Now that summer is over and my 3 year old son [...]]]> Suzanne Tormollen of Atingo Public Relations is a 13 year PR veteran of the tech scene who has worked with many venture-backed companies in the Austin and Houston areas.  You can view her work history at www.atingo.com.  Suzanne is a regular contributor to Startup Houston.

Now that summer is over and my 3 year old son is back at pre-school, I’m regaining some semblance of order and schedule in my life.  And with that accomplished, I’m pleased to share useful PR tips with you once again.

Although the summer was hectic with BBQ’s, family vacations and countless trips to the community pool, I was able to find some time to read a great PR book called Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge.    If you are trying to navigate your way through the world of Social Media and you don’t know how Social Media is impacting PR and how to get involved then this is the book for you.

I admit I was a bit anxious to read the book as I thought it might expose some ignorance as it pertains to the burgeoning Social Media world.  After completing it, I’m happy to report that I gained a new level of understanding for Social Media and how it impacts PR, but more importantly, I also learned that the PR skills I’ve employed for nearly 15 years are even more useful as we attempt to reach new audiences through new Social Media outlets.  What did I learn at the most basic level?  It’s still all about relationships.   It’s about engaging with the right communities, on the right level.  Here’s an excerpt from the book…

“The new breed of tech- and market-savvy PR people will be skilled at observing, facilitating, and maintaining relationships, and creating and fostering trust and credibility with myriad groups of people who populate and define the landscape of new influencers and customers we need to reach.”

I think I’m fortunate because I started working in technology PR at a firm in Boston primarily supporting IBM Software.  We were trained to uphold the highest standard of ethics in our outreach and communications with the media community.  I was never exposed to “spamming” and I’m happy for that. It was always taught that my job as a PR professional is to make a reporter’s job easy.   You don’t call or send a news release or pitch to a reporter unless you’ve done your homework and truly understand their interests, writing style and preference for receiving information.

This basic tenant continues today although the audience has expanded beyond the traditional journalist to include bloggers, customers, consumers and peers, to name just a few.  Also, the level of communication has expanded.  It’s no longer about sending or just feeding information to your audience.  It’s about engaging in a dialogue with your audience whether it be a blogger, a customer (who may actually be the blogger), or a reporter.  You need to know your industry and you need to get involved.  As Solis and Breakenridge pointed out in the book…

“When you are truly engaged in dialogue with other community members or speaking with media influencers, you are not thinking about messages that you want to convey; instead, you are more focused on what information you can provide to help someone else.”

I chose to address the value of relationships because establishing a mutually beneficial relationship, regardless of the medium, has never been more important for today’s PR professional to succeed.  And while this should be common knowledge it is so easy to forget with the number of day-to-day tasks we all have to check off our lists.  Being truly engaged, understanding your company’s product and knowing all your audiences will deliver results and drive success for your PR program.

Ok. You’ve secured funding; created a solid leadership team; [...]]]> Suzanne Tormollen of Atingo Public Relations is a 13 year PR veteran of the tech scene who has worked with many venture-backed companies in the Austin and Houston areas.  You can view her work history at www.atingo.com.  Suzanne is a new contributor to Startup Houston.

Ok. You’ve secured funding; created a solid leadership team; and have a product in the market.  Now you want to increase exposure and awareness for your company.  But how?

I’ve been involved in several new business meetings over the past few months in which this has been the prevailing question.  And, I’m glad to report, people are turning to PR to help them raise market awareness.  With that said, there is a lot confusion, or lack of education, on how to make the right PR choice.  I thought I’d provide some suggestions on what to look for when shopping around for your PR consultant or agency.

Accessibility: Be wary of PR firms that send only their senior executives to the new business meetings.  This may be the only time you see them.  Ask who will be doing the day-to-day work for your company, how many other clients they are supporting ,and how many years of experience they have in the industry and at the firm.  Ensure you meet the individual team members who will be doing the work.

