Articles Written By:

Jon Newman

#AskJon: I don’t know who my primary audience is. Where do I start?

You want to start marketing, but you know how to start. And, the first question, instead of asking what type of marketing you want to do, is to really ask who is your audience. And, the best way to find out who your audience is, is to talk to folks, both inside your organization and outside your organization, and then also existing customers. They’re going to be the ones that are going to give you the really good opportunities and give you the insights to…

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#AskJon: What do you make of the news that Facebook is pursuing original programming? [VIDEO]

So as a sports fan, this is a topic near and dear to my heart, because folks are very concerned about the future of ESPN given the fact that folks are leaving cable and satellite and going for over-the-top broadcasts. It’s natural that communities like Facebook, Twitter, I’m surprised LinkedIn hasn’t gotten involved yet, are getting into video in a number of different ways. But they have built communities. They have built in audiences, so it’s natural that content providers of all types, as well…

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#AskJon: What’s one way I can improve my social strategy? [VIDEO]

Your social strategy should be rooted in your communication strategy. Go back to those three to five messages that you decided to communicate to everybody, and go back to the persona so you know who you’re communicating to. That’s your safe place. If you feel like you’re being asked to post things that don’t fit into those communication strategies and personas, then you’re probably not on the right track and you should take a step back, look at everything, and then decide, okay are we…

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Why “social” is now “broadcast”

Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and now … Facebook. Yes, the news is out that Facebook is the latest to solicit Hollywood and other sources for original “TV” programming for the binge-watching crowd. This should not shock anyone. Video, both live and entertainment, is the future for all these platforms as they battle to become what the TV networks were to Americans in the late 20th century. While the over-the-top (OTT) providers like Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and others lead with programming first to generate community, the social channels…

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#AskJon: How do I know if my news is newsworthy? [VIDEO]

This is the age-old question that PR firms and clients have been dealing with since PR was created. Right? What is newsworthy. What bubbles up to be worthy of news coverage. So, where I would start, would be research. Look at the media outlets that you want your client to appear in. See what they’re covering. See more importantly what they’re not covering. And, see if the news that your client has asked you to create bubbles up to the level of coverage. If it…

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#AskJon: What’s one common content mistake you see companies make? [VIDEO]

So we’ve been talking a lot about this at the Hodges Partnership, because we’re doing a lot of content, at various different levels, for clients. And one of the things that we see that stops up the content drain, so to speak, is the quest for perfection. So, I’m not saying that quality and quantity should be at odds. I’m not saying just pump it out for the sake of pumping it out. But, if you’re trying to be too perfect with your content, odds…

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#AskJon: When is a press release necessary? [VIDEO]

Yes, the press release. The thing that people think they need — and maybe they really don’t need it as much as they think they do anymore. So, our advice on the press release is, do one but don’t lead with it. You’re still leading with the pitch and the press release is back-up. The press release still gives really good background information on the news of the day, how people spell their names, what their titles are and who the media can contact. But,…

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#AskJon: How do I prepare for a big media hit?

If you’re fortunate enough to know that a big media hit is coming, here’s a couple of things you can do. If the goal of the media hit is to drive traffic to a website, and you know it’s going to be big — you’re going to be in the New York Times, you’re going to be on a big online outlet, you’re going to be on the Today Show — make sure that your website has the capability to capture all of that traffic…

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#AskJon: I have a small budget, how should I determine my EOP spend? [VIDEO]

So this is going to be a bit blasphemous coming from an old media relations guy, but I would lean much more toward the owned and paid. And here’s why. Owned is more certain. You have more control over the message. You have more control over the frequency. You have much more control over who’s going to see it, especially if you can add that paid piece in there. Earned, while it still brings the good third-party endorsement, is much less certain these days. You…

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#AskJon: How has the media landscape changed and how do I adjust my media relations efforts?

The short version of the answer is the media landscape has changed a lot over the last four or five years. It’s been well documented some media have shrunken, some media have gone away. The number of people at media that we can pitch is now far fewer than it ever has been. So, you need to be patient, you need to be much more targeted with your pitches. You should do a lot of research online and on social, and if you have access…

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#AskJon: What’s involved in a communications audit and how do I know if I need one? [VIDEO]

So, one of the things that we know from doing this for 15 years now, is that clients come to us and think they know what they want, but they really don’t. They really don’t know what we do every day either. So, that first meeting is really an educational process. And by the end of the meeting, what we like to get them to is a first step. And usually, that first step is communications audit. In that process, we do a number of…

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#AskJon: When is the right time to contact a prospect that’s in your funnel? [VIDEO]

So, hooray, you’re starting to get emails in your email database, right? You have posted premium content behind a gate, you ask for names and email addresses, you’re so excited. So, of course, the first thing you’re going to do is send them an email and ask them for something. Wrong. What you really want to do is put together an entire strategy of once you get that email address what are you going to do after that. Can you put together a series of…

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