Category: Communications Strategy

Four things you need when distributing your company’s news

Posted on by Wellons team

Suppose you tweaked your product or service so it made you the leader in your particular industry…and no one heard the news. Suppose you landed a huge client that elevated your position to a leader in your field…but couldn’t get the news out quickly enough.

Distributing important information is often as critical as the news itself. Current information, like vegetables in the supermarket, does not remain fresh for long.

If information sits around too long, it’s old news. And media has no interest in information that occurred very far in the past.

Distribution of information is one of those tasks that looks, on the surface, to be mundane, but for clients who want their news and information conveyed to their particular audiences, distribution the right way is critical.

Distribution requires a sense of urgency

If something important is happening with your business and you want others to learn about it, you must work quickly to get the information out.

That requires two (and sometimes three) components:

  • Developing the information you want to share
  • Distributing the information to media who can use it
  • And, if appropriate, illustrating the information

All of this has to come together while your information is still fresh.

If your information gets to media after it’s “use by” date, media view the information as “expired.” If it happened yesterday or in the past week—and is still relevant—it’s news. If it happened last month, it’s not news.

And keep in mind, the media is not sitting on pins and needles waiting for information about your enterprise. It is up to you (or your PR team) to get the information prepared and distributed to the media.

Distribution requires proper targeting

The act of distribution, unlike an advertising campaign, is inexpensive. What does cost, however, is the thought put into distribution.

Are you reaching all the targets who can use your news? Are there targets who may not be immediately visible to you? Are you including media that might have a tangential interest in your news?

Conversely, are you needlessly distributing your news to outlets who would have no conceivable interest in your news?

Your PR team should have the expertise to develop your news distribution plan, as well the tools that can accomplish distribution quickly, efficiently, and at a reasonable cost.

Timing is essential for distribution

When you submit your information to media is another key factor in generating coverage.

There is no exact formula for timing dissemination of news, other than to avoid issuing news to arrive when no one is in the newsroom to receive it or act on it. Other factors, such as breaking news on a national or local scale, make a huge difference, too, and sometimes there are other industry aspects to consider.

Generally speaking, Tuesday is the best time to issue a press release, followed by Thursday. The worst day to send your information is on Friday. Similarly, the best time to send your press release is early in the morning – at 9 a.m. to be exact, or later in the day at 8 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

Distribution requires tools to effectively reach media

Technology has transformed how news and information is conveyed to media.

Thanks to social media, a click can reach media around the world in an instant.

But there’s more to it than simply emailing words to media outlets. Distribution should include graphics that bring your story to life and provide media with the ability to illustrate your story to their audience.

Follow up, on an individual-by-individual basis, is also important. Aggressive publicity requires telephone calls, texts, or emails to specific reporters who will have a special interest in your news. This, in turn, requires that your PR team know your product or service and know who will have a specific interest in your news.

We have the tools and the know-how to get the word out

At Wellons Communications, we offer the whole enchilada when it comes to getting the word out.

We employ national resources that can be tailored to reach just the audience you want, whether it’s distribution to a broad consumer category or a precisely-targeted trade category.

Further, we can arrange to have graphics prepared and attached to your story so that media can use the illustrations to bring your story to life.

When you have news to share, keep us in mind. We’ll be happy to help you craft a news distribution plan that will be affordable, cost-efficient, timely, and well-targeted.

Social media check-up: Is your business healthy?

Posted on by Wellons team

With more than 2 billion people on social media, we’d be surprised to find someone who doesn’t think it’s important for his or her business.

Whether you’re just getting started or you’re a seasoned pro, social media inevitably comes with a lot of questions. Am I doing this right? Am I getting the most out of it? Where do I even start? We’ve heard them all.

And we can relate! Social media has been on our minds at Wellons Communications lately. Our CEO recently led a workshop on social media, and as a staff, we did a deep dive on best practices across platforms.

A short check-up never hurts. Below are five essentials for your business’ social media—so you can be sure you’re in tip-top shape.

