I recently sat down to listen to the PRWeek webinar, “From Intuition to Insight: Leveraging Data to Refine Your Craft and Deliver Proven Results.” The main takeaway – that should be obvious for anyone who has been working in PR for more than a minute – is that PR expectations are growing, and clients are demanding a mastery of PR measurement.
It feels like it wasn’t that long ago that I was helping to print, three-hole punch, drop into sheet-protectors, and add to a binder – hundreds of articles, what we PR folks call “clipbooks,” to give to our clients as evidence of our hard work and visible results. But news has largely since transitioned away from being dominated by print, TV, and radio, into the online realm, via digital magazines, Instagram stories, TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, Facebook feeds, LinkedIn posts, YouTube channels, Medium blogs, Reddit communities, podcasts, and more that I am probably failing to mention. But without all kinds of tools, it can be difficult to put a “value” on securing coverage on these various channels.
Therein lies the problem – how do you measure the true value of PR? Data analytics is no longer a “nice to have” – they are a significant part of the PR role. Every PR person should (already) be thinking – how can we as PR pros most efficiently and effectively leverage data to demonstrate the value of what we do?
Cision and PRWeek’s sixth annual 2023 Global Communications Report found that analytics and reporting, or attribution and ROI, are top priorities for more than 38% of communication professionals; yet, with 50% of communications leaders struggling to convert data into actionable insights, it’s not surprising that more and more brands are turning to agency partners to help bridge the gap.
Measurement is not a buzzword. It is the best way to show the value of our work and help us to make better strategic decisions to move brands ahead.
The Economy’s Impact on the PR Industry
The media industry has announced more than 17,000 job cuts as of June 2023, marking the highest year-to-date level of cuts on record, according to a recent report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
That means journalists are getting squeezed – pressured to write more articles, with less staff, while it seems like the PR field, like bamboo in a tropical climate, is growing like wildfire. The ratio now stands at 6.2 PR pros for every one journalist, which means we are all competing to grab attention from a smaller pool of journalists and fighting for the same ink.
A May 2023 MuckRack PR survey found that over 70% of PR professionals anticipate securing earned media will become more challenging over the next five years, and more than half are concerned about getting journalists to respond to pitches. Surprising? Not at all.
PR budgets also shrunk in the second quarter of 2023 and have not risen for more than a year, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report. For those of you in the back who may not have been working yet during the last economic downturn, marketing budgets are often the first items to get slashed when things go south because PR and marketing are considered to be “soft” or “non-essential” costs.
Why Is There a Growing Focus on Data-Driven Insight?
Those of us who have worked in the field for some time know that PR is both an art and a science. It’s not lead gen, but contributes to brand awareness and credibility, and therefore, ultimately lead gen. Coverage by the media is the number one driver of credibility and should be recognized for its value in the lead gen funnel.
It can be hard for PR pros to try to explain everything we do in numbers because it’s not so black and white. But we can’t hide from the data, because it’s part and parcel of the “why” behind everything we do.
More CMOs are now reporting directly to the CEO – up 47%, according to a 2019 McKinsey study: Marketing’s moment is now: The C-suite partnership to deliver on growth. CMOs are now seen as strategic advisors by the business and need faster access to data to report to their boards and C-suite. The CMO’s rapport with the C-suite is crucial for establishing marketing’s role as a growth driver. The McKinsey study found that 83% of global CEOs said marketing can be a major driver of business growth.
A silver lining from the COVID-19 pandemic is that the C-suite now better understands what communication pros bring to the table and the impact of what communicators do.
Stay tuned for my next post where I will continue this discussion by sharing key things for PR people to know about PR measurement, the top use cases, where to begin with PR measurement, and how to leverage data in storytelling with the media.
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 Sydney Stressman
I have worked with Steven Aquino many times and have gotten to know him well over the years. His work as an accessibility and assistive technology reporter holds so much importance. He has my utmost respect. Today, I had the opportunity to interview Steven about his job, reporting on accessibility in the technology sector, and his perspective on working with public relations professionals.
Thank you, Steven, for taking the time to share your insights with me. You can read Steven’s stories on Forbes here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/
Can you briefly introduce yourself and your background as a technology reporter?
