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Online video is now the most popular of the social media tools with 62% of communicators recently agreeing that video is relevant to their role.  Runners up were RSS and web feeds, but this just shows the popularity of online video.

We live in a world of information overload, bombarded with news every minute of the day. And video is relevant, has a direct impact and delivers a consistency of message that makes it ideal for thought leaders, CEOs and to help organisations tell their story.  Video lets our clients talk directly and consistently to their intended audience, and it brings their story to life. 

For organistions or leaders communicating with their employees or publics, video is a powerful tool for a geographical diverse business.  And of course, it can help you communicate with the press in a direct way; your client talking direct to them.

Video can be used for:

• CEO or leader presentations
• training
• storytelling – support case studies and press releases
• product introductions and updates
• quarterly presentations and stakeholder/sharehold presentations
• news desk

The challenges of video production often lie in the delivery method. For example, if the video is intended mainly for internal use within the organisation, most internal networks, even now, can’t handle video. At the outside, you will have to render or convert to .flv format at a certain pixel aspect ratio and resolution. You will really need to understand the bandwidth limitations of your current technical solution.

But good video is not an easy art.  There is a thought process to be considered before anything else.  You are moving from face to face presentation to the virtual world so think short, snappy TV shows, for a starter.  Make sure you tailor the content of your video to the audience, for the presenter or talking head, use the person who has the most impact.  This is likely to be the CEO or head of division/department.  

Then tailor the content of your video to the audience. Make sure this is ‘front loaded’ with the majority of the impact of the message in the first 3 to 4 mins of the video.  Whether you are producing casual or more formal interviews remember the following tips:

1. Keep the general tone informal – it helps convey the message
2. Keep the messages and sections short and sharp – to keep attention
3. Have a variety of views of speakers or presenters
4. Think about the setting – people want to see the environment of the film to set the context

Also, you will need to consider production values. Video is now so widely available and anyone, virtually,can make a video. To exacerbate the problem there is free video editing software and video can be recorded on phones, cameras, webcams etc, so people can be led to believe that poor quality is ok. We have had clients ask us to use webcams to record the CEO on video, or if we are tight on time, clients have offered to try some editing on their free software.  This only highlights the ignorance there is around the art and skill in producing video. 

Whilst video does not have to be expensive these days, there is a big risk in doing it too cheaply.  

• don’t use webcams, phones etc to produce video to communicate your messages
• Don’t use cheap software to edit

Video has to be professional, yet engaging, to be believable and impactful. Finally, consider where it will be consumed or watched (internet or intranet or via DVD? For a short form film aim for around 3 to 5 mins. And for those ‘talking heads’ remember the:

• frame
• lighting and use of shadows
• background

There is so much to good video making.  More to follow in future posts.

Measuring the value of online PR is perhaps even more critical than any form of PR.  Online PR measurement will not only help in justifying the investment, it will help you to understand SEO and optimise efforts.

As with any marketing practice, it all starts with well defined outcomes.  What is the goal of online PR?  Is it to position the brand or client as expert or thought leader? Or is it about coverage and brand awareness?  What is the proposition and what key messages support this?  For example, if the goal is about positioning the client along the lines of certain key messages, then measuring key message usage in connection with news and PR content at regular intervals can demonstrate achievement of objectives.

Online PR metrics should include the traditional clippings evaluation:

• Title
• Headline
• URL
• Photo or not?
• Content
• Tone of piece
• Origin
• Quote or not?
• Key Messages
• Column cm or screen coverage etc

But the following are critical for online PR:

• Google and Yahoo alerts
• Web Analytics
• social media monitoring
• SEO rankings and mentions
• inbound links
• pick up on blogs
• pick up on other websites and online publications
• conversions ie downloads of pdfs or white papers, hits on landing pages, newsletter sign ups, twitter followers etc

However remember the golden rule: optimise for your readers (ie people) and only write for SEO secondary. 

The next post will cover optmisation tips for PR writing.

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Writing online press releases is an art. The basic rules of press release writing still apply, yet there is the subtle craft of web writing, SEO optimisation and structure that need to be captured in the online form.

Let’s remind ourselves of the basics. Start global and in subsequent paragraphs move into the specific. A strong headline that grabs the eye and draws interest enough for the reader to continue is a must have. The first paragraph should support the headline, explain it, and outline the entire story. It must paint the ‘big picture’. The structure of the entire release, which is usually no longer than 250 words (perhaps 350 for mainly trade or technical press), should then have a natural flow. A beginning, middle and and ending to some extent and certainly explain the why, what and how of the story.

