At The Wilbert Group, we are (at least) as good as any PR firm anywhere at media relations. In late 2014, we committed to also building the industry-leading program to amplify media hits on social and digital channels. In other words, how do we most strategically promote a client story in the AJC or the WSJ or on CNN? Any PR person can slap a link on Twitter. But a more sophisticated approach generates way better results. We have spent months analyzing what we were already doing to amplify hits, thinking deeply about how to drive bottom-line value to clients, building partnerships with the smartest digital firms out there, testing out tools and measuring results. And at last, we are ready to introduce our own proprietary program called Wilbert Amplify. We’ll be sharing it with clients during the next few months and would love your feedback too. We’ve always been great at telling client stories. Now we can tell them even LOUDER.

1. WILBERT AMPLIFY

2. The Wilbert Group is
known for media relations.

3. Our firm, led by former journalists,
has media relationships to rival any
PR firm anywhere.
We know how to pitch stories and
generate results.

4. Media hits from the last
year include…

7. So what is Wilbert Amplify?

8. It’s how we make sure even more
people see those media hits
about your company.

9. After all, when your
company is profiled
in The New York Times,
don’t you want
everyone to know?

10. Any PR
person
can slap
a link to
a news
story on
Twitter.

11. We take a more
sophisticated
approach.

12. Traditional media still has
inherent credibility.

13. More than 50 percent of Americans give
strong credibility ratings to top media
outlets.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Local TV News
60 Minutes
ABC News
Wall Street Journal
CNN
CBS News
Daily Newspaper You Know Best
NBC News
NPR
MSNBC

14. People still consume media the old
fashioned way.

15. Increasingly they are also
getting and sharing news
on social platforms.

16. Source: Pew Research Center
Percentage of Twitter, Facebook and
YouTube users who are getting their news
from these platforms.
Facebook
20
%
47
%
YouTube
50
%
Twitter

17. 44% 45% 46% 47% 48% 49% 50% 51%
Discussed a news issue or event
Shared or reposted news stories, images or videos
Percent of social media users who have…
Source: Pew Research Center

18. Mainstream journalists are now
social influencers.

20. Media hits
may reach
more people
on social
channels
than in the
print edition.

21. Wilbert placed a
byliner by client
Sparks Grove in
Fast Company
in January 2015. Its
circulation is
757,858.
Not bad, right?

23. It reached more than
1.7 million people on
Twitter.

24. THE
SEO
EFFECT

25. Driving activity for stories can improve
their visibility with search engines.
Both Google and Bing use data from
social sites to determine how high to
rank content.

26. How did we build
Wilbert Amplify?

27. We worked with
the best brains.

28. Dave Coustan
Current:
• Board of Advisors, The Wilbert
Group
• VP, Digital Content Strategies, CSE
Former:
• SVP, Content Strategy &
Planning, Voce Communications
• VP, Edelman, Digital
• Blog Master, Earthlink

29. We developed partnerships with
industry leaders.

30. And we added our
unparalleled media relations savvy.

31. TONY WILBERT
•Founding principal, The
Wilbert Group
•Early adopter of
everything
•4,150 Twitter followers,
including 150+ journalists
•Former journalist, now
known for unparalleled
media relationships

32. CAROLINE WILBERT
•Managing Principal, The
Wilbert Group
•Built digital partnerships
with Little Bird and others
•Former journalist, including
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
and Atlanta Business
Chronicle

33. HADLEY CREEKMUIR
•VP, Real Estate Practice,
The Wilbert Group
•Placed clients recently in
outlets ranging from New
York Times to Washington
Post to Huffington Post
•Fan of Instagram

34. MARK BRAYKOVICH
•VP, Corporate Practice,
The Wilbert Group
•Leads media relations for
clients such as Equifax and
Aaron’s
•Former business editor,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

35. Wilbert Amplify has four parts:
Social Push Strategic
Spend
Email Storytelling

36. Social
Push

37. We make recommendations
for what and when to post
on social media.

38. We research where your
audience is living, then pick the
right platforms to reach the right
people.

39. We research where your
audience is living, then pick the
right platforms to reach the right
people.

40. We use tools to research and make
sure you are following, engaging with
and tagging the right influencers.

41. After all, just because
Kim Kardashian has
28.6 million followers
on Twitter doesn’t
mean she is an
influencer in retail
banking or multifamily
development or
your industry.

42. After all, just because
Kim Kardashian has
28.6 million followers
on Twitter doesn’t
mean she is an
influencer in retail
banking or multifamily
development or
your industry.

43. Imagine you are doing social media
for a real estate company.
Does the hashtag matter?
Anything real estate-ish will work, right?

44. 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000
#CRE
#CommercialRealEstate
Look how many times each of these
hashtags was used in a 7-day period.

45. Yep, the hashtag matters.

46. Strategic
Spend

47. Spending money to
promote social posts –
whether on LinkedIn or
Twitter or another
platform – can be a
good investment.

48. We identify the big media hits
and recommend a budget.

49. We do the media buys,
customizing programs for
your particular audience.

50. For instance, for a client that
wants to reach decision makers
in real estate in North Carolina…

51. We post a media story on
LinkedIn and promote it
by , industrygeography & job title.

52. We post a media story on
LinkedIn and promote it
by , industrygeography & job title.

53. We post a media story on
LinkedIn and promote it
by , industrygeography & job title.

54. Through our partnership with Outbrain, we
promote big client hits, so that they appear on
mainstream, highly trafficked websites.

55. Email

56. 43.5 million consumers check
their email on a daily basis.

57. We worked with a leading email
marketing firm to develop best practices
– what drives opens and clicks.

58. Hint: Video works really well.

59. Emails containing videos offer a return
280% higher than traditional emails.

60. Hint: Subject lines are really important.
GOOD Example
“Handy travel tips from Hotel ABC”
BAD Example
“Hotel ABC June Newsletter”

61. 64% of people say they open an email
because of the subject line.

62. Storytelling

63. Sometimes a media hit is just
one part of a bigger, better story.

64. In today’s world, it makes sense for
every company to tell its own story too.

65. We use tools like Storify and Timeline JS to
look back at a story, tell it in its entirety
and showcase a great media hit again.

66. Beautifully crafted timelines that are easy, and intuitive to use.

67. Reporting

68. So how are we going to
share the results of Wilbert Amplify?

69. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
With new and expanded reports.

70. We love telling
client stories.

71. Now we can tell these
stories even LOUDER.

72. WILBERT AMPLIFY

73. Caroline Wilbert
Managing Principal
The Wilbert Group
cwilbert@thewilbertgroup.com
404-405-6479