By Lindsay Hull
Kara Arundel, Education Reporter at K-12 Dive
I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with Kara Arundel, who currently serves as an education reporter for K-12 Dive, on various educational stories over the years. Normally, it’s Kara who works her journalistic magic to interview my clients. However, today, I had the honor of interviewing Kara to gain her perspective on working with public relations professionals and achieving effective communication. She also generously shared some valuable advice for those in the field of PR.
Thanks to Kara for taking the time to conduct this interview with me! You can read Kara’s stories on K-12 Dive here: https://www.k12dive.com/editors/karundel/
Introduction
LH: Can you briefly tell us about your background as a K-12 education reporter?
KA: I knew I wanted to be a news reporter since I was in middle school. I still feel so lucky I am still working in a job I love and am passionate about. I am a senior reporter at K-12 Dive, a publication of Washington, D.C.-based Industry Dive, which is a business journalism company. Here, I cover national education issues from birth through grade 12. Specific education topics I write about include early childhood education, special education, education funding and Congress.
LH: How long have you been reporting on education topics, and what motivated you to focus on this field?
KA: I have worked as an education reporter for the past two decades, first at newspapers in Virginia and Florida, and more recently for online publications. Everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve met people dedicated to improving schools and supporting students. I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped me tell these important stories.
Collaboration with PR Professionals
LH: Can you share examples of successful collaborations or interactions you’ve had with PR reps?
KA: My daily reporting is very much influenced by PR professionals, whether they are alerting K-12 Dive of an upcoming release of a report, a meeting about a top-of-mind topic, or an innovative school-based program.
Some of the most successful collaborations I’ve had with PR professionals happen when they hear about a school- or district-based promising practice and share that information with me. I can then dig into that topic and ask school and district-based educators what steps were taken to make that program successful, what were the roadblocks and what advice would they have for others who may want to replicate the model. Our readers appreciate learning about how schools and districts are addressing barriers in education, such as chronic absenteeism, teacher shortages and funding shortfalls.
We like to focus on these advice-driven stories and include the real-life examples of the efforts educators are undertaking in the schools. PR professionals are extremely helpful in alerting us to these examples.
Effective Communication
LH: What communication strategies do you find most effective when working with PR professionals, such as pitches (length), press releases, research, etc.?
KA: The communication strategies from PR professionals that I find most effective are emails pitching a unique education-related angle, a promising practice, insights into school and district operations, and data or research about timely education issues.
LH: How can PR professionals best tailor their communications to meet the needs of education reporters?
KA: We receive many emailed pitches a day and honestly it can be difficult to sort through all the messages. This is why the subject line is critical to encouraging reporters to open the message to learn more. I do try to read all my messages, but I would encourage PR professionals to send follow-up messages or to call reporters if they don’t get a response.
It is helpful when pitches are as specific as possible. That said, I also respond to and appreciate shorter emailed pitches that give a brief overview and ask if I’m interested in learning more.
At K-12 Dive, we write a mix of shorter articles, called briefs, and longer articles. The longer articles often take several days of reporting and interviews with multiple sources. I appreciate pitches for both of these story formats.
LH: Are there any specific elements or information that you consider essential in a press release or pitch related to education topics?
KA: One of the biggest pieces of guidance I can share is how important it is for education PR professionals to read the education news so they can help put a spotlight on unique activities that relate to current issues facing schools. I really appreciate pitches that highlight real-life examples or case studies of how a school or district is addressing problems in education.
Pitches that are sent ahead of an anticipated news event, such as an offer to review an embargoed report or an interview with an education professional, are most helpful as we plan our short- and long-term news coverage. Also, it is key for reports and press releases to include dates so we can verify how timely the release is.
Story pitches that are overly promotional of a product or service from a for-profit business tend not to get as much attention because our news stories cannot be viewed by readers as being influenced by paid or sponsored content.
Advice for PR Professionals
LH: What are some best practices for PR professionals to build positive relationships with reporters of any beat?
