Customer case studies  have been part of my job for longer than I have been doing media relations. When I started out as a trade journalist reporting for publications like Educational & Industrial Television and Video Trade News, end user stories were the mainstay of our editorial. Readers want to hear from peers who have “been there, done that,” which is why customer relations continues to be such an important part of any PR program.

Of course, customers aren’t always willing to talk, especially in high-tech. Trying to get a financial services company or insurance company to open up about the inner workings of their CRM system or their security systems can be challenging. Customer companies don’t usually have much inventive to share information about how they do what they do; there usually isn’t much in it for them. That’s why you want to enlist customers as allies, not just topics for case studies. You want to find incentives to help them with their own sales and marketing so they will help your clients by serving as case study candidates.

That’s part of the reason I was so pleased to place a profile of Stoops Freightliner in Heavy Duty Trucking this month for my client, FaceTime Communications. The story profiles how Stoops Freightliner is using FaceTime’s Unified Security Gateway to promote a secure social media marketing program to reach truck drivers across the Midwest. When I had an opportunity to place the story, I thought of Heavy Duty Trucking for a number of reasons:

• Heavy Duty Trucking is one of the biggest titles reaching trucking executives and decision-makers.
• A profile in Heavy Duty Trucking would help Stoops reach its customer base as well as new prospective customers for FaceTime – a win-win for everyone.
• I have a soft spot for Heavy Duty Trucking since my dad sold advertising for them for a number of years.

The strategy worked. Not only did Stoops get a great profile of their social media success at work, the article also brought in a new prospect for FaceTime.

When I develop a customer relations program for a client, I like to develop an integrated program that benefits both my clients and their customers. As part of the sourcing process, I work with end users to determine what their marketing objectives are and how far we can carry their application story for mutual benefit. The result is, at minimum, a published case study with supporting sales collateral, content to feed social media outlets, anecdotal data for press briefings, and Web content. With a cooperative customer, you can extend the program to include webinars, speaking engagements, and more. The key is to make sure that all the participants come out ahead.

An important part of media relations that many agencies and PR professionals tend to overlook is industry analyst relations. From my earliest days working in high-tech public relations, I have worked with the industry analysts at Gartner, IDC, Forrester Research, Yankee Group, and even those big firms that are no longer with us, like Dataquest, Meta Group, and Jupiter Research. And I work with a variety of specialty firms like Nemertes Research, Osterman Research, and MobileTrax.

I advise my clients that industry analysts are an invaluable media resource for a number of reasons:

First, of course, they write reports about emerging technology, and there are a number of IT managers and CIOs who won’t make a buying decision without first referencing a Gartner Magic Quadrant or a Forrester Wave report.

Second, analysts are great resources of industry insight, and they aren’t shy about poking holes in your product or your go-to-market strategy. I find that too often clients become so immersed in a new product or concept that they can’t see the flaws, and analyst briefings often can point out a lot of challenges before you go public with a story.

And third, analysts are invaluable when it comes to talking to reporters. Enthusiastic start-ups and product managers have been known to be, shall we say, premature in announcing a product that may not be quite ready for market. Over the years reporters have become wary of “vaporware.” Analyst and customer references have become essential for any new technology product launch, and by briefing analysts in advance, we can offer reporters references who can give an unbiased opinion about my client’s product and its impact on the market.

I want to thank Gerry Purdy, principal analyst at MobileTrax, for offering a simple, and cogent explanation of what he calls the Press-Analyst Cycle (see Gerry’s diagram above), which was the topic of this week’s Inside Mobile newsletter, and Gerry’s blog. Gerry has done a terrific job of explaining how the analyst briefing process works, and how it fits in his world from the analyst’s perspective.

I have worked with Gerry for a number of years, and whenever I have a client with a new product in the mobile telecommunications market, Gerry is at the top of my analyst contact list. He is always open and frank with my clients – which is important, especially if there are flaws in a product or go-to-market strategy – and I know I can always count on Gerry’s cooperation in the Press-Analyst Cycle, and to be a fair and well-informed editorial reference. As Gerry explains:

Vendors have to live with the results of the writings of the press and analysts like me.  Often, positive stories greatly influence the decision to buy that product or service.  A number of bad reviews or stories can also hurt.  However, with the Press-Analyst Cycle, vendors are most often able to maximize the awareness and build credibility for their mobile and wireless product or service. 

