As PR professionals, we are often asked how we can measure the value of our efforts. Common ways we measure success are by counting the total number of articles, impressions, and opportunities garnered. Today, these numbers are table stakes. Clients want to know the who, what, when, where, and why of how coverage translates to opportunity.

No matter the size of your client account, it is important to track much more than just these metrics to see a full picture of how your account is performing. Formal trackers can host all of this information – and more – and can be analyzed easily. 

Let’s dig into some key items that might provide more insights to your client than you think.

• Publications: When you kick off with a new client, it is important to identify what they consider “core” publications compared to “reach” publications. Core publications should be the trade or national publications that specifically cover your client’s industry. Reach publications are exactly how they sound – a reach – and should be acknowledged as achieving a major PR milestone! When it comes time to show off your work, you can verify how many times your team garnered coverage in core and reach publications, which are measurable results to share with your clients.
• Links: PR professionals don’t have much control over what makes it into an article. But, we should always strive to include a link to the clients’ website or another owned asset that reporters can include. In this case, using UTM links are key, as they can be used to track how many users or sessions were garnered from the specific piece of coverage. Although some reporters might strip the UTM link (or any link), it is important to try to track the work that has driven readers to the clients website.
• Spokespeople: A company can have multiple spokespeople and it’s important that you keep track of who is utilized for media opportunities. Ask yourself: Who was the author of the byline? Who was quoted? Was it an executive at the company, a customer, or an industry influencer? Having a broad bench of spokespeople who are able to speak on a range of topics can increase visibility of your clients’ company across different publications. Additionally, utilizing customers to speak on behalf of your clients will significantly boost credibility, which is invaluable to your business.
• Source: PR professionals spend a lot of time pitching reporters, which isn’t always accounted for, or remembered when there are big wins. One way to keep tabs on where opportunities and coverage originated is to keep track of the pitches that sealed the deal. For example, if you sent out predictions from your client and garnered four opportunities and seven pieces of coverage – you should track that. Then, when it comes time to prove the value of pitching you can confidently share the numbers. Numbers don’t lie!

Creating the Perfect Coverage Tracker

Spreadsheets are a fantastic place to build media coverage trackers. As an agency that has accounts that vary greatly in size and effort, below is an example of a thorough media coverage tracker for any client built in Google Sheets.

First, you will either want to create a new Google Sheet or a new tab in an existing Sheet. Then, you will identify the columns, such as the type of coverage (live interview, feature, podcast, etc.), the pitch the coverage originated from, syndication, links included, and the spokespeople who were mentioned or quoted. You will then want to set up specific data validation rules for the different columns in the sheet.

1. Select the column you want to categorize. For example, Column B is chosen (Core/Stretch/N/A).
2. Click Data.
3. Click Data validation.

The data validation rules window will appear to the right of the screen. Here you can continue to customize the data you want to see in each column.

1. Click + Add rule
2. Add as many rules as needed. For example, a Core category, a Stretch category, and a N/A category were added.
3. Choose different colors for each rule created. Color coordination can be great for organizing.

Google Sheets allows you to choose different colors for the various categories. You can also select Customize to personalize the tracker to your clients’ brand-specific colors.

Next, you’ll want to set up the column statistics for the rules you just created and compare them across columns.

1. Click Data again to pull the numbers you need for the rules you’ve set.
2. Select Column stats. A sidebar will appear, which will showcase graphs and different stats related to the specific column you are analyzing.
3. Click through the left and right arrows to see the stats of the different columns in your sheet.

Keeping track of your PR successes should not only be easy, but provide your clients an in-depth look at everything they need whenever they need it.

Interested in learning more about how Zer0 to 5ive’s PR team can help drive your company’s visibility and industry leadership? Contact us today.

In our blog series, Media Moments, the Zer0 to 5ive public relations team highlights a variety of media coverage secured by the team on behalf of our clients every month. Check back each month to get a glimpse at the team’s ongoing work.

