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Response to the response

Admit it. You’ve seen a subject line with COVID-19 mentioned anywhere in it and clicked on “delete”.

Does that make you insensitive or uncaring during a national crisis and international pandemic (is that redundant)?

Possibly.

It also makes you human.

As humans, we react a certain way. A few bangs on the drum and we listen. A constant beat will soon have us covering our ears. And that’s largely what’s happening when you use COVID-19 in your subject line. And there’s a trickledown effect to other phrases.

Like, “during these troubled times,” and others.

Does that mean you’re not supposed to mention the elephant in the room, AKA the COVID-19 crisis?

No. It just means you have to consider your audience when you create messaging.

Are they turning to you for information about the crisis? Unless you’re an authority of some kind, probably not.

Your audience probably wants to know something a combination of things. If its your regular e-mail list, that combination could include something about your business, the current crisis, and how it affects them.

For example, PR Works has put together messaging for clients ranging from hours of operation during the crisis to a company’s COVID-19 process for people who enter a job site.

Or maybe you have an offering that’s relevant to the crisis. Case in point, a PR Works client that makes portable flooring for labs and healthcare facilities.

Conversely, this could be a great time to capture people’s attention by talking about something else. Anything else. Maybe you have a relatively new offering. Drafting a few blog articles and pushing them out to your social media channels might be a welcome sight to people wanting to read some good news.

Or merely different news.

One of the very few beauties of this time is that more people than usual have the time to read. As the theme song from Cheers said, “Taking a break from all your worries sure could help a lot.”

We are all very concerned about what’s going on in our world right now. If you’re putting out a COVID-19 message, that’s great. Just remember to think about your audience and all that they’re taking in right now. The message that doesn’t get read, doesn’t get heard.

Need some help with your messaging? Give us a call at 781-582-1061 or drop a line.

Response to the responseRead More

Now is NOT the time to go silent. Reach out to customers and keep them informed during COVID-19.

photo of Mona Lisa with a mask on during the COVID-19 crisis

Now is NOT the time to go silent. Reach out to customers and keep them informed during COVID-19.

There is no timeline. Customers and staff are concerned.

With the uncertainty of COVID-19 and the situation changing daily, we’ve been closely monitoring the outbreak and its impact on our clients and communities. We’re here (working remotely) to provide support during this unprecedented and challenging time.

What do you need to think about?

Consider how current restrictions are affecting your customers as well as employees and partners. How will you continue to reach out to them, keep them informed and serve them?

What’s your status during the current crisis? Open/Closed/ Limited hours/On-call, etc.?

How can your customers reach you? Are you working from home and holding telephone or virtual meetings?

Consider signage on your business door (and if applicable, inside as well).

Update your website’s home page and social media pages with this same info.

Revise your telephone voice mail.

We can help with:

• Overall message development
• Website & blog content
• Social media campaigns
• eNewsletters
• Podcasts
• Strategy moving forward

A singular message to your staff and customers is only the beginning of your on-going communication.

How will you continue to deliver your company’s message? To give you an idea of some grassroots marketing efforts to keep front of mind with your clients, read our recent blog.

Let us know if you’d like to arrange a call or video conference. Stay safe and be well.

Now is NOT the time to go silent. Reach out to customers and keep them informed during COVID-19.Read More

Content to ride it out?

photo of WordPress add a post page.
Should you keep blogging during the Covid-19 crisis?

Snap. Crackle. Pop.

Most people hear “Snap” and “Crackle” and know you’re talking about Rice Krispies.

But did you know Kellogg’s first introduced their signature product in the height of the Great Depression?

True.

While its chief competitor Post significantly reduced its marketing budget in the 1930s, Kellogg’s actually doubled its advertising spend, investing heavily in radio.

Part of that effort was introducing its newest product, Rice Krispies.

So, what was the end result of this polar opposite approach to a financial crisis?

Well, Kellogg’s increased its profits by 30 percent and became the category leader for decades thereafter.

Post survived. Yet it never really regained its perch atop the food chain (sorry about that irresistible pun).

Does that mean you should increase your marketing budget during this crisis?

When you consider the Kellogg’s example, it’s not the worst idea. Particularly when you consider the current crisis will have an end—they were not so sure when the Great Depression would end.

