Recent history has seen the rise of innovation as a key mandate for driving top-line growth in business across multiple sectors. But as organizations have devoted increasing resources and attention to innovation, a critical issue has been ignored in the process. How can you create new value if your company doesn’t have a gut sense for what people outside its walls actually value? Is the challenge facing business today a lack of innovation, or a lack of empathy?

According to the Research Institute of America, up to 90% of dissatisfied customers will not come back or buy again. As part of the session, Jeri Meola will work with the audience to see how empathy can drive change and growth. She dives deep into helping organizations understand their customers–a critical element in decision making, learning, and judgment to support their vision.

Make time to attend this very special presentation! Thursday, June 7, 2012 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM (CT) This event will fill quickly, so make sure to mark your calendars and register early for this exciting and informational MarketSmart Academy event!

Presented by: Jeri Meola, President of Satisfaction Management Systems

We love getting feedback like this. It lets us know that we are doing things right. We work hard to build solid relationships with the media. It opens the door for us to come back and work with them again in the near and distant future. A good personal relationship with a producer or editor can also often result in them giving us some extra inside details that other PR professionals may not get—such as which colleague is working on a particular story with which we can help with and how to get in touch with them. We’ve also had producers call us looking for stories, just because they like us and know we do a good job.

So great job, Lindsay! It’s great to know that our clients are in good hands.

PR firms don’t have the best reputation. I’ve never met a CEO who thinks much of them. I remember one telling me, “I don’t know what our PR firm does for us. I guess they have some plans to help us if we screw something up. When I see their $15,000 line item each month I just hold my nose and initial it.”

In my opinion the PR industry should be much larger than it is. Businesses bring money to PR firms in a shoebox and to ad agencies in a dump truck. That’s because ads increase sales and PR is seen as defensive posturing. What a shame considering PR firms hold the trump card of sales.

Surprisingly it’s the PR industry that has kept PR from blossoming into the powerful sales channel it could be.

Thanks largely to Edward Bernays, who is considered the father of PR, people in the industry are conditioned to see themselves as counselors and practitioners, not salespeople. A quick look at the Public Relations Society of America’s website will give you a sense of the industry’s highbrow attitude. Many come into the field with journalism backgrounds, and they tend to be people who have an ideological distaste for capitalism and the free market. If you are wondering why CEOs don’t like them, there’s a hint.

Marketers are often frustrated with PR firms too. In truth neither should be. The reason they don’t see eye to eye is they want PR firms to be something they are not. As counselors and practitioners, public relations professionals do their best work soothing over issues between a company and its many “publics”. Most public relations work is done in the areas of investor relations, community relations, crisis management, event planning, employee relations, etc.

I think it’s safe to say that most PR professionals would be insulted to be thought of as a bunch of capitalists. Putting traditional public relations firms in the role of sales and marketing is like putting rifles in the hands of a medics. It’s a mismatch of ideals that is destined to produce a bad outcome. Traditional PR firms are not organizations meant to drive sales and they never will be.

The PR industry’s billing model of hourly charges and monthly retainers doesn’t sit well with CEOs and marketers either. For people under pressure to produce sales, paying a PR firm and not knowing what, if anything, they will get for their money irks them. When it comes to promoting products, they are used to the advertising model of pay for an ad, get an ad.

So even though PR firms seem like the gateway to product publicity, they probably aren’t. They didn’t get their PR degrees hoping they could one day hawk your products.

If you want to develop PR as a promotional channel and mobilize reporters into a national sales force, you’ll need to find another avenue. One great avenue is us. We arrange a ton of publicity but we don’t consider ourselves a PR firm. We are a marketing firm that thinks and operates like an ad agency.

We took a lot of heat when we tried to distance ourselves from the PR industry 25 years ago. The thing that set us apart the most was our nationally trademarked Pay Per Interview Publicity® billing model. We simply focused on using PR to sell products and priced it more like ads. I didn’t understand what the big stink was but traditional firms were outraged at the way we did business. They felt our “pay per interview” way of billing cheapened the image of the PR industry.

Fortunately, business owners and marketers felt differently. They flocked to us in droves. Since that time we have arranged tens of thousands of news stories that explain products to the public. The selling power these media stories have had is unmatched in marketing.

If you don’t have media stories appearing frequently about your products, you should call our Vice President of Media Production Heather Champine immediately at 612-798-7220. Over the last 25 years we’ve gotten pretty smart about persuading reporters and producers to do stories about our clients’ products. And the PR industry has softened its position on us a little too. At least publicly.

So what is a lead time? In a nutshell, “lead time” is how much time is needed between the time the media accepts a story idea and when it actually appears/runs. Did you know magazines can go to press 2-3 months before they hit the newsstands? Before that, the research, planning and writing are done well in advance.

Know your media lead times.Allowing enough time, and tailoring your pitches to the specific media outlet, are imperative for a successful pitch. Some magazines have a notoriously long lead time.Most have deadlines four to five months in advance to accommodate their press schedules.

One trick used by the pros is to review a magazine’s editorial calendar which typically lists both monthly topics and lead times. This enables you to tailor your pitch to perfectly fit within topics that the magazine will be covering that month.