An important aspect of a public relations professional’s role lies in understanding the dynamic nature of the news cycle. They must not only stay on top of current events relevant to their clients but also comprehend the journalistic landscape, including the themes and priorities driving their coverage.

The public relations team at Zer0 to 5ive is always analyzing the news cycle for every client, continuously seeking out relevant current events and potential angles for client integration. This involves actively monitoring live news broadcasts, reading dozens of articles and daily newsletters, monitoring social media channels, and building relationships with journalists.

Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s placements from March that showcase the team’s work.

USA Today for SchoolStatus

The national media places immense value on data, and particularly data around education and parental viewpoints. Recognizing this, our team strategically leveraged both data and the media’s preference for exclusivity to pitch SchoolStatus’ new survey. To help ensure a robust, on-message story, the team offered the data exclusively to USA Today. The outlet agreed to the exclusive, conducted interviews, and incorporated the data into a story about the communication disconnect between schools and families. Read the article here.

FOX Business for Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Often, journalists are seeking expert sources for stories they are already working on. Sharing information on available experts who are willing to be quoted can be a great way to generate national media coverage. For Universal Technical Institute, the team reached out to a journalist at FOX Business who covers careers to offer experts in this area. This outreach resulted in the client’s source being quoted throughout the article on the topic of job interviews. Read the article here.

The Hill for NWEA

In the education sector, the ESSER funding cliff is a key topic of discussion among industry media. Knowing which journalists would likely be covering this topic, the team reached out to The Hill on behalf of NWEA to offer an expert policy source on the topic. This resulted in the journalist leveraging the point of view from the organization’s policy expert in an article. Read the article here.

CSO for Onymos

In the hustle and bustle of the news cycle, important topics can sometimes get lost in the shuffle with so much going on at once. That’s why it’s crucial for public relations professionals to quickly grab hold of these sometimes unnoticed opportunities. With Onymos, the team leveraged an overlooked topic that had gained attention on social media – regarding data privacy and ownership in Software-as-a-Service – to pitch the company’s CEO. This resulted in CSO writing an entire article on the topic and Onymos’ CEO quoted as a source throughout. Read the article here.

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.

The expectations of both clients and journalists are high, and balancing them is key. Clients want coverage maximized and with top-tier outlets, and the media wants stories about topics and trends that their readers care about and will engage with.

At 0to5, we’ve embraced a number of strategies to secure valuable media coverage for our clients. Here are some of our most tried and true:

1. Craft a Compelling Narrative: At the heart of every great story lies a compelling narrative. Whether it’s about the company’s journey, an impressive milestone, a groundbreaking product, or an inspiring team member, it’s important to hone your story to resonate with the intended audience. Ask yourself, “Why should they care?” Using relevant industry topics and personalization, a PR pro can create stories that are not only relatable and memorable, but also pique the interest of the intended journalist.
2. Offer Unique and Valuable Insights: In a sea of perspectives, standing out requires unique insights and valuable expertise. It’s important for subject matter experts (SMEs) to actively participate in industry discussions, whether at a conference, in a byline, or through expert commentary, and offer data-driven insights. By providing information that adds value, PR professionals position their clients as a go-to source for industry-related topics.
3. Capitalize on Your Client’s High-Profile Collaborations and Partnerships: Clients often align themselves with complementary, industry-relevant organizations or influencers that have their own brand and traction. Leveraging these high-profile collaborations and partnerships can help your story and attract the attention of media who have covered the partner in the past.
4. Build Authentic Media Relationships: Building strong relationships with journalists, influencers, and industry experts is invaluable when you’re looking to garner strong media coverage for your clients. Investing time in understanding unique preferences, specific interests, and varying writing styles gives the pitcher an upper hand in knowing exactly what stories they’ll be most likely to cover. It’s important to engage with the media authentically, offer valuable insights, and be a reliable resource that cultivates trust.
5. Leverage Social Media and Digital Platforms: Media coverage doesn’t stop once the interview concludes and the story is published. Social media has proven to be a powerful tool for bringing additional attention to your story. By consistently sharing valuable content and engaging with audiences, companies can create a digital footprint that captures the attention of journalists and influencers alike. Moreover, the strategic use of hashtags and tagging relevant entities further amplifies potential reach.