While a radio buy might not be in the cards for your business, there are any number of low budget and grassroots marketing efforts you can undertake to keep front of mind and/or be ready for when things get going again:

  • E-newsletters – If your company has one, continue to stay on schedule so you’re never too far from the minds of your customers and network. You may even want to increase the frequency (e.g. monthly to bi-monthly).
  • Social media posts – Be it a blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. continue to post. If it feels too self-promotional during a time like this, mix in some inspirational stories. For example, Stop & Shop offering special hours for shoppers 60 and older.
  • Website updates – When was the last time you edited content on your website? This could be a great time for a thorough review of the content on your site and a chance to punch it up or optimize.
  • eBook/Lead Magnet – Do you have a lead magnet on your website? If not, it could be a great time to develop one. Or, if you do, perhaps you could update it with more recent case studies. Better yet, produce a new eBook/Lead Magnet and have it ready to go for when businesses get back to normal.
  • Podcasts – Hosting your own podcast gives you an opportunity to showcase your expertise but also content spiders well in the search engines.

Speaking of podcasts, PR Works offers a turnkey podcast solution that includes developing a title, theme, bumper music, arranging for guests, guiding you through easy-to-use technology at your desk, uploading the edited segment to Spotify and other podcast portals, promoting each episode via social media and other channels, and more.

If you would like more information on how we can help your business join the Golden Era of podcasting, drop a line or give us a call at 781-582-1061.

Whether it’s a podcast or any of the aforementioned grassroots efforts, none require the kinds of dollars Kellogg’s spent on radio time way back when. Yet with all or a few of these low-cost initiatives. you can stay top of mind of with your key audiences TODAY!

Or you can wait for things to get back to “normal”.

The amount of time until then is the same for all of us. What to do with that time is totally up to you.

Again, if you need assistance in launching your grassroots initiatives, call us at 781-582-1061 or drop a line.

Content to ride it out?Read More

SCORE with ‘Direct PR’

photo of Steve Dubin
Steve Dubin

PR is one of the most cost-effective marketing tools available to small to mid-market businesses. But what are the strategies and tactics to maximize PR? PR Works has coined the phrase “Direct Public Relations”. It’s a relatively new a new approach to PR that emphasizes direct response. And it’s what Steve Dubin will be talking about at two public relations workshops sponsored by SCORE: March 19 in Walpole, MA and April 21 in Waltham, MA.

As part of his presentation, Steve will take on a wide variety of PR topics, including:

  • What is newsworthy?
  • How do you measure results and ROI?
  • How do you get the press to cover your news?
  • How do you create “outside the box” PR opportunities?
  • How do you talk with the press?
  • How do you repurpose news coverage?

The March 19 public relations workshop will be held at the Co-Working Station at Walpole, 55 West Street, 2nd Floor, Walpole, MA 02081, from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. You can register for this free workshop by clicking here.

Steve will run a second “Direct PR” session on Thursday, April 21 at the Waltham Public Library, 735 Main St, Waltham, MA 02451, from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. To pre-register for that session, contact SCORE-Boston, workshops@scoreboston.org, 617-565-5591.

SCORE with ‘Direct PR’Read More

And on the local front…

photo of Steve Dubin
Steve Dubin

You don’t always have to create news to obtain media coverage. Many times, you can tag along with existing stories already in the news. And provide the local color.

Example, the government shut down is impacting your business. Problem. Your accounting firm needs to clarify with the IRS regarding quarterly tax payments by a client. The IRS is impacted by the partial government shutdown. Telephone calls to the IRS are immediately routed to a vague voice mail. Your client wants to wrap up her return. What next?

The press is looking for stories about how the shutdown and is impacting local businesses and people. Sending a pitch letter and one-page press kit/summary including background on the topic, contact info for key sources including you, industry experts and local clients and a head shot of you as well as a working environment photo (you with a stack of files and several calculators) is the first step. An email to the business editor and follow-up telephone calls are next.

Tag along. Add a local angle and local voices to a national story and create coverage. This might also help establish you as “the” on-going source for your topic.

Allow us to put our ear to the ground for you and find opportunity to tag along with current news opportunities.

