Inside PR Strategies

Using Social Media to Drive Attention

Social media offers a terrific opportunity to capture attention, but all too often, companies forget to develop the underlying content that influences decision making. The key is to think of social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and industry blogs as traffic cops that point people to your web site. Once they are there, can they find information that drives them to choose your company?

At Harris Media Services, we work with companies to develop the powerful content that communicates your strengths, and encourages customers to put your technology or service on their purchasing short list.

  • White papers that position your executives as insightful industry leaders,
  • Customer case studies that prove your ability to execute,
  • Bylined stories that highlight your company's expertise, and
  • A wide variety of marketing collateral to explain your company's features and benefits.

With this library of content, we then extract important nuggets of information to post via Twitter, your blog, or Facebook page and drive traffic to you.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you develop a social media strategy that delivers results and drives sales.

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PR is a Conversation

When you’re a PR professional, it’s easy to get into a mode of thinking that PR is a one-way proposition. My client has a story to tell; it’s my job to “sell” it and get journalists to share the news with their readers. But when viewed as a two-way conversation, PR can deliver something beyond just eyeballs – it can deliver insight.

 

My firm specializes in technology PR, so we work mostly with trade press. Most of these journalists see a ton of software applications, hardware innovations, and service programs. They know what’s new, what’s coming up, and what probably won’t happen. They are in tune with their readers, who also happen to be my clients’ prospects. They know what their readers do and don’t like, and what they do and don’t want. So, when one of our clients has a new product to announce, we always try to set up advance-preview demos to journalists.

 

Of course, our primary goal is to get them interested enough to write about the new tool or service. But it’s truly valuable when we can get them to take the time to provide us with their input: how does this compare with other applications you have seen or are seeing? Will the features and innovations we’ve added appeal to your readers? What else are your readers need that we have yet to deliver? What should we add to this product? Which aspect or angle should we lead with when we announce?

 

Journalists often have as much insight as analysts, and sometimes do a better job of explaining what’s happening in a market space. And, honestly, sometimes I think they are just so happy to be asked what they think – too few companies take the time to get their insight. That’s a shame for those companies – they’re missing out on some valuable information.

 

Wherever possible, we try to make the PR process a conversation rather than a straight sales pitch. You learn a lot more when you’re on a two-way street.

 

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Three Ways to Know When it's Time to Engage an External PR Firm

PR and marketing are crucial for business development, but how do you know when the efforts of your internal team aren't enough?

1. You're missing out on too many opportunities. Even with a solid internal team, it's difficult to meet deadlines for story opportunities, conference speaking proposals, and award entries. One of the primary benefits of an external PR firm is that they discover, track, and manage multiple opportunities for you.

2. Your great ideas are going unheard. You have terrific customer success stories, strong opinions on industry topics, and exceptional insight into your market. But no one will know until you can translate those great ideas into written pieces. If your ideas are languishing, an external PR firm can close the loop by developing the pieces that communicate: success stories, opinion articles, bylined features, and white papers. And they match them to the right media outlets to ensure your stories are heard.

3. It's time to push into new markets, but you're not sure exactly how. An external PR firm can share insight about ideas that have worked for other companies, as well as those that haven't. This is particularly important when your company wants to expand, and needs to move beyond existing tactics and strategies. An external PR firm can bring fresh insight, the benefit of experience, and the ability to execute.

At Harris Media Services, we have brought thousands of stories to life - we work with your customers to capture success stories, we work with your executives to discover your unique value, and we match them up with the journalists, analysts, and media professionals that influence your customers. Contact us today for samples of our work, or to discuss your PR and marketing communications needs.

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet? The Role of Twitter in Energy PR

Twitter is a hot new social media tool that enables individuals or companies to broadcast short, 140-character messages to anyone who chooses to "follow" them. We were skeptical at first about Twitter - who needs one more stream of information interrupting our workflow? - but once we discovered how many journalists "tweet," we were hooked. Now, we learn about story opportunities, industry news, and other important events from Twitter, and we post updates on behalf of our clients, as well.

Here's a sample of who we follow on Twitter in the energy market: Green Technology Daily, Renewable Energy World, Smart Grid Tech, Smart Grid Daily, and Alt Energy News. Give Twitter a try, and "follow" Harris Media Services.

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Media Snapshot

TMCnet has launched a new online portal covering the SmartGrid market. Site editors are actively seeking contributed byline articles. Contact us to develop, pitch, and place your bylined piece.

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