A critical component of any successful public relations, branding or marketing campaign is research.

In a down economy, businesses attempt to cut costs wherever they can. Surprisingly, one of the first items offered up for the chopping block is research. Research can be costly, but it’s a critical item.

1) Would you give an industry or customer presentation with zero preparation or important details?

2) How about purchasing a car without knowing the first thing about the brand or model you are about to fork over $30,000 for?

The answer to both these questions is probably no, but we’re amazed at the number of business leaders that propose limiting or completely eliminating research from their project budgets.

Most often these decision makers feel they already have a complete understanding of their target audiences and what they want. Others don’t feel it is necessary to thoroughly look at what the competition is doing. And the scariest of all are the ones that don’t think there is any value in the research process.

Without research you are essentially operating in the dark. Good research, both primary and secondary, gives you a baseline from which to measure success. If you skimp on, or all together eliminate, this critical campaign component you are setting yourself up for failure.

Research is never a waste of time or money. Even if the results of your research confirm what you already know, it is validation well worth paying for. Chances are you will learn surprising things you weren’t expecting. And sometimes the results can be downright dramatic.

What is your take on research? Is it fundamental to all your marketing efforts or have you done without it successfully in the past?

So you are all ready to jump on the social media bandwagon. Visions of thousands of Web hits and unsolicited leads dance in your head. Social networking services are free, easy to use and can yield tangible results – if you have a plan.

Once again it all comes down to the fundamentals of public relations – understanding your target audiences and building meaningful (credible) relationships with them. All the fancy tools in the world will get you nowhere without a strategy in hand. So before you play with social media ask yourself these basic questions:

• Do I have a basic understanding of what social media is and what it is not?

• What are the objectives I hope to achieve through my social media program? How do those objectives support my organization and my bottom line?

• Who am I trying to reach through my social media program?

• Are my target audiences engaged in social media? If so, how and where? What is relevant to them? And, just as important, what is not.

• What, if anything, are people saying about my organization online?

• How can I reinforce my organization’s key messages through social networks? What will work? What won’t?

• How am I going to gauge the success of my social media program? What benchmarks do I hope to achieve and in what time frame?

These basic questions are just a starting point. Remember your social media strategy should NOT simply be a corporate Facebook Page or Twitter account. With a little bit of planning, and a strong understanding of the medium, social media can open new doors for your organization.

Are you one of the millions out there that still thinks Twitter is a fad? Most commonly we hear “I just don’t have time” or “I just don’t get it.” Regardless of your hang-up, it’s time to start Tweeting.

For most active Twitter users, there is an “ah-ha” moment that gets them hooked. But for almost every active Tweeter out there, there is an inactive one. These are individuals that signed up to see what Twitter was all about, but haven’t engaged the medium. The majority of these users probably have done little to make Twitter relevant to them. If you are one of them, consider taking these basic steps to tap into the power of Twitter.

• Use Twitter’s “Find People” page to see who you know on Twitter and follow them.

• See who people you know are following to make new and relevant connections.

• Use Twitter’s search function to find contacts Tweeting about subjects relevant to you and start following them.

• Start Tweeting!

• Pick a topic or two that is of interest to you and/or your customers. You must be passionate about something – make it easy on yourself.

• Post useful links to articles that interest you or resources that may be helpful to individuals following you.

• Don’t be too promotional. No one will want to follow you if all you Tweet about is how great you are or your company is.

• Take 10 minutes out of your day, once or twice a day, and dedicate it to Twitter. Use this time to    make a relevant Tweet, comment on a Tweet that interests you, re-Tweet information that might be of interest to your followers, thank new followers for following you, and search out new contacts to follow.

• Consider using an application to help manage the ADD that often develops around Twitter. TweetDeck (http://tweetdeck.com/beta/) is a fantastic free app that helps you categorize and manage your Twitter account right from your desktop.

• Keep your personal and/or company brand in mind. Remember your Tweets are available for all to see. If it’s something you wouldn’t share with your competition or most conservative client, please don’t Tweet about it!

Okay 140 characters or less GO!

Building and maintaining a brand is a never-ending process - in good times and especially in bad. HOW you go about it may morph based on the macro economy or your company’s micro economic environment. Today, we’re recommending that our clients use free Internet tools as much as possible. And the good news (in the midst of the bad) is that you may actually make your branding and marketing more effective! Here are some ways we’ve been using Web power to max marketing:

• Electronic media relations - centered around press releases with a number of hyperlinks, i.e., links to pages on your Website that cover the subject(s) you reference in the release, to organizations, to partner companies, etc. Put the releases out electronically over newswires, through appropriate social media channels, and they’ll optimize your search engine results and enjoy a long half life on the Web.
• LinkedIn or Facebook “campaigns” - Begin or maintain an active presence on LinkedIn if you’re a B2B company or both LinkedIn and Facebook if you’re primarily B2C. Build up your contacts/friends lists, let your contacts know what projects or products you’re working on, ask questions, join groups related to your field or that of your company and become active online.
• Conduct regular  ePromotions - Create and maintain an eNewsletter or simply go with a regular ePromotion schedule. Launch your products or services. Give recipients a discount on a product or service for a limited time period. Reprise the special offer on the home page of your Website. Use your ePromotional vehicle to get customer/client feedback on products and services. Reward them with a gift card if they respond.
• Monitor Web coverage - Track yourself/your organization using a free tool such as www.yacktrack.com, which monitors blogs, online communities, etc., to find out what they’re saying about you. Reputation management is a major component of branding and ongoing brand management.

It’s not about Ashton Kutcher. It’s all about email identity theft. Every time your personal or professional email address goes on a press release, e-mail promotion, article or marketing piece, it’s been jettisoned into cyberspace – and it’s ripe for the taking.