The subsequent 5 or 6 paragraphs should go increasingly into the specific detail of the story and include any supporting information. The less interesting or supporting detail should be left until the end, but interspered to help bring the story to life the people involved in the story can be quoted to help tell it. The standard tools of editors notes, contacts, supporting information should all be used at the end of the piece, and clearly indicated as such.

Now we come on to the basic rules of web writing. It has to help the eye: readers’ attention spans are shorter on the web (and in general these days), and it is also more difficult for the eye to read on a screen. So remember the following:

Chunky – keep the paragraphs chunky, short and never long. Help the eye flow through the piece and break it up with headers and images for longer pieces

Relevant – know your target audience inside out, picture them (him or her) as you write the release, and use words that talk his language. Make sure that you keep the content, images, timing all relevant for the target audience. It may be that the first para or two need to be tailored or adapted for a different target audience and this is all you need to make it relevant

Accurate – digital communication can encourage sloppiness, SMS is a case in hand. But if you spend time and effort making sure your writing is gramatically and factually correct, with no spelling errors, you will be more successful, credible and believable in what you write

Brief – anything you write for PR, and especially for the web, has more impact with fewer words. Write your release.  Then re-read and edit, re-read and edit, re-read and edit … and then cut out another 10 per cent of words. Then you’ll have perfection!

Scannable – does the copy scan well? Do it draw the eye down and catch and keep attention.  Can someone scan it quickly and get the gist of the story in one scan?  Make sure the answer is yes to all these questions.

 

And now for the grand finale of online release writing. Both the headline and the copy, particulary the first few paragraphs of the body, need to be keyword rich.  This copy needs to include a mix of keyword phrases that people use to search for information on the web.  To achieve this you will need an insight into what words and phrases searchers use to find information on the web. Optimised news will attract more journalists and customers alike.  And research consistently shows that these readers use the web as their preferred medium for finding out news about your clients products and services.

Links are also critical, both to provide helpful insight, information and additional support for your readers and to help with SEO so that your news is easier to find.  Internal and external links are equally as important. As are inbound links from external websites. And this is certainly one reason why having your online media centre on an independent domain – i.e. not a subdomain of your main site – helps with your SEO. So make use of the online release distribution sources such as PR Wire, cisionwire, Response Source etc.

Tags are important considerations but you should only aim for around four per release and they need to be directly relevant to that release, and not a blanket ‘brand name’ repetition. And don’t forget the RSS feed – your releases will need to have their own unique feed if you really want to give journalists the edge in finding your news quickly.  They can subscribe to your feeds via email download, browsers or burn them into their feedreaders to have your news pushed into their inboxes as soon as you issue it. There’s more to writing press releases in the digital age than meets the eye, and its time for PROs to get web savvy.

Public relations activities can add a massive boost to your SEO rankings as well as getting you in the news.  And don’t just think press releases, think digital content instead. Anything that can be searched can be optimised, and that only presents opportunity for us web savvy PROs to add value to our clients online coverage.  Journalists and buyers alike are all searching for their latest product information and news online these days, so you need to make the content published to the web as part of PR efforts easy to find via search engines.

Examples of what you need to think about optimising include:

• Press releases
• online newsrooms
• press kits and packs
• blogs
• features and case studies
• white papers
• webinars
• newsletters
• videos
• podcasts

Digital assets such as audio, images, video etc can be optimised for SEO and promoted for use outside of PR too, aim to get multiple bang for your bucks.  Embed them in eNewsletters or turning page brochures for maximum impact across the sensory continuum.  It will build credibility and story telling.

Of course, there is a careful art in the creation of keywords and phrases and this should be managed, evaluated, recorded and reviewed as professionally as all your other PR activity. More later …..

For more advice, visit our website Changeworks Communications.

After working hard to put together a strong pitch, Changeworks Communications (of which I am MD) has won a national contract to handle the PR for The National Skills Academy for Manufacturing. 

As well as setting up a dedicated online media centre, Changeworks will generate regular regional, corporate and digital stories to support awareness of The Skills Academy, an organisation tasked by the Government to deliver an independent national standard for training in the manufacturing sector.   As well as maximising traditional channels of trade press, regional and national press, Changeworks and using online PR channels and campaigns to maximise coverage for the employer-led organisation.

Read the full release on our media centre.