Does your client expect top-tier business coverage?
August 16th, 2006 by Adam
Sometimes, an article, blog post or even a dreaded email (get it Todd?) crosses my retinas that demands attention, office-wide circulation and comment. While I can’t share the attachment, I’m glad I read this e-mail from Sam Whitmore on August 16:
SWMS PDF: Our Guide to Client Expectation Management
Here’s the intro …
Those who work in a tech PR agency know that managing a client’s expectations can be quite a challenge. This is especially true when it comes to obtaining coverage in business publications.
Attached is a two-page PDF which we call the SWMS 2006 Guide to Client Expectation Management. The PDF contains analysis and 22 quotes from reporters and editors at BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes and elsewhere.
In short, we advocate asking the client what exactly it seeks from such high-profile coverage. For goals such as prestige, visibility, higher valuation, recruitment or de-positioning competitors, parallel paths exist.
If business pub coverage remains the goal, our research suggests the following:
* Prepare to be used
* Involve the CEO
* Confront your competition
* Don’t brood about an online-only hit
Amen! Holler! Kronk!
My favorite quote from the document should put all this Press Release 2.0 drivel to bed (sorry Todds and Tom) and shift PR practitioners to engaging our media contacts:
“We want [the story] to stick in people’s heads so they feel entertained and smarter for reading it.” –- Jim Aley, Fortune
SWMS Managing Editor Christy Andrade’s (FYI: to become a SWMS subscriber catch her at christy at mediasurvey.com) fav quote is:
“Sometimes I feel like if I could only find a CEO that grew up in Nepal raising sheep but realized she could have a different future, I’d have it made.” — Michael Fitzgerald, freelance IT writer
Sam, part II of this opus needs a quote explaining how hard it is to get center column page one in The Wall Street Journal! (I lived to see the day with Transparent Language many moons ago).
Well, here’s hoping all SWMS subscribers opened this e-mail and maybe even shared with clients (Sam, is that fair use?). It’s an amazing document.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 16th, 2006 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Media Relations, PR, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
August 17th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Drivel? I’ll let that slide because you weren’t there last night for the inaugural meeting of the Social Media Club (well technically, neither was I, but I was dialed in).
You’ll be pleased to know that that group shares your feelings about the whole 2.0 thing.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:16 am
Drivel is a bit harsh, but I thought exageration was the required blogging form towards the end of a week.
I salute the efforts of these groups, distribution services and agency-led fiefdoms (I’m rooting for the Termites). I just think the discussions, meetings, posts and articles are a bit far afield from what our clients pay us for – strategy, execution, creativity and coverage for visibility and validation in the market.
I eagerly await a Social Media Relations Club – especially if it involves wings and beer.