Author: Heather Sliwinski

PRSA New Professionals Brown Bag: Evolution of the Prototype Marketer

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The lines between marketing, public relations and technology departments are blurring, as digital platforms have revolutionized the way we communicate. Employers struggle to recruit and retain professionals qualified for positions that did not exist even three years ago.

The job market is changing, and new professionals need to change with it if they want to succeed in a new world of marketing. More and more, organizations are seeking hybrid professionals who are highly proficient writers, analytical, creative and tech savvy, with strong competencies in business, IT and human behavior.

The PRSA New Professionals Section invites you to join Paul Roetzer and Tracy Lewis of PR 20/20 on Monday, March 25 from 12 to 1 p.m. EST for a lively discussion highlighting how new professionals can become hybrids and keep their skills sharp in emerging core marketing disciplines such as email, mobile, analytics, social networking, web, search and content.

This brown bag seminar is free for New Pros Section members. It’s not too late to register here. We hope to see you there!

 

Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer) is founder and CEO of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency; author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint (Wiley); and creator of Marketing Agency Insider—the hub for a more open and collaborative agency ecosystem—and Marketing Score—a free assessment tool and marketing intelligence engine.

Tracy Lewis (@Tracy_J_Lewis) is a consultant at PR 20/20 where she is involved with client services and account management activities. She is also the community manager for Marketing Agency Insider, the hub for a more open and collaborative agency ecosystem. She joined the agency in March 2009 after graduating from Ohio University, and is a Certified Inbound Marketing Professional. 

When It Comes to Social Data, Tell a Story

Heather Sliwinski 2 Comments

If you’ve been paying attention to trends in measurement and analytics, you’ve likely heard the phrase big data, which is this utopian concept that describes the extraordinary amount of data that exists in our hyperconnected world. This amount of data also presents organizations with the opportunity to translate it into actionable insight. It’s a great concept, but it often challenges public relations professionals that are already trying to mine the seemingly unlimited social data and present it in a meaningful way.

One of the biggest mistakes PR professionals make is overthinking social data. With the often unmanageable amount of data we now have from Facebook Insights, Twitter analytics, social monitoring tools like Radian6 and Sysomos and more, it becomes easier to have a lack of focus.

So, where do you start? When it comes to telling a story with the data, adopt the principles established by journalism: tell a story by answering who, what, where, when and why. Using this framework can help you tell a story that will help make a more meaningful impact with your clients and bosses. You can apply the five Ws framework to social media monitoring reports, social channel reports (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), trends and industry reports and other vehicles for delivering social data.

Below are the key components for each section when telling a story with data:

Who

In every good story, there is a cast of characters that you follow. In social data, these characters comprise your target audience. Reports should answer who is talking about your brand and what their character traits are. Knowing the audience and understanding different demographic information can help you and your clients be more informed about who your social audience is.

What

What is your audience saying? What are the topics of conversation? Providing context and more qualitative analysis can add a sort of plot line to the story you’re trying to tell with the data. The answers to “what” can be social metrics around brand sentiment, the level of penetration when it comes to key messages or a breakdown of what the topics include.

Where

One of the most important questions your data can answer is from where the data is coming. Understanding which platforms are hosting social conversations about your clients can help inform where future marketing dollars should go. For instance, if you’re spending your entire budget on Facebook, but your social monitoring reveals a large amount of conversation occurring on discussion forums, it would be reevaluating where your marketing dollars are going.

When

In a story, timing is often a key element that impacts how the story plays out. This is also true with social data – cadence and scheduling can help drive more impact for your clients. For instance, if you have a food brand and your social data reveals that the majority of social conversations are happening late at night, consider adjusting your content and social community management to reflect this.

Why

This question is perhaps the most difficult to answer. Who, what, where and when are mostly observations that can be made, but answering why requires higher level of analysis. When building out your story, always ask why for each observation you make. Having a clear understanding of the psychology behind the data can help you pull more meaningful insight.

Working in PR, you probably never thought you would be leveraging similar traits to authors and storytellers. However, translating all of the data that goes across your computer screen into an easily digestible story can help you demonstrate value for your clients.

 

Nick Lucido

Nick Lucido joined Edelman as an intern in May 2009 and is currently an account executive within Edelman Digital. Lucido is a member of the firm’s digital strategy team, providing online conversation research, measurement analysis and strategic insights for clients in a variety of industries. He is the PRSA New Professionals Section PRSSA liaison.

March Twitter Chat Highlights: Personal Branding vs. Personal Marketing

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We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the March #NPPRSA Twitter chat.

Specifically, we’d like to thank our co-host for the month, YouTern and their #InternPro chat for joining us.

Join us again on April 11 at 9 p.m. ET for the next #NPPRSA Twitter chat.

Review highlights of the chat below. What did you learn from the March chat? What do you value in a personal brand? How do you identify and use your unique value in marketing yourself to others?

 

 

Amy Bishop is the digital marketing manager for Cru Global, a faith-based nonprofit. Bishop helps align Cru’s global marketing, branding and digital strategies with new technology systems to move Cru toward a social business strategy that improves customer experience and increases revenue. She is the social media chair for the PRSA New Professionals Section. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Intro to Agency PR

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Upon graduation from college almost five years ago, I noticed a common trend among entry-level job descriptions for which I was applying: public relations agency experience was preferred and sometimes even required. I had held a number of jobs and internships in the industry throughout my college career, but none were with an agency. I didn’t understand why working at an agency was put on a pedestal, but I knew that getting that experience would be an important step in my career.

After working in marketing for a couple of years, I decided to make the switch to agency PR. I found that agency life posed its own unique challenges, and new professionals should learn to expect a few commonalities among agencies when attaining the gold standard of PR experience.

