Are bloggers wired differently than traditional journalists?

This week I came across new research by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism that uses hard data to quantify the differences between the news agenda of new and old media.

The Pew Research Center’s study, titled “New Media, Old Media,” collected a year’s worth of data on the top news stories linked to on blogs, discussed on Twitter, and shared on Youtube. The major finding was that each social media platform “seems to have its own personality and function.”

Among the other key findings:

·         Bloggers tended to focus more on stories that “elicited emotion, concerned individual or group rights or triggered ideological passion.” Often these were stories that people could easily share on social networks with their own personal thoughts;

·         Social media tends to focus on stories that don’t get a lot of traction in the mainstream press. Rarely does a story get picked up in social media first, then by traditional media outlets;

·         Technology is a big topic of discussion on Twitter, while politics is less so. Blogs tended to focus more on politics and foreign events, less on technology;

·         All three social media platforms (blogs, Twitter, Youtube) shared the common characteristic of not staying on one story very long.  On blogs, 53 percent of top stories remain on the list of the most discussed stories for no more than three days, while on Twitter, the same is true for 72 percent of lead stories.

What does this all mean for PR professionals? Keeping in mind the different personalities of the new and old media, and how they interrelate, is key. There is a huge disparity between what the mainstream media considers to be the most important news and what each social media platform is most interested in discussing. It bears close watching as to whether traditional media outlets will continue to adjust their news coverage to better align with the interests of each social platform.

Over the last few days, some of Matter’s employees (myself included) have been working on a special project that needed some last-minute great results. As I was making a few well-placed phone calls today, I realized that the way we approached the project really set us up for success.

With everyone feeling a full-plate of duties, the project required some time that was a bit difficult to work in; so, we devised a plan to bring in a handful of bodies together in order to expedite the process. By bringing in five people to do the work of perhaps one or two, we accomplished a few goals:

• We each had a very short list of media targets, which kept the time commitment to a minimum and allowed us all to continue to produce on our other accounts with little interruption.

• The short list also meant we were able to spend more time researching exactly who we were reaching out to and what angle provided the best approach – something we all endeavor to do in our daily activities, but can prove challenging in a pinch.

• Pulling together some great teammates allowed us to tap into our special relationships with top-tier targets, which meant our outreach was more meaningful and productive.

Matter works on a team basis with all clients, allowing us to reap similar benefits on all accounts on a day-to-day basis. Working with different people on different accounts lets us widen our horizons – learning new techniques, mixing up duties, and providing variety. On a larger scale, Matter operates like one big team – pulling together company-wide resources when met with new challenges or looking for recommendations. Clients essentially get the expertise of all Matter’s employees, wrapped up in a smaller team as a point of contact.

The moral of the story? You saw it coming….. Teamwork Matters.

Last week I accompanied a client at the MIT CIO Symposium event in Cambridge, MA. The event drew more than 800 participants from the high-tech industry as well as 50 relevant journalists. Everyone who has attended these types of events in the past understands that it can be difficult to schedule face time because participants have their own agenda. Luckily with some persistence, the client was able to meet with a handful of key journalists that can really make a difference with upcoming product launches and overall company exposure.

Why I am sharing this? Because I’d almost forgotten how important real conversations, in real time, in real rooms, can be. I was reminded that nothing can take the place of  face-to-face meetings.  With all of today’s methods of communicating (email, facebook, twitter, etc.), in-person meetings are the key ingredient in establishing relationships and an essential part of being productive. Since we’re all distracted by emails, texting and tweeting, sitting down with new and old faces, in my opinion, is more important now than ever before in this tech-driven society.  To have my client meet with the writers who cover their industry and to have the journalists understand my client’s business model is essential to their PR program. It was also so refreshing as a PR person to sit in a room and actually listen -no typing, no reading, no tweeting. 

After spending the entire day with my client, I too had a deeper sense of who they were, how they operate and who they are as individuals -  all of which will make me more productive in working on their PR campaign and a key  component in building a long-term relationship. Time well spent.

(And for readers wondering if any media opportunities were secured during these meetings, the answer is yes. All five meetings will be result in some ink).

Michael Arrington’s recent post about his exchanges with the PR group at Fortune have stirred up some lively discussions – online and around the office. We’ve kept the profanity that is common among TechCrunch commentators out of our debates, but have nonetheless tried to get to the right side of the debate.

I’ll summarize it for you, in case you missed it: The PR team at Fortune reached out to Arrington, offering exclusive posts of The Facebook Effect. In Arrington’s words, “[The rules] were fine. We’d print the excerpts. And we’d link to Fortune. We don’t get much out of that deal, but… we want to support Kirkpatrick and I figured Fortune could owe us a favor.”

After the posts went live, Fortune changed its mind. As Tina Fey might say, they asked for a do-over. The Fortune team wanted Arrington to post excerpts of the excerpts – not the whole excerpt. Sounds crazy, but the publisher cried copyright infringement.

The lessons are numerous, but three really stand out. First, there’s the obvious – that favors are still big currency. Online and off. Make sure you know what you’re being asked, and what you’re asking of others. Secondly, poke holes in plans –someone in Fortune’s PR department should have played out various scenarios and asked more questions (what if they run the full excerpt? Is that the desired outcome? Is it allowed?). And finally, whether you like it or not, remember that your emails are public.

One of the things I love about working at a PR agency is no client is ever the same. There are always new challenges, new pitches and new strategies to be deployed. Though our clients often have products to be launched and reviews to be secured, recently I’ve had the pleasure of working on an account in which our team must rely on the expertise of the company’s executives for pitch fodder. We’ve had some fun and learned some lessons along the way, especially when it comes to responding to breaking news. Recognizing the valuable opportunity breaking news presents for us to mobilize the company’s very-willing executives to comment on relevant topics, our team identified strategies that work well for both our client and reporters.