KA: I view the work between news reporters and PR professionals as teamwork in sharing stories with readers to help them better understand a topic. It’s most helpful when PR professionals understand that our news stories can’t promote a for-profit service or product.
LH: How can they effectively pitch stories and information to you and your colleagues?
KA: The PR professionals I work with most frequently have proven track records of being trustworthy and reliable. They have delivered on promises of interviews with education leaders, are available for clarifying follow-up questions and are familiar with our news coverage. They also are understanding when an interview or pitch doesn’t lead to a story. I am often working on several stories at the same time and, depending on the news cycle, I may request an interview or information right away or several weeks or months after the first pitch was sent.
It’s helpful for PR professionals to know the “beats” or focus area of each reporter so they can tailor messages to the reporter for that specific topic. The K-12 Dive team talks regularly, and we are all familiar with what stories each of us is working on so there is no duplication of efforts.
Closing Thoughts
LH: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about the dynamics of working with PR professionals?
KA: I strongly believe that there are a lot of untold stories in education. Don’t be hesitant to pitch a story idea to reporters even if you are unsure how it may land. There are several times I will get a story pitch and it aligns with an article I’m already working on — or sparks a new idea. We all need to help tell the stories about the challenges and successes our schools are facing.
By Sydney Peterson
Public relations or “PR” professionals are often working behind the scenes to help support business goals. PR work includes a wide range of responsibilities from reputation management to developing PR strategies, to drafting press releases and pitching stories to the media. In 2015, National Publicist Day was founded on October 30 as a day to celebrate and show appreciation for professionals working in the public relations industry. In honor of National Publicist Day, Zer0 to 5ive employees shared insights from their experiences and advice for current and aspiring PR professionals.
Here are six tips on working in public relations from the team:
“Be proactive and curious! Your managers, colleagues, and, especially, your clients love when they see proactivity and ongoing curiosity from you whether it be in the form of newsjacking/rapid response opportunities, asking questions related to a client’s industry, and more. These things help show that you are not only eager to get results but that you are being creative in your thinking and strategy. Being able to continually showcase both of these characteristics will take you far in PR and they will help you generate a greater impact.” – Maggie Markert, Director
“Read a lot! Reading and subscribing to industry newsletters can help you stay up-to-date on trends and current topics that are being covered.” – Annmarie Ely, Senior Strategist
“I once received invaluable advice from a professor who emphasized that PR is far from glamorous moments in a limousine with celebrities. Her words proved to be spot-on. What I’ve learned is that successful PR hinges on the cultivation of relationships. The capacity to engage with clients, peers and colleagues, journalists, stakeholders, and the public holds utmost importance.” – Lindsay Hull, Principal
“Be sure to know your publications – best contacts, what they’re covering, if they accept bylines, etc.” – Chelsea Lindner, PR Strategist
“Don’t let the inevitable “no” discourage you when it comes to pitching. It’s very common to encounter more negative responses than positive ones in the world of PR. Journalists often find themselves buried under a mountain of tasks and competing deadlines – they can’t say yes to every story. When you do receive a “no,” don’t hesitate to ask for feedback. Was it a matter of timing, scope, or a misalignment with the outlet’s focus? This feedback can provide valuable insights to inform your next pitch and increase the likelihood of a positive response down the road. The key to mastering the art of PR is persistence. Keep refining your pitch, honing your message, and approaching it from different angles. Repeated “no” responses can be valuable lessons that help you better understand what resonates with your audience.” – Andie Levine, Director of Content and Social Media
“PR is not for the faint of heart, it takes persistence, tenacity, a thick skin, ability to multitask 1,000 things at once and work under constant deadlines and pressure, for starters. So, if you are interested in PR, go into an area of PR that you have a passion for or are interested in. For example, technology, travel, fashion, food, public health, entertainment, video games, politics/policy, crisis comms…There are so many different options. Working in an area you love will help you get through the tough times.” – Jennifer Moritz, Managing Principal
To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.
By Sydney Peterson
Happy Book Lovers Day! At Zer0 to 5ive, we’re excited to celebrate this holiday as we value the opportunity to expand our knowledge through reading. Are you looking to learn more about PR and marketing? Explore one of our recent blog posts highlighting industry-related books.