Garnering great media coverage is an effort that requires a strategic approach and persistence. By focusing on compelling stories that offer valuable insights or uniquely interesting storylines, nurturing reporter relationships, and leveraging digital platforms, you will find success in your media relations efforts.

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.

In our blog series, Media Moments, the Zer0 to 5ive public relations team highlights a variety of media coverage secured by the team on behalf of our clients every month. Check back each month to get a glimpse at the team’s ongoing work.

In today’s dynamic public relations and journalism landscape, many factors impact the efficacy of media relations. These include everything from the fast-changing news cycle, to journalist bandwidth, and so much more. Understanding these complexities, public relations professionals must always be strategic, creative, agile, and thoughtful in order to navigate the landscape effectively and garner results for clients.

The public relations team at Zer0 to 5ive demonstrates a thoughtful approach to engaging journalists by leveraging client events, significant news, or unique perspectives, prioritizing strategic and creative thinking in every pitch. Moreover, their agility shines in their ability to tailor pitches and story ideas to match the timely and relevant interests of each individual journalist.

Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s placements from January and February that showcase the team’s work.

US News & World Report for YouScience

With deep knowledge of U.S. News & World Report’s education coverage and the focus of its reporters, the Zer0 to 5ive team highlighted critical research from YouScience to secure coverage with the outlet on the topic of student readiness post-high school. The article not only included the research, but also incorporated commentary from YouScience’s CEO Edson Barton. Read the article here.

Fortune for Sony Innovation Fund

Fortune is a high profile outlet that covers a wide range of topics. One of the topics that the outlet is most well known for is venture capital. In order to secure coverage in Fortune’s Term Sheet, you must have a unique point of view on the state of venture capital or technology or significant funding, M&A or leadership news. The team worked with Sony Innovation Fund to secure coverage of its new CEO and Chairman. Read the article here.

IEEE Spectrum for Sony AI

Conferences and events can be great drivers of media opportunities for clients. There are often key national or trade media in attendance to gather information on the latest trends or insights, and to connect with top subject matter experts. On behalf of Sony AI, the team leveraged its attendance at NeurIPS 2023 in December to secure a meeting with IEEE Spectrum for the organization’s Lead Research Scientist for AI Ethics, Alice Xiang. The meeting resulted in an in-depth Q&A with Alice on her work, ethical data collection, and more. Read the article here.

Nation’s Restaurant News for Chatmeter

In some cases, public relations professionals have to employ an embargo strategy to garner coverage around a key piece of news. For client Chatmeter, the team conducted embargo outreach to technology and trade reporters ahead of the company’s launch of its new Pulse AI: Signals feature. This targeted outreach resulted in an inclusion in Nation’s Restaurant News’ Tech Tracker for January. Read the article here.

Paul’s Security Weekly from SC Media for Qmulos

Podcasts are becoming an increasingly popular venue for public relations professionals to pitch on behalf of their clients. This surge in popularity has caused podcast hosts and producers to be inundated with guest recommendations, resulting in long queues for potential guests that stretch from a few weeks to a few months. To secure an interview for clients, public relations professionals have to remain diligent and thoughtful when checking in with the host or producers, gently reminding them that they have a great source in the wings ready to provide a new perspective. On behalf of Qmulos, the team maintained regular contact with the producer of SC Media’s Paul’s Security Weekly podcast and eventually secured an interview for the company’s CEO Matt Coose. Listen or watch the podcast episode here.

PYMNTS.com for GrazeCart

News on mergers and acquisitions is typically very attractive to the media. When POS Nation announced the acquisition of GrazeCart, the team was able to secure interest from PYMNTS.com in speaking with both organizations on how the acquisition would enable GrazeCart to expand its reach to farm-to-fork food suppliers who are looking to take their direct-to-consumer marketing and sales to the next level. You can watch the video interview here.

