Influencer marketing is sort of the cool shiny object these days. We liken it to traditional media relations. The only difference is, in a lot of cases instead of pitching it to a traditional media outlet, you’re pitching your idea, your product, your thing, to someone who’s developed their own audiences, primarily through social media.
There are two very important things that you should take some time and do before you pick up any communication strategy, whether it be earned, owned or paid. The first is figure out what you want to say. What are the three to five things that you want to say over and over again to cement those messages into the minds of your targets. And then the second thing is figure out who those targets are. You know, you think you know who they are,…
The right tone really needs to be something that is educational, something that shows your expertise. You really want to balance that against every bone in your body wanting to sell. People don’t really respond well to sales right off the bat. So what you want to do is educate them and again show your expertise as a way to start a relationship with them, and then look for opportunities to sell maybe a little bit further down the line. Whether it’s through specific offers…
Today’s truth: I’ve never hired a public relations firm. So who am I to be giving advice to someone who is looking to hire one? I’ve always been the guy on the other side of the table trying to convince the prospect to hire my agency or even me. So what expertise can I bring to the table on this subject? Well, a lot actually. In those conversations (and there have been hundreds of them over the years), I’ve seen the struggle, hesitancy, and confusion…
In my world having three unrelated conversations about the same thing is the signal of a trend. Within the last week I’ve had three unrelated and unsolicited conversations about content. More specifically the conversations were about who owns the content in an organization. In each case, it was clear to me that silos still exist that are stopping these organizations from communicating effectively with their audiences. As a PR person by trade, I’m biased. In our recently released eBook (shameless plug: you can download the…
Today’s a pretty big day here at THP. We actually just celebrated with cheap champagne and Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches (OMG, they are so good). Today we launched our first eBook, the EOP (earned, owned and paid) Playbook. It’s a culmination of two years of trial and error as we changed the main focus of our agency from “traditional PR” to one based on the evolution of media relations, social media and content marketing. If any or all of those practices interests you then you should download…
My dad always thought I worked in advertising. Until the day he died seven years ago he thought I created ads. Oh, I tried on many occasions to explain what I did as a PR pro but in the end it was easier for him to process it as placing ads. Of course what I really did — especially in the world of media relations — was convince a reporter or editor to write/create their interpretation of the story I pitched them. And then hope the final…
In the world of marketing we’re always focused on “what’s next?” What’s the next big technology platform? How can we measure better? What comes after B2C and B2B? One of the reasons I haven’t blogged for a while is I’ve been spending my time talking to clients and other in the industry to get a sense of “what’s next?” In a couple of weeks THP will be making its first e-book available. Its focus is on the EOP (earned, owned and paid) approach of PR…
So Facebook is now like that little girl in second grade. You know the one who told you she was mad at you and never told you why? Still bugs me to this day. Today, Facebook launched new Reactions to go with its Like button. In addition to “Like,” you can now “Love,” “Haha,” “Wow,” “Sad” or “Angry” an individual post. This applies both to posts from people and brands. And while the changes have resulted from months of Facebook research to deepen user engagement, we at…
I’ve been thinking a lot about “marketing challenges” lately since I’ve started talking to folks who have taken us up on our latest offer. Specifically, what are the most common marketing challenges or issues we hear from prospects and clients? There are others, but I’ve boiled down the top five here with some suggestions on how to tackle them.
They looked at me and thought I was crazy… It was one of those moments in a staff meeting where everyone stops in their tracks. Our group was debating the topic of the latest offer we would feature on our blog and website. Over the course of the last year we offered reports, tips, and small e-books on various PR and marketing topics designed both to educate and to generate leads for our business. They generated a bunch of downloads and conversations but I wanted…
Okay, I know the word “PRublishing” is little hokey, but after some recent client efforts, conversations and new business meetings, one thing is becoming very clear: marketers are ALL OVER the idea of creating content that can be targeted to specific audiences to drive their business. The marriage of PR and online publishing (PRublishing?) will continue to dominate our industry as it matures over the next year or so. THP has just launched its first digital magazine on behalf of a client. Right now if…
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