Paid Media — A Change of Heart

By: Danika Felt, Account Executive, Digital, Edelman Austin

“I have been one of the hard-liners opposing any blurring of the lines between advertising and PR. I am now prepared to change my position…Those of us in PR have to change the game. Let’s recognize that the digital platform for mainstream and hybrid media is an unmatched opportunity to offer hundreds of visual images, a different mentality about contributing comments, a high propensity to share quality material and a short-form mode for absorption of information. Why not take on the chance to make content the basis of advertising? Ads are inherently more effective when you have something to say. And we are better than any other marketing services sector at knowing what is newsworthy at any moment in time…Given our earned media experience and editorial knowledge honed through years of creating and co-producing stories, PR is best suited to partner with paid media.” 

– Richard Edelman CEO

Breaking It Down – What Is Paid Media and Why Is It Important?  

In today’s blurred media landscape there has been a lot of buzz across the network regarding the definition of Paid Media and what it means to Edelman. The primary objective of paid is to optimize, create, and repurpose existing content in order to amplify reach, views, engagement and impressions. It is an essential aspect of the revolutionized Media Consumption Model, working with owned and earned media to create Converged Media. This convergence provides the opportunity to achieve earned media at scale.

The Numbers Tell an Interesting Story

Let’s take a quick look at how the media landscape has evolved over the past five years. In 2008, the Internet population was 1.5 billion, with less than 200MM globally on social media. Today, the Internet population stands at a whopping 2.5 billion with more than 1.6 billion globally on social media. By the numbers, it is clear there is more content than ever, creating heightened marketing opportunities for paid.

The old saying is true: content is king. Given the cluttered marketplace, there has been a strong shift toward content versus ads. The convergence ad model recognizes that the content is the ad. PR has an opportunity to stand out by monitoring the content fans are engaging with and steering the conversation with relevant opportunities to engage. Without paid, brands risk their content being buried by the platforms that prioritize paid.

Buckets of Paid:

·         Search: a narrower remit that focuses on user intention ready to engage. Search is quickly evolving to include Social context (e.g. Facebook is integrating their content into Bing search results)

·         Social: becomes a factor when users are motivated to share and participate (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn etc.)

·         Display: a catch-all term driving mass awareness via curiosity (e.g. OneSpot, Undertone etc.)

Benefits of Paid:

·         Guaranteed targeted exposure of content and message

·         Amplifies content, engagement and reach

·         Promotes seamless visibility across owned, earned and social media

·         Responds in mass real time to trends or during crisis

·         Increases organic fan growth, engagement and earned media metrics

·         Access a unique set of data and audience insights capable only through paid media campaigns

1:1 -- Executing Deskside Briefings

By: Kim Tillinghast, Vice President, Edelman Austin

The “art of the deskside” is truly an art. Some reporters won’t do these but many will, and when it comes to cultivating media relationships, there is no substitute for face time. Here are a few ways to ensure this 1:1 interaction goes well.

·         Advance Notice: We don’t always have the benefit of reaching out to media several weeks in advance, but if you have six weeks to spare, consider sending a save-the-date to a wide net of targets, allowing you to soft-sound the pitch and gauge initial interest. Follow up with a specific invitation 2-3 weeks in advance of the meeting.

·         Howdy, Neighbor: Big cities are always top of mind – New York, Chicago, L.A., D.C. – but don’t forget that important publications (USA Today, for example) are often based in surrounding areas.

·         Timing Is Everything:

o   If you’re in a position to choose a day, avoid Mondays, Fridays and any closing/deadline days you’re aware of.

o   When scheduling a series of appointments, be mindful of geography and allow buffers for meetings that may go long or weather that complicates transportation.

o   If you are hosting a media event in conjunction with a series of desksides, allow plenty of time for venue set-up and preparation.

·         Check It Twice: Reconfirm your appointment a day or two prior, and be sure your day-of contact information is shared (twice). Briefing documents are key, as is a conversation with the client to review the upcoming schedule, organization/writer profiles, expectations and logistics.

·         Worth A Thousand Words: Visuals can be very valuable, so consider what will bring your discussion to life – whether it’s a destination map, a firsthand tutorial of a new app or a quick video. 

·         Jot It Down: It goes without saying, but ensure that any immediate needs are noted and delivered within 24 hours or sooner if the journalist is finishing a story or issue. Be clear about who will own follow-up.

·         Three’s A Crowd: Many media offices don’t have large conference rooms, so make sure to communicate how many will join the meeting to avoid surprises and allow your contact to make appropriate arrangements.

·      Roll With It: A journalist may be able to offer you 45 minutes or five, so prepare your client for either scenario. Media are usually good about stating this as the meeting begins, but it’s important to be flexible and have key messages at the forefront.

Infographics: Storybooks for Adults

By: Jimmy Egeland, Creative Services Manager, Edelman Southwest

When you really think about it, an infographic is similar to a child’s storybook—it engages the reader, it’s concise with copy and the visuals help tell the story. If you think of your audience’s attention span as equivalent to that of a ten-year-old’s, using a favorite childhood storybook as an example may be the best way to create a winning infographic.

