3 essentials for 3rd party endorsements

3rd party endorsements have the potential for taking your PR pitches, campaigns and social media to the next level!

3rd party endorsements include support from political leaders, legislators, directors of not for profit organizations and associations, opinion leaders, and any other individuals or groups who have expertise on a topic and an audience or following.

Bloggers, too, have now become a new form of 3rd party endorsers in many cases.

Three ways to get 3rd party endorsements include:

— Outreach to find politicians who support your position and the topic you are publicizing, especially a committee chairperson, or those who have prior or pending legislation on your topic of interest.

— Locate organizations that support your cause. For example, if you represent a vineyard, contact the local congressman or state representatives, the local business developmental agencies, and other state agencies to partner with you on your activities. In addition, contact associations that represent agriculture and entertainment industries, locally, regionally and nationally. This will provide you with an strong alliance of supporting organizations.

— Contact 3rd party groups directly and get their endorsement in writing, in support of your product, topic or client. Have them attend your event or speak the media on your behalf on topics of interest. Joint press releases can also be very effective.

You will be surprise at how many organizations and politicians who may be willing  to help you increase your publicity and visibility. They can also provide expertise, research information and significant credibility. Your pitches may appear stronger because of the endorsement provided by these groups.

Sometimes you can get an instant recognition and support because of the appeal of these groups and individuals. For example as a luxury travel PR firm, news and events pitches are infinitely stronger if your working with the Senate Senator who chairs the Tourism Committee or the Mayor’s Tourism Task Force, or a local parks, beach or equine organization.

Third party endorsement can provide a bigger bang for your buck. With a little bit of work you can develop strong, long term relationships with allied groups.

Are you content with your content marketing?

Communication Concepts by Tim Cronin

Businesses large and small are working to develop or improve their content management systems, as they recognize that content marketing is an ideal way to promote products and services online, and to supplement their SEO.

We all want to make our campaigns more effective, but how? What’s the best approach? More followers? Better content? Better engagement?

Unfortunately what works for some campaigns or clients, may not work for others. Success could depend on your industry, the size of your business, your followers, and many other variables. Analyze what will work best for you.

If you ask an expert, they will tell you there are certain components that should be implemented in any content marketing program, such as:

• Establish a release schedule (These are also called Media Calendars or Media Campaigns by PR and media practitioners).
• Identify your audience and establish relationships
• Hire or implement an automatic distribution service (for…

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Are you content with your content marketing?

Businesses large and small are working to develop or improve their content management systems, as they recognize that content marketing is an ideal way to promote products and services online, and to supplement their SEO.

We all want to make our campaigns more effective, but how? What’s the best approach? More followers? Better content? Better engagement?

Unfortunately what works for some campaigns or clients, may not work for others. Success could depend on your industry, the size of your business, your followers, and many other variables. Analyze what will work best for you.

If you ask an expert, they will tell you there are certain components that should be implemented in any content marketing program, such as:

• Establish a release schedule (These are also called Media Calendars or Media Campaigns by PR and media practitioners).
• Identify your audience and establish relationships
• Hire or implement an automatic distribution service (for updates/tweets)
• Measure all aspects for quality and ROI

I would agree that the recommendations listed above should be part of any content marketing program. But I would suggest that there are two areas that we should further consider. They involve audience and content development:

Audience Development — When was the last time you went through your list of followers and considered the preferences of your audience? When was the last time you met with them in person, or contacted them online, on the phone, in your store or at a business mixer, etc. Is my social media content relevant for this audience? Should I post more or less often? Should I add or delete followers? Create different lists?

Content Development — What content are you providing to your followers? Has it inspired them to share in a conversation or to take action? Also to be asked — what promotions are you offering… do they have any real value. Is it possible for you to improve or expand your content?

Virtually every small business owner has an expertise in their field, and can develop blog posts, comments and other communications to promote their business. The blog is an idea method and can developed on your their own or with the help of a professional writer or content developer.  This content can be repurposed in many ways and be promoted by your friends and followers.

To create the blog, small business owners can:

1. compose their blog by themselves
2. get a PR/social media consultant to provide you information and assistance, or
3. get a ghostwriter to write and manage the blog, or do so with your collaboration and consultation

The small business owner is the expert in his or her field, and has access to newsworthy information and trends. With this information and a little creativity, you should be able to develop a blog post, once or twice a week, perhaps 350-500 words. Simple reposts of news stories you like could also be sent out.

The effectiveness of your content marketing can be measured in a number of ways. Do you want to increase likes or followers (public visibility or recognition) or are you looking to generate prospects or sales. Also the quality of your posts will increase your ratings by Google and other analytic services.

We all want to improve our content marketing campaigns, and focusing on our audience and content are sure ways to improve our social media outreach.

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