Three Takeaways from the Book, “Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time,” That Can Be Applied to PR and Media Interviews
The book “Pitch Perfect” shares lessons that can help clients improve their communication skills. Distilled into seven principles these lessons can be applied to public speaking, interviews, or any important conversation. In this blog post, we look at three that are especially relevant for PR and media interviews.
Adam Grant’s “Think Again” Teaches Us to Stay Curious – and Ask (a lot) of Questions!
In Adam Grant’s, “Think Again,” he discusses how things might improve in our work and personal lives if we keep an open mind. There are three key tools we cling to, says Grant, and those are evenly distributed between our assumptions, habits, and instincts, leaving out the most valuable, “having an open mind.”
How Boxing Is Like Social Media – and How to Land Those Killer Blows with Outstanding Content
Learn about the six characteristics of compelling social media content that are outlined in Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World.”
Looking for More PR and Marketing Book Recommendations?
Check out our full recommended reading list. Happy reading!
By Sydney Peterson
Andie Levine, Director of Social Media
1. What types of social media campaigns have you worked on at 0to5?
There have been a few exciting campaigns I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of. In 2021, I helped Sony AI announce Gran Turismo Sophy, their breakthrough AI agent, which started with a series of cryptic posts hinting at a big announcement on the way. Across all channels, the organic campaign generated 650K social media impressions, 15K link clicks, and 2.2K new followers in a week.
In addition to global announcements, I’ve helped companies establish their presence at industry conferences, accelerate recruitment efforts, launch new products and services, and participate in national awareness days.
2. What is your favorite part about working in social media?
There are general best practices to follow, but there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” strategy that can be applied to each client – which is my favorite part about working in social media! Each organization that comes to 0to5 for social media support has a unique set of goals it is working to achieve through its social media presence. Our job is to find creative ways to meet those goals that resonate with their target audience.
Social media also keeps you on your toes. There are new platform updates weekly, and understanding how each new feature works is essential. It is mentally stimulating, and there is no shortage of new things to learn!
3. What are some brands or campaigns that you admire?
There are so many great B2C brands out there that – rightfully so – get a lot of attention for their fun and often-viral content. However, there’s a misconception that B2B companies can’t also have fun and creative social media. A few great examples I like to point to are: Salesforce, IBM, and Gartner.
4. How do you think social media has evolved since you started your career?
The technological advancements, even in just the past year, are impressive. There are more ways to share content than ever before, which has led to more opportunities for impressions, engagement, leads, etc., which is exciting but also easy to get caught up on. But as much as it has evolved, its ethos has remained the same. At the heart of social media, being transparent and offering value to your audience works.
5. Where do you see social media going in the next few years? What trends are you excited about?
I like that social media is becoming more accessible and conversational for B2B organizations. In the beginning, many felt that their online presence needed to be super polished and sterile – and for some industries, this resonates with their audiences! – but now, they are more willing to lean into “being real.” I’m glad to see companies ditch stock photography in favor of images of their real employees or customers. Even a quick photo snapped on an iPhone is better received than a stock photo.
6. What is your advice for creating more engaging social media content?
If you’re struggling with engagement on social media, you’re likely not sending the right messages to your audience. Start by clearly identifying your top two to three audiences. You should already have a good idea of who your buyer personas are through research, surveys, and customer pain points. After identifying their key challenges, develop content around how your organization can help address them.
7. What are some great resources or blogs to follow for someone who wants to accelerate their career in social media management?
I’m a big fan of Hootsuite. Not only do we use their platform here at 0to5, but I highly recommend their webinars to anyone interested in staying on top of the latest and greatest social media trends. What’s more, the great thing about social media is that you don’t need a client to show off your skills! Your channels can serve as a case study for your ability to create professional, engaging content.
8. What does being Zer0 to 5ive’s Director of Social Media mean to you?
Zer0 to 5ive has a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise and talent, making us a valued partner for organizations building a brand and market presence. As Director of Social Media, I get excited to work with organizations ready to take their social media to the next level: whether this means revamping existing accounts or creating them for the first time.
