Sterling Kilgore Public Relations and Marketing Strategy

Looking Back on My First Year in PR

Posted on September 29th, 2011 By Rebecca Vander Naald 3 Comments So Far

Two years ago, while I was still in school, I did an internship with Sterling Kilgore. When I think back, it’s amazing to me how much the public relations industry has evolved in the short time between then and now. At the time, businesses were just beginning to get involved with social media and they were looking for effective ways to break into the conversation. LinkedIn appeared to be the most promising platform, Twitter was just a toddler, and Facebook was a distant thought for most B2B companies.

After my internship, I spent a little over a year away from Sterling to finish my education and gain some in-house marketing experience with a financial firm. A year ago, I came back to Sterling to find a changed landscape. When I returned, almost every client had a presence on social media. Most clients were blogging, tweeting, and using Facebook. For most, Twitter has the most active following and Facebook Pages have become an extension of their brand’s website. While LinkedIn is still alive and well, it has become especially useful for recruiting and other HR purposes. Much like a website, social media is now a necessity for all businesses.

Looking back on my first year in PR, there are three major lessons that I can take away and it’s no surprise that these lessons are interrelated.

• Integrate. Traditional PR tactics, such as press releases, case studies, and bylines are as important as ever, but now there is increased responsibility to promote company news via social media and other digital channels. After a piece has been posted, we can tweet it, post it to the Facebook Page, or even send out an e-blast to customers to increase awareness. Direct mail can even be formatted to drive customers to a website or landing page.

• Communicate. This is true for myself as a PR professional but also applies to our clients. It’s vital to communicate with one another. We must communicate clearly with our clients to help learn about their business goals and develop their public image. In turn, we help our clients to communicate with their customers about company news, industry trends, or tips to grow their business. We help our clients share ideas through blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, press releases, case studies, byline articles, and other marketing tools.

• Embrace. Again this is true for our team and our clients. We must embrace new tools and trends for communicating. Be present on the platform that your customers are on and use it to communicate with them. Typically, new channels do not replace old ones but they do offer additional benefits that extend your options for sharing information and building relationships. It’s been said before that TV did not kill the radio and I would like to point out that social media has yet to kill print. But it would be a mistake to limit your communication channels because if you do you may only be reaching a fraction of your audience.

While the PR industry has evolved to adopt new communication channels, the old channels remain effective and can work with digital to enhance public relations messages. I would not be surprised if I look back on this post in 2 years and find that we’ve added even more channels to the mix.

I enjoy working with these different mediums and I look forward to the new channels that will be introduced in the coming years and seeing how these channels will impact public relations as a whole and my career at Sterling Kilgore. I know that we will not hesitate to embrace new channels and integrate them into the PR efforts we use every day to help our clients achieve their goals.

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, pr, Public Relations, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Public Relations |

Pitching Like a Reporter: It’s How We Get Your Story Told

Posted on August 11th, 2011 By Joe Scolaro 5 Comments So Far

I remember well my days in the busy newsroom. The morning news meeting lets out and reporters, photographers and graphic artists need to be assigned to stories. A breaking report streams across the wire. An upset reader wants a call. Then the phone rings.

“Hi. I’m following up to see if you’ve had a chance to read my email? I’m with an industry leading company that makes best-of-breed industrial pumps and we thought you might like to write a feature article about us because the company is doing really well. Can I set up an interview with you?”

Pumps? “Oh yes, we make metering pumps and centrifugal pumps and …”

Where are you located? “We are headquartered in the Philadelphia area and …”

Then I think to myself: I don’t know much about pumps or why my mainstream readers would want to read about them, and the newspaper focuses on local news in the Chicago area. This PR person is clearly not thinking like a reporter.

The key to catching a journalist’s eye is to pitch like one. Jessica Levco says it well in a recent article posted by Ragan’s PR Daily: “When you pitch a reporter, think to yourself, ‘What do they need to make this a story? What can they say to their editor to make this compelling?’”

