Brand Journalism: Everyone Has a Story

Originally appeared in PR Week, May 11, 2012

 

At first blush, the words “brand journalism” might seem like a contradiction of terms. But, like traditional journalism, marketing and advertising is about telling stories. And the most successful brands are those who tell their stories well. Put another way, all companies are media companies insofar as every company has a story to tell.

Selling your brand’s story, however, can be a little tricky. For one, people don’t always trust advertisements. Nobody wants to be “sold” something. Yet, companies still have to get their messages out there. So what’s to be done?

Luckily for brands, consumers are warming up to advertisers these days. The Facebook “like” and Twitter follow illustrate how the “social consumer” is willing to engage brands. And think about it, most people do follow at least a few brands on their social channels. In fact, the “social consumer” expects to interact with the brands they know and love. Like never before, there is an opportunity for brands to connect – provided, of course, it’s done right.

First of all, in order to be done right, brand journalism should be transparent. Brands that aren’t upfront about what they’re selling will see their message tarnished. It stands to reason their sales will probably take a hit, too. Commercials, marketing, and advertising are all accepted. Sneakiness is not. Nobody likes being tricked. People like it even less when said trickery is aimed at their wallets.

Secondly, a quality message will always be embraced. Take for example this Old Milwaukee advertisement starring Will Ferrell. We can see it’s a commercial. We know it’s the beer maker’s message. Still, the piece is a quality product – not to mention really funny! Old Milwaukee is obviously trying to sell cans of beer here, but, it’s also a great video. Personally, I’m not watching this because I like Old Milwaukee beer. Truthfully, I’ve never even had an Old Milwaukee beer. I’m watching this video because it’s a quality piece of content.

And finally, there is the matter of trust. Take for example Straw, a restaurant in San Francisco. Like most businesses, Straw promotes its brand online. When baseball season kicked off in April, Straw took the opportunity to share a picture of hot dogs from different major league ballparks. Now, Straw didn’t share this in conjunction with a hot dog special it was running. They did it because they thought their followers would find it interesting. This kind of content doesn’t immediately return an investment. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth sharing. More importantly, by sharing content that isn’t directly and blatantly tied to a sale, they’re able to build trust with their audience.

And that’s just it. Provided the messaging is interesting, the social consumer will tolerate advertising and engagement. Spamming, on the other hand, will not be tolerated.

How to Write a Blog Post People Will Read

Originally appeared in PR Week, May 9, 2012

 

For better or worse, catching people’s attention is probably the most crucial component to a successful blog post. Or else, what’s the point of a great post if nobody reads it? According to Google, the average internet user waits about three seconds before hitting the “back” button on his browser. That’s it. That’s how long you have to catch the average internet user’s attention.

And can you blame the average internet user? The web is full of articles, infographics, videos, and, not to mention, pictures of animals. Why then should the casual reader spend more than three seconds on your content? Put another way, everyone’s got a story. Why should anyone listen to yours? Therefore, before publishing, it’s best to ask yourself, “Would I read this? Would I share this?” If the answer is “yes,” then keep typing.

Having an angle is really important, too. When I think of the word “angle,” I think of a point of view or a perspective, sure. But I also think of the word’s literal meaning in geometry. I think of two lines meeting at one point. Great blogs have a perspective, but they’re also often an intersection of subjects.

When I look at Young House Love, I can see it’s a blog about home repair. But it’s also about a family starting their life together. Trailer Park Karma is about food, but it’s really about spirituality and the circumstances of life.Ecouterre is about fashion, but it’s also about protecting the environment. These blogs are therefore not just about one thing. They’re intersections. They’re fuller stories. More often than not, people don’t actually want to read about food, fashion, home design, or whatever. They want to read about how all of those things play into people’s lives.

Another way to ensure quality blogging is to write with the right voice – and by that, I mean your own. All too often, people lose their voice when they write. It’s as though the written word is seen as this precious thing that must be treated delicately. And, hey, look, the written word is a really great thing! But bloggers shouldn’t be afraid to write how they speak. If you don’t speak in long-winded sentences that run on and on, then why would you write like that? Blog posts don’t have to win Pulitzers. But, they should be honest. Take for example, Flourish in Progress. This woman swears like a sailor! But, it feels honest. It feels like she probably speaks that way in her real life. Most importantly, it makes for a better read, not to mention a hilarious one.

