
• Tease, don’t bore or be overly granular
• Human-sounding quotes, only
• Streamline the approval process

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Practicum, Step Three: The Release
•HEADLINE
•SUBHEAD
•FIRST PARAGRAPH

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To Release…
• Make sure your release is newsworthy
• Consider your audience
• Make it interesting!
• Respect the journalists’ time
• Keep your PR team close

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“Local” Coverage
• Israel
• A LOT OF COMPETITION
• DO NOT expect local coverage
• Foreign media based in Israel
• Approach on a one-to-one basis
• Potential success only on a slow news day after much
persistence

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International Coverage
• Target markets
• Industry
• Geography
• What is an investor looking for?
• Tech Crunch v. Key Trade Journal

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“Western” PR
• Focus on the business need
• Be very specific re: what you can do for the
target audience
• Remember: What’s in it for the journalist?

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Asian PR
• Still very product focused
• Strong rules of etiquette
• Recommend local language
• China – PR is political – the government owns the
media

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The Wire Services
• The big three
• PR Newswire
• Marketwired
• BusinessWire
• PR Web – online only
• Free services
Don’t!
• Unless…
• You have signed a deal with a major player
• Have money to spend
• PR Web – For SEO only
• Free services – You get what you pay
for

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Relationships
Cultivation is Key

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Anatomy of the
Journalist/Blogger
• Deadlines have become virtually continuous
• Layoffs mean one journalist is doing the job of many
• Trying to stay abreast of the news and trends
• Overwhelmed by email, Tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn
messages, all trying to get his attention
• Tweeting & blogging & posting on behalf of his
publication
• Blogging & tweeting & posting on his own behalf to
establish himself as a brand so when he’s targeted in the
next round of cuts…

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Care & Feeding of the
Journalist/Blogger
• What can you do to make his/her
life easier?
• Only approach with real news
• “Pre-digest” your information
• Offer them objective content with
your byline
• Ask what he/she needs and wants,
today and tomorrow

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“Talking” with Journalists
• What are they writing about?
• What do you have to offer?
• What do you have in common with the companies
they cover?
• What makes you unique?

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The Relationship with the Journalist
• She IS doing you a favor by speaking with you
• NEVER cancel unless a dire emergency
• Be prepared, especially for curves
• Most communication occurs by email
• NEVER attach anything
• Get to the point, keep it short
• Use bold/underlining

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Anatomy of an Analyst
• Trying to shake the pay-
for-play image
• Blogging regularly to
ensure/establish personal
brand (for the day…)
• Less likely to be reached by
your social media activities

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Care & Feeding of the Analyst
• Approach twice a year
to ensure “free”
briefings
• Have specifics about
what you can do for
the markets they cover
• Don’t cancel!

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The Interview Itself
• Use media interactions to reinforce your key messages
• Be prepared
• Make sure you know exactly what you want to say and
how to say it
• Answer their questions with your key messages
• Make sure you provide “quotable” content

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Pitching Tips
•Remember – KISS
•Be succinct
•Clear headlines
•Link it to previous content

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Promote Your Pill Counting Machine
• Retail Pharmacist
• Chain Store Age
• Retail Technology
• NPD Group (analyst)
• The Pharmacy Sage
(blog)

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Practicum, Step Four
•List three key trade publications for
your industry
•Provide three items about your
company that would be considered
newsworthy

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Practicum, Step Five
•Let’s NewsJack
• Three key trends in your industry
• Current events and your company
• Steal someone else’s thunder

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amy@k2-gc.com
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PR and Content Distribution
• Exclusivity v. “the masses”
• Type of impact v. quantity
• Embargoes
• Check with your SEO expert (un-indexing, etc.)
• Target, target, target
• If published: Always post their link on your website

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Awards & Speaking Opps are PR
Opportunities, too
• NO ONE cares if you won anything
• DO pay for PR Newswire’s/PR Web package so you are on
Google, though
• Make your speech topics submissions memorable
• Humor and sarcasm generally do work
• Don’t forget everyone who knows better can identify the pay-
for-play awards

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The Real Secret: Don’t Be a One-Hit
Wonder
PR Depends on
LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS:
Persistence, persistence,
persistence

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Measurement
• Higher website traffic
• Consider quantity v. quality
• Six visits – One registration
• Thousands of visits – Nothing
• More downloads
• Increase in newsletter subscribers
• Growth of conversion rates
• Incoming media inquiries
PR trade
industry
associations
are still
debating
measurement
standards
after 30+
years

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amy@k2-gc.com
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DIY v. The External Approach
• People you know
• Influencers you know
• Analysts you know
• Bloggers you know
• TIME YOU HAVE
• Expands your sphere of
influence
• Understands the value of
your news
• Dedicated resource
• Experience