And the great thing about working with analysts is they are usually happy to serve as references, even if your client is not one of their clients. After all, analysts have to build their own market credibility and promote their own personal brand, and being asked to comment as an independent expert is a great way to keep your name in front of the market.

So the next time you see an interesting story about a new product or technology, or you see a quote from an IDC or Forrester Research expert, think of the process behind that story to deliver that opinion. It’s all part of media relations.

“The trick is to realize that it’s not about the tool itself, but your ability to step back and analyze the tool’s real value in helping you accomplish tasks. If you’re not evaluating the way that you’re using social media to get things done, then you’re probably becoming increasingly inefficient because of it.”

So I wanted to share some of his observations on how to get the most out of social media. These rules certainly apply in marketing and media relations, but they are also universal.

1. Scalable networking. Networking now takes on many forms. The old methods of meeting peers and prospects at trade shows, over lunch, at open houses, etc., still apply, but the advent of Web 2.0 makes the channels for connection global. As I have noted in this blog before, social media users tend to be tribal. so making connections with others through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media channel gives you a built-in sense of camaraderie; most people tend to respond to social media contacts before they will respond to email. You can use tweets, blog comments, Facebook comments, and other means to build online intimacy with a wider range of contacts. And the Web makes it possible to connect with thousands rather than dozens. The trick is to make those connections meaningful and respect the tribal connection, so you can uplevel the conversation when you need to.

2. Uncovering valuable, actionable information. McCann notes that information overload is nothing new, and tools like Twitter and Facebook can contribute to information overload if you fail to use them properly. The key is to filter the information, so you are getting pertinent, actionable information. Filter the feeds to distinguish between personal and professional data streams. Identify those data points relevant to your job and focus on them. McCann uses the analogy of stockbrokers filtering incoming data feeds from trusted friends and sources, gathering data in real-time for their clients. You need to set up social media data feeds that support your professional decision-making and push the rest aside as less irrelevant noise.

3. Social media is about collaboration. Web 2.0 levels the playing field when it comes to collaboration. It not only promotes collaboration, but it provides the tools to help you collaborate in the most productive fashion possible. As McCann points out, with Web 2.0 the medium doesn’t get in the way of the message. Social media helps make collaboration organic, without having to rely on proprietary software or platforms to achieve your goal.

4. It’s not what you use, but how you use social media tools. One of the biggest challenges with social media is the plethora of available channels. Don’t try to filter everything. Instead, identify those tools that make a real difference in your work life. McCann recommends ranking your social media tools in order of “must have.” Which social media tools do you really consider essential to your professional success, and which are really “nice to have” and not essential? This will help you optimize you social media flow and determine if you are getting the most from your online investment. Stay focused, and mine your most valuable channels more deeply rather than trying to use a shotgun approach.

So as with all tools, the efficacy of social media is in how you apply it to meet your professional needs. If you use social media sites to strict professional advantage, without distraction or fooling yourself that posting the latest kids’ soccer pictures or what you had for lunch will advance your professional standing. It’s largely a combination of savvy, focus, and discipline.

I recently ran across a blog post at BigNewsBiz.com, one of the free news sites, which, albeit biased had some interesting insights. Phil Davies of BigNews.biz LLC notes that free press releases sites have a real impact on rankings. As he posted to one of my LinkedIn groups:

“I kept seeing press releases from these free press release sites showing up in page 1 Google search results and page 1 on Google News. In some cases beating out results from major media outlets.”

Davies cites some specific criteria he uses to determine the value of free web sites, including page rank, Google News tracking, the amount of traffic, and how complex the rules are for acceptance (i.e. releases rejected for various reasons). He then lists his top 15 free press release sites based on their Alexa ratings.

I actually just completed an exercise for a client that demonstrates the value of free press release sites. This client is a small start-up that just completed a second round of seed funding – rather small by venture capital standards. To save money, we decided to bypass the conventional paid wire service (which can run into thousands of dollars if you’re not careful). Instead, I used a combination of e-mail pitches to targeted media outlets and we got some great results, including a pickup by Dow Jones. I am still waiting to see how the search rankings fall out among the major search engines, but I’m confident that, based on the early results, the free release site strategy is going to pay off.