When I work with an expo or event, I begin with long-lead magazines, either national or regional.  When I speak to editors or writers, I ask when their deadline is for a particular issue and explain I have a timely event which would be a great fit for that issue.

Don’t be afraid let your contact know you have reviewed their publication and are familiar with their editorial calendar. Mention that you are sending a details about an exciting event coming up during that month’s issue. Editors and writers appreciate timely, tailored pitches, and the fact you have done your homework.

Short-lead media (local and regional TV, radio, and newspapers) can be pitched anywhere from two to four weeks beforehand.

Don’t annoy newspapers and TV by pitching your event or expo too early. Your information may get shuffled to the back and lost.

Don’t forget website editorial teams do not have as long a lead time. But if your goal is to make it into the print edition, those section editors are focused on finishing months in advance.

Remember, publicity entails a lot more than just letting the media know about your event. It requires careful positioning, strategic planning, and the cultivation of an extensive professional network.

If you are embarrassed by how little media coverage you get, your visitors aren’t impressed either. It sends a signal that maybe your products aren’t as great as your website cracks them up to be.

Your “in the news” tab should add to your credibility not subtract from it.

Hire our publicists to represent you and there’s no doubt we can make the media section of your website come alive. A couple months from now you will be proud to click on that tab but more importantly, your site visitors will feel they have come to the right place and found the right product.

We have a staff of full-time publicists who do nothing but call the media all day long on behalf of our clients. The reason they make so many personal calls to reporters and producers is that it takes a surprising number of contacts to get a story. So we have been plugging away at it day in and day out, month after month, year after year, decade after decade; and have arranged tens of thousands of stories about our clients’ products.

Heather Champine manages the workload of all the publicity activities. She has been doing this for 15 years so she’s in a league of her own when it comes to understanding how to get reporters and producers to do stories about your products. Make a brief call to her and you might be surprised at how many media opportunities are waiting for you. Heather’s direct line is 612-798-7220.

- Thanks for your pitch, the one that started “Dear Friendly Blogger.”Actually, I’m decidedly unfriendly when flaky PR people can’t be troubled to look up my name or figure out if I write about “food and/or healthy living”. It’s not hard to personalize a pitch, but I suppose that would be too much … work?

- You may want to consider having someone in the office proofread emails like this before they go out. The message you sent has quite a few typos and grammatical errors — things reporters and bloggers consider when determining a product’s credibility.

- An embargo on hot story is OK with lead time to prepare, but handing it to me at 5pm with an 8am expiration is pointless.

- We’re insanely curious whether you’re actually affiliated with the brand you contacted us about — perhaps you’re an overzealous fan engaged in some sort of guerrilla campaign? Your omigod Valley Girl syntax and loose grasp of proper style — why is “belvedere” lowercase but “Sake” capitalized? — make us wonder whether you’re legit, as does the fact that you’re contacting us from your personal Gmail account.

- Thanks for your kind suggestion that we share your pitch about the America’s Best Restroom Awards with our “online audience”. As you might imagine, our readers are not interested in discussions of toilets, award-winning or otherwise, on our food blog.

These are just a few examples that I could actually repeat. There are many that are much more vulgar, and even threaten violence! These bloggers mean business. You really don’t want to be one of the publicists who sent the pitches that resulted in the above responses. Not only will bloggers refuse to work with you, they will circulate your bad pitch to other bloggers so they too will ignore you in the future. I’ve even found out that some bloggers will notify your client or your boss about your lacking PR skills.

It is possible to have a great relationship with a blogger. It’s just a matter of doing your job properly– peruse their website a little, learn about the stories they’ve recently written and what topics they like to cover. My work with a few food bloggers has resulted in good placements for our clients, as well as a valuable post for the blogger’s website such as this recent post on Shape.com. It’s a win-win, and keeps the door open for more collaboration down the road.

Wednesday May 9: Building Your Marketing Team through Strengths-Based Leadership

7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Amazing things happen when you match people’s job responsibilities with their innate strengths. It creates a Win Win Win: A win for your team members because they love what they do, a win for your customers because they get great service, and a win for your company because you have happy customers and employees. Taught by Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies’ Chief Operating Officer Robin Kocina and Checkerboard Strategic Web Development’s Vice President of Production Jennifer Barker, this is a process we use within our own company, which is why you see so many smiles when you walk through our offices, and why we get so much accomplished during each work day.

Thursday May 10: Getting Involved with Cause Marketing

7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Now more than ever, consumers are choosing to buy from companies that they believe are socially responsible. Dawn dishwashing liquid is used to save wildlife. American Express devised Small Business Saturday. McDonalds has its Ronald McDonald House. Social responsibility helps consumers take notice of a company for all the right reasons.

In this class, you will learn why any sized business can (and should) become more engaged with needs in their local community. Cause marketing – a strategic marketing partnership between your business and a social cause or nonprofit – enables consumers to connect with your business in a meaningful, positive and personal way. It builds awareness of your company, provides a tangible demonstration of your values, engages your employees and can differentiate your organization. It also helps you build a loyal fan base of advocates who will stand by you in rockier times. Women buyers are especially open to supporting brands that are transforming communities, society and the world.