Social media is sometimes easy for companies to overlook. After working with 0to5, I hope our clients can see the value in creating impactful social media strategies that drive brand growth, engage audiences, and deliver measurable results. In this role, I want to help clients navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape and position them for success in their marketing and PR endeavors.
To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive’s team can help your company, visit our PR and social media page, or drop us a line.
By Lindsay Hull
Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, have been all the rage this year. In fact, ChatGPT is on track to surpass 100 million monthly active users, according to data. For PR professionals, generative AI tools hold tremendous opportunities. In this blog post, we will explore a few ways that PR pros can utilize generative AI to enhance and improve productivity.
1. Idea and Brainstorming Partner
Generative AI tools provide a unique opportunity for PR professionals, who can use AI as a virtual brainstorming partner. By inputting a topic or challenge, these tools can generate ideas and suggest fresh angles and concepts that could potentially fuel creative thinking during brainstorming sessions. Plus, as AI is constantly improving, the quality of its output is ever-increasing – meaning that in the future it will be able to offer even more original suggestions.
2. Making Content Generation More Efficient
Generative AI tools can be used to create compelling content for blog posts, social media posts, and more. Through using these tools, PR professionals can provide prompts and generate drafts, headlines, or creative ideas that can then be refined and polished. The use of generative AI allows for a more efficient process when creating content for multiple platforms and various audiences.
3. Easily Craft Key Messages
Generative AI tools can be used by PR pros to quickly create talking points and key messages. By providing the necessary data and context, these tools can generate starting points that can then be adjusted and customized. This allows PR professionals to quickly produce content that is creative, unique, and tailored to the specific needs of their clients; all without needing to spend time creating copy from scratch.
Important Note
It is essential to remember that generative AI tools are not foolproof, and any content generated must be edited carefully to best suit the requirements of your client, as well as reworked to ensure you are not rehashing someone else’s content. An MIT Technology Review article recently quoted an expert saying “they (ChatGPT) are predictive systems that are generating the most likely words, given your question and everything they’ve been trained on.” It is important to take the time to go over the output thoroughly, ensuring that it meets expectations and accurately conveys a client’s message. Additionally, it is critical to remember that automated content generation should never replace manual effort; a human touch and careful review is required to ensure the best output. PR professionals should be providing the strategy. We should not be using AI content at face value, but rather as a starting point for our own creativity.
Leveraging the Latest Tools to Stay Ahead of the Curve
Generative AI tools have opened up a world of possibilities for PR professionals. From utilizing them as idea generation partners to making content generation more efficient, Generative AI tools are arguably some of the most powerful tools available to assist with strategic PR efforts. We should all be looking for ways we can use this type of technology to stay ahead of the curve.
What are some other implementations of AI in your daily work that you are finding useful?
By Sydney Peterson
Andie Levine, Director of Social Media
1. What types of social media campaigns have you worked on at 0to5?
There have been a few exciting campaigns I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of. In 2021, I helped Sony AI announce Gran Turismo Sophy, their breakthrough AI agent, which started with a series of cryptic posts hinting at a big announcement on the way. Across all channels, the organic campaign generated 650K social media impressions, 15K link clicks, and 2.2K new followers in a week.
In addition to global announcements, I’ve helped companies establish their presence at industry conferences, accelerate recruitment efforts, launch new products and services, and participate in national awareness days.
2. What is your favorite part about working in social media?
There are general best practices to follow, but there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” strategy that can be applied to each client – which is my favorite part about working in social media! Each organization that comes to 0to5 for social media support has a unique set of goals it is working to achieve through its social media presence. Our job is to find creative ways to meet those goals that resonate with their target audience.
Social media also keeps you on your toes. There are new platform updates weekly, and understanding how each new feature works is essential. It is mentally stimulating, and there is no shortage of new things to learn!
3. What are some brands or campaigns that you admire?
There are so many great B2C brands out there that – rightfully so – get a lot of attention for their fun and often-viral content. However, there’s a misconception that B2B companies can’t also have fun and creative social media. A few great examples I like to point to are: Salesforce, IBM, and Gartner.