Truthfully, anyone can learn the process of successful blog writing. Like most things, it comes with practice. It’s like a muscle. The more it’s used, the stronger it gets.

How to Speak Blogger

Originally appeared in PR Week, May 7, 2012

Everyone wants to get with bloggers. Everyone wants to see their message on blogs. Everyone wants to be able to speak their language. There’s a tendency to treat bloggers as this mysterious group of online publishers. There’s a tendency to treat them as a different species of media. Resist this tendency! Bloggers, like you and me, are just people.

The allure is understandable, though. This blog post will not be one dismissing the appeal of blogs – imagine the irony! On the contrary, a blogger strategy is a key component to any successful media campaign. But before we dive into the best way to pitch bloggers, let’s quickly reiterate why bloggers are so important.

According to Technorati, about 100,000 blogs are created every 24 hours. Now, most of those blogs will be about people’s cats. But, a fair share of those will influence the conversation about brands. For example, there are more than 4 million mommy bloggers. About 80% will blog about a brand they like. But, 15% will blog about a brand they don’t like. So, again, knowing how to “speak blogger” is kind of important.

So what’s the best way to curry favor with this growing group of self-publishers?

Well, for one, be helpful. That’s probably good advice across all social media. It’s probably also good advice across all of life. If you want to be successful, be helpful. It’s OK to pitch bloggers. Bloggers need copy. They need things to write about. Don’t be afraid to provide them with content to blog about…provided it’s helpful, of course.

Second, do your research. This sounds so simple, but read the blogs you’re pitching. For example, if a blog is called The No Meat Athlete, don’t pitch chicken and salmon recipes. You won’t get pick-up, and worse, you’ll look like an idiot. By the way, that’s not a hypothetical. There really is a blogger named The No Meat Athlete. And he really does get pitches on salmon and chicken recipes. In what universe does that make sense?

Third, don’t be afraid to have a conversation. Sending a press release can be a totally appropriate thing to do, but bear in mind, a journalism degree isn’t required to start a blog. That is to say, bloggers may not be familiar with traditional press-release outreach and they may not know how best to respond to it. Don’t be afraid to send an email, or even a tweet.

These techniques are hardly groundbreaking. Being helpful, thoughtful, polite, and relevant are good strategies in any industry, and will certainly translate well into an effective blogger outreach strategy.

Tips For Using Pinterest Successfully

You’ve probably heard of Pinterest. It’s the new social media network that’s all the rage. Well, the hoopla is rooted in truth. In January, the site attracted over 16 million unique visitors, twice the amount it drew just two months earlier. (You can find even more information on Pinterest here on my colleague, Lee Green’s board. )

Not surprisingly, brands are looking to get themselves and their products in front of those eyeballs. But as a new platform with some tricky terms and conditions, what’s the best way to stake your claim in this new space?

In order to use Pinterest well, you first have to know what it is. In recently describing the site via email to my dad, I called it a virtual scrapbook. “You see things on other websites, and you ‘pin’ them back to ‘boards’ you’ve created. It’s curation. It allows users to keep track of the things they find interesting or cool.” (Did you get all of that, Dad?)

At this point, I should probably tell you why I was emailing my dad about Pinterest. Well, recently, the Huffington Post named my only board – Interspecies Buddying – one of the “most gorgeous” ones around. And I don’t have to tell you how it’s every English major’s dream to have their collection of animal pictures reach such internet fame!

But in all seriousness, something about this board resonated with other Pinterest users. I went from around 60 followers to 1,200 almost over night. The email notifications became so frequent, they had to be disabled. And now, every single time I post a new ‘pin’, I get almost immediate interaction and engagement. So how did this happen?

Well, for one, Huffington Post had asked readers for examples of interesting boards. Shortly thereafter, someone sent them mine. HuffPo loved it so much that when they rolled out their list, my board was the first one shown on the slideshow. It’s not surprising. The internet loves pictures of animals. That’s probably going to be true forever. But, there’s more to it than that…. I think.

On this board, as in everything I write, I try to use my own voice. Every picture or video on my board has what I hope to be a funny comment underneath it. I’d wager to say it sounds a lot like how I speak in real life. I’m not writing what I think my audience wants to read. I’m writing what comes to my mind when I see a French bulldog encounter a horse down on Wall Street.