And on the local front…Read More

Headlines. Grab them first.

Headlines draw you in. So, don’t be shy.

Make it provocative. Offer something enticing. Add a pinch of urgency.

Marketing has certainly changed. The storytelling process has not.

Step one, get their attention. That is the headline.

Step two, lead them through the message in a direct and entertaining way.

Step three, ask them to take action – click here for a free brochure, visit this specific landing page, join my e-newsletter list, fill out this brief form, call now.

What makes a great headline? Example – “7 little known ways to save money on taxes in 2019 without ruffling the IRS.” Timely, concise and offering value.

There, I just saved you the two years that it would have taken to earn an MBA.

Let us know if we can grab attention for you and lead prospects to take ACTION.

Headlines. Grab them first.Read More

Eight things the media loves

photo of Steve Dubin
Steve Dubin

We all know press coverage generates visibility, credibility, authority, thought leadership positioning and, most importantly, new opportunity.

So, how do you give the press what they want? Read on…

DAGUS

As my friend and colleague Ed Perry, ringmaster of WATD-FM and member of the Radio Hall of Fame, says, “We take the DAGUS approach. Does Anyone Give A S_ _ _ ?”

Does your news include “news” that’s of interest to that media outlet’s audience? Is it useful, interesting, timely, regional? Make sure you provide news that gets a YES on the DAGUS test.

LIGHTNING ROD TOPICS
Topics that draw immediate attention? Sex, money and health. Beyond those obvious draws you might try news about a round number anniversary (10, 25, 50), a new service or product, key employee news (hired, trained, promoted), community involvement, awards or recognition, new location, strategic partnership, trends, new research, new innovations and human-interest phenomenon.

FIVE W’s
Answer all the questions the audience might have. That is usually well covered with the Five Ws – Who, What, Why, When and Where.

THE IN CROWD
It doesn’t matter whether you play squash with the news director of the NBC outlet. Reach out to your media friend with REAL news. Yes, you have easier access to a friend, but you don’t want to compromise the friendship or business relationship by pitching a non-story.

SILVER PLATTER
The press is overwhelmed and understaffed. Make it oh-so-easy for them. Provide a great story angle, background information to borrow from and a variety of industry sources to interview and add flesh to your story.

PICTURE PERFECT
Often times the picture or video can SELL the story. Provide great visuals and you are helping illustrate the story. High res photos are best for the print media. The best possible production values are helpful for video.

TIMING. IT’S EVERYTHING
Deadline, deadline. The press lives and dies by them. So, when an editor is enticed you need to respond IMMEDIATELY or in the same part of the day. Otherwise, they move on to the next source.

AND IN CONCLUSION – BREVITY
According to Wikipedia, the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000, or around the time the mobile revolution began, to eight seconds. Goldfish, meanwhile, are believed to have an attention span of nine seconds. Hint – keep it short and pithy.

Let us know if we can help you with your media love life.

Eight things the media lovesRead More

 A PR Works Holiday Classic: Spare me the holiday e-cards!

Some families will sit down for a spirited telling of The Night Before Christmas. Others will imbibe in such holiday classics as It’s a Wonderful Life, the Brady, Miracle on 34th Street and A Very Brady Christmas. Here at PR Works, we share our equally heartwarming take on holiday cards.

Enjoy!

Don’t do it. Spare me the holiday e-cards.

Warning. Don’t send holiday e-cards. 

E-cards scream “I almost care”. E-cards involve little effort, little cost, little personal sentiment.

Similarly, holiday cards are more likely to burn than build a bridge.

Keeping in touch is a wonderful thing, doing so en mass and with a generic message, however, is somewhat insulting.

If you want to wish me Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year or any other holiday…

  • Send me a real, honest to goodness snail mail card.
  • Call me to catch up.
  • Drop by and visit.
  • Take me to lunch.
  • Join me for coffee.
  • Invite me to a holiday gathering.
  • Buy me a little gift.

As a re-seller of Constant Contact and other email platforms, I understand the value of regularly connecting with your network. Use email with discretion. Share business news via e-newsletters. Celebrate holidays with authentic good cheer and in person, if possible.

 A PR Works Holiday Classic: Spare me the holiday e-cards!Read More