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The PR Team
• PR is the primary avenue
to establish and reinforce
your brand
• Drives traffic to your site
• Streamlined methodology
gets your messages out
faster
• Integral part of your team

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amy@k2-gc.com
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K2’s Tactics
• Direct public relations outreach
• Introduce and maintain company presence in key publications/blogs in targeted markets
• Content contributions
• Create and place content to reinforce expertise among targeted audiences
• Articles, guest blog posts, slide shows
• Social media
• Actively participate in industry-related LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook groups
• Repost relevant articles (news you can use)
• Analyst relations
• Brief relevant industry analysts
• Trade show support
• Arrange in-person meetings with influential journalists at relevant exhibitions

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
DON’T
• Take a short-term view of PR
• Expect your agency to deliver optimally without collaboration
• Forget that your agency is your partner
• We’re in it together – our successes are interdependent
• Mislead or under inform your agency
• Expect agencies or freelancers to work for free/receive pay for
performance
• You need dedicated, motivated representation

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Your Content Needs to Focus On
•“News You Can Use”
•Objective statistics that help the industry
•Content that adds to the conversation
•Controversial/oppositional

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Reduce: Get Down to Tachlis
•Drill down for information/data you
possess that can create objective reports
for your industry
• Use cases
• Customer statistics

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www.k2-gc.com
Reuse Your Content
• “Sell” it as a blog to a targeted media outlet
• Promote their usage on social media
• Put a link to their site on yours
• Send the content in your newsletter – with an
“As Seen in”

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
Recycle
• December comes every year
• Predictions
• Holidays
• Back to school
• Are the same people reading
your blog?
• Do they even remember what
you wrote?

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www.k2-gc.com
Evergreen Content Topics
• 360 degree perspective on the industry
• Environment
• Channels
• Technology
• Leverage global trends (news hacking)
• Make events interesting
• General industry trends
• Special reports/surveys

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
A/B Testing Your Content
Distribution
• Vary the headline
• “Rearrange” the content
• Test time of day
• Test day of week
• Split by market interest

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
Amplifying PR with Social Media
•Part of the Reduce/Reuse/Recycle Cycle
•Any content used in one place should be
promoted in another
•Same theme, different channel

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Practicum, Step Six
My target audience of TITLE/INDUSTRY HERE
would be most interested in these topics:
• 1
• 2
• 3

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You are an Israeli Company…Or Not?
• You ARE an Israeli company
• Politics
• NEUTRAL: “I don’t feel it would be fair or appropriate to use this as a
political forum. Our focus is on sharing our technology to everyone’s
benefit.”
• You AREN’T
• R&D is in Israel
• Stick to the story

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
Present a Professional Face
• Have a native English speaker review your website
• While it may appear to be English, many Israeli sites
are in “Heblish”
• The cow brown that jumped over the moon.
• The brown cow jumped over the moon.
• He is getting into the place.
• He entered.

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
Spelling Counts
•Any typo in a website or marketing
material significantly reduces your
credibility
• If you cannot be bothered to spell correctly or have
your materials proofread, you’re undermining
confidence in your company and products

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
And Your Name Is?
• ‫רוני‬
• Ronny
• Ronnie
• Roni
• Ronni
• Ronie
• Ronney
NEVER misspell
anyone’s name
• Ask how his/her name is spelled
• Check LinkedIn, etc.

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amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
Step-by-step Guide
• Refine your messaging
• Define your target audiences
• Research where your audiences are
• Potential PR opportunities
• Promoting yourself through local lists
• Contributing content to publications/blogs your clients read
• Speaking at seminars
• Offer yourself as an expert resource to media writing about your field
• Determine your priorities
• Audiences
• Time

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US +1 913 440 4072
amy@k2-gc.com
www.k2-gc.com
Our Clients Received These Results
• Direct sales: 6%-20% conversion rates from niche PR coverage
• Website traffic: 400% increase
• Awards: Start-up to watch generated direct sales leads
• Bloggers: Software – Interview led to discussion with huge potential customer
• Major player endorsement: IBM quoted client’s media coverage in own report
• Reputation building: Internet security – Established client as “go to” authority via aggressive outreach
• Traditional media: SatCom – Printed article led to multiple sales inquiries
• Social media: Telematics – LinkedIn activity led to potential deal of $1.5 million+ annual revenue
• Niche focus: Green tech – Highly targeted placement led to PO worth $25,000+ within 24 hours of
article publication
• Maximize SEO with objective links

Digital PR for Growth

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