TEACH Magazine for NWEA and SchoolStatus

The ability to offer distinctive and thought-provoking commentary can greatly expand media opportunities for clients as journalists are constantly seeking fresh perspectives that enable them to tell the best and most informational story possible. The Zer0 to 5ive team recently worked with NWEA and SchoolStatus to provide interesting viewpoints on classroom management. The team shared commentary from the organizations’ education experts with TEACH Magazine, resulting in coverage for both clients. Read the article here.

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.

The right media coverage can significantly impact your brand’s visibility and reputation. Knowing how to effectively leverage your coverage is essential to reaching the widest possible audience and achieving your marketing and PR goals. The following strategies and tactics can help your business maximize its media coverage and drive brand awareness.

The All-Mighty Press Release

Press releases are vital for sharing news, enabling businesses and organizations to communicate significant developments and events to the media and the public. They generate media coverage, enhance visibility, and provide a structured, professional way to convey information. Press releases help share achievements, product launches, financial reports, and more. They also serve double duty as a valuable reference point for journalists and contribute towards a positive public image while maintaining transparency for your business.

Once your team drafts and approves your press release, the best way for quick and widespread distribution is to share it through a distribution service like PR Newswire or BusinessWire, then follow up by emailing the release to key reporters and publications in your field.

After the press release has been distributed on a wire service and delivered to reporters’ inboxes, a few more strategies can help you reach a broader and more engaged audience. The first is to share the press release on your company’s website. Posting on your website can significantly enhance your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

Leveraging social media is another effective way to optimize your press release’s reach. Share it across social media channels, and consider pinning it to the top of your business’s page or profile. Make your content more engaging by creating graphics with pull quotes and relevant images to accompany the post.

How to Share Great Media Coverage

Now that your press release has gone out on a wire service and been pitched to reporters, you hopefully have some great media coverage! While many folks will find your article in print or directly on the publication’s website, you can employ additional strategies to maximize your brand’s reach and visibility.

Sharing media coverage on your company’s website is a fundamental step that archives and showcases your news and increases organic search traffic. Consider prominently featuring news on your home page to ensure that visitors to your site immediately see and recognize your company’s success and momentum.

Leveraging your social media presence is also crucial for sharing media coverage effectively. Be sure to include a link to the article and consider tagging the reporters and media outlets responsible; this helps you engage with journalists and enables them to easily repost to their audiences. Additionally, you could update your LinkedIn profile or, in the case of platforms like X (Twitter), your bio with a mention such as “As seen on CNBC” to bolster your credibility.

Another approach is to draft and share posts about the media coverage on behalf of key figures within your organization, such as executives, featured spokespeople, and partners or clients mentioned in the article. Consider turning the placement into an advertisement to reach a targeted audience directly.

Similar to sharing press releases, including your media coverage in email marketing efforts is a valuable tactic to ensure your key stakeholders and supporters can access the latest news and are well-informed about significant developments. This approach broadens your reach and ensures that individuals with a vested interest in your company’s achievements are kept in the loop.

Beyond email marketing, there are additional avenues for disseminating your media coverage effectively. One such approach is incorporating media mentions into investor decks and sales presentations, bolstering your credibility and showcasing your company’s recognition to potential investors and clients. Another is to share your media coverage with industry and networking groups to engage a targeted audience and position your company as a thought leader and an active participant in relevant communities.

The power of media coverage in shaping a company’s reputation and bolstering its visibility cannot be overstated. Press releases, distributed through wire services, serve as a structured and professional means to communicate significant news and updates. Amplifying the impact involves strategically sharing the release and its corresponding media coverage on company websites, social media platforms, and email marketing. By combining these methods, businesses can effectively maximize the impact of their media coverage across diverse channels, ultimately influencing perceptions and driving success.

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.

In our blog series, Media Moments, the Zer0 to 5ive public relations team highlights a variety of media coverage secured by the team on behalf of our clients every month. Check back each month to get a glimpse at the team’s ongoing work.

