A critical role for all marketing and media relations professionals is to build targeted media list for each client. Databases such as Cision and BurrellesLuce are ideal when searching for a range of reporters across several geographic regions, especially when you aren’t familiar with the topic or the region; however, as a general rule of thumb, the best list requires more time and energy to develop. Listed below are a few general practices that will help even the most seasoned media relations executives: Relate, Research and Refresh.

1. Relate to your contacts on a personal level and develop relationships. As you know, most journalists are busy, but there is no harm reaching out to someone to ask them how they are doing or how they enjoyed their vacation. Like ALL people, journalists like to know you are thinking about them. Also, after you’ve developed a relationship with a reporter, they are much more likely to help you out or refer you to their appropriate colleague if you ask them to point you in the right direction for a specific topic. This also shows the reporter that you are hand-selecting the appropriate contact for each story rather than sending a “mass pitch.”

2. Research – some of the best lists come from researching a topic through an online search. If you know a reporter is currently writing for a certain beat, it is great to reach out to reach out and reference a specific article. For example: Based on your recent article “xyz,” we thought you’d be interested in an interview with Joe Smith. Research helps ensure your media pitches are reaching the appropriate contact, and that you are not sending a pitch to someone who just wrote on the subject. While you want to send your pitches to a relevant reporter, you never want to send them a pitch if it doesn’t add a new element to his or her existing coverage and story.

3. Refresh – a media list is never complete. It is continuously a work in progress. Not only are newsrooms shrinking, but reporters change beats, outlets and publications all the time. Use database searches, like Cision, to create a large media list for a client, and then call those reporters. Ensure they still cover that topic, ask what they are currently covering and verify they still work for the publication. Not even databases can keep up with the ever-changing media.
While these tips are more labor intensive than simply entering search criteria into an online media database, the results and responses are worthwhile. By thoughtfully selecting the media you contact you: ensure that your emails are read, increase the likelihood that your voicemails are returned and improve the probability for media coverage.

KPCB Internet Trends (2011)

A CMS is a collaborative web application used for managing websites and web content. It is built with scripting language and a database that enable companies to control content, navigation and documents on their public websites via secure “back-end” portals.

The benefits of having a CMS built into the backend of your company’s website are endless. CMS solutions enable companies to edit their websites without knowledge or training in HTML or CSS. With a custom CMS for your company’s website, you no longer have to wait for your website designer or a third-party webmaster to make necessary changes. Instead, you can log in from any web-connected device, at your own convenience, and update, change or add and delete content to the site in seconds without having to rely on expensive software. A CMS even enables you to add multimedia, such as podcasts, videos and photos, to your website.

With a CMS, your website will be more flexible and your communications more agile. In other words, you can add a new page or section to your website without having to hand-code the new pages or modify the entire navigation structure of the entire website to accommodate the new sections.

Moreover, CMS solutions are very cost-effective ways to manage your website’s content. At Roar Media, we rely on WordPress to manage our clients’ online content. WordPress is an open-source platform that began as a popular choice for building blogs but has since become a popular option as a full content management system for traditional websites. WordPress platforms make it easy for even the most novice users to keep all their website content up-to-date.

The Power of Content Management Systems

Open-source content management systems have thousands of plug-ins associated with them which, when properly selected and integrated into the platforms, serve to support companies’ communications needs and business operations. Some common plug-ins and applications include:

1. E-commerce and check-out
2. Image sliders
3. Search engine optimization and meta-data applications
4. Video and photo galleries
5. File audit software
6. Client password protected areas
7. Document and image management software
8. Event registration forms
9. Calendar functions

In addition to WordPress, many other content management systems are available — ranging from freeware to costly software solutions requiring installation and even custom software solutions developed for enterprise-level companies. All CMS solutions are developed a little differently, have various features included, as well as pros, cons and limitations. All in all, a good CMS is critical for companies who need to control their communications and convey their messages in a timely fashion.

This week, the South Florida Technology Alliance highlighted 30 years of South Florida innovations that changed the world. More than 200 200 attendees gathered at a sold-out event to recognize the development of the PC, the first Smartphone, application virtualization and more.