All that said, the paid wire services also have real value, depending on your requirements. If you are a publicly traded company and disclosure is a concern, you can’t beat using one of the big three – PR Newswire, BusinessWire, or MarketWire. I have been following another LinkedIn discussion about which is the best wire service, and one of the contributors from China, Jonah Guo, sums up some of the value of the paid services quiet well:

“It depends what your clients’ need. If they just want some results while you research Google, you can use any wire. You do not even need to pay if you write a search-engine-friendly press releases. However, if your clients want serious PR, the commercial wires can help you. For example, SEOpressreleases.com and other cheap wires cannot feed Factiva, where most researchers find their info, and which archives your press releases for 20 years.”

Do you have hard and fast rules for using release wire services? What are your PR objectives and how do you use wire services to achieve them? How do you build the paid and free wire services into your best PR practices?

Nasr’s initial tweet mourning the death of Fadlallah said, “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah… One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.” It was almost immediately called out by several sources, including Newsbusters and the Jerusalem Post. Also today the Simon Wiesenthal Center (“one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations”) formally denounced the remarks and called for CNN to take action.

Well, CNN did take action and summarily dismissed Nasr. As Parisa Khosravi, Senior Vice President for CNN International Newsgathering explained in an internal memo:

I had a conversation with Octavia this morning and I want to share with you that we have decided that she will be leaving the company. As you know, her tweet over the weekend created a wide reaction. As she has stated in her blog on CNN.com, she fully accepts that she should not have made such a simplistic comment without any context whatsoever. However, at this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.

As a colleague and friend we’re going to miss seeing Octavia everyday. She has been an extremely dedicated and committed part of our team. We thank Octavia for all of her hard work and we certainly wish her all the best.

Parisa.

So what does this tell us about the power of social media? Was this an overreaction on the part of CNN? Are they giving Twitter too much power – it takes some effort to be concise in 140 characters, which is the beauty and the beast of Twitter. This is a prime example of how you have to be extremely careful about everything you post online. Your online brand needs to be sacrosanct, and you need always need to think before you post.

But was this an overreaction? It was a mistake in intent, if not in judgment, but does the punishment fit the crime? And how would you approach the same issue for employees in your organization? When do you hold employees accountable for every drunken frat picture or racist slur they post on Facebook? How far do your policies and procedures extend to “appropriate” social media use, and how much should employees be given latitude to express themselves?

I think one of the real challenges is the blurred lines between professional and personal brands. If you are blogging or posting for your employer, which many of us do, then the lines are clearly drawn. But what about personal posts that spill into our professional lives? Facebook and other social media sites typically ask for employment data, but does that mean we are using social media for professional purposes, or that we should be held accountable to a professional standard?

In this case, Nasr may have had a lapse in judgment, and the punishment meted out may seem harsh in light of the offense. Still, her Twitter feed was clearly an extension of her job, her professional brand, and CNN has a right to protect its brand and its reputation. But did CNN go too far? Would your online activities measure up to the same standard?

I have to ask myself if we are giving social media too much power, especially in this case. It’s one thing to demonstrate a pattern of hate speech or a consistent opinion that might rankle management. It’s something else to make a mistake. So before you hit that “post” button, think twice about what you are saying and its possible consequences.

“These days, the odd, stilted prose lurking in most anything issued by the PR department stands out more than ever because few people talk or write with much formality anymore. Yet in Press Release Land, people converse like the narrators of Eisenhower-era educational films. Of course, strip away that Conehead syntax and you realize that these automatons aren’t saying much anyway.”

To make his point, Wasserman deconstructs an AT&T press release, pointing out that after you get past the verbal flourishes and the complex sentence structures, there’s really no news in the news release in any case. Why not just state your case? Why can’t you just say, “Sales fell last quarter by 5%” or “We think our new product is easy to use”? His point is that journalists in general hate press releases, and that they will uncover the real story in the release no matter how hard you try to hide it, assuming there is a story to be told.

“Journalists generally hate press releases, and for good reason. The quotes in them are so bizarrely written that they bring a false note to any story. Yet, if the quote was in plain English, reporters might be more apt to cite it.”