Hi there! My name is Steven Aquino, and I’m a freelance technology reporter based in San Francisco. I’ve been running a one-man newsroom full-time since May 2013.
You can read more about my journey on my portfolio site.
As to my beat, I cover all things accessibility and assistive technologies. Classically, that pertains to the hardware and software of products like the iPhone. Over time, I’ve grown and evolved my coverage to encompass lots of ways disability and technology intersect. They include healthcare, adaptive clothing, autonomous vehicles, and even Hollywood with film and television. So long as tech companies such as Amazon and Apple insist on leveraging their massive war chests to roll their own streaming services, the tie-ins will remain strong and utterly relevant.
How long have you been reporting on technology/DEI topics, and what motivated you to focus on this field?
As I said, I’ve been a journalist since 2013. Next May marks 11 years.
How I got started in the industry is kind of a long story, but suffice it to say I’ve always loved to write and I’ve always been told I’m *really* good at it. In my prior life teaching special education preschool, I was the school’s unofficial IT person—always setting up devices like computers, iPads, iPods, and more. We used iPads to augment the curriculum with my students, and I wrote about it in my first-ever bylined story. That story immediately went semi-viral, so much so that it got picked up by Apple and their PR team reached out, which led me to snowball to opportunity after opportunity after opportunity that shaped what my career looks like today.
Can you share examples of successful collaborations or interactions you’ve had with PR reps? What are some common misconceptions reporters might have about working with PR folks?
I have experience covering companies big and small, from behemoths like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to smaller, scrappy startups. I’ve attended media events and received regular review units of key products such as the iPhone. Those all involved cultivating and nurturing relationships with PR folks over all these many years.
As for misconceptions, I think reporters are oftentimes jaded in thinking PR folks exist merely to market and push happy/favorable coverage. That’s true to a certain extent, but the majority of my interactions are with people who not only have a job to do for a living, but who are genuinely interested and believe in whatever they’re selling.
What communication strategies do you find most effective when working with PR professionals, such as pitches (length), press releases, research, and more?
I typically work with the usual email pitches and press releases. I also find email interviews more accessible for me, although I know you learn in journalism school they aren’t the best because it’s harder to press people and ask follow-up questions. I get that logic, but email interviews really do make my job easier and more expedient.
I’ve also found texting with PR people more accessible too. It’s easier and more efficient than using email and has the side benefit of being an avenue by which to cultivate the personal end of the relationship. I’m very much an introvert, and texting has enabled me to establish long-standing relationships with people that transcend work. It’s been a great tool with which to network on multiple levels. Of course, I’m not super close with every single person this way, but the point is having a person’s personal number implies trust and care.
How can PR professionals best tailor their communications to meet the needs of technology reporters? Are there any specific elements or information that you consider essential in a press release or pitch related to technology/DEI topics?
I think it’s important not just to mass-mail a press release and call it a day. If possible, I think it’s more prudent (for both of us) to have the comms person tell me a story—tell me what, then why, and let me decide. Sometimes a press release is okay and all I need, but more often they feel sterile and lack the deeper context that’s crucial for my reporting on such an abstract, wide-ranging topic and community.
What are some best practices for PR professionals to build positive relationships with reporters of any beat? How can they effectively pitch stories and information to you?
Don’t be transactional. I know what your job is and you know mine. But we’re also human beings who thrive on interpersonal relationships. You don’t have to be besties with everybody—that’s impossible—but some of the best relationships I enjoy right now masterfully straddle that line between professional and personal. And we’re both better off.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about the dynamics of working with PR professionals?
Three big points I get asked about an awful lot.
- Just because I agree to interview your client does not automatically guarantee coverage on my end. It’s kinda like a job interview—I’ll interview a bunch of people, but I’m not hiring all of them.
- I’m not sending you interview questions in advance unless we’ve agreed on doing an email Q&A.
- And I’m definitely not sending you my story prior to publication so you and/or your client can inspect it. That’s not at all how reporting works, unless in certain circumstances.
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.