  • Know your platform
    There are a multitude of social media platforms out there, from Facebook and Instagram to LinkedIn and Google+. Each platform operates differently, attracts a different demographic, and has different requirements. For instance, Instagram is driven by visuals. LinkedIn attracts a more professional crowd. Twitter allows the use of hashtags. Understanding each platform and selecting the right ones for your business can set you up for success.
  • Set a strategy
    Just like with any other marketing and public relations tactic, you must establish a plan. Jumping head first into social media without setting a strategy is like driving down a dark road without headlights. Eventually, you’re going to crash. Ask yourself what you want from social media. Do you want direct ROI? Do you want to be seen as a thought leader? Your goals will drive the strategy you use.
  • Craft your content
    What you post on social media defines your company, just as much as a sales presentation or your website. Content shows viewers what your company is, what it does and what it stands for—so it has to support your goals. What does your brand want to convey? What is your aesthetic, visually and tonally? Do you post videos, photos, articles or something else? Take some time to set some brand standards. After all, posting to a personal account is not the same as posting to a business page.
  • Stay consistent
    To effectively use social media, you have to be engaged. That means posting regularly (this is where that plan comes in!), responding promptly to comments and concerns, and actively listening to what is being said about your company on social media. Are you doing all you can to protect your reputation and keep your voice out there?
  • Keep up-to-date
    The social media landscape is constantly changing and growing. It’s essential to stay in the conversation and up-to-date on the latest trends to remain relevant. Are you reading up on changes on platforms or best practices in your industry? At Wellons, we make sure to brush up periodically to make sure we stay sharp.

If you still have questions or want to ensure your company is getting the most out of this powerful tool, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to share our knowledge and expertise with you. Give us a call at 407-339-0879 or email Will at will@wellonscommunications.com.

Communications is a two-way street…starting with listening

Posted on by Wellons team

One of the traits of successful business people is their ability to communicate. Successful businesses center around great ideas, augmented by the ability of their leaders to clearly and persuasively convey why their product or service is important for their target audiences. These leaders have the gift of simply and effectively underscoring the need for what they do and how their product or service benefits their customers.

But in many instances, there is a single trait that distinguishes a business leader from their competitors. It costs nothing but a modicum of patience and minimal amount of time.

That “magic bullet” is listening.

Active listening is a consistent trait among business leaders

Canadian business consultant Brady Wilson—whose Juice, Inc. has earned a reputation for improving communications between businesses, their customers and their own employees—offers an insightful tip on getting people to engage.

Wilson shares a story about a bank that decided to change its customer service interactions. Like every other financial institution, the bank was engaged in transactional currencies where one transaction was just like another.

However, by engaging the brain and the heart in tandem in a process called “human currencies,” the bank was able to increase the sale of financial products and increase customer loyalty.

The first step was to ask a question: “How are you doing?” By demonstrating empathy along with patience, bank employees were able to make a positive brain connection with the customer.

By recognizing the “human element” through active listening, positive changes in customer service interactions happened.

The notion of active listening

Active listening requires a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying, but more importantly, the complete message being communicated.

This demands that one pays attention to the other person.

You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you or by forming counter arguments while the other person is still speaking—nor can you allow yourself to get bored and lose focus on what the other person is saying.

In short, active listening is hard work. It requires patience and focus. It demands putting aside what you want to say and deferring to someone else for a few moments. And it demands a commitment to listen.

More about active listening

More examples and insights about aggressive listening are underlined by an insightful article by publisher Ashley Stahl, a Forbes contributor, who makes her point by showcasing three Ted Talks in an April 30, 2018 article.

 You can hear the Ted Talks here.

Try talking with Wellons Communications. We listen.

At Wellons Communications, we take listening very seriously. We know what we know…but there is a lot we don’t know. The only way we find out what we don’t know (and need to know) is listening.

We listen to what our clients want to accomplish. We pay attention to what our clients’ target audiences say they want, another form of listening that can point us in the right direction.

Only by listening to our clients can we accurately and successfully help them communicate – and listen – to their target audiences.

Take a shot at active listening and give us a call. Start by telling us what you want to do and, generally, how you want to go about it.

We’ll listen. We will ask questions. And then we will listen some more.