4. How do you think social media has evolved since you started your career?
The technological advancements, even in just the past year, are impressive. There are more ways to share content than ever before, which has led to more opportunities for impressions, engagement, leads, etc., which is exciting but also easy to get caught up on. But as much as it has evolved, its ethos has remained the same. At the heart of social media, being transparent and offering value to your audience works.
5. Where do you see social media going in the next few years? What trends are you excited about?
I like that social media is becoming more accessible and conversational for B2B organizations. In the beginning, many felt that their online presence needed to be super polished and sterile – and for some industries, this resonates with their audiences! – but now, they are more willing to lean into “being real.” I’m glad to see companies ditch stock photography in favor of images of their real employees or customers. Even a quick photo snapped on an iPhone is better received than a stock photo.
6. What is your advice for creating more engaging social media content?
If you’re struggling with engagement on social media, you’re likely not sending the right messages to your audience. Start by clearly identifying your top two to three audiences. You should already have a good idea of who your buyer personas are through research, surveys, and customer pain points. After identifying their key challenges, develop content around how your organization can help address them.
7. What are some great resources or blogs to follow for someone who wants to accelerate their career in social media management?
I’m a big fan of Hootsuite. Not only do we use their platform here at 0to5, but I highly recommend their webinars to anyone interested in staying on top of the latest and greatest social media trends. What’s more, the great thing about social media is that you don’t need a client to show off your skills! Your channels can serve as a case study for your ability to create professional, engaging content.
8. What does being Zer0 to 5ive’s Director of Social Media mean to you?
Zer0 to 5ive has a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise and talent, making us a valued partner for organizations building a brand and market presence. As Director of Social Media, I get excited to work with organizations ready to take their social media to the next level: whether this means revamping existing accounts or creating them for the first time.
Social media is sometimes easy for companies to overlook. After working with 0to5, I hope our clients can see the value in creating impactful social media strategies that drive brand growth, engage audiences, and deliver measurable results. In this role, I want to help clients navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape and position them for success in their marketing and PR endeavors.
To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive’s team can help your company, visit our PR and social media page, or drop us a line.
By Sydney Peterson
According to research by PRovoke Media, the PR industry grew by nearly 11% in 2021. Public relations can be powerful for your organization if you use PR to its full advantage. A strong and well-implemented PR strategy can help increase visibility and awareness and build trust and credibility with your key audiences.
Whether you want to improve your business’s PR efforts or hope to get started, one of your first steps in moving forward will be drafting a PR plan. To prepare a PR plan to set your organization up for success, it is essential to consider these four elements.
1. Know Your Brand
Deeply knowing your brand is the first important step in your PR plan. Your brand must be consistent through your website, social media, marketing, and any other external messaging. Your brand is everything about the business: who you are, what you do, how you look, and who you appeal to. If your brand’s image doesn’t match the mission you want your organization to represent, now is the time to change it. It is never too late to give your brand a refresh. If you are already content with your brand, then your PR plan can focus on other areas. In this case, ensure your newly drafted plan aligns with your current brand.
2. Know Your Target Audience
Now, who do you want to appeal to? Who is your existing audience? When evaluating your target audience, you should first ask these questions. If you aren’t seeing the results you hoped for with your business, reassess whose attention you’re grabbing. For example, you should consider which media outlets your target audience would follow and strategically target those outlets to reach your audience. After cross-referencing your current audience and your target audience, make a list of who you’re missing. Then, you are ready to draft a strategic PR plan to reach your target audience.
3. Know Your Goals
When outlining your objectives and strategy, remember to keep the big picture in mind. When defining your goals, it can be beneficial to include input from different people at the organization. Employees from different departments, positions, and backgrounds can offer unique perspectives that can help inform your strategy and make it stronger.
4. Know How You Will Measure and Track Results
As we all know, there is always room for improvement in both business and personal life. There is no time like the present to assess performance benchmarks and identify critical metrics for your organization. Measurement is vital for understanding where to focus going forward. It helps to be selective when choosing targets for improvement to ensure a high achievement rate in these areas.