I don’t think so. I have never seen a journalist worth his salt take a quote from a press release. Beside, the major point that Todd is missing is that press releases are no longer written for journalists, and they haven’t been for some time. Although reporters can still get all the background details they need from a news release, even if they have to read around the superlatives and obfuscation, news announcements are aimed at a different audience.

Let’s consider the evolution of the press release.

Originally, in the days before e-mail and the Web, press releases actually were written for reporters. They were handed out at news events, distributed at trade shows, and I even remember spending countless hours stuffing envelopes to mail releases to press contacts. Then things changed. With the coming of the Web, consumers, prospects, and shareholders no longer waited for the press to digest and regurgitate press releases. Now they go right to the source, using Google or Yahoo or Bing to hone in on the news they want. Of course, the journalist’s role as interpreter is still essential; their job is to remove the obfuscation and reveal the true meaning under the painted prose. But for those who write them, press releases have become an effective tool to present their message directly to their audience. The form has evolved so even when you have to report bad news, you try to put a happy spin on the tidings to please your market.

So while the basic framework of the press release has remained intact, the content has evolved. Quotes aren’t supposed to be quotable; they are for posturing or injecting your opinion into a document that is supposed to be largely factual.

It has also become commonplace to use more adjectives and superlatives in news announcements, injecting phrases like “first” or “biggest” or industry jargon like “best of breed.” This is part of the evolution of the press release as sales tool. Many of my clients now look at press releases as a means to reach customers and contacts, not the press. So they want to see some sizzle in the copy, even if it detracts from the facts.

And these days, the news is being driven by the Web, and news release writing is being shaped by search engine optimization and key word search. In theory, a well-written press release is more searchable and SEO-friendly than a badly written release, but that doesn’t prevent the marketing team from adding key phrases and key words to try to improve search, which just obscures things even further.

Which brings me to probably the primary reason that press releases are so badly written; because they are written by committee. No matter how solid your training as a writer or journalist, no matter how lucid your headline, no matter how concise your lead, you know that somewhere along the chain of approval someone with a different perspective or agenda is going to introduce a different slant, add an adjective, or find some way to spin the message. The more sensitive the information, such as a drop in sales or a less-than-sterling product announcement, the harder the committee will attempt to bury their disappointment in obscure language.

I would like to think that the art of writing a clear, concise, informative news announcement is not dead. Even though the press release has taken on a wide range of new responsibilities, I hope that the form still retains value as a way to disseminate objective information to people who truly need to know. However, I also know that as long as the press continues to have an impact on society, my clients will continue to use press releases as a means to spin the news and tell their story in their own way with their own rules.

I remembered this saying again this week when I was following a thread from one of my LinkedIn Groups discussing fees for service. The originator of the thread was discussing the fact that he had a project that had now take about three times the amount of time he had anticipated, and would it be appropriate to go back to the client to adjust the fees for service. The overwhelming response from those on the threads was, “No, you can’t go back and ask for more money.” It’s up to you to determine the cost for your services, in advance, and then live with the consequences. The client should be expected to pay for the end result, not your process to achieve that result.

That said there are tools you can use to limit your exposure, and educate your client about the process at the same time. I usually try to separate the contract from the actually scope of work. The contract should be the binding agreement that reflects the legal commitment for each party, basically, I will work for you and you will pay me, and if we disagree this is how we will resolve it. Separate from contract you need to define the actually scope of the project, including outlining steps, deadlines, and associated fees (either as a lump sum or as incremental sums, depending on how much visibility you want to give the client into your process). The idea is to make sure the client understands exactly what you are willing to do for your fee, and helps set parameters that are binding to the contract. I usually refer to the scope of work as Exhibit A in the contract and have the client sign the scope of work to demonstrate they understand what, specifically, they are buying.

How you have a defense mechanism against “scope creep.” If the client comes back and asks you for something that is clearly outside the scope of the defined project, then you can point to your scope of work and say, “sorry, you didn’t contract for that.” There are some specific steps you can undertake to make sure that you have properly defined your project so you don’t “under bill,” and your client knows he or she is getting value for their money.

