One of the late George Carlin’s most famous comedy bits was his list of oxymorons, or as he put it words that don’t go together with other words. He used examples such as ‘jumbo shrimp’, ‘exact estimate’ and ‘military intelligence’ to make his point.
There is one more phrase I’d like to add to the list: honest self-evaluation. Pulling off the blinders and seeing ourselves as we really are is one of the most difficult things in the world to do.
We all think we sing a little better than we do (especially after a couple of cocktails), or look better in that dress designed for models who are built like coat hangers, or can decorate our homes as well as Martha Stewart. That’s the way our brains are wired, to make us feel good about ourselves so we can get on with our daily lives instead of curling up into a little ball in the corner as tears of inadequacy roll down our cheeks with only our ever-adoring dogs giving us comfort.
The same is true in business. We often see our PR and marketing programs the way we want to see them instead of the way they really are. There’s nothing like a little confirmation bias to help us avoid the ugly truth.
But just because you believe something doesn’t make it true. That’s why it often helps to bring in another set of eyes to perform a PR and marketing audit of your integrated program. As my recent blog post from the Forbes Agency Council points out, an impartial third party “one that had nothing to do with developing or executing the current program” can often help you see what you’re actually doing well and shore up any areas you might have missed.
It sounds like a simple request: we’re going to be at such-and-such conference or event and we want to secure some media interviews while we’re there. It makes sense, since trade show media interviews have been a staple of public relations pretty much since Glogg launched the wheel at the first Prehistoric Transportation Expo.
The problem is the business and media worlds have changed quite a bit in the last 10 years, particularly in healthcare. Major trade shows such the HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition have grown tremendously. In fact, before it was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns, HIMSS20 was touting that it would have more than 1,300 exhibitors covering 1.2 million square feet of floor space. And they are not the only ones to experience this proportional growth.
In the meantime, the media world has been shrinking. Overall there are fewer reporters and fewer publications. Budget considerations mean that the remaining publications will be sending fewer reporters to cover conferences, and some may not send any at all – even for large conferences such as HIMSS.
You can probably see where I’m headed. With so much competition for so few “prizes” the odds are really stacked against you. That’s why it’s important to be on top of your pitching game.
Here are a few suggestions to help you rise to the top of reporters’ must-see lists and secure more trade show media interviews once in-person conferences are a thing again.
First, be realistic
Back when I started at Amendola Communications, it was not unusual for us to target 7-9 media and analyst appointments for our clients at a major trade show such as HIMSS. That is no longer feasible.
The entire media list at a conference that size may have between 100 and 200 names on it. Of those, only a small percentage are likely to cover your company’s segment, and some of the people within that subset will be publishers who aren’t interested in what you’re selling but instead want to sell you on advertising or marketing with their publications.
If you’re lucky, maybe there are 10 names on that list that are appropriate and valuable for media interviews. It’s unlikely those 10 people only cover your niche, however, so there could be dozens of companies competing for their time.
They are also going to want to attend some of the educational sessions, or take part in other activities, so the time they have to devote to booth or media room interviews is actually fairly limited.
You are unlikely to capture the attention of all 10, so expecting a number even close to that range is simply unrealistic. A more practical number is 2-3. If you secure that many interviews with the right people these days you’re doing well.
At a smaller conference, there may only be 10 reporters (or fewer) attending, no matter what the advance media list says. If you can get even one of those 10 to interview your subject matter experts you’re doing well. That’s just the realities and economics of the media world today.
Building the pitch
Now that you know what you’re up against, and how competitive it really is, it’s time to start building the pitch.
If you’re going to be successful in rising to the top of the must-see list, you need to capture reporters attention. The easiest way NOT to do that is to talk about yourself.
If your pitch starts out “(OUR AWESOME COMPANY) has been in healthcare for 20 years. In that time we have helped dozens of hospitals and health systems (DO SOMETHING GENERIC, LIKE IMPROVE OUTCOMES AND LOWER COSTS) you’re going to wind up with a hard pass. No matter how many follow-up calls you make or how much you beat up your agency to get appointments.
There is nothing in that generic pitch that is interesting or urgent to the reporter. Remember that the first three letters in “news” are “new.”
To secure those trade show media interviews you have to present something rare and valuable, right up-front.
Offer a customer
The absolute gold is customer stories. Reporters always, always, always want to talk to customers. Did I say they ALWAYS want to do that?
If you have a customer to speak with, lead with that. Make it the major part of your pitch. You can also offer to hook them up with your SME while they’re there, but telling them they can speak to a customer who has used your product and produced quantifiable results with it moves you to the head of the class.
Talk about a new product or service
If you don’t have a customer to offer, second in line is the introduction of a new product or service. Not just an upgrade of your existing offering but a true innovation. If you can talk about an industry issue and explain how your solution addresses it in a way that has never been done before, you’re bound to capture some interest.