Before every pitch, I make it a point to think like a reporter: If it is a local newspaper, what is my local angle? Is there a news angle? Has the company just introduced a new technology? Did it land a big contract with a local corporation? If there is no hard news, then is there any tie to the local economy or trend the company is a part of? Is there an interesting story behind the company founder?

Success at pitching journalists requires all of us working with the media to put ourselves in their shoes. Here are some of the things we have to consider:

Know our topic

While we don’t need to be the expert, we are representing the expert so we need to be knowledgeable about what we are pitching to receive respect and trust from journalists. And first and foremost it is critical we know the publication and work of the journalist we are pitching.

Generate good story ideas

Questions we need to ask include: What is the news? Is there a trend? Is there something unusual going on? Is it timely? How will the information benefit the journalist’s audience? Does it help solve a problem? It is important to generate story ideas the same way good journalists do—through good research and an eye on what their readers want. The needs of a mainstream TV journalist are a lot different from an editor of an industry trade publication.

Think about the deadlines journalists face

Magazine editors may work two, three, even six months in advance, but they might be looking for a faster turnaround for an online-only article. Bloggers and newspapers are more immediate. Timing is everything in our world.

Offer art elements

We never pitch television without offering ideas for video. Images can help any medium. Online outlets can use images, video, and podcasts.

Keep it simple

In email pitches or press releases, we have learned to write the way journalists do, eliminating jargon or overused PR phrases. Two things we keep in mind: Keep it short. Don’t editorialize.

At Sterling, we know the more you pitch like a reporter, the more success you will have because you will be helping to meet their needs. Our goal is to always be a resource for journalists—a reliable, trustworthy, knowledgeable and fast resource.

Tags: media relations, pitch email, pitching media, pr, Public Relations
Posted in Public Relations |

So You’ve Got a Media Hit … Now Just Don’t Stand There! Run With It!

Posted on November 12th, 2010 By Joe Scolaro 4 Comments So Far

Recently my family, hungry for burgers, walked into a Five Guys restaurant. Suddenly I found myself stopped in my tracks, and not just because the line at the register nearly reached the door. All around the restaurant, at eye level and framed, were articles from newspapers, magazines, blogs—you name it—about Five Guys. The clippings circled the store location, and included flattering reviews about the food as well as news reports about openings across the country. Fascinated, I nearly tripped over the bags of potatoes leading to the counter.

Here was a company that valued its PR.

As I stood in line, I thought to myself, what is going through the minds of customers who see all these clippings? They must be thinking “Five Guys restaurants are opening everywhere, and reviewers love their food!” If the smells and sights of hamburgers and fries were not reinforcing their decision to enter that place, surely all this media confirms the decision.

Later, I checked the company’s website and, sure enough, its PR was prominently displayed there too, right in the lower center of the homepage under “Recent News.”

Covering the walls with media clips may not be the right move for every company, but the idea of getting the most out of hard earned PR is a good reminder for everyone. You’ve worked hard to get those clips; now just don’t relegate them to some distant back-page on your website. Here are some ideas for getting the most out of your media hits:

• Make PDFs of articles that feature your company, or articles you’ve written and have had published in media, and post them on your website. Do this with your press releases, too. Link to any podcast and video interviews as well. You can list this publicity in an online newsroom on the website, but also consider putting fresh items on the landing page so visitors see the latest news right away and can quickly link to the newsroom.




• Blog about the media hits, tweet them, and tell your followers on Facebook and LinkedIn—use all social media channels to amplify the message. Journalists will appreciate any extra traffic that comes their way, too.




• Show customers and prospects the media hits as part of emailed newsletters. Compile the articles in binders or on iPads that your sales people can carry with them. Display the materials at trade shows and other events. Build your company’s credibility by adding articles or source quotes in sales kits and proposals. Make a handout that summarizes all the company’s media coverage, or put it in a sales brochure. Enhance sales presentations with images from media hits, or create CDs or flash drives featuring the company’s successes.




• Frame some of the best media coverage and put it up near the lobby where customers and employees will see it.

The third-party endorsements your media coverage conveys lend powerful credibility to your company. Use them creatively to reinforce to customers that they are working with the best, and to build your reputation within your industry.