1. Set clearly defined objectives for the project in advance – Make sure you know what the outcome of the project is supposed to look like. How does your client define success?
2. Create a step-by-step plan – You don’t have to share all the details of the plan with your client, but make sure that your spreadsheet includes all the steps to achieve success. You don’t want to charge your client for process, so you better have your process buttoned up so you can make an accurate estimate.
3. Be specific in outlining the scope of work – One of the challenges of marketing and communications projects is that the process is often ill-defined. For example, if you are planning a media tour, you may have to be flexible on deadlines to accommodate editorial schedules, and you may or may not want to define the number of meetings you plan to deliver, e.g. “a minimum of X and a maximum of Y.” Or when dealing with press release development, it’s not uncommon for release revisions to get out of control so you may want to define release development, e.g. one draft and two revisions. How specific you want to be about your work is a matter of your experience and your knowledge of your client.
4. Use a change in scope as an opportunity to redefine the project. If the client wants more from you, that’s great! It gives you an opportunity to revise your proposal and demonstrate how you can deliver more value, more results, for a little more money. Use a change in scope as a bargaining point. The trick is to not be too rigid so you alienate your client.

Of course, you can’t always account for every contingency. For example, if you commit to helping a client launch a new product at a trade show, there may be unexpected elements or steps that you can’t anticipate, such as having to support a show guide, an unexpected partner announcement, or some other last-minute opportunity. You can’t always go back and says, “Sorry, that’s extra,” especially if a few hours or extra work to cover the unexpected will make you look like a hero. You have to be prepared to go the extra mile for the sake of good client relations.

Some of those commenting on the original LinkedIn Group thread say they believe that the client/contractor relationship is adversarial by necessity; that the client is always trying to get as much work as he or she can for free. I disagree. A good client relationship is a partnership, where you want to give maximum value by delivering for a fair rate. If the client underpays you, or tries to take advantage of you, then they know you won’t deliver your best work. If you adopt a policy of underpromise and overdeliver, then you can maintain a solid relationship with any client, without having to invest unpaid hours that fall outside the scope of the project.

Recently I have been working on a new product launch for FaceTime Communications profiling their new Unified Security Gateway 4, which includes a number of new security and compliance features to secure and archive social media conversations in the enterprise. This forum is not a place for a client pitch, but there are aspects of the problem that USG 4 solves that are worth noting, because they highlight the real value of social networking.

The problem that all organizations face is that their IT departments are losing control of network access to social media. Employees are accessing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, you-name-it.com from their work computers. Okay, that’s not really new, but how they are using these tools has been changing. Although some malingerers are playing Farmville or posting family photos on company time, more professionals are turning to public social media tools because they are the best way to reach prospective customer, partners, and coworkers. Even in heavily regulated industries, like banking and financial services, more users are ignoring the compliance risks (which are considerable) of using uncontrolled social media sites to connect with their customers.

Why would you “waste” company time on Facbook and Twitter? The answer is simple, because that’s where their customers are.

FaceTime’s CEO Kailash Ambwani points out that social media is tribal by nature. People tend to gravitate to locations where they can hang out with their peers; with people like themselves who share a connection. That connection can be common interests, a shared neighborhood, and even a shared level of education and income. So if I am promoting a new portfolio package or real estate opportunity to you, Mr. Facebook Follower, then I want you to tell all your friends, because chances are they will be just as interested because they share the same traits, including values and income. You all belong to the same tribe.

I had an interesting conversation with a client in a strategy meeting yesterday. We were talking about using social media as a means to sell regional services, in this case bank products. His argument was that you wouldn’t use Facebook or Twitter to sell to a regional market, like a town or neighborhood, because the Web is global. That argument fails to acknowledge the phenomenon of social media tribes. People will connect with others in their neighborhood or region because they are part of the tribe.  Hence emergence of services like Yelp! and the success of regional businesses who have followers on Twitter and Facebook, like the Korean BBQ Taco Truck who has 64,000 people following his movements around Los Angeles on Twitter.

So when you are thinking about your social media marketing strategy, don’t underestimate the power of the Tribe. Think global, but tweet locally! Your neighbors are surely watching.