At the end of each year, journalists seek insights from experts spanning diverse sectors to anticipate trends that will appear in the coming year. This presents an ideal opportunity for companies to share distinctive and insightful perspectives that resonate with significant national or industry trends. By offering these bold opinions, they can continue to establish their position as a key thought leader on a specific topic or sector — which also contributes to overall brand awareness. 

The Zer0 to 5ive public relations team collaborates with our clients annually to craft compelling predictions that not only address overarching trends but also express bold opinions that align seamlessly with the client’s industry or offerings.

Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s predictions for placements from December.

Forbes for Onymos

Shiva Nathan, Founder and CEO of Onymos – developer of the world’s first Features-as-a-Service platform – was quoted by Forbes offering his prediction for the continued journey to passwordless in 2024. Read the article here.

SiliconANGLE for Digital.ai

Greg Ellis, General Manager of Digital.ai – the leading provider of enterprise-grade software development and delivery solutions – was featured as an expert by SiliconANGLE on how the continued industrialization of cyber tools will impact the threat landscape for organizations in the coming year. Read the article here. 

ITOps Times for Qmulos

Igor Volovich, Vice President of Compliance Strategy at Qmulos – a next-generation compliance, security, and risk management automation provider – was included in an article from ITOps Times for his prediction on how organizations will increasingly take a more proactive posture in terms of security, risk, and compliance. Read the article here. 

QSR Magazine for Chatmeter

Cynthia Sener – President, Go To Market, at Chatmeter – a leader in reputation management and multi-location intelligence – was quoted by QSR Magazine on how restaurants will continue to innovate in the area of customer experience and service. Read the article here. 

Convenience Store News for C-Store POS

Kevin Patel, Vice President of C-Store POS – an all-in-one, cloud-based retail software built to meet the needs of modern convenience store owners – had his insights published by Convenience Store News on how small convenience stores will continue to use data analytics to revolutionize their operations in 2024. Read the article here. 

District Administration for NWEA and YouScience

District Administration published a few stories on what trends to expect in 2024, leveraging perspectives from both NWEA – a K-12 assessment and research organization – and YouScience – the leading technology provider dedicated to solving the skills gap crisis for students and employers. 

• NWEA’s Lindsay Dworkin (Senior Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs), Ayesha Hashim (Research Scientist), Laura Hansen (Director of Academic Services), Fenesha Hubbard (Lead Professional Learning Designer), Chase Nordgren (Principal Research Lead, Effective Instructional Strategies), and Scott Peters (Senior Research Scientist) were all quoted on topics related to student progress and effective interventions, the investment in data through remaining ESSER funding, and the importance of academic identities of educators. Read the article here. 
• YouScience’s Jeri Larsen (Chief Operating Officer) and Hans Meeder (Senior Fellow for Education and Workforce Education) were quoted on the topic of college and career preparation, including career and technical education (CTE). Read the article here. 

eSchool News for School Status

Russ Davis, Founder and CEO, SchoolStatus – a leader in K-12 communication and attendance solutions – was included as a thought leader in a 2023 trends round-up from eSchool News, sharing how data on the student, classroom, and school will be critical to supporting academic recovery efforts. Read the article here. 

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.  

By Maggie Markert

It’s exciting to see a diverse range of client coverage every month, spanning from podcasts and bylines to funding profiles. Each form of coverage holds significance, providing either an insider’s view into a company or product, or presenting distinct perspectives on important national and industry-specific topics. 

The Zer0 to 5ive team is dedicated to crafting powerful narratives and viewpoints for our clients. Our goal is to pinpoint and secure the most fitting and pertinent opportunities available so that our clients can be seen and heard. 

Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s placements from November.

NPR’s Teaching Matters for CENTEGIX

Oftentimes, journalists want to speak to individuals who have direct experience with a topic or issue. In education, that means working alongside our clients with educators and school or district leadership. 