Tags: articles, bylined, coverage, hits, media, News, pr, Public Relations
Posted in Public Relations |

Trade Media Can Laser In On Your Customers

Posted on September 20th, 2010 By Joe Scolaro 1 Comment So Far

Almost every business-to-business company would love getting publicity in the Wall Street Journal. That’s understandable, but unless your company is run by a national celebrity or has Wall Street buzzing, chances are interviews with big national media outlets will not be weekly occurrences. While shooting for the big dogs of media might very well be an important aspect of your public relations strategy, it’s important not to discount trade media, including industry blogs. Thanks to the targeted readership of trade media, publicity in these outlets offers you a laser-like focus on your audience.

In a recent interview posted by Eric Berto on the PRBreakfastClub blog, Allen Stern, the founder of Cloud Contacts, stressed that when approaching PR, it’s critical to know where your paying customers are getting their information. Stern has been featured in major tech blogs, but he points out that they might not always be the most effective way to generate new customers. He gives the example of a passing mention on a site catering to his ideal customer base that helped to drive a lot of customers.

So, if your business sells environmentally-sound cleaning solutions for commercial espresso makers, then getting publicity in Specialty Coffee Retailer is a very good thing because its readership is baristas, their managers, and coffee retail executives and owners. It pays to know where your customers get their information.

Trade magazines have a tremendous ability to influence. They frequently offer free subscriptions to their industry decision makers, ensuring they can offer a specific readership to advertisers. They typically are very active at tradeshows in their respective industries, often running the shows themselves. They are often the first to report on industry trends and innovations, and their editors frequently blog and use Twitter.

If you get an interview with The Wall Street Journal, by all means, rejoice. But don’t forget the trade media. Sure, the trade magazine’s circulation and online audience isn’t as big. But remember, in addition to having a targeted audience, there is a good chance your story will be sent out via an e-newsletter distributed by the magazine. And it might get tweeted by the editor and certainly by you and/or your PR firm. Your friends might share it, maybe on Facebook or in a LinkedIn group. The search engines will pick it up. An industry blogger could spot it and link to it in a post. Ultimately, not only do you have that critical targeted audience, but the audience just might get bigger than you think thanks to the power of social media and some effective PR.

Photo by bravenewtraveler at Flickr.com.

Tags: b2b, business, joe scolaro, pr, Public Relations, publicity, trade media
Posted in Public Relations |

Attention to Detail: A PR Professional’s (and Wedding Planner’s) Best Friend

Posted on August 13th, 2010 By Erin Hable 1 Comment So Far

I recently had the pleasure of attending a beautiful summer wedding … and by beautiful, I mean beautiful! Pink sashes on the dresses matched the pink flowers, hints of the bride’s lace dress could be noticed in the lace tablecloths, and you could find subtle outlines of roses on everything from the programs to the menu cards. With this event fresh in my mind as I sat to write this blog, it got me thinking—attention to detail can make a big impact.

For public relations professionals, one of the main goals is to enhance your client’s reputation and shed light on who they are and what they do. One of the most common ways to do this is through editorial. A solid byline, for example, can have a big impact—if there is attention to detail.

It can be quite easy for writers to get lost in the larger story and message and miss one of the most important details in getting attention – the headline. It takes a compelling headline to make the right first impression for a story and really draw the reader in.

Not paying attention to your headline can lose your audience before they read the first word of a story – or worse, really confuse them as to what you are trying to say. I recently came across some confusing (yet humorous) headlines that show how failure to pay careful attention can really damage what I am sure was an important message. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Something Went Wrong In Jet Crash, Experts Say
• Miners Refuse To Work After Death
• If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile

Some takeaways? Go back to the basics and start strong. Make sure your headline is newsworthy, keep it short and sweet, and make sure it is clear as to what the article will deliver. Just to make sure you are promoting the message you want, it’s always a good idea to have someone else proof your work.

Last but not least, always put yourself in your reader’s shoes—if the headline doesn’t make you want to read a story, why would they?

Posted in Public Relations |