Chemistry: It’s important to view your PR team as an extension of your own team.   You’ll need to work closely with your PR contact and provide them with access to vital company information in order to achieve a successful PR campaign.   Do the people who would be working on your account have your same work values, desire, drive for excellence?

Creativity: Since you live and breathe your company every day, having eyes and ears on the outside can bring new and fresh ideas to the table.  While the tried-and-true PR tactics are important to every PR program, it’s good to try something different. Don’t be afraid to ask for examples of how a PR group has increased exposure for a company in a not-so-conventional way.

Consistency: The PR team is the face of your company.  They are the first point-of-contact for a reporter.  There’s no room for errors such as typos in a news release or misspelled words in an email pitch.  You don’t want any surprises when it comes to your PR program.  You want a team that provides high-levels of work, consistently.  Ask for references of other clients so you can ensure the team is solid.

In addition to these general attributes, you want to ensure the PR support you choose has in-depth knowledge and experience with the core PR elements inherent to every PR program – media relations, analyst relations, and trade show support.   Some other key questions to ask:

• Can they write a compelling news release? Media pitch? Bylined article?
• Do they have experience working with reporters at publications that cover your market?
• What’s their technical knowledge?

Whether you choose an individual PR consultant or a PR firm, implementing a PR program for your company can be a beneficial and rewarding experience for everyone involved.  Remember accessibility, chemistry, creativity and consistency.

In my last posting, I wrote about how in a down economy companies should be [...]]]> Suzanne Tormollen of Atingo is a 13 year public relations veteran of the tech scene who has worked with many venture-backed companies in the Austin area as well as companies such as Dell. Suzanne is a new contributor to Startup Houston.

In my last posting, I wrote about how in a down economy companies should be executing focused and tactical PR campaigns to maintain industry awareness.  This time I am going to focus on one aspect of every PR campaign, the press release, and how companies can use this key PR activity to their fullest advantage.

The press release is one of the most used PR tools.  It’s a quick article written in the news style that promotes a recent accomplishment for a company such as a new customer, partnership or product, a new executive hire, or it can tout something as simple as a move to new office space.  While some companies look at advertising as way to promote some of these same accomplishments, a press release can be just as persuasive, and more cost-effective, if written and distributed in the correct way.

Unfortunately I see too many companies that view the press release as just that, a document with words to post to the company web site.  Many companies are missing a huge opportunity to leverage a simple, yet effective, means of communication.  Every press release should be viewed as a strategic announcement and a set of predefined objectives and strategies should be created to achieve your desired results.  The end game for all press releases is to increase industry awareness by having the news accepted and published in a variety of forms such as newspapers, magazines and Internet sites.  Frankly, this can only be accomplished if a clear strategy is created.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help create a strategy that will result in success for your next announcement:

• What are your goals for doing this press release?
  Maybe you want coverage in a vertical trade magazine for your new product, or a TV interview to raise awareness for an event you’re hosting or coverage in local newspapers to help with recruiting.  The purpose of most press releases is to connect with the media and gain some kind of coverage that will be viewed by your customer, investors and partners.  Determining what kind of coverage you want and from what media outlet will help create a focused announcement strategy with desired results.

• Who is the intended audience for this news?
  Most companies view the audience of a press release to be potential and current customers, investors and partners, for example.  But, there is also another primary recipient of a press release – the reporter.  When thinking about this question, it’s important to keep in mind what publications and news outlets you would like to influence with your news.  Which outlets would your customers, partners, investors be most likely to read.  And, which stake holder within your audience will be most influenced by the news.

• What message do you want to communicate?
  You may have an idea for a press release such as a new product or customer win but you also need to determine what key messages you want to communicate about that particular accomplishment.  For example, if you are announcing a new product, you’ll want to focus on the benefits that product brings to your customers as well as the features of the new product.  Remember to keep the messaging clean and concise and remember your audience.

• Is there anything unique about the news you want to communicate?
  With thousands of news releases being issued every day it’s important to think about what might be unique to your announcement. What will catch your audience’s eye when they see the headline of your release; what will make them read the copy; what message are you communicating that will make a reporter what to write about it.