With CENTEGIX, the Zer0 to 5ive team identified a district leader to discuss the importance of creating a multi-layered safety plan in K-12 schools and offered them to speak with NPR’s Teaching Matters podcast. During the interview, the interviewer and audience also received a real-time example of how quickly the district leader’s schools were able to initiate a lock-down within seconds through CENTEGIX’s CrisisAlert badge. Listen to the podcast here.

Technical.ly for Imagine Pharma

Funding is a major milestone in a company’s journey and a great news hook for storytelling. To elevate a funding announcement into a larger profile story, public relations professionals can offer journalists the opportunity to delve into the significance of the funding and its implications.

For Imagine Pharma, the Zer0 to 5ive team leveraged the company’s recent $32.5 million funding round to secure interest from Technical.ly in conducting interviews for a profile story. You can read the article here.

Ed Post for SchoolStatus

Awareness days, weeks, and months can play an important role in developing a compelling story. They lend relevance and timeliness to a point of view a company may have on a key topic. 

For SchoolStatus, the Zer0 to 5ive team identified Family Engagement Month as an opportunity to engage the media on why meaningful school-home connections in K-12 education should be supported. This outreach resulted in multiple opportunities, including a byline opportunity with Ed Post. The article can be read here.

Compliance Podcast Network for Qmulos

Public relations professionals must stay on top of key news trends and current events. One trend that has consistently remained at the forefront is cybersecurity. This topic has many different aspects and identifying the right one for a client is crucial. 

On behalf of Qmulos, the Zer0 to 5ive team focused on the topic of cybersecurity compliance to secure an interview with Compliance Podcast Network’s Innovation in Compliance Podcast with Tom Fox. You can listen to the podcast episode here.

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.  

By Maggie Markert

Storytelling is critical to successful media relations programs. Offering a compelling narrative helps public relations professionals break through the hundreds or thousands of pitches journalists receive each day. These stories can be a powerful or unique point of view on a trend or current event, a robust customer case study, or a strong piece of research. 

Collaborating closely with our clients, the Zer0 to 5ive team discovers these narratives and develops compelling pitches for journalists. As part of every pitch, the team provides comprehensive context, significance, and exclusive access to expert sources.

Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s story-driven placements from October.

WIRED for Sony AI

Emphasizing the importance of research and connection to overarching trends is key to capturing the attention of top journalists. However, providing an adept expert proficient in conveying that storyline remains absolutely essential.

For Sony AI, the Zer0 to 5ive team outlined the significance of its research on skin tone annotation in computer vision and offered the lead authors to speak with the media. This particular pitch piqued WIRED’s interest and that of several other outlets, resulting in extensive coverage that delved into the research details. Read the WIRED article here.

PYMNTS for Sony Innovation Fund

Journalists consistently seek fresh and distinctive viewpoints that offer alternative perspectives on trending subjects. It’s crucial for public relations professionals to share glimpses of these perspectives with journalists as a part of their outreach efforts. 

On behalf of Sony Innovation Fund, the Zer0 to 5ive team provided a few points to PYMNTS on the team’s view on Web3 venture capital investment. These viewpoints captured the outlet’s editor’s attention, leading to an interview request for two experts from Sony Innovation Fund regarding the topic. Read the PYMNTS article here.

HD Trucking for Nauto

Many media outlets seek sources for prearranged editorial stories, a terrain familiar to most PR professionals, posing a challenge to secure inclusion. The key factor in gaining inclusion within these stories is presenting a resource capable of offering a unique and distinctive perspective unlike any other.

Ahead of HD Trucking’s October story on distracted driving, the Zer0 to 5ive team provided the background and potential perspective that Nauto‘s founder and CEO could offer. This resulted in an interview as well as multiple quote inclusions in the feature story. Read the HD Trucking article here.

Top Education Placements

Journalists in the education space often seek insights directly from educators and students because their voices provide authenticity and depth for stories. These perspectives give journalists, and eventually readers, a first-hand account of challenges they are facing or new approaches they are implementing to improve education experiences. 