Once the plan has been developed with input from across the organization, you will be set up for success to begin implementing your strategy and, using PR to improve your brand’s standing in the marketplace. This will allow you to utilize the power offered by a strong PR strategy.
By Maria Koblish
It’s no secret that launching a startup is a considerable risk that requires a lot of work. From product development to marketing to sales, executives have their hands full. In an ever-expanding tech-savvy industry, startup businesses must understand the vital role digital marketing plays in their success.
Digital marketing is essential for any tech startup to get off the ground. Digital marketing efforts can have a direct impact on the following actions:
- Increasing Brand Awareness
- Product Promotion
- Building an Audience
- Capturing Leads
- Acquiring Customers
- Sales
We have looked back on our work with leading tech companies and startups to ease this impending workload. Here are seven essential tips to help any tech startup with its digital marketing strategy.
1. Identify the Target Audience
There’s no better way to begin a list of digital marketing tips than here: defining the target audience. Step one of any business plan, marketing strategy, or PR activity starts with understanding who you’re speaking to. Start with generally defining — who is your audience? What are their demographics? Then you can get business-specific. How would this group benefit from your business? How would they research products online? How do they use social media?
Marketing connects a business to its intended audience and entices them to interact with its product or service. Once you define that audience, the actual campaign can begin.
2. SEO Optimization is Key
Keywords aid in search engine optimization (SEO) to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising; they act as the first step to bringing in target audiences and awareness to your startup. The more relevant the keywords are, the better your chance of bringing in that awareness and desired audience.
How do you determine those keywords? Google is a handy and free tool that many marketers use. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and search away, but pay attention to Google’s predictive text suggestions, aka the “people also ask” and the “related search” features.
Along with gathering the correct keywords to use, be sure to:
- Identify the funnel stage: Your keywords must differ for each potential customer at different sales funnel stages.
- Track existing similar content and keep your keywords organized: Don’t let two or more pages on your website target the same keyword because you will be competing against yourself, hurting your rankings.
- Collect branded keywords: This is geared toward PPC ads: target branded keywords in your marketing campaign to differentiate yourself in the digital landscape.
3. Monitor Competitors
While your competitors may seem like enemies, they can be your greatest asset. Here’s how to leverage their strategies for your benefit:
- Differentiate from competitors via messaging and content
- Review competitor case studies and learn what works for them
- Check their social media accounts to see what’s resonating with their audience
- Review the content they are publishing
- Identify their rank in terms of SEO, content, media coverage, and more
Everyone’s information is out there. You can use it to your advantage while maintaining the integrity of your business.
4. Maintain an Optimized Website
Google is the driving force behind website optimization. It works off of algorithmic scanning to assess the quality of content to provide the most relevant content to the user.
Google’s ranking system is activated by how long people stay on your site — the higher the quality, the higher the engagement, and the more optimized your site ranks in a keyword search. Knowing that makes it all the more important to play Google’s game and use the algorithm to your advantage. If you want to learn more about how SEO works, check out this blog post.
Maintaining a quality website not only makes your business look better to the customer, but to the search engine as well.
5. The Importance of Social Media
Today, globally, more than 4.74 billion people use social media. Your potential customers go on social media daily to interact with peers and favorite brands. It’s essential to position yourself through organic and paid social media as a key part of your audience’s online life. It will drive lead generation and create a sense of community.
6. Keep an Active Blog
Prioritize keeping an active blog on your company website. Offer personal findings oriented towards your business, tips and tricks, and general content to support your audience during their time on your site. Demand Gen Report revealed that 47% of buyers viewed at least three to five pieces of content before they engaged with a sales rep, making the content you post essential.
These blogs are a great asset on social media channels. Sharing blogs on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., increases traffic to your website and creates a community within your audience. Blogs can also help you to rank for more keywords on search engines, garnering more activity and lead generation.
Staying on top of a blog on top of everything else that comes with launching a startup can be challenging, so getting all team members involved keeps the work dispersed and consistent.