Of course, with breaking news, there’s really no time to waste and fast action from PR pros (and clients!) is essential. Here are a few additional strategies that have worked really well for our team:

Anticipate the news: Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to read minds and forsee news. While I don’t have superhero powers, by persistently scouring news outlets and trade publications, it’s not too difficult to identify soon-to-be hot topics and upcoming announcements that are just the right fit for a clients. When you have an idea of what’s coming down the pipe, it’s so much easier to anticipate what reporters will be writing about and to pitch them valuable insights from your client or to provide them with an unexpected angle.

Develop colorful quotes from a company executive: Once you have an idea of what tomorrow’s news will be today, touch base with your client to ask him/her for some insight on the topic and to explain how consumers (or other audiences) may be affected. With your client’s help, you can develop dynamic, attention-grabbing quotes to share with your media contacts. Make sure the quotes are short, interesting and could translate effortlessly into a news story. This will help you secure an interview for your client. Alternatively, a reporter on a short deadline (we’re talking about breaking news after all!) may be able to quickly insert one or more of the pre-written quotes into an article.

Respond to reporters who already published articles on the topic: Let’s face it, we can’t always anticipate the news or connect with a reporter before he/she has published an article. It never hurts to follow up with reporters who have already covered the breaking news. Perhaps they’re working on a follow-up story or can direct you to a colleague who is developing a different angle and needs expert input.

Tune into Twitter (and other social media): When it comes to breaking news, it’s not uncommon for an outlet or reporter to post a quick news update on Twitter with a note that the full story is to come. It’s a great day indeed for PR pros when this happens, as it makes it even easier to target pitches and focus outreach efforts.

Surely there are many approaches to PR efforts surrounding breaking news (here are similar but more detailed tips); the above are just a few short and sweet ones that have worked well for us. We’d love to hear your tips, too! What’s worked well and what hasn’t? Please feel free to share.

Had a wonderful time reading this in-depth piece on Gawker’s automotive site, Jalopnik.

http://jalopnik.com/5531311/the-real-history-of-john-dillinger-and-henry-ford

Not only is this a fantastic story told quite well, its one of those excellent reminders that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In this case, PR guys at one of America’s fastest growing companies are working hard to publicize a dynamite user endorsement. The fact that its 1934 and the endorsement is from the world’s best known criminal shouldn’t really come as much of a shock. Neither should the fact that PR pros still desperately look for that impact user reference whether its coming from a small business owner or a notorious bank robber (though I’m thinking the seal of approval from a modern day bank robber, say Bernie Madoff, wouldn’t move a lot of product right now.)

I love the scenario: Henry Ford receives a note from Dillinger that’s pure gold. Its not a particularly well-written note and its an insult to a huge portion of the Ford customer base, but still…celebrity endorsement! So the PR pros take over, “smooth out” some of the language (or in this case forge an entirely new document) and start spreading the word. Hey – is it really any different than repackaging a really great, but hastily-typed message board post for a press release? Sometimes you need to iron out the rough patches! Besides, nobody likes sounding foolish in print — I’m sure Dillinger appreciated the spelling corrections!

Now that I’ve got my tongue fully entrenched in my cheek, I can say that I do appreciate that we’re not quite so easily sold on the celebrity endorsement in the PR world. Then, as now, companies are presented with opportunities to appropriate the image and attitude of someone they think matches their own. And in the advertising world, this generally works wonders (except of course when it doesn’t — am I right Tiger?)

But in PR, particularly in high-tech, its the average consumer that’s awarded celebrity status. While I certainly wouldn’t mind finding out that Tom Brady is a regular user of a client’s products, it’s often more critical to me that the guy next door, a representative of the REAL consumer base, sing its praises. It may not have sizzle or an air of cool edginess, but its real, its honest and it doesn’t require FBI fingerprinting.

It usually goes one of two ways…

The room is full, comfortable folks milling about, armed with cocktails and smiles, exchanging business cards, swapping stories. But you’re not feeling it. You’d like nothing more than to shy away, go home and hide out in your PJs.

Or:

There’s energy in the air – you hear it in the rise and fall of voices and feel it in every handshake. You hit the crowd, a mingling machine! The only problem is that your purse isn’t big enough to hold the pile of business cards you collected from all the wonderful people you met.

As PR professionals we all know that whether nerve-wracking or delightful, networking events are important to attend as face to face interactions are often invaluable. Networking events give us a chance to step away from the computer and have real conversations where we’ll learn something new, hear a great story, or maybe identify a new business prospect. Recently, here at Matter, we had a professional development session where we discussed ideas on how to approach networking opportunities and how to make the best of them.  It was a great reminder of what PR is all about…building meaningful relationships. With that in mind, it’s hard waiting for the next networking event!

Here are a few tips that I found most useful.

1)      Have a plan: You’ll make the best use of your time if you have a goal in mind, and it will help you feel less nervous, if you are so inclined. Do a little research beforehand; find out who is planning to attend and think about who you’d like to meet and why. That way you won’t be left roaming around trying to think of ways to break into a group or start a conversation.

2)      Do be curious: Shyness is easy to overcome when you are genuinely (and that’s the most important part!) interested in people. To break the ice, encourage others to talk about themselves. Listen, and be sure to ask open ended questions that inspire conversation.

3)      But don’t be too aggressive: While exchanging business cards is appropriate, carrying a fistful of promotional material is not. Always start with casual conversation before broaching the subject of business.

Do you have any networking tips to share? Please comment with your ideas!