• Is there a third party that can support your claims?
  It’s always a good idea to include supporting quotes in your news releases if you can.  If it’s a product release, find an industry analyst and/or a customer to validate your claims.  If it’s a customer release, see if that customer would be willing to be included in the announcement.

• What strategies do you want to utilize to communicate this news?
  Once your audience, goals and messages are defined you can begin to develop a distribution strategy.  This can include news wire distribution, posting to your web site, sending directly to key reporters and analysts including phone call follow ups, etc.  It may also be valuable to create a communications plan for distributing to your customers, partners, and investors if appropriate.  With each audience comes a new key message that you’ll want to highlight so they see the relevance to their business.

You may be thinking this seems like a lot of work for just a press release.  BUT, remember.  It’s not JUST a press release. To work through this process, you can create a “strategy document” that specifically outlines goals, audience, strategies and results.  I also recommend including a time-line to ensure everyone deadlines are made and the announcement is issued at the right time.

When you combine a well written press release with a focused distribution strategy, you will gain a tremendous amount of return.  Just posting your press release to your web site or distributing it over a news wire will only cost you money and leave your targeted audience untouched.

I have been in the high-tech PR industry for almost [...]]]> Suzanne Tormollen of Atingo is a 13 year public relations veteran of the tech scene who recently relocated to Houston. She has worked with many venture-backed companies in the Austin area as well as companies such as Dell. Suzanne is a new contributor to Startup Houston.

I have been in the high-tech PR industry for almost 13 years focused on promoting venture-backed start-ups.  I experienced “the bubble” and saw companies slash marketing and PR budgets to cope with tightening budgets and slower sales.  While these measures cut costs in the near-term, these companies missed out on a tremendous marketing and communications opportunity.

While it’s important to be prudent about where you are spending your money, it is also important to seize this quiet market as a time to define, educate and lead.  Now, more than ever, you should be keeping your company front-and-center, communicating your competitive differentiation and setting the stage for your industry.

This notion of putting in place an aggressive PR and communications plan during a downturn is not new.  According to a March 2008 article from the Harvard Business Review:

“It is well documented that brands that increase (marketing) during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

PR is often viewed as un-measurable and therefore an unneeded marketing activity. For those struggling with how to support a PR campaign in today’s down economy remember, PR can be very broad or very focused.  Keep it focused.  Market validation and industry awareness are essential and can be achieved with a small budget.

1. Market validation:  Finding the industry analysts who are researching and following the happenings in your market just takes a little searching.  Remember to stay lean.  Focus on just two or three.  You can make introductions, pitch your story and begin a working relationship.  Some analysts may charge you.  Choose the firm with the best industry relationships and be prepared to pay them.  You often may be able to secure some initial coverage during the “courting period” even before officially signing.  For the others, see if they’d be willing to provide a quote or a reference, you’d be surprised what they will do. It is a down economy!
2. Industry awareness:  Once you have the support of a few key analysts you can take your story to the media.  It isn’t necessary to target every reporter in all the markets you touch.  Just pick your top five.  Learn the publications they write for and what they are tasked with writing about such as new products, executive hires or trends.  Once you’ve been able to establish your company with the vertical market you can bring your story upstream to the business press.  Make sure you pitch useful and timely news or trends.  That’s their job.  To cover the news and industry happenings.

If you’re lucky to have budget for trade shows or conferences then you can leverage these events to meet with analysts and reporters at the show and those based in the cities where the shows are located – take advantage of travel schedules for your executives and don’t miss these opportunities.  While I usually hesitate to issue announcements at a major event, a down economy may be just the time while other companies are becoming quiet.

This may seem like a lot but it truly isn’t and it CAN be done on a small budget. Trust me.  I’m doing this and more for clients.

Remember:  Know your target audience, create a focused analyst and media relations plan and then execute, execute, execute.  Keep in mind, if you go quiet, the industry will think you are suffering as everyone else.  Don’t let that happen.  Stay front-and-center!