Learn to juggle

The ability to multitask is not only crucial, but it is at the crux of your job. While some larger agencies may have individuals working on just one client account, many agencies will have a team dedicated to a handful of clients. These clients may all be in the same industry, such as consumer products or health care, or they may run the gamut of industries. New professionals in agencies will have to quickly learn their clients’ businesses, products and services inside and out. You must become an expert in each of these industries so you can communicate effectively and in an educated way.

One of the biggest differences between agency and corporate communications is how you prioritize. At an agency, you can’t prioritize one client over another. They all need equal attention, and if your five clients each have a last-minute project at 5 p.m. on a Friday, the work needs to get done for all five clients. At a corporation, you may have the flexibility to prioritize one project over another—not so at an agency. Be prepared for long hours, but great client relationships and invaluable experience as a result.

Learn to accept every opportunity

I now realize why agency experience is preferred by many employers, having lived agency life. New professionals will gain experience in almost every PR task—building media lists, media monitoring, pitching reporters, drafting press releases, managing social media accounts and creating PR plans. Nothing is off limits for an entry-level PR professional.

Take advantage of this opportunity. While it might seem overwhelming at first to try to master everything an agency has to offer, doing is the best way of learning. When I first started, I would volunteer to tag along on a Saturday morning to a radio station to observe a client interview or come up with pitch ideas from breaking news. In a year and a half, there aren’t many skills I haven’t attempted to master. Not only do you build your skill set, but you become the go-to person on the team when questions arise—no longer just a worker bee, but an invaluable member of the team.

Learn to speak up

When I first started at my agency, I was apprehensive to speak up. Not only did I feel like the new kid in a room of PR experts, but I wasn’t sure how the hierarchy would play out in an agency. I learned that not only was sharing ideas encouraged, it was expected! Don’t expect to be making copies forever. Agencies want to see their staff grow into strategic thinkers and creative minds. Senior leaders like new professionals who take initiative and share their ideas, whether it’s for a client project or proposing a more efficient way to get the work done.

It’s also extremely important to keep your career goals in mind. Don’t keep it a secret if there is a specific project on which you want to work. Not only does asking for specific projects show passion, but it allows you to share your unique interests and skills. Just because you are a new professional doesn’t mean you have nothing to bring to the table. Since my prior position was in marketing, I had experience in redesigning websites. When one of our clients was looking to redesign their website, I jumped at the chance to not only use my past experience, but also lead a project I really enjoyed. I now have two company website redesigns under my belt and a happy client.

Maybe you are a passionate Pinner and can launch a client Pinterest page, or maybe you love to write and a press release needs to be prepared. Don’t be shy in asking for what you want!

 

While switching to an agency was overwhelming at first, the experience has had so much to offer. If you take advantage of the wealth of opportunities agencies offer, you can build an amazing foundation for the rest of your PR career. What other advice would you give new pros heading for agency life? What was the biggest lesson you learned?

 

Heather SliwinskiHeather Sliwinski is an account executive at KemperLesnik, a Chicago-based public relations agency, providing media relations and social media services to a variety of B2B clients. Previously, she held positions in marketing and event planning for corporations, nonprofits and higher education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications with an emphasis in strategic communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sliwinski is the blog co-chair and chair-elect for the PRSA New Professionals Section. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.

 

Why the New Professional is the Face of Diversity

Heather Sliwinski 5 Comments

Over the years, diversity has had an identity crisis. It has experienced its fair share of definitions and ups and downs among fragmented industries and advocacy groups. Many wanted to claim diversity as part of their entity yet didn’t fully comprehend what it even meant.

That’s all about to change, and here’s why: the new public relations professional defines everything that diversity is and is poised to set the tone for organic diversity for generations to come. The younger demographic of communications professionals has grown up in a culture of inclusivity almost unbeknownst to them. To this generation, diversity has come naturally.

We owe this in large part to those advocates before us who have laid the foundation for this innate receptiveness towards diversity. We also witnessed right before our eyes the transformation of America’s population – watched as its minority population became a majority and how large and small companies alike began recognizing them as consumers. Moreover, perhaps it was also our parents or our government who early on instilled in us that everyone is created equal.

For whatever reason, our generation is different, and new professionals are at the forefront of this change. So what does this mean for PR professionals? It means that we are charged with carrying on this diversity torch throughout the entire course of our careers. To do that, we must think of diversity in a different light than what we’ve been accustomed to thinking.

Diversity is defined as being of a different kind, form, character, etc. So, in a way, aren’t we all diverse? Our race, ethnicity, age and gender are only a small and superficial portion of what make us unique. The true value of diversity lies not in identifying, isolating or targeting the diverse, but in aiming towards total inclusivity of everyone’s ideas.

Diversity is a proven success factor across a wide range of industries. In a recent article on The Atlantic, an executive from Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods, said that their efforts to attract more women to the company resulted in overall more tight-knit and vocal team.

“The men who come into our organization who are excited about the fact that we have diversity as a goal are generally the people who are better at listening, they’re better at group learning, they’re better at collaboration, they’re better at communication,” said Kellan Elliott-McCrea, chief technology officer, Etsy.

Imagine what such a thing does for PR professionals – to not just boast diversity in our strategic outreach plans, but to embody it from within our organizations. This trend will ensure that all the publics with whom we communicate are heard. It’s up to new professionals to create the PR campaign that once and for all ends the identity crisis that has plagued diversity in the past.

 

Carolina MadridCarolina Madrid is vice president of diversity for PRSA and director of programs for PRSA San Francisco Chapter. She works in the Corporate/Financial Practice of Burson-Marsteller in San Francisco, where she advises clients on mainstream and Hispanic market media strategy.