November 18, 2010

PR Primer: Tips for Promoting Your Organization

and Events

Top 10 Tips for Traditional Media

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St. Louis Media Snapshot

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> Conflict, competition, controversy, change> Relevance to readers> Timeliness> Local appeal> Trends> Cool, new, unique, bizarre> Facts, numbers, statistics> Visuals

What Makes a Good Story?

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Best Way to Approach Media> Find the right reporters… and build relationships with

them> Email well-written media advisory or press release> Follow up with a phone call> Follow up day-of event

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Ten Commandments of a Press Release

1. Follow AP style 2. Use inverted pyramid structure (keep the most

important information at the top)3. Localize the news4. Be sensitive to length5. Eliminate jargon6. Superlatives spell trouble7. Attribution key8. Use impactful, memorable quotes9. Proof and proof again10. Coordinate timing carefully

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> Good releases are…– Concise– Well-written– Factual– Newsworthy

> Bad releases are…– Lack local angle– Contain insufficient and

inaccurate information– Are too long– Sound like an advertising/sales

pitch

Press Releases

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Social Media

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> Build a community of friends and advocates – and communicate directly with them!

Tools:> Alltop – Blog directory that filters by

topic/region (http://alltop.com/) > Twitter Search – Find topics on Twitter

(http://search.twitter.com/) > TweetReach – Calculates the reach of

your Twitter posts (http://tweetreach.com/)

Social Media Tips and Tools

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> Do…– “Like” and comment on

posts from influential industry leaders on Twitter and Facebook

– Post conversation-starters that aren’t directly tied to your organization, but still relevant

– Use Facebook and Twitter to post exclusive news that can only be found on these platforms

– Be responsive to your audience and address their concerns

– Be completely transparent

> Don’t…– Don’t censor your audience

by deleting posts– Post anonymously– Change the subject– Get into a war of words

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

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> Explore St. Louis> Metromix> StlToday.com> St. Louis Front Page> StlMag.com> St. Louis’ About.com > Yelp St. Louis > Partnership for Downtown

St. Louis

www.explorestlouis.comhttp://stlouis.metromix.com/http://events.stltoday.com/www.slfp.comwww.stlmag.comhttp://stlouis.about.com/www.yelp.com/stlouiswww.downtownstl.org

Online Media Targets/Calendar Listings

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> How often should I tweet or post on Facebook?

> Should I blog?

> How can I get bloggers to write about my organization?

> What are some other social media channels that may apply to me besides Facebook and Twitter?

Social Media FAQ

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Questions?

Thank you!