7. Have a System to Track Results
It doesn’t matter how much work you put into your digital marketing strategy without one thing: analyzing the results. All the planning and execution in the world mean nothing without it. Ensure that you can measure the impact of your efforts on marketing channels like social media, email, search engines, and your website to track your startup’s growth. In another blog post, you can learn more about how UTM codes can help track results.
The complexity of launching a startup continues after digital marketing. But prioritizing these practices can simplify the process, setting your business up to welcome impressive success and growth.
By Patrick Reilly
Everyone is on social media. That part is obvious. And, it’s important to use social media to achieve your business objectives, and put time, energy, and dollars where consumers are. The bottom-line profits achieved from social media require hustle, heart, sincerity, constant engagement, long-term commitment, and artful, strategic storytelling.
Bestselling author and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk outlines this elegantly and in simplified, digestible terms in his book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World.” He argues that social media marketers are throwing the best right hooks or knockout punches – and how most of the time they are still failing to land killer blows. The book is an update on what Vaynerchuk and his team have learned about successful social media campaigns through their work with thousands of startups, Fortune 500s, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and celebrities.
Social media is immediately gratifying and hugely addictive (look at TikTok). People using their smartphones are often using them to stay updated and entertained through social media. Most companies are still not getting the message. They may have Twitter and a Facebook page, but Vaynerchuk says that most of the content isn’t resonating. Social media has its own language and businesses need to learn it. People may be seeing brands’ social media posts, but when the content isn’t compelling, they scroll away, sometimes forever.
Put up your Fists When Strategizing for Social Media
Vaynerchuk argues that there’s a reason why boxing is considered a sweet science – it’s often compared to chess – it requires strategic thinking. The right hook gets the credit for the win – but the series of jabs that come before set you up for success. For marketing, there is no sale without the story and no knockout without the setup. The jabs are lightweight pieces of content that benefit customers. These types of posts make users laugh, snicker, ponder, feel appreciated, and escape. The right hooks are calls to action that benefit your business.
Vaynerchuk believes social media marketers are not setting up jabs as well as they should – specifically by perfecting distinct, native content throughout multiple social media platforms. There is a science to creating memorable, effective social media content. Perfect hooks require three characteristics:
- A simple and easy-to-understand call to action
- Perfectly crafted for mobile and all digital devices
- The respected nuances of social networks for making content
The book includes guidelines for creating relevant, valuable content that consumers will pay attention to and want to share. This type of content creates the brand awareness that can be critical to your next sale. Marketers should approach social media with the same intensity as boxers – to create better content. Boxers are observant and self-aware – which are the same traits of good storytellers.
The Characteristics of Great Content and Compelling Stories
Only outstanding content can cut through the noisy world of social media. Vaynerchuk shares social media content rules in the book that are still applicable today. Below are the “6 Characteristics of Great Content and Compelling Stories” from the book:
- Native Content – Crafted to mimic what makes a platform attractive – Companies often don’t take the time to learn about social media platforms’ native ways. Social media posts should blend with the platform’s natural offerings and tell stories that engage consumers on an emotional level. Don’t shove marketing content down consumers’ throats. Try to enhance consumers’ interactions with the platform and do not distract from the experience.
- Doesn’t Interrupt – Ads and marketing are supposed to make consumers feel something and act on that feeling. They shouldn’t affect a consumer’s experience on the platform or intrude on that experience. Ads need to be part of the entertainment.
- Doesn’t Make Frequent Demands – Jabs are ads that are informative, generous, funny, inspiring, and written for your audience – not yourself. The company needs to interact with people and needs to be human. They tap into the conversation and find shared interests with consumers by responding and reacting to what they are saying. They are building an emotional connection with jabbing which paves the way for the right hook. If the content is great, you won’t annoy your consumer. Skillful native storytelling increases the likelihood that a person will share content.
- Leverages Pop Culture – Generations are defined by their pop culture and content has to compete with all of it. Create content that reveals your understanding of news and issues that matter to your audience. Integrate content into a stream where people can consume it with other pop culture candy.