Here is a video recap of the event:

Expert panelists and tech thought-leaders included:

• John Sculley, former CEO of Apple
• Ed Iacobucci, founder of Citrix Systems in Fort Lauderdale and developer of the original Microsoft-IBM OS/2 Architect
• Patty McHugh, one of the infamous 12 at IBM who developed the PC in Boca Raton. McHugh is also known as the “Mother of the Motherboard”
• Joe Sarubbi, who led the development of the IBM XT in Boca Raton
• Jaime Borras, senior vice president of research with Motorola, who led the development of the “PushToTalk” technology and the Nextel phone in Plantation
• Gary Wisgo, who led engineering for the “Simon,” the industry’s first Smartphone, which was a joint development of BellSouth and IBM

It Pays to be Social Media Savvy when Pitching the Media

Tyler Sminkey

PR professionals have more tools at their fingertips (literally) with Facebook, Twitter and the recently launched Google+ providing different ways to fan, follow and circle your clients, colleagues and members of the news media. Successfully navigating these outlets requires time and education, but acquiring the skill pays huge dividends.

Phone and email have always been the standard means of communication between PR pros and journalists, but social media is quickly changing that and facilitating smarter, more efficient communications for both parties. The social media savvy PR pro knows that it’s no longer necessary to call and ask what a reporter is working on…more than likely they’ve already shared it with their followers and provided the best way to contact them so that your client can be considered for the story they are working on.

Lists of reporters, editors and other journalists using social media are abundant online. Two such examples are the lists of The Miami Herald staff members on Twitter and journalists on Google+.  Most large publications have something similar to share their staff members’ social media details with readers and sources. The worldwide media database, Cision, a critical resource for communications professionals, provides social media profile details for listed contacts, including recent tweets, LinkedIn connections and Facebook details.

Let’s look at how Facebook, Google+ and Twitter can be used to help solidify relationships with media contacts, providing new ways to pitch them with relevant news and information.

Facebook: The jury is still out on whether this is a personal or professional space to network. Some prefer to keep their profiles private and only become friends with very close contacts while others add just about everyone with whom they contact (or don’t). A mix of personal relationships combined with professional contacts is the best way to get the most from Facebook. Media use the social networking site just like everyone else, and some are open to connecting with you while others may not. Journalist often share their Facebook profiles at the end of their published stories, as links to other social media accounts, and/or as part of their Cision profiles, meaning they are open to connecting with the public.

Google+: Launching just this summer, the new social media outlet has already become a hub for media contacts to share their stories while connecting with their colleagues and sources. Circles enable users to place similar contacts in specific groups, enabling you to choose what information each group sees. Who doesn’t want his or her own personal circle of media contacts?

Twitter: Although it can seem challenging to express yourself in 140 characters, it’s quite impossible. Using tiny URL’s and hashtags, tweets are a powerful way of saying a lot to a large audience. Many media outlets ask their staff members to use Twitter to stay in touch with their audiences, so there’s a high probability that the contacts you seek will already be tweeting. When a relationship is established, the direct message feature keeps your conversations private and provides a quick form of one-on-one communication.

The standard “no-spam” rule absolutely applies. Randomly reaching out to a member of the media via social media without doing your homework about the journalist is the same as calling to pitch a story without knowing the reporter’s beat and understanding his or her preferences and needs: You just don’t do it. When used the right way, social media can be an extremely powerful tool with significant opportunities to build long-lasting relationships with members of the news media, and it should be embraced by skilled PR professionals.

You can find Tyler on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

• Google uses the same PageRank algorithm to determine organic rankings in SERPs for computers as it does for the mobile web
• Because of slow mobile download speeds, ensure that your site is built with lightweight pages and limited graphics
• Do away with Flash and Java. These protocols are not currently supported by mobile devices and carriers

A spatial shift from web search to mobile search is creating powerful new opportunities for savvy marketers.

More than 400 million internet users currently access the web exclusively via their mobile phones — far surpassing those who access it at least part of the time via computer browsers. By 2011, 86 percent of all mobile internet users will be mobile search users. We have reached a tipping point.

Traditionally, internet marketers could focus almost exclusively on optimizing websites for maximum visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) on computer browsers. Those days are gone. The widespread popularity of new mobile devices such as smartphones (web-enabled phones that act like mini-computers) and tablets (fully functional laptop PCs equipped with a touch screen or a stylus) are enabling consumers to instantly find and filter information anytime, anywhere.

