PR Bag of Tricks: AP Style Guide

Posted on 05. Oct, 2010 by

Each week we will highlight one tool from our PR bag of tricks. This could range from “old school” books or gadgets to a social media tool or client… and anything in between.  Feel free to give your feedback on each tool/trick and tell us about yours.

PMGer Elizabeth Hagwood’s Pick:

What is one tool, app, website, etc. that you love at the moment? Since I’m considered the “Grammar Nazi” around these parts, I’d have to go with my AP Style Guide.  I’d consider it more a love/hate relationship though; other things may come and go, but this book has been in my life since high school journalism.

Why? If there’s ever a debate about proper spellings, usage or punctuation, this book settles all :) .  Their’s nothing worse than words used incorrectly.  (Get it? Catch it? Petpeeve.)

How do you use it? Anytime I’m editing something or if there is ever a question about the proper usage or spelling of a word.

"Teeny-Boppers" Take Over the World!

Posted on 18. Nov, 2008 by

The election of 2008 will never be forgotten.  And in Grafton County, New Hampshire, that day will be remembered as the day campaigning changed forever.

Vanessa Sievers, a twenty year-old, Dartmouth college student from Montana won the county treasurer position against incumbent Carol Elliott, which was a major upset.  How’d she do that? Easily.

Ms. Sievers used the power of social marketing to campaign, marketing herself to her own generation – who were already headed to the polls in record numbers to cast their vote for the 44th US President. She placed an ad on Facebook for $51 targeting students at Plymouth State and Dartmouth Colleges.  This gave her the 500-vote lead over Ms. Elliot.

Unfortunately, Ms. Elliot chose to take the low road of name calling and coming off as a sore loser. From calling college students not “real people” to calling Ms. Sievers a “teeny-bopper”, you can read all about it here and here. And even the big dogs wrote about it here.

Use of social marketing was key in the national races, but it was not used as prominently in the local races. This is one stone that was left unturned by most local candidates, which is too bad as the cost of a viral marketing campaign on a small scale can cost a candidate little to no money and can be extremely targeted.

I looked back at my state elections.  Vermont being a small state, I figured it would be relatively easy to track what had been done.  All of our candidates for governor had Facebook fan pages.

And that was about it.

Humph.

If every vote counts and most of Gen Y is not reading the paper (which is a shame – Just ask Andy Rooney!), wouldn’t it make sense to use social media and marketing tools to target these voters? They are/were going to the polls anyway.

Hopefully those seeking office on a local level all the way up to a national office will do a better job of marketing themselves and where they stand on issues so that they can get their messages across to all voters. And if you are one of those candidates and you need a few tips – give my office a call… we’d be happy to walk you through a few simple tips or let you know when we are holding our next seminar (shameless plug, I know.).

Nicole

Press Releases of the NOW

Posted on 09. Oct, 2008 by

So I promised that my next blog would get away from social marketing and focus more on PR.  Well, I was half telling the truth!

Social media releases are kind of becoming a buzz topic in the industry.  As PR starts working more hand in hand with social marketing, and the media is crossing over its traditional lines, the way PR professionals pitch and communicate with the media is ever changing.

Wire services are offering online components for distribution of press releases.  They distribute the release both by traditional means of blasting the information out to newsrooms and now also offer a service of making your news more “social” or “viral.” PRWeb is a good example of this.  When they distribute your release they also include distribution to online news sites, like Google and Yahoo. Your news becomes searchable by being listed both on their own newsfeed site and on these online sites.  There is a cost to this, and depending on the service and distribution you choose, it can cost anywhere between $250 and $800 or more.

Pitch Engine allows you to build a social media release for free, online. PR pros are using this new to and various ways. Some are posting the information and letting it become discovered by the journalists who search the site.  Others are using it as a means of distribution.  At PMG we are using it to help distribute our information.  We build the social media release, upload the images, links, and all other information and then get the assigned URL for the release.  When pitching reporters we offer the link to them to obtain the additional information.  In our view this is valuable for the media and PR people alike, as attachments to emails can get caught in spam filters and it is just a one-stop shop for all of the information needed.  The other great feature: the quick pitch! Basically, this area has you create a 115 character pitch about the release.  Talk about useful! We can use this on Twitter, as a start to some of our email pitches… the list is endless!  Our thanks to Jason Kintzler for developing this tool.  It has changed the way we pitch and distribute our information, not to mention… we think it is really effective.

Micro-blogging your pitch can be effective – if you have the right people in your networks. This is along the line of a TwitPitch or a Quick Pitch. You boil your pitch down to 140 characters or less and post it on Twitter or in your “what are you doing” section of any social network you belong to.  Your network then and see what your news is.  Be sure to provide a link to the full release.

Sure, keeping up with it all is a bit cumbersome, but, with our ever-changing world it is necessary.  You really want to continue to reach our traditional outlets, but at the same time embrace the new media.  Keep in mind that some some “old school” outlets like the New York Times have online editions as well.  These online editions sometimes can yield better placements… they certainly are trackable by looking at your click throughs!

Happy pitching,

Nicole

More Social Marketing

Posted on 06. Sep, 2008 by

So, we have been focusing a lot on social marketing lately.  We will be making a shift back to some PR posts.  But before we do, here is one last (for now) clip of the week that I unearthed on the topic.  Enjoy!

Nicole

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri08tFbIN_M]

Eureka! They Get It! Do you?

Posted on 04. Sep, 2008 by

Clients often task us with creating a social marketing plan for them and then executing the tactics.  Easier said than done in some cases.  As this evolving marketing discipline is explored by brands, it is essential to keep up-to-date and keep your plan fresh.

Peter Kim has blogged about brands that are exploring social marketing – and doing it well.  It is a great way to see what is out there, how it is being used, and to determine what might be a good fit for your company.

What’s working for your brand?

Nicole