easily get media engaged in your cause with pr in the digital age

EASILY GET MEDIA ENGAGED IN YOUR CAUSE WITH PR IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Leah WilkinsonPartner, WilkinsonShein Communications

Jamie NolanPress Officer and Communications Manager, Solar Energy Industries Association

Blake GrovesVice President, Strategy and Business Development, Salsa

Speakers

PR IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Leah WilkinsonPartner, WilkinsonShein Communications

Then:

• Media tours

• Cutting clips

• Newsletters (printed)

• Newsrooms

• Faxing/mailing press releases

• Bacon’s “books

Now:

• YouTube videos & Google Hangouts

• Online tracking

• Social media

• Working from home

• Blast emails

PR in the Digital Age

• Three words: access, access and access• 20 years ago:

• News was accessed via TV, radio, newspapers and magazines

• Reporters worked in newsrooms and dug for stories to place in finite/limited “space”

• Breaking news had to wait for the next “airing” or edition to print

How Media has Changed

In 2013:• News accessed instantaneously via smartphone,

tablet, computer• Reporters work from home or even the local coffee

shop and are fewer in number• Space for a story is no longer an issue• Social media and online news forums have

expanded who is a journalist and who has influence. • Breaking news never has to wait

Media Today

Today’s “technology” opens up endless opportunity for communication and content delivery• Instant access and response via smartphones, tablets,

lightweight computers• Content delivery can be timed to maximize opens/clinks• Tracking technology has become far more sophisticated and

adds significant value to a content campaign • Video, video editing, and delivery tools are simpler to use and

enable easier and faster development of video content• Self publishing tools allow for instant “publishing” of everything

from blogs to books

The Technology

The channels through which news and content is disseminated have changed dramatically:• Social media platforms• Email • Texting• Webinars• Videos

The Channels

SOLAR MARKET INSIGHT: AN INTEGRATED SOCIAL & SALSA STRATEGY

Jamie Nolan

Press Officer and Communications Manager, Solar Energy Industries Association

• Founded in 1974

• U.S. National Trade Association for Solar Energy• 1,000 member companies from around the world• Members from across 50 states• Largest companies in the world as well as small installers

• Our Mission: Build a strong solar industry to power America

• Our Goal: 10 gigawatts (GW) of annual installed solar capacity in the U.S. by 2015

About SEIA

• U.S. Solar Market Insight Report – leveraging existing cache

• Content marketing plan using existing resources

• Set individual goals for key areas: marketing, PR, social, web

• Telepresser vs. Google+ Hangout

Salsa as a Content Marketing Tool

• Salsa tools – emails, events, petition, Attentive.ly social plug-in

• Meltwater News & Vocus media keyword monitoring, wire press release

• Visual.ly – infographic creation

• Muckrack – identifying reporters to target, tracking their sharing activity

Tactics

• SEIA Website – custom landing page, drove all traffic to one place

• Facebook – sharing graphics, hitting local angle

• Twitter – link sharing, campaign tracking using #SolarInsight, drove participation in Hangout & web traffic

• Google + Hangout – discuss report findings, push viewers to the SEIA website

Tactics

Landing Page

Available for download as a PDF, as well as flowed into webpage to optimize SEO

Easily-accessible supporting materials linked below, including all graphics & some members-only resources

Infographics

Google+ Hangout

A SEIA team member used Gchat to send me Twitter questions during the Hangout

We set up a makeshift studio for our CEO in a small conference room (note the solar panel backdrop!)

• 200+ media hits, including TIME, The New York Times, The Associated Press, Bloomberg, The Hill, Politico, Reuters, and the San Francisco Chronicle

• 9,600 unique website visitors: Smashed previous record

• 2 mil impressions for #SolarInsight: More than 100 journos shared either the Hangout or SMI landing page link

• 522 +1’s on Google+: Crucial for SEO• 26% average open-to-click rate on Salsa emails:

Targeting = highly-engaged audience

Results

• Use what you’ve got• Wrap your arms around your data• Echo messages across media• Think local• You only manage what you measure• Don’t skip the debrief

Key Takeaways

Jamie NolanPress Officer & Communications ManagerSolar Energy Industries AssociationPhone: 202.556.2886Web: www.seia.org Email: jnolan@seia.orgTwitter: dcjams

Contact Me

USING TECHNOLOGY TO LEVERAGE IMPACT

Blake Groves

Vice President of Strategy and Business Development

Leveraging Technology for Results

TimeResourcesEffort

TargetedPersonalSpecific

• Who they are• What they have done• Reach that they have • What are they talking about now

Leverage Key Criteria

“Let the technology give you a one-on-one approach with a much larger audience”

The Sweet Spot

Group

InfluenceActions

• Classify by what makes sense for your organization• Type of publication• Area of specialization• “Friendliness” to your organization

Group

• Messages they read• Request they have made• Actions they have taken• Items they have shared

What Have They Done

CoalFracking

• Identify those with the most followers• Look outside of traditional channels• Leverage the data in a single system

Influence They Have

Contact

• Phone: 866.796.8345• Web: www.salsalabs.com• Email: info@salsalabs.com• Twitter: @salsalabs

• Phone: 410.363.9494• Web: www.wilkinsonshein.com• Email: info@wilkinsonshein.com• Twitter: @wilkinsonshein

THANK YOU!