For CENTEGIX, the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE), and YouScience, the Zer0 to 5ive team worked closely with client teams to pinpoint student and educator resources that provide poignant firsthand experiences for several stories. 

KYW In Depth Podcast for CENTEGIX

Listen to the podcast here featuring a deputy superintendent and the company’s Chief Development Officer offering insight into how CENTEGIX’s technology is used to keep students and teachers safe. 

Education Week for IMSE

Read the story here featuring a number of teachers in Albuquerque, New Mexico who were trained in the Orton-Gillingham method, based in the Science of Reading, to help boost student literacy.

FOX 13 for YouScience

Watch the segment here featuring a few students and educators from a Utah district discussing how YouScience has helped identify potential career paths.

To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.  

By Maggie Markert

Thought leadership is a critical facet of any successful public relations program for any organization. It doesn’t matter if you are a Fortune 500 company, a startup, or a research organization – thought leadership offers a valuable avenue to articulate your innovative ideas and can serve as an excellent method to increase your visibility. 

That’s why our public relations team at Zer0 to 5ive strives to build strong thought leadership in every program we offer clients. 

Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s thought leadership-based placements from September.

MIT Technology Review for Sony AI

Research is a powerful thought leadership tool in public relations. Not only are journalists always seeking relevant data and insights to bolster their stories, but they are actively seeking expert sources capable of interpreting such research and connecting it to wider trends and topics.  

Our team recently worked with Sony AI to promote the unveiling of new research on skin tone annotation in computer vision and pitched it to MIT Technology Review. This research directly correlated to a broader topic the outlet was working on about bias in computer vision systems, which opened up the opportunity for Sony AI researchers to speak with the journalist and be quoted in her story. Read the article here.

Forbes for Qmulos

Startup founders are great sources of thought leadership commentary often because of their deep industry and technical knowledge of a certain area. This thought leadership, in many cases, directly supports the challenge they seek to solve through their company. 

For Qmulos, our team pitched a story of the company’s founder and how it relates to the ongoing challenges in the world related to enterprise security, compliance, and risk management. This storyline captured the interest of a Forbes writer who published a profile piece on the founder. Read the profile here.

InformationWeek for Sony Innovation Fund

Journalists rely on expert commentary to help write their stories. In most cases, journalists seek a wide variety of voices that can help them craft a well-rounded piece. Often, to help gather commentary from sources, journalists will share queries directly with their public relations or organization contacts through email, social media, and distribution services. As public relations professionals, we are responsible for identifying and vetting these opportunities and collaborating with expert sources to provide insightful perspectives for the journalists’ stories.

On behalf of Sony Innovation Fund, our team identified an opportunity to submit commentary on how artificial intelligence impacts artificial reality (AR). The team worked directly with the organization’s entertainment technology expert to craft compelling insights that could be shared for consideration with the journalist. Some of those insights appeared throughout the journalist’s piece weeks later in InformationWeek. Read the story here.

Total Retail for eTail Pet

Bylines are a great vehicle for showcasing thought leadership. While these pieces cannot promote your organization or solutions directly, they can help build your credibility and position a leader as a key expert on a topic related to your work. 

Our team worked with eTail Pet to pitch a byline article from the company’s expert source on the effective use of customer data to enhance return on investment (ROI) for retail stores. The thoughtful and comprehensive piece was accepted and published by Total Retail. Read the byline here.

DevOps.com for Onymos

If you’re looking to capture the attention of a journalist for thought leadership, one effective approach is to express a bold and assertive opinion, often referred to as a ‘stake in the ground.’ This type of perspective is frequently unique and thought-provoking – or sometimes provocative – and sets it apart from the countless opinions journalists receive. 

 The team at Onymos is comprised of experts who offer thoughtful and bold opinions, which often pique the interest of journalists. One example of this was a byline questioning whether or not generative AI would replace software developers. The piece was pitched to DevOps.com by our team and later published. Read the byline here.

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

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.