Judge That Cover

One of my favorite series growing up was The Berenstain Bears. All of the covers were awesome, but I vividly remember the cover of Too Much Junk Food—three bears chowing down on various candies with a disapproving mom looking on. I’ll be the first to admit that as a child I judged every storybook by the cover, and for whatever reason, I loved that cover (and book). It immediately let me know what I was in for: bears, candy, moms being moms and probably more candy. Count me in! Was there a lesson in there about eating healthy? Sure. But the bears and candy lured me in.

The same applies to the header and title of an infographic. What is the reader in for? Bears? Candy? Bears and candy? Spend a little time coming up with an accurate and encompassing title. Wit is always appreciated, but brevity is equally important. If you can, incorporate the title into the design itself. Readers will be lured in before they even know it.

Tell That Story
Sometimes infographics are just lists of statistics or key messages. Queue your inner ten-year-old: “Borrrring!” Who wants to read a storybook filled with percentages? Use your data to tell a story—the same story you referenced in the title. Don’t have the right data? Lean on published and credible research or conduct a survey to obtain your own. Data and content need to reflect the title and tell the corresponding story, otherwise you leave the reader feeling duped. And duped readers tend not to share your infographic or think highly of your brand or company.

Show Those Graphics
Everybody loves a nice moral, but let’s face it—the kids come for the pictures. Be as creative as possible to turn your stats and statements into art. Not everything is as enticing as bears and candy, but almost any stat can be made more visually appealing with the right creative approach. A visually appealing infographic is much more likely to catch a reader’s eye and get read.

Want More?
Here is a great article by Amy Balliett that goes into even greater detail on how to make your infographic a winner.

Numbers = Knowing (and Knowing Matters)

By: Brad Mays, Senior Vice President, Digital, Edelman Austin

Numbers are everywhere. The swipe of your credit card at the airport coffee shop. That phone call you just made. The diagnostics from your engine when your car is in the shop. The Tweet you posted about your weekend on the coast. For every action, there are more ways to capture that activity. And, increasingly, we're finding ways to turn that activity into data and that data into insight.

The River of Data

The numbers we're focused on through our analytics practice in the Southwest are the bits and bytes found in online conversations. These conversations happen not only in the seemingly endless posts in social media but also in the blog post comments, forum discussions, news coverage, photo uploads and anything else that people and machines push to the places where people and machines can find them online.

Currently, in the Southwest region, across the Edelman network and throughout our industry, much of what we're measuring is historical data – what happened (two seconds, hours, days, months ago) as a result of the programs we implemented for our clients. Or, how that new business prospect we're pitching has elevated their message, improved their search rank or inspired conversation around their brand – in the past tense. We make a considerable and growing profit in mining and conveying this information to clients. But, in the end, what we have is a rear-view of success. While we'll continue to conduct this type of analysis, we're measuring the success of a program, campaign or strategy that has been executed.

What we need is a windshield view of what will be successful. Which road ahead will lead to the most efficient form of success? How can we predict who to engage, where to engage them and which words will be most successful in conveying our brand's message? Beyond our media list, who else should be on our list? Where does the brand sit on that list of influencers for the category, and what, specifically, can we do to impact that? It's this level of knowledge that we're focused on in our efforts to build an Edelman insights algorithm.

This effort is under way right now, and it’s really exciting. Working with a cross-functional team that includes mathematicians in New York, analysts in San Francisco and Chicago and developers in the UK, the Southwest digital team is leading a new era of knowing for Edelman that promises to be a sustainable and defensible position in the category of analytics that will secure our position in the industry as those who not only measure but know.

Because knowing matters. More to come.

It’s All About the Numbers

By: Helen Vollmer, President, Edelman Southwest

As we get ready to close out our fiscal year at Edelman, my colleagues and I are spending countless hours looking at excel spreadsheets and peering into that crystal ball as we try to foresee what the future holds in the coming months. Not so easy. But this exercise is also a reminder of the importance of data and how we should use information to inform decisions in new and different ways. Accordingly, this eVolution is all about the numbers. Now, more than ever, data wonks are living the life as the rest of us take what they provide us, analyze it and use it to be more strategic, creative and productive.

No matter your area of expertise, numbers can guide us as we deliberate how to tackle opportunities and challenges. For example, take education, one of my favorite topics:

·         Since 1990 the cost of attending a four-year college has risen at four times the rate of inflation

·         The average salary of college graduates in America has fallen 5 percent since 2008

·         Federal student loans are up 60 percent in the last five years to more than $900 million

·         Nearly 50 percent of four year college graduates now work at jobs that don’t require a college degree

Get the picture?

Any one of these points should get our attention, but combined, the numbers don’t add up to a brighter future for American workers. The key is taking data such as this, no matter the topic, and seriously analyzing the information to develop actionable plans. I’m on a campaign to use numbers for good. Can I count anyone else in?