And, when it comes time for us to provide feedback, we will have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish and have sound ideas of how we can help you achieve your goals.

I’m ready to start listening to what you have to say. Call me at 407-339-08798 or email me at will@wellonscommunications.com.

 

Why you need to include PR in your marketing plan

Posted on by Wellons team

Let’s face it.

When you put pencil to paper in developing your marketing program, the first question usually is “How much do we have to budget for advertising?”

The answer, inevitably leads to spending an inordinate amount of time (and money) on advertising, which, in turn, often leads to results that are inconclusive or, at best, difficult to quantify.

Often overlooked in the marketing equation is public relations. But PR, if properly employed and conducted on a consistent basis can give you the most bang for your buck.

PR doesn’t cost much and can deliver huge payback

Public relations, usually in the form of publicity, has enormous potential. Positive publicity can amplify your brand name, distinguish your service or product from everyone else’s, and validate what you say about yourself.

The good news is that PR costs considerably less than advertising. The challenge is that PR is not totally predictable. Getting your name in the news depends on what is happening in the news and requires that your product or service has information of news value to share.

And in order to remain in the news, your company has to keep making news. That is where having a qualified PR firm can help. Any qualified firm has strong relationships with the media. They know how to reach the right people and find the angle that maximizes the chance of coverage.

That is another way PR professional can make a big difference– by identifying and clarifying what your product or service does for your target audience. It’s a message that needs to be told many different ways and tailored to fit the particular audience that is reached by a specific media (e.g. transportation company execs gravitate toward business and transportation news outlets).

Further, you have to tell your story again and again. PR professionals are experts at finding new ways to tell your story and keep your name in the news.

How much should I be spending on PR?

No two budgets are exactly alike, just as no two companies are exactly alike. A precise budget for PR is difficult to pin down. A review of basic costs, however, will give you some idea of what’s involved and what you pay for when you use a qualified public relations firm.

Generally speaking, there are two primary costs you will incur when hiring a PR firm:

Monthly fee: A modest number of account service hours times an hourly rate that falls within your budget capabilities.

Out-of-pocket expenses (billed at net): Basic costs like travel, mileage, copying, postage, graphic design costs, etc.

So what does that translate to in terms of a monthly budget? Start with something affordable, say, $750-1,000 per month for a combination of fees and out-of-pocket expenses and revise the budget accordingly as your relationship and results develop.

What should you expect in terms of results?

Unless you have a blockbuster story to tell, results usually do not manifest themselves for about 90 days.

It takes that long to get information prepared, distributed, absorbed by media, and followed up upon.

Why 90 days? For print media, it takes that long to get ahead of print deadlines. For online media, the deadline is much shorter, but it requires some time to break through the messy, competitive clutter of information that online news outlets receive and must consider. For broadcast media, results require video or audio that lends itself to TV, radio or online broadcast.

The point is that PR, if given an adequate budget and sufficient time, can serve as a marketing tool that can equal, exceed, or at a minimum, complement your entire marketing program. In terms of cost-effectiveness, PR is often the best bet for ROI.

Call me (407-339-0879) or email me and allow me to pass along some vivid examples of how (and why) PR must be a key element of your marketing mix.

How PR can help you capitalize on unexpected opportunities

Posted on by Wellons team

Unexpected marketing opportunities are akin to natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and cold weather events. You know they are coming, but they are impossible to predict when and where they will happen.

So, how do you forecast unexpected opportunities? How do you take advantage of them when they occur? And how can public relations serve as a means of seizing the moment and putting your product or service into the mind of your target audience?

Do you have the ability to see change before it happens?

Probably not. In fact, very few are blessed with that kind of intuition and those who possess that trait often are as lucky as they are intuitive.

That leaves the overwhelming majority of us relying on our inherent skills and experience to see an opportunity and then figure out a way to take advantage of it. While it may be difficult to foresee opportunities that are not immediately apparent, there are ways and means to sharpen your forward-looking skills.

Anticipate change

We’ve all heard the old adage “the only constant is change.”  It’s just as true today as it was when someone first coined it.

We must remind ourselves that change is never-ending and ask ourselves “What kind of changes should we anticipate?” and “How can I take advantage of the changes?”