As consumers embrace mobile search, so too will advertisers. Annual mobile search advertising revenues are expected to skyrocket from $20 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 130.5 percent. What’s not as clear is who will win the coveted title of mobile search leader. Major mobile carriers, search engines, and a gaggle of mobile search start-ups will battle during the coming years in an aggressive tug-of-war to capture mobile search eyeballs and revenues. However, these competitors will remain united on at least one point: the need to keep quiet the secret that organic search engine presence is platform-agnostic.

What this means: As long as companies continue to invest in search engine optimization (SEO) to maintain a healthy presence in SERPs, they will not be disenfranchised by the seismic shift to the mobile web. Companies that optimize their websites for search engines and their crawlers will enjoy the same rankings in the mobile world as in the PC world. For instance, Google’s search engine platform is being propagated for the mobile web. Google uses the same PageRank algorithm to determine organic rankings in SERPs for computers as it does for phones (the mobile web). SEO bridges the gap between the second and third screen.

Already considered the most effective online marketing strategy for generating conversions, SEO will become even more critical with the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices and as the mobile web surpasses the world wide web in usage. Currently, SEO accounts for more than $1.4 billion in total annual U.S. ad spend.

SEO is even more critical for companies that depend on local sales and traffic, such as retail, hospitality, dining, and entertainment. For instance, it has been estimated that the percentage of mobile searches with local intent will increase to 35 percent in 2013, up from 28 percent in 2008. In addition to the SEO implications, marketers should consider delivering their paid search ads to mobile devices. In the past, most marketers have not selected this option and, instead, chose to deliver their paid search ads only to computers. This outdated strategy must be reconsidered because it leaves out a huge market segment.

So, now that you have opened up the mobile search floodgates to your site, what do your mobile visitors see when they surf your site? Chances are, it’s not pretty. In fact, it’s probably a real eye-sore: strange layout, clumsy navigation, distorted graphics, broken file images… the list goes on. As marketers, we spend fortunes perfecting our sites for the web, and it’s time to do the same for the mobile web. Three key fundamentals to keep in mind:

• Because of slow mobile download speeds, ensure that your site is built with lightweight pages and limited graphics.
• Do away with Flash and Java. These protocols are not currently supported by mobile devices and carriers.
• Ensure that your site is formatted for the most popular mobile devices and platforms. Each device screen has a different size, so it is critical that you offer a version for the most popular devices.

A major turf war is heating up between Google and Apple. With the launch of Nexus One, Google plans to capitalize on the “superphone” to expand its reach from the PC to the mobile phone and ensure its online products and ads get prominent placement on a new breed of wireless Internet devices. In addition, its Android mobile operating system is currently being leased to more than 20 new smartphone devices.

The launch of the iPad will make Apple the world’s most coveted mobile device maker with a huge loyal consumer base. Recently, Apple announced iAd, an advertising platform integrated into Apple’s operating system that will deliver ads to mobile apps. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is banking on the idea that ads inside apps will be attractive to advertisers. However, he fails to realize that this is “push” marketing and not “pull” marketing — the latter of which having been proven to convert at much higher levels. As such, Apple has blocked Google’s search app on the iPhone and the iPad; however, one can simply open a browser and access Google directly. Moreover, Bing and Yahoo offer mobile search applications that may be downloaded to smartphones for rapid search results.

Without doubt, a real land grab is occurring in the mobile space. To take their share, marketers must understand that mobile is simply another platform in the communications ecosystem in which consumers are media-agnostic. Let’s break this down:

• Mobile is just another touchpoint for reaching target markets
• Information in our new complex ecosystem is highly interconnected — from print to web, web to mobile, etc.
• Consumers are in the driver’s seat and consume information how and when they want it, irrespective of the medium.

With tight budgets and time constraints, marketers are scrambling to seize the opportunities created by mobile search and should embrace this mantra: Don’t reinvent yourself; simply leverage your strengths and adapt them to new platforms. In other words, propagate your site for mobile and continue optimizing your site and content for search engines, and your story will be found in the new mobile world.