By Sydney Peterson
Podcasts are a great resource for entertainment, news, education, interviews, and more. According to the Pew Research Center, about 50% of U.S. adults listened to a podcast in the last year and, almost 20% listen to a podcast nearly every day. The Zer0 to 5ive team actively reaches out to podcasts to secure opportunities for our clients to share their news and expertise. In honor of International Podcast Day, here is a glimpse at just a few of the podcasts where our clients have been featured over the past year.
YouScience Shares Insights on Career Guidance on Inside Higher Ed’s Pulse Podcast
Edson Barton, CEO of YouScience, was a guest on Inside Higher Ed’s Pulse podcast. He joined Rodney B. Murray, host of the podcast, to discuss how YouScience’s career guidance platform helps high school students. Listen to the episode here.
K4Connect Discusses Successful Investment Round on the What’s Next Longevity Deal Talk Podcast
K4Connect CEO Scott Moody was featured as a podcast guest on the What’s Next Longevity Deal Talk podcast. Scott joined hosts, Mary Furlong and Fred Fishkin, to discuss the company’s recent funding of nearly $9 million and raising money in a tough environment. Listen to the episode here.
Greenphire Shares Insights on Clinical Trials on KYW Newsradio’s In Depth Podcast
Jim Murphy, Greeenphire CEO, was a guest on KYW Newsradio’s In Depth podcast. Jim spoke with podcast host, Matt Leon, about clinical trials, how to improve them, and why it is crucial to have a diverse range of participants. Listen to the episode here.
Sony AI Shares Insights on Artificial Intelligence with the TWIML AI Podcast
Zer0 to 5ive coordinated an interview with Alice Xiang, Lead Research Scientist at Sony AI and Global Head of AI Ethics at Sony Group Corporation, with the the TWIML AI Podcast. On the show, Alice, an expert in AI, shared her insights on artificial intelligence, as well as her research on privacy and fairness in computer vision. Listen to the episode here.
Onymos Joins the The InfoQ Podcast to Discuss Data Privacy, Retention, and Security
Onymos Founder and CEO Shiva Nathan was a guest on The InfoQ Podcast. In the episode, Shiva discussed data security, privacy, retention, and enabling a security mindset in development. Listen to the episode here.
What podcasts do you listen to?
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
As the news cycle never ends, the Zer0 to 5ive team had a busy summer – especially this August. From the breaking Zoom AI developments to key evergreen topics like low-code/no-code, our team was able to strategically use newsjacking, targeted pitching, and various commentary opportunities to generate opportunities and coverage for our insightful and innovative clients.
Here are a few of the Zer0 to 5ive team’s placements from August.
InformationWeek for Sony AI
Journalists often proactively seek out commentary from experts in a variety of fields so they can develop in-depth pieces on a wide range of topics. The Zer0 to 5ive team is always on the lookout for these opportunities for our clients and their subject matter experts.
On behalf of Sony AI, the Zer0 to 5ive team identified an opportunity for their AI Ethics expert, Alice Xiang, to provide insight for a story related to AI bias – a critical topic that is always high priority in the media. This opportunity resulted in Alice’s commentary being included in an InformationWeek story. Read the article here.
Techopedia for Digital.ai
During the month of August, there were many journalists proactively seeking commentary from subject matter experts. The Zer0 to 5ive team, as mentioned earlier in this post, makes a concerted effort to be on top of these opportunities as they arise.
The team identified an opportunity for Digital.ai to provide commentary from the company’s DevOps expert, Wing To. The team pitched specific insight related to low-code/no-code technology, which was included in an article from Techopedia. Read the article here.
CIO Dive for Onymos
August was the month of Zoom with hundreds of journalists honing in on the implications of the companies AI training methods using customer data. This breaking news item was in the news cycle for weeks, creating an opportunity for various AI, software and data experts to provide their points of view.
The Zer0 to 5ive team leveraged a newsjacking approach on behalf of Onymos. The team offered journalists covering the Zoom news unique and provocative commentary from the Onymos’ founder and CEO, Shiva Nathan. This opportunity resulted in a number of opportunities and coverage, including CIO Dive, Cybersecurity Dive, Datanami, and more. Read the CIO Dive article here.