As we charged into the 21st century, for example, we all recognized that the onset of digital communications was changing how we do business. Those who embraced the changes that digital communications brought to how we obtain information, what we do with the information, and how we interact with one another have become business legends.

Those who didn’t anticipate change or quickly respond to change (e.g. Kodak, Sears, Nokia, Blackberry) suffered. For an insightful recap relating the stories of corporate giants rooted in the belief that “some things never change” take a glance at an interesting story that appeared in 2013 in Fortune magazine: http://fortune.com/2013/05/08/why-corporate-giants-fail-to-change

How does PR help you change?

Public relations practitioners, like those of us at Wellons Communication, are constantly on the lookout for how the marketplace is changing for their clients and asking “What trends and new directions are newsworthy? Or could be newsworthy?”

Real-time marketing incorporates brand messages into current events – events that your clients and potential customers care about. If these messages are strategically crafted and quickly distributed, public relations can serve as a powerful tool to help you enhance your product or service.

Public relations can react quickly, often involving quick turnaround and on-the-fly responses to immediate events, but they can put your organization’s name at the top of the list in those media that matter to you and your clients.

We all become somewhat numb to the day-to-day experience of business, but for PR practitioners, it is all new.

PR folks don’t see what you see every single business day. From a distance, they can see what is working for you—and see those things that could be working even harder on your behalf. They can visualize unexpected opportunities.

Look and listen. And profit.

Our team at Wellons communications works hard at remaining abreast of current events, both in the everyday consumer workplace, as well as the more limited surroundings of the market category served by of our clients.

We enjoy digging into the news to see what is of interest to media. We look for how the mundane can suddenly be interesting. And we search within the market categories served by our clients for what media could—and should—be covering and how our clients can fit in.

We look and listen for opportunities. And when we see them, we articulate them and seize them. And when we succeed, our clients succeed.

Find out how we can help you succeed. Call or e-mail me (407-339-0879 or will@wellonscommunications.com) and let me share some additional stories about how PR can help you find unexpected opportunities and help you capitalize upon them.

UCF Knights: Marketing and Football Champions

Posted on by Wellons team

While people across the country held their breath watching Alabama’s last-second defeat of Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, some in Orlando slept soundly.

UCF Marketing ChampionsWe can only assume the athletic department staff at the University of Central Florida was among them. Why? They weren’t concerned with who would be named the national champion—because they had already declared themselves the true champions.

The Knights were the only undefeated team in college football this year. They took down the Auburn Tigers (who had previously beaten Alabama and Georgia) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Without a chance to compete in the playoff, they did everything they could do.

While it’s true many have laughed UCF’s claims off, that’s not the point. Whether UCF deserves the title isn’t the point, either.

The point is that this is one of the best marketing moves of 2018 so far, and someone at UCF knows what they’re doing. With controversy comes discussion. So far, the announcement has given the school free publicity in top national publications, such as The Washington Post, Yahoo Sports, USA Today, and ESPN.

Now, the best season UCF has ever had—and might ever have—will result in obtaining top recruits, national recognition and better fan support.

What UCF does with that depends on what the Knights do next season—but they are certainly setting themselves up to have a better chance by making the most of their momentum now.

Building on momentum is something we do a lot here at Wellons, so if you have marketing questions of your own, let us help you take a page from UCF’s playbook. Don’t hesitate to reach out at 407-339-0879 or at will@wellonscommunications.com.

Five predictions for marketing in 2018

Posted on by Wellons team

Now is the time when prognosticators pull out the crystal ball and give their best shot at predicting the future—and we at Wellons Communications are no different.Blog

We enjoy looking ahead, but what’s more, we feel it is our duty to visualize what changes in public relations are coming so our clients can prepare for how these changes may impact their businesses.

Of course, no forecast of the future is ever perfect. Nevertheless, here’s what we see for public relations in 2018:

Content marketing will begin to “shape shift”

Consumers are reeling from the amount of information they are receiving. Because of that, in 2018, marketers will start to make adjustments to both the amount of content they throw at their customers and how they deliver content. Be prepared to see more short videos and billboard-like messages that focus on brand names and benefits.

