Engage: Digital PR Meets SEO and Social Media

Amy Rosenberg and Carri Bugbee answer all our digital PR, SEO, and social media questions.

Amy Rosenberg: President at Veracity, Host of PR Talk podcast | LinkedIn

Great quote from her SEMPDX interview: “The press is not nice and being polite is a waste time. Get straight to the newsworthy or timely item.”

Carri Bugbee: Marketing & PR Consultant, Agile Marketing Advocate | LinkedIn TW

Impressive fact: Carri won a Shorty Award for a character she created, @PeggyOlson.

Amy’s Talk:

PR can sound harder than it is. It’s easier than it looks, but it’s not THAT easy. Wait, what?

Oversimplification = empowerment. So, Amy is giving us the tools to do it ourselves. We’re going to have to push past our comfort zones, but we can do it.

SEO PR: What is it?

“The hard links to get” – Matt Cutts, former head of web spam at Google

If you’re wondering why PR is a part of SEO, it’s all about those linkbacks. If you’re PR and wondering what it has to do with SEO, your PR process isn’t done until you get links those links.

If there’s one thing you leave with—you can ALWAYS go back and get those links! Sometimes you have to train the press how to put a link in their story. It’s uncomfortable, but necessary.

Check your backlinks to make sure they are follow (talk to your PR team if you have one, don’t go rogue) and then share any story with backlinks.

Most Effective Ways to Land PR Links:

• Content conversion (guest blogging)
• Charitable work (donations, fundraisers)
• Get involved in local newsworthy event (charity navigator)
• Press release, blog post. Get charity to run press release, blog post. Share, share, share. Charities generally have a high DA (domain authority).

While doing this: Always look at Domain analysis (Monthly Unique Visitors, DA, PA)

One final thing: Don’t try to get 5 links in one piece. Concentrate on one message.

Carri’s Talk:

PR + Social Media Marketing: Love & Conflict

Via a Cat themed presentation which I AM ON BOARD FOR

Crisis Planning Isn’t Optional

Crisis happen on social—some are real, some imagined. It can happen to you! For example: Ristretto Roasters & #MeNeither, the wife of the owner taking over corporate twitter. Even small brands and nonprofits can get caught in conflict. The building next door could have an issue and you could be pulled in.

Crisis Planning:

• Anticipate types of crises
• Prepare sites and assets: boilerplate content (company mission), dark site
• Prepare personnel: you don’t want to be fumbling on the day of (more than one person with logins)
• Plan for access outside of HQ
• Know your biggest fans to gather support
• Build a solid brand narrative via search results
• Build relationships with reporters in advance so you can get your story told

Peak Influencer Era

Everyone’s an influencer now – even pets! Influencers give brand authenticity, it doesn’t even seem like marketing. More brands (and industries, e.g.: hotel) are over it because the authenticity is wearing thin. Brands have to watch for fraud not just with fake followers, but fake interactions, clients, and sometimes fake sponsored posts. Brands are also on the line if influencers violate FTC guidelines.

Brands sink a lot of time into managing influencer campaigns (A LOT) when they often have lack of follow-through, can get hostile, try to steal clients, and don’t always have the amount of influencer their following implies. So, how do we decide who to bring on as an influencer?

Great slide in the presentation:

Image: Gorgeous woman on perfectly-made bed surrounded by heart-shaped balloons, beautiful breakfast.

Caption: Like this is anybody’s normal morning.

Best practices for influencer marketing:

• Find actual industry experts, ideally those who already like & use your brand
• Cultivate influencers organically (care & feeding over time)
• Engage with them on social/blogs
• Create insider opportunities
• Consider using different terms for influencers: Brand ambassadors (aka what they used to be called)

Ways to Contact Journalists

Journalists love TW. Track how journalists use social media. Before you reach out, follow them, like what they say. Make sure your bio reflects someone a journalist wants to hear from. Pitch via DMs (short and personalized) rather than publicly. Remember that everyone has their own personal preferences, so do your research.

Questions From the Audience!

Q: On finding the right ones (journalists, that is):

A: Press list is the hardest part of the job. It’s an ongoing process. Google is your best friend. Or, Google News. Cision to get publist going, narrow down from there. Done by hand really, you have to stay on top of it because it’s a revolving door.

Q: Reasons to write a press release?

A: They suck. You have to have a reason. You have to know they will work. Topics that will for sure get news: Causes, volunteering, donations, opening a new location. Something that’s going on that you’re doing. A quick pitch via email.

Q: Crisis management. How do you get everyone on board?

A: It’s hard to convince someone(s) that it’s important. If a crisis happens it won’t happen to them. Continue to convey to management about disasters as they come along. Wear them down by calling out bad handling – especially if it’s close to home.

Q: Launch party for a new app- newsworthy? Journalist worthy?

A: Yes – launch is worthy. Work it to see the newsworthy focus. Party – journalists hate parties. Try to invite them to network, but they hate it. Don’t take it as an insult.

So many apps get released, they are ubiquitous. What is the angle? Investment? Talk techcrunch. Collaboration? Find your category / beat.

Q: Should you use an influencer agency?

A: Depends on budget and what you want to promote. Smaller brand, it’s better with your own people who know what they are doing and have authenticity.

Q: Beyond a spreadsheet of info and products do you have any suggestions for influencer tracking software and posts they are making?

A: Social CRM tool Hubspot, Nimble (preferred). I’m not a fan of spreadsheets to track people. They are limited in what you can do in terms of pulling in data.