This class will be presented by senior-level public relations and marketing professional Brian Numainville, who has planned and executed numerous cause marketing campaigns, and is personally involved with both the corporate and nonprofit marketing sectors.

Registration for all MarketSmart Academy classes can be completed online. Sign up today!

Reporters and producers are gifted communicators and story tellers. They can often explain a company’s product better than the company that makes it. Journalists have knack for understanding the nuances and complexities of products, and they quickly get how their audience will benefit from hearing about them.

As much as people complain about the media, they serve as important and effective filters when interfacing with businesses. I cringe to think at how self-serving the stories would be if our clients were allowed to write them themselves. Brand managers and others who are responsible for promoting products get so wound up in how great their products are, they get a little brainwashed by their own words. Within their cloistered world, negative feedback can be nonexistent.

Because reporters have no vested interest in sucking up to the CEO or anyone else, they strip away the shameless self promotion and get to the brass tacks of what people need. And isn’t that really what drives the sale: the need?

A reporter’s perspective is also more in line with an average customer’s view of products than the people who dream them up and make them. The best product stories are told when the audience perceives them as truthful and unbiased. That’s where the real magic of the media’s branding and selling power takes place.

It’s always better to have someone else say good things about you than brag about yourself.

Persuading journalists to do stories about your product is like getting endorsements on steroids. Reporters who choose to tell your product’s story over all the other stories they could do that day usually have a keen personal interest. They may not come right out and say it, but it’s implied that they like your product and think it is important that their audience learns about it.

It’s hard to think of a more cost-effective way to market to the masses than having reporters talk about your product in their own words. Many of our clients have been with us for more than ten years. Week after week, month after month, year after year, journalists across the country tout their products to the public. One nice story is great but imagine the impact of hundreds and hundreds over years and years. Sadly, publicity is often the most underused channel in the promotional mix. Not for our clients though. Just sad for their competitors.

Give us a call and we’ll get journalists doing stories about your product. We are going to be on the phone with the media anyway. The only question is if you want our publicists to be mentioning your product.

On Wednesday, May 9, our MarketSmart Academy will present: Building Your Marketing Team through Strengths-Based Leadership. It will be taught by Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies’ Chief Operating Officer Robin Kocina and Checkerboard Strategic Web Development’s Vice President of Production Jennifer Barker. Amazing things happen when you match people’s job responsibilities with their innate strengths.  It creates a Win Win Win:  A win for your team members because they love what they do, a win for your customers because they get great service, and a win for your company because you have happy customers and employees.

On Thursday, May 10, Getting Involved with Cause Marketing will be presented by senior-level public relations and marketing professional Brian Numainville, who will help you understand this marketing strategy.  “You will learn about cause marketing, its core benefits and why it is critical in today’s world,” says Numainville, who has planned and executed numerous cause marketing campaigns, and is personally involved with both the corporate and non-profit sectors.  Numainville will reveal strategies for getting started in cause marketing, and offer his advice for publicizing your cause marketing relationship.

We’ve got 20+ years experience teaching customers how to use alternative promotional channels to sell products, and we’re more than happy to share our knowledge.

Registration for all MarketSmart Academy classes can be completed online. Sign up today as spots fill early for these popular, interactive classes!

As an event marketing pro, I can confirm that it’s essential to make the most out of your area’s calendar mentions, both in print and online.  This strategy will make it easier for your audiences to find you. Think about it. You’ll reach:

• People casually surfing online for something to do that day
• People reading the “Calendar of Events” section in your local daily and weekly newspapers
• People who sign up to receive e-lerts or mobile phone push notifications from event-based websites, notifying them of events

Calendar Mention Tips:

Tip #1. Streamline your online posting time. If you are aware of a blog or website in your area that promotes events, go to http://similarsites.com and type that website into the search bar. SimilarSites.com will create a list of similar websites.  Additionally, be sure to mention your events to LinkedIn Groups that are geo-specific. Popular event listing websites include: Eventbrite.com, Bing.com/Local/,  Patch.com (covers most U.S. cities) and Zvents.com.

Tip #2. Ask print publications about their online versions. Every newspaper and magazine has an online presence in addition to its print version. It’s always a good idea to speak with the Calendar Editor and ask if there is an online editor who updates events for their website. Also, check the publication’s website for online submission forms.

Here are a few publication types you may want to target:

• Regional Magazines for your area.
• Special interest newspapers for your area.
• Regional business magazines for your area
• Local weekly suburban newspapers
• Local daily newspapers

Tip #3. Have all of your details handy. Some event listings will allow you a small amount of space for a promotional paragraph. Others may allow you to link to both your event website and the venue website.

 Tip #4. Reach an audience through your local TV stations. Here in the Twin Cities, all TV stations have online event listings. I will pitch producers with an event much like I pitch a news story.  I work with anchors to announce events on the air, and with producers to post the details on their website.

And remember to create an calendar event on your company’s Facebook page. If you’re not sure how to do this, contact us. We have people who can design the graphics, create the Facebook event posting and even write a compelling description of your event.