Simplicity will make a comeback

The avalanche of content aimed at consumers, combined with the onset of new products and services technology is spawning, will be confusing to many consumers, particularly older Americans (i.e. the Baby Boomers and Generation X).

Products and services that clearly and simply explain what they do and how they benefit consumers will succeed.  Marketers whose “pitch” is rooted in techno-babble will become lost a fog of uncertainty, creating an opportunity for those who understand the confusion of customers overloaded by a mountain of information that multiplies daily.

The accuracy of content on social media will attract some skepticism

Social media will continue to be a powerful influencer of how people respond to society and how they view what is happening. With the rise of inaccurate information (“fake news”) on social media, however, consumers might think twice about the accuracy of content that floats across their screens.

Generation Z will begin to overtake Millennials as a prime marketing target

Generation Z, those young adults who were 9 years old when Facebook was introduced, are now 22. They will be entering the workforce in significant numbers. Marketers, of course, will flock to Generation Z to influence their brand preferences and buying habits.

This creates another opportunity. Marketers whose products and services remain appropriate for Baby Boomers and Generation X, who may be overlooked in the rush to capture Generation Z, can retain and grow their relationships with these established, less technically savvy cohorts.

Continued economic growth will hit some bumps in the road

The extraordinary rise in the Dow Jones averages during 2017 cannot last forever. But, like past market rises, no one wants to think about a “correction” or even a decline in the market. Some of the steam will eventually run out of the extraordinary market run-up we have all enjoyed, but this leveling out may create an over-reaction in the opposite direction. That means companies need to make hay while the sun shines—and that your reputation is more important than ever.

So why are these predictions important to you?

We visualize what we think is going to happen for two reasons:

  1. To capitalize on opportunities for our customers.
  2. To protect the financial welfare of our clients.

That’s why we try to accurately peer into and predict the future of the industry—so we can put it to work for you.

Let me know what kinds of predictions you have for 2018. Better yet, contact us at 407-339-0879, will@wellonscommunications.com and see how we can help you capitalize on what you believe will be happening.

Happy New Year!

Communication is all about consistency

Posted on by Wellons team
Website blog cartoon vertical

It’s fun to have a new toy for your business, and it can definitely feel like a win to finish a big project, like a website redesign. Knowing how you’re going to use a new tool – and how it’s going to work with your overall communications program – is half the battle. After all, what good is a new website if customers can’t find you or if your content is stagnant and stale? Communication is all about consistency, and that’s where we come in.

Want to reach your customers? You gotta run.

Posted on by Wellons team

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are the lion or the gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.

African proverb

Getting your message out to your target audiences must be an important priority in your business. If you drag your heels reaching out to your clients and potential clients, you can bet your competitors are working to fill the void.

Why the urgency?

Because no one is holding their breath waiting to hear from you.

Important ideas have to be repeated — often

At Wellons Communications, we believe in the Rule of Seven: Seven impressions are required to effectively communicate an important thought or concept.Lion gazelle

The core message can be the same, but it needs to be conveyed at least seven times to break through the “white noise” of communications.

So how do you know when you have achieved the Rule of Seven?

Results.

Whatever metrics are important to you should either change (or remain the same) when your target audiences have absorbed your message.

What kinds of results? Sales should show positive results. Awareness should increase. Perception of your service or product should be aligned with how you want your product or service to be recognized. Customers and clients should be more attuned to what you are can do – and are doing – and why you are important to their welfare.

We get those results

Our organization conducts communications programs that strive for positive marketing results, not simply publicity or news coverage that puts you in front of your audience on a one-time basis.

The only reason you are in business, after all, is to sell something. And our job is to help you sell it.

We go about it from two vantage points:

1) Creating opportunities for you to tell your story and create awareness of the benefits of your product or service
2) Removing any barriers from your ability to reach your key audiences

We aggressively seek and capitalize on communications opportunities that can benefit you and obliterate any barriers (e.g. misconceptions, underutilization of available resources, competitive claims) that can stand in the way of your business.

So what’s stopping you?

