Marketing and PR on a Dime

Marketing & PR on a Dime

Presented by Susan Shelby, FSMPS, CPSM

President & CEO, Rhino PR

January 30, 2014

@RhinoPRBoston

#PRonaDime

RhinoPublic Relations

About the Speaker

• 20+ years in Marketing and PR

• Founded Rhino PR in 2004

• Participated in Ramp Up Now (RUN)

• Current member, CEO Group

• Entrepreneur of the Year, NEWiRE

• Top 10 PR Specialists, Women’s Business Boston

• Women on the Rise Award, Professional Women in Construction

• Fellow, Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS)


What You’ll Learn Today

• Easy tactics which require little effort and can

get you into the press

• Identify the key components needed for an

effective press release

• How one firm successfully used email marketing

• How and why to incorporate social media

• Free ways to boost your search engine

optimization (SEO)


Tell Me About Yourself

• For what type of company do you work?

• What is your role?

• Is there anything specific you’d like me to address today?


What is Marketing & PR?

• Public Relations

• Collateral (brochures, postcards, etc.)

• Social media

• Web site/SEO

• Email marketing

• Events

• Conferences/Trade shows

SALES


Getting Started

• What are your goals and objectives?

• Who are you trying to reach?

• Who will manage your Marketing and PR program?

• What resources do you have available to you?


PUBLIC RELATIONS


What is PR?

• Getting the word out

• Development and delivery of key corporate messages

• Showcase your firm’s services and expertise

• Influence public opinion

• Increase name recognition

• Support business development (sales) efforts

• Reinforce/support branding


Press Releases

• Why bother?

• Who should get it?

• What to include in a release?

• What about photos or graphics?

• How to get your client’s approval?

• How to distribute a press release?

• How often should you issue releases?


Media Relations

• Who to pitch?

• When to pitch?

• What’s the difference between proactive and reactive pitching?

• How do editors decide what to cover/include?

• What to do with coverage?

• Do you need an online newsroom?


Byline Articles

• What do editors look for?

• How to pitch?

• Where to pitch?

• What to include in the article?

• What to do with it once it appears?


Speaking Opportunities

• What conferences to target?

• How far in advance should you submit an abstract?

• How to increase your chances of being selected?

• What to do once you’ve been selected?

• How should you promote your presentation?


Conferences/Trade Shows

• How to pick the “right” show?

• Why exhibit?

• Why sponsor?

• Is it worth the investment of time, money and resources?

• What else can you do besides exhibit?


Awards

• Who cares about awards?

• How to decide which ones will boost your Marketing and PR?

• What are some tips and tricks for crafting the award submission?

• What to do when you win?


EMAIL MARKETING


Case Study: Margulies Perruzzi Architects

• What

– Series of 8 emails over 8 weeks

– Targeted specific group (real estate brokers)

– Each email linked to MPA web site for more information on topic

• Why

– Keep name in front of brokers

– Appear as experts

– Educate





• Benefits

– Low cost

– Easy to design and send

– Measurable results

– Helps SEO

• Challenges

– Content creation

– Continuous emails increase unsubscribers

• Results

– 10% click-throughs to web site

– Led to RFPs and speaking opportunities

RhinoPublic RelationsEMAIL BLAST CAMPAIGN

What’s Considered Successful?

BUSINESS TYPE OPEN RATE BOUNCE RATE CLICK-THROUGHS

Association 20.60% 10.50% 10.20%

Communications 16.50% 9.50% 14.60%

Education and Services 19.00% 9.40% 13.50%

Entertainment 15.60% 8.10% 10.10%

Event Planning 17.00% 9.80% 12.50%

Legal Services 18.90% 12.20% 11.70%

Marketing/PR 14.50% 11.10% 11.80%

Medical Services 18.00% 9.80% 12.80%

Non-profit 21.70% 10.20% 11.50%

Professional Services 16.50% 10.70% 11.10%

Real Estate 16.40% 12.30% 10.40%

Retail 17.60% 7.10% 14.70%

Technology 14.80% 11.10% 10.20%

Travel & Tourism 17.40% 10.20% 11.20%

Web Developer 18.50% 6.40% 13.80%

SOURCE: Constant Contact


Suggested Resources

• Email marketing platforms

– Constant Contact

– MyEmma

– MailChimp

• HubSpot

– Great whitepapers


SOCIAL MEDIA


What’s the Point?

• Brand awareness

• Establish you or your company as the expert in your field

• Opportunities for interaction

– Clients/Partners

– Consultants/Vendors

– Students/Future Staff

• SEO


Common Objections

• “It’s a waste of time.”

• “It’s just a fad.”

• “Why would anyone care about what I have to say?”

• “I don’t know how to get started.”

• “Isn’t this something only teenagers do.”

• “Our clients aren’t on Facebook, Twitter (fill in the blank).”


The Numbers Don’t Lie

314,589,016 people in the US Source – US Census Bureau

190,000,000 are on Facebook (60%)Source – Facebook

93,500,000 are on LinkedIn (30%)Source – Wikipedia

40,896,572 are on Twitter (13%)Source – Huffington Post


Facebook

• Interact

• Like posts

• Join groups

• Follow people and companies

• Tag anyone and everyone

• Photos are key

• Establish your company culture via posts and photos


Twitter

• 140 characters or less

• Pick your user name carefully

• Personalize your profile

• Find people to follow

• Monitor hashtags at events

• Start retweeting and then tweeting original content

• Recommend HootSuite

– Allows you to schedule in advance


LinkedIn

• Create a company page

– Status updates

– About your company

• Have a presence

– All employees on LinkedIn

– Make sure they list job with link to company page

• Encourage headshots

• Help staff post regular updates


Pinterest

• See if it’s appropriate for your company

• Images of products

• Educational posts

• Review copyright policies with photographers


Wordpress

• Blogging platform

• May require additional help

• Post at least once a week

• Helps SEO

• Content creation

– Events

– Trends/innovation

– Staff experiences


YouTube

• Online video channel

• May require a financial investment

– Additional staff

– Equipment

• Content ideas

– Testimonials

– Firm culture


SEARCH ENGINE

OPTIMIZATION (SEO)


What is SEO?

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• The process of getting traffic from search engines

– Google

– Bing

• Helps people find you when they search online


Keywords

• Keywords are the answers to

– What do you want to be known for?

– What are your services?

– What will your clients type into a search engine to find you?

• Rhino PR examples

– PR

– Media Relations

– Marketing Communications


Optimizing Site for Keywords

• Homepage content

• Services section (with sub-pages)

• “Alt” text for images

• The Big Three

– Page content

– Title tags

– Meta tags

o HTML tag that gives info about the page


What else can you do?

• Contact info on homepage

• Update at least twice a week

• Create a blog

• Join as many social networks as possible

• Internal linking between pages

• Backlink

• Be ethical: Google knows everything


How is Your Site Doing?

• HubSpot

– Marketing Grader

• Google Analytics

• AWStats

• StatsCounter

• SiteMeter

• FeedBurner

• 103Bees

• Performancing Metrics


QUESTIONS


Thank You!

Susan Shelby, FSMPS, CPSM President & CEO

Rhino Public Relationswww.rhinopr.com

C: 978.985.4541P: 617.279.2466 x101

[email protected]

Rhino Public Relations

@RhinoPRBoston