I also strive to consistently update the board. And now with all these new followers, I sort of have to do so.

Furthermore, pictures of animals hanging out with other animals are a somewhat unique thing. My board – Interspecies Buddying – is unlike most other boards out there. Yet, it still fits within the Pinterest universe.

Now, that’s all well and good for my Interspecies Buddying board. But what about brands? How should they use the site?

Lauren Arrigo, Marketing Manager at Juliska says, “We see Pinterest as a great opportunity to further connect with our core customers. It is an easy transition for us to create the boards and share a little more insight into the brand with our fans and others who may not be familiar with us.”

Basically, Pinterest is another way to reach customers. It’s another way to keep your brand, your product and your voice in the front of people’s minds. When done right and with the interests of customers in mind, it can be used as another tool in successful customer outreach.

And if none of that works, try pictures of animals. It’s certainly worked for me.

Author Tom Hynes is PR Newswire’s manager of blogger relations. And as you may have guessed, he has a twitter account. You can also follow Interspecies Buddying on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/tomhynes/interspecies-buddying/

SXSW 2012 Video Recap: TnT TV Episode 3

Tom Miale and Thomas Hynes recap their third day at SXSW Interactive 2012 under finally sunny skies. Hear them discuss marketing strategies, the legacy of print culture and everything else they saw, learned and heard.

SXSW 2012 Video Recap: TnT TV Episode 1

 

Tom Miale and Thomas Hynes are back in Austin. They found a dry place to recap visual storytelling, the cloud and everything else they saw, learned and heard at Day 1 of SXSW Interactive 2012. Special thanks to Affinity Tattoo and Piercings on 6th Street for providing the set.

Curation: The Human Touch vs. Algorithms

”The State of Curation” session at Social Media Week NY was one of the best sessions I attended.  The speakers examined the human element of curating versus the promise (and drawbacks) of algorithms.

In other words, it’s people vs. robots in the ultimate battle for content delivery supremacy! OK, it’s probably not all that dramatic. But each side has its own imperfections.  Just as each has its strengths.

Let me be clear: Algorithms are great. Google is amazing. Think about your life before it. It’s more than a brand. It’s a verb. It changes everything we do.

Can you imagine searching the internet without search engine algorithms? It would be like walking down a dark hallway full of bookshelves that stretched for miles and miles. Put another way, it would make search annoying and quite possibly impossible. The internet would be a totally different experience.

But many critics of algorithms point to the fact that they focus too strongly on search engine optimization, or SEO. And they do. Algorithms are robots. (They don’t know any better!)

Algorithms don’t measure good content. They measure page views.  But, true engagement is not just about click-throughs.  By that I mean, let’s say a 1,000 people went to your website today. That’s great. But did any of them do anything? Did any of them spend money? Did they share what they found there? Did any of them engage? Site traffic is wonderful, but it can be very transient. And without engagement, there’s very little value in it.

What’s more, being good at SEO doesn’t mean you’re good at content. Unfortunately, the reverse also is true. Good content that can’t be found by the algorithms is kind of pointless. I mean, it’s nice that the content’s good and all. But who would ever read it? Who would ever share it? Who would ever engage with it?

The problem is context. Google knows a lot of things. But it doesn’t necessarily understand two pieces of contents’ relation to one another the way a human being does.  A search engine will never be as smart as a person who understands context. An algorithm can’t do what a curator does.

And, the best curators aren’t necessarily experts. Instead, they weave a narrative through unrelated things. Or as it was said during the panel: “Curation is the ability to get people to look at content they wouldn’t predict they’d find useful otherwise.” An algorithm can’t do that.

But as audience member, Meghan Butler pointed out on Twitter during the session, ‘perhaps human curation and algorithms aren’t mutually exclusive. Perhaps they can be used as complements to each other.’

I think she’s right. Algorithms couldn’t exist if people didn’t put things on the internet. And, we probably couldn’t find most of those things on the internet without the help of search engines.

Algorithms are imperfect, but they will get better when they have more people’s opinions on how to make them better. In other words, they need a human touch.

Author Tom Hynes is PR Newswire’s manager of blogger relations. And as you may have guessed, he has a twitter account.