According to spoof/spam expert, Justin LeClair of Evolve Systems, www.evolve-systems.com, “Spammers will brute-check Google for email addresses and when they find one that’s out there a lot, they’ll use it to spoof.” Even more scarey, you won’t even know it’s happening – unless you’re getting bizarre email bounce-backs you never sent in the first place.

Spoofing is simply using a pirated or forged email address to blast out spam to millions of recipients – seemingly from someplace (your email address) other than the actual spam source. Spoofing can get you blacklisted. It makes spoofer/spammers a lot of jing - five cents for every click on a spam link times thousands of clicks.

More bad news: once your email address is out; there’s nothing you can do about it – except assume an entirely new email identity in a distant cyberspace millions of light years away. The good news: you can deter spoofers. LeClair suggests that you “use a different email address for publicly published media, so you don’t end up getting your personal or professional email address bombed”, for example:  info@helpimbeingspoofed.net. 

There is much discussion about the death of the press release. In a world of 24-hour news, fragmented media and self-publishing galore, the impact of the traditional press is greatly diminished.

However, in the world of Web 2.0 the press release has found a new beginning and it is doing something it couldn’t do 10 years ago – taking on a life of its own. Today’s press releases can live online for days, weeks, months and even years past their release date.

The press release as a mini-portal
In a 2.0 world press releases can be loaded with hyperlinks, search engine optimized-keywords, interactive content, and more. When distributed through news feeds, these 2.0 add-ons greatly enhance the online visibility and longevity of key messages.

Press releases constructed for a 2.0 world should be thought of as mini-Web portals into an organization. Use them as a tool to not only generate news coverage, but to raise online viability.

Think like an outsider
When writing a 2.0 press release, the tried and true rules of news writing still apply (after all the press is still the first and foremost audience of your release). Think and write like a reporter – not a marketing executive, salesperson, corporate lawyer or C-level executive.

• Understand what is truly newsworthy and only put out real news – information that outsiders, rather than you and your employees, will find relevant and interesting.

• Approach your press release as though you didn’t work in your company or its industry. Eliminate corporate jargon,
  industry acronyms, esoteric explanations and corporate minutiae.

• Be a stickler on grammar, spelling, punctuation, AP style and
  factual accuracy.

Understanding the role and power of a press release in a Web 2.0 world can open up a whole new channel for awareness. Long live the press release 2.0!

Over the years, many sources have asked the dreaded question: Will I get to see what you write before it’s published?

In almost every instance, the answer is no. That’s the rule at most publications. But it’s the damage the request can do to a relationship with a reporter that should make you think twice about asking.

Why? The request implies a lack of trust. I may take offense when I hear it and be less likely to call you as a resource again. (I may, however, give a free pass to new companies, whose owners may ask out of innocence or because they’re unaware of the protocol.)

But it’s the timing that upsets me most. Without fail, the question gets posed at the end of a wonderful, in-depth interview.

Why end it on an awkward note?

Web 2.0 (dynamic, interactive, optimized) Web sites and blogs are like the proverbial tree falling in a forest if there’s no one around to notice. It takes a marriage of new  - and old - marketing communications vehicles to make target audiences aware of your new Web site, or blog, or forum, or bulletin board. So …

• Announce your new Web site with a press release to publications that your target customers read. Make sure to cover the innovative ways you encourage  interaction on the site and what the site offers visitors. News releases must have substance.
• Send a direct mail piece to your customer, prospect and friends list announcing the site and offering a giveaway to the first five who log in.
• Put your Web and/or blog addresses on every printed piece and every email you send out.
• Bring visitors back to your site with valuable downloadable tips or trends, case studies or articles; announce their availability in an email or in person.

The most effective marketing initiatives take advantage of the best new - and traditional - tools.

From elevator pitches to descriptions of company products and services, insiders are often too close to the subject, too steeped in the details to give right-on, short answers to critical customer questions. You should be able to respond to the following questions in less than 30 seconds with one or two phrases (that’s about all the time you’ll get). No industry jargon or acronyms. Can’t do it? Sit down with a savvy outsider (could be a customer/friend) and craft the answers. Distribute them to everyone that has contact with customers, so you’ll all sing the same notes.

1. Who is [COMPANY NAME]? [We make logo'd shirts for companies and teams.]

2. What do you do? [We do company payroll tasks on line.]

3. What can you do for me? [Reduce payroll-related staff and costs; let you focus on your core business.]

4. What will you do for me that your competitors don’t do? [We're the only company that will have an expert tech at your door in an hour - any day, any time, holidays included - to keep your business running.]

5. Why should I do business with you? [Big Bang benefits, i.e., keep your systems running 24/7/365 - no revenue or data loss.]

Reporters and editors are like those elusive crushes you had in high school. You try to communicate with them every once in a while, but they just won’t give you the time of day. That is, unless they want something from you.

Your high school crush may have wanted help with homework – or worse – to cheat off you during a test. Reporters and editors have similarly selfish intentions. They’ll want your information if it’s A. truly newsworthy — a scoop they can put on page one and one-up the competition; or B. something that’s going to fill their news “hole.”

Feeding the monster
Depending on their editorial cycle, reporters and editors feel the pressure every day, week or month to fill their pages with print. Pitch them at the right time, and – as long as the story is substantive, interesting and not overly promotional – they just might bite. As precious as they are, these opportunities, however, tend to be few and far between. More often, you’ll feel as if you’re pitching to a vacuum.

If not now - sometime
Don’t despair. Though reporters or editors may not respond right away, their silence doesn’t mean they haven’t filed away your idea on their computers – or, more likely, in their heads – as a possible future story. So keep the pitches coming. A constant stream – but not bombardment – of relevant information is the only way to cement your company in the minds of the media.