One of the most common barriers to marketing success is getting timely approvals to launch messaging programs.

Plans can reside inboxes for weeks before reviewed and Okay-ed. Decisions on strategies and tactical programs can be pushed off until “we get it just right.”

Meanwhile, your competitors are running circles around you. They are getting closer to reaching seven points of contact with your target audiences before you.

Like the gazelle and the lion, you have to run fast

Today’s hyper-speed communications environment demands that you work fast.

Our team at Wellons Communications recognizes how important that is.

Like the gazelle and the lion, we run as fast as we can every single day and craft programs that our clients may have not yet considered.

Find out just how fast we can move. Give me a call at 407-339-0879 or email me at will@wellonscommunications.com to learn more about what we can do to help boost your marketing communications.

How to get more media coverage for your company

Posted on by Wellons team

Sometimes you make news and don’t even know it. Other times, you have a big story to tell, but you fail to capitalize on it.

Companies that generate positive publicity are often the first to respond to opportunities and take advantage of them. They move with a sense of urgency and find a way to cut through the approval process to put their message ahead of others competing for recognition.Past deadlines

Journalists, no matter what media they serve (TV, online, print), work against deadlines — and that means those who recognize deadlines and respond to them as quickly as possible are often those chosen to be quoted or recognized, particularly in fast-breaking news situations.

Here’s the formula: Editorial need + Content = Publicity

Editors have an insatiable need for content. The journalists who serve the editors (and ultimately, their audience) are required to create that content — and deliver it in time to meet demanding editorial deadlines.

Publicity-hungry companies, however, often drag their heels in making decisions about getting ahead of the news or responding to it. They often bring too many people into the decision-making process which slows up the approval process and causes them to issue news after it has already broken or moved out of the news cycle.

Jack be nimble. Jack be quick

Take a close look within your organization and identify who can (and should) make decisions on issuing news information.

The list should be short (the fewer the better) and limited to those who can make on-the-spot decisions while still ensuring whatever you issue is accurate and meets the criteria of what editors or journalists are seeking.

Strive for decisions that allow your publicist or PR team to get the news out the door and to the media. Drafts of press releases, quotes, plans and programs that sit in inboxes don’t have a chance until the information is actually distributed. And if that information is issued after a deadline, fuhgeddaboudit, as our friends in Manhattan would say.

The companies who make the news first are often those who reacted quickly or anticipated a journalistic need.

Be a soothsayer. Identify — or announce — a trend.

Sometimes news exists where you least expect it — like in research about your industry or observations from your staff.

If you can recognize a trend, you can own the trend. But you have to tell people about that trend before they can recognize it.

If you see, for example, that contract managers are overwhelmed by data, resulting in missing contract expiration dates or the information in the fine print, say it. And back it up with data that makes your observation valid.

Even if the information is old hat to you, it may be brand new to a journalist, particularly if that journalist is new to your beat.

Editors love to “discover” trends and reporters love fleshing out what might be totally new information for their readers and viewers.

Does all this guarantee news coverage?

Nope.

When you compete for news, you are up against more than your competitors.

You are battling for share of mind and space against everything else in the world. Presidential tweets. Kim Jong Un’s latest missile test. Taylor Swift’s hairstyle. Tropical depressions in the Caribbean. Solar eclipses. The latest diet trend.

Your news has to battle its way through a maze that is constantly shifting, with stories moving up and down in relevance.

News shape-shifting is the primary reason no one can guarantee publicity.

You must be willing to release information on time, with the same sense of urgency editors and journalists live by. You must provide information that makes sense for each media’s audience. You must put your news into a competitive posture…and the simple act of getting it out there is the first step. You news cannot make news while residing an inbox.

We work to serve our clients…and the media in which they want to appear.

Our team has experienced how news teams function…from both sides of the desk. We know how challenging news-gathering can be. And we know how challenging getting news out to editors and reporters can be.

If you want to get more news coverage, particularly coverage that defines you as a recognized leader in your chosen field, call on us.

We work quickly, effectively, and with the kind of savvy that comes from working in a newsroom.

Find out more. Call me at 407-339-0879 or email me at will@wellonscommunications.com.

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