- It’s Micro – Think of social media content as microcontent – a tiny, unique nugget of information, humor, commentary, or inspiration that you reimagine every day. Businesses can create deeper connections with consumers and their brands’ communities when they use social media effectively. Every year – a social media campaign should be as simple as: jab at people all the time, every day, talk about what they are talking about, when they start talking about something different, talk about that instead, repeat, repeat, repeat.
- It’s Consistent and Self-Aware – Every post, tweet, comment, like, and share will confirm your business identity. Your microcontent will vary, but it must reflect who your brand is. No matter how you tell your story, your personality, and brand identity must remain constant too. When you are self-aware, you know the message and it’s easy to keep consistent. Creating microcontent is a way for a brand to adapt to circumstances and to the whims of your audience and a brand’s best chance of being noticed in a busy, disjointed, distracted world. When you create stellar content native to the platform – you can make a person feel, which makes it more likely to be shared with others and amplifies your message at a fraction of the cost of other types of promotion.
Vaynerchuk believes that the social media equation requires quantity and quality, but content for the sake of content is pointless when posts are out of touch or unimaginative. If your social media posts come off as straight-up promotions, they will be largely ignored by the public. Following these six characteristics to create great content can help you cut through the noise and land that killer blow.
By Maria Singer
SEO. If you’ve used the internet at any point in the last ten years, there’s a good chance you’ve at least heard of it. SEO is one of those terms that is sometimes used as a catch-all when referring to anything related to online marketing but is actually much more specific than how the term is sometimes casually used. Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the different ways content creators, copywriters, and web developers can optimize web pages to make them easier for search engines to understand and recommend to users through search results.
“Why is that important?” you may ask – and with good reason. If you’ve built a content-rich site with loads of valuable information for your users about your products, services, or goals, shouldn’t your site be high up in search results when someone is seeking exactly what you offer?
The answer is not exactly.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll be focusing mainly on Google organic search results.
HOW DOES GOOGLE RETURN SEARCH RESULTS?
To understand how SEO works, it is important first to understand how search engines like Google work. Whether you’re troubleshooting the tapping noise coming from your 2009 Toyota RAV4, trying to find the highest-rated dog food for your senior schnauzer, or searching for a helpful beginner’s guide to SEO just like this one, Google displays search results for pages that have gone through the following 3 step process:
- Discovery: There are two main methods of discovery: bots and manual submission. If your site is brand new or has recently undergone a significant overhaul, you can submit it for indexing (below) through Google Search Console. In another method, bots (commonly called spiders) ‘crawl’ web pages and download information. There are also other methods for Google to discover your pages, but these are among the most common.
- Indexing: Once Google is aware of your page’s existence, it extracts what it thinks are the essential parts and adds them to its index.
- Ranking: Google’s algorithms define and rank your content’s quality in 200+ areas. Some of the key areas include:
-
- Relevance
- Location
- Page speed
- Freshness
- Authority on a topic
How Google personalizes your search results
The most commonly known and understood factors that come into play when personalizing your search results are your location, browser language, and past search history. Within a split second, Google identifies a list of top websites that fit your queried keywords. In that same timeframe, it compares those search results against what it knows about you to re-prioritize and even eliminates some of those results.
Understanding the basics of how Google delivers results to its end users is half the battle when it comes to deploying a better SEO strategy. The good news is that most other search engines, like Bing or Yahoo, work in much the same way that Google does. According to BrightEdge Research, 53.3% of all trackable web traffic comes from organic search results; this means that focusing on improving the overall quality and readability of your web pages could be the single most important thing you can do to increase your website’s long-term, completely free web traffic.
We Could Go On
Understanding the basics of search engine optimization is the crucial first step to improving your site’s ranking overall. Above all, it’s important to simply write good content – be the authority on your topic, and generate rich information that users actually want to read without too much (or too little!) fluff. When it comes to search engine results, each spot your website is closer to the top, the more likely it is to receive valuable traffic. If you have questions or want to learn more about how we help our clients at Zer0 to 5ive build or revamp their websites, let’s chat.