Precision Medicine Online for PreciseDx
Strategic research is a key component of the work here at Zer0 to 5ive. This means that our team is highly in-tune with the media outlets and journalists we pitch for our clients across a number of industries.
Through regular research, the Zer0 to 5ive team discovered a new coverage area for Precision Medicine Online called “Risk Stratification.” This section of the outlet’s coverage aligns directly with PreciseDx, enabling the team to conduct targeted outreach to the journalists covering that particular topic. This resulted in a profile for the company, featuring commentary from both the company’s CEO, Wayne Brinster, and Chief Medical Officer, Michael Donovan. Read the profile here.
CMO Council for Chatmeter
Media outlets are often interested in receiving long-form commentary pieces from subject matter experts that provide actionable insights for their readers. As part of public relations programs for clients, the Zer0 to 5ive team ensures potential byline and op-ed opportunities are identified.
The Zer0 to 5ive team leveraged CMO Council’s interest in these commentary pieces on behalf of Chatmeter. The team submitted a thoughtful piece from the company’s CEO John Mazur, which covers the use of technology to gain actionable insights from online consumer chatter. 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
Each month, the Zer0 to 5ive team gets to work with so many insightful subject matter experts and stakeholders – from CEOs, to researchers, educators, physicians, and more. Each of these individuals always offers compelling perspectives on topics in fields like education, artificial intelligence, and healthcare, which we are able to help share with the world through our media outreach efforts.
Take a look at some of the team’s placements from July to hear from some of these subject matter experts.
The New York Times for NWEA
As a result of embargoed outreach to The New York Times by the Zer0 to 5ive team, Dr. Karyn Lewis, Director of the Center for School and Student Progress at NWEA, had the opportunity to discuss the organization’s recent research on COVID-19’s impact on student learning.
Dr. Lewis outlined some of the key findings from NWEA’s research and offered educators and district leaders recommendations on how to prepare for the new school year. Read the article here.
The Montgomery Advertiser for YouScience
On behalf of YouScience, the Zer0 to 5ive team worked with a number of key experts and spokespersons to secure coverage with The Montgomery Advertiser, a newspaper within the USA Today network. The thoughtful article chronicled an innovative partnership in the state of Alabama that leverages the power of YouScience’s Aptitude & Career Discovery in a modern manufacturing program through the eyes of a student, educator and YouScience’s CEO Edson Barton.
This piece went on to be syndicated by outlets such as Yahoo News, The 74, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more. Read it here.
Pharmaphorum for Greenphire
Greenphire is comprised of a team of experts who each possess deep insights into how clinical trial experiences can be enhanced for participants through technology. This month, the Zer0 to 5ive team leveraged the knowledge of Kyle Cunningham, Greenphire’s Chief Product Officer, to secure coverage with Pharmaphorum. This contributed article describes the essential traits that must be considered when selecting the ideal patient engagement technology provider for a clinical trial. Read the article here.
Fierce Education for Territorium
Through proactive pitching by the Zer0 to 5ive team, Territorium‘s Chief Growth Officer, Jonell Sanchez, had the opportunity to speak with Fierce Education. Higher education institutions have been tasked with the mission to demonstrate the ROI in obtaining a college degree and are in need of new ways to impart a degree’s value to prospective and current students.
During his conversation, Mr. Sanchez discussed how colleges can, and should, embrace comprehensive learner records (CLRs) to help boost the ROI of earning a college degree. CLRs delineate the skills that students have developed over the course of their academic career, both inside and outside of the classroom, helping to tell a fuller story about each student’s knowledge and competencies. Read the article here.
Business North Carolina for K4Connect
When a company has funding news to share, it provides a great opportunity for the company’s leadership to meet with local and business media to share an update. Zer0 to 5ive secured interest from Business North Carolina in speaking with K4Connect’s Co-Founder and CEO Scott Moody about the recent close of an $8.9 million funding round.
Mr. Moody highlighted K4Connect’s focus on providing technology solutions to serve older adults and those who care for them, as well as the Company’s unique ability to easily integrate disparate technologies throughout the senior living ecosystem. 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 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?