That’s when the real creativity kicks in. Sometimes you have to find a way to uncover or even create the news hook, even when there doesn’t seem to be one. I find these kinds of “non-news” release the absolute hardest to write, but I also understand their value. These days you often want to use a press release to tell a story designed to reach an audience other than the press. You may want to reach prospects, or customers, or employees, or the board of directors, or simply put something out on the wire to attract web traffic and pump up your keyword or SEO strategy (remember that press releases almost always rank higher with search engines). And even though this may seem to be a bastardization of the press release format, a news release is often the best format to instill some urgency and legitimacy into a story that really doesn’t have much news value.

So how do you approach this problem (other than with fire tongs)? Well, you use the same steps as you would with any news announcement, but with a few nuances:

1. Reverse engineer the story – The best place to start is with the desired outcome. Think about how you would want the final story to read? What’s the big idea you want readers to take away with them? What’s your headline? Once you grasp the main theme it will be easy to build a story around it.
2. Suspend your news judgment – Remember that this kind of announcement is for general readership and not necessary for the press. That means you can bend the rules a little, especially in the use of adjectives, superlatives, and elements you might not include in most news announcements. Your objective here is to imbue enthusiasm as much as to impart information.
3. Research helps – You often can shore up a poor press release topic with facts, facts, and more facts. Do some digging and find research and numbers that will legitimize your release. If someone has statistics, the topic must be important.
4. Practice good journalistic style – Just because you may think the release has little or no news value doesn’t mean you should be sloppy. Use good journalistic techniques. Open with a lead and use the inverted pyramid to build your story. Follow AP style. It all helps to lend credence to the tale you have to tell.
5. Review, revise, and optimize – The best writing is about rewriting, and when you have a tough assignment writing a non-news release, it’s even more important to review your work for style and tone, as well as errors. Also optimize your press release for SEO, Twitter, Facebook, and other uses. This kind of press release is usually written to help build awareness, and that means building in key search terms and phrase to promote SEO.
6. Distribute appropriately – Don’t undermine your own credibility by trying to sell a bad news story to the media. Instead, use alternate distribution strategies to promote online presence and support Web search. Use the paid wire services and post it to the free news sites that will accept it. But don’t make the mistake of trying to pass it off as legitimate news.

The rules of public relations are changing with the Internet, and how we use the tools of the trade has to evolve as well. The press release is still an incredibly valuable tool when it comes to getting hard news to journalists looking for information they can print or post. It also can be a useful tool to build a market presence. The most important thing to remember is who is your target audience and what format and information will best meet their information needs.

Some consider such activity as being akin to Big Brother, logging your every move online and trying to track down corporate time wasters. But consider that every move you make online is a reflection of your employer, and the watchdogs are watching the corporate watchers,  so they need to track your activity online in order to protect their business. These days, everything has to be tracked, logged, and recoverable in the event of an audit. And your innocent posts to Facebook or LinkedIn could contribute to the downfall of your employer, whether you like it or not. Consider the ambitious sales rep who asks his LinkedIn contacts for help with a secret competitive bid, or the excited guy in the mailroom who posts to Facebook that the head of sales for his publicly traded company just left the company. Seemingly innocent posts that actually can be harmful data leaks. Someone has to monitor the public conversation to make sure that private information remains private.

Not long ago I spotted a most insightful example from Ted Ritter of one of my favorite analyst firms, Nemertes Research. Here’s the scenario Ted paints, which is not so farfetched:

You’ve just arrived in Melbourne for a business trip. While heading to the hotel, you update your MyLinkedBook status page to announce your arrival. Pretty innocuous, right? Well, it turns out that one of your followers is a TechTarget reporter who suspects you’re involved in M&A activity, and this seemingly innocent update has just fueled the rumor that your company is buying Spaceley Sprockets out of Melbourne. Welcome to the world of social networking! It is the next wave of enterprise online collaboration, and the best way for HR and compliance to get out in front of the wave is with a risk-based approach.

So you have to be careful about your online activity because whatever you post online is very public. Remember that you what you post is not only a reflection of your personal brand, but also your employer. And the Web has a long memory. (It amazes me that today’s teenagers don’t realize that those drunken Facebook pictures they post today will follow them to their next job interview.)

So when promoting your online brand, practice common sense and self-restraint. Think before you post. Even if your company is not watching your every move online, you should be practicing self-censorship and remain wary of what you blog about or what you post as your current status. You never know when what you post online could come to back to bite you, or someone else.