Lead with industry issues
What if you’re just going to be there with no customers and nothing new? Honestly, it’s going to be tough to secure any trade show media interviews. But you never know a reporter might have a hole or two to fill, or may already be a fan of your organization.
In that case, the best you can do is again start with an industry issue and then go into how you solve it versus starting with your company’s boilerplate or “About Us” from the website and then getting around to the problem you solve.
One other thing to keep in mind: although you may love and admire your CEO, unless he/she has an Elon Musk or Bill Gates level of celebrity is probably not that interesting to a reporter. Talk about an issue, then offer up the CEO as someone who can address the solution.
Try working relationships
One other thing you can try is working good, existing relationships with reporters. If you’ve worked with someone a few times in the past that person may be willing to at least do a “drive-by” an unscheduled stop when he/she has a few free moments.
While not as reliable as confirmed trade show media interviews you never know. The reporter may stumble across something interesting and spend some time checking it out.
Of course, if you don’t have any relationships already it might be a good time to speak with a PR agency that does. I can think of one in particular that has an outstanding reputation with reporters and editors in healthcare and health IT.
An agency with a large client roster will sometimes get opportunities not available to the general public, such as a reporter asking for a list of clients attending the conference so he/she can pick and choose the ones he/she wants to visit. That’s the fast track to a trade show media interviews because the reporter is depending on his/her relationship with the agency to lead him/her to the right clients.
No guarantees
Even with all of those tips there is still no guarantee you’ll get the trade show media interviews you desire. There’s a lot of hard work, and not a small amount of luck, that goes into it.
Still, these tips can help you increase your odds and make your own luck. And if you’d like that agency help, give us a call.
Congratulations! Your amazingly talented PR team just landed an interview for you on a local or national news program, to be conducted via Zoom. Since you regularly use Zoom for video calls, the interview should be a piece of cake. Right?
Well, it’s true that Zoom is arguably the world’s easiest-to-use video platform. It makes remote interviews possible without the need for an elaborate home TV studio set-up. There’s just one catch: you are now your own lighting, audio and make-up crew.
But don’t worry. Part of the appeal of Zoom media interviews is that they bring an authentic, more personal element to conversations between reporters and the people they’re interviewing. So no need to spend hours trying to exactly replicate a professionally produced interview. Just get the following basics down and you’ll project confidence, polish and warmth.
Tip #1: Dress in professional business attire (men, you can skip the tie). Solid blue shirts and tops project well on TV while white might make you look washed out. Avoid busy patterns and dangly or noisy jewelry that will distract the viewer from what you’re actually saying.
Tip #2: Powder your nose and forehead to “de-shine.” Any shine gets exaggerated on TV. If you don’t happen to have a compact of powder on hand, crank up your AC ahead of the interview (unless it’s a loud window unit.)
Tip #3: Get to know Zoom’s “Touch up my appearance” feature. It applies an instant soft focus to your video display, which presents a more polished appearance.
Tip #4: Maintain eye contact with viewers. Look directly at the camera on your computer or laptop screen. Experts suggest putting an arrow pointing to the camera so your eyes are automatically drawn to it.
Tip #5: But it’s okay to occasionally look down at notes if needed. In fact, it’s advisable to have three key points you want to keep in mind written down and placed near you out of view of the camera. When you’re trying to remember a point, it’s better to look down at notes than up at the ceiling. Looking up during an interview actually makes people appear dishonest. You can also prop up your note to the side of your camera to use as “cue cards.”
Tip #6: Use your laptop or desktop computer, not your smartphone. This way your interviewer can record you in landscape mode.
Tip #7: Avoid sitting too close to the camera. For some reason, many people are inclined to get right up into the camera lens. For the eventual viewer this creates the disconcerting experience of a giant face peering back through their computer screen. Sit far enough away from the camera so your head, shoulders and chest are visible.
Tip #8: Put your laptop on a stack of books so that the center of the screen is eye level. This will elongate your neck and instantly hide any double chins. Add or remove books as needed for just the right height.
Tip #9: Make sure light is shining at you, not from behind. Either place a lamp by your computer or sit near a window with natural light so that light falls on your face. If a strong light is shining behind you, viewers will only see your silhouette.
Tip #10: Avoid virtual backgrounds. They’re fun with friends and coworkers, but not appropriate for media interviews. A tidy home office is an ideal background. If you don’t have a dedicated office space, however, be aware of your surroundings. A bed, an open door that leads into a bathroom or a mirror in the background could prove embarrassing. Also, try to find somewhere you can shut out children, pets, etc. so you can avoid this situation:
As for what you say and how you say it during your interviews…that’s a whole different topic called “Media Training.” And everyone, no matter how often they’ve been interviewed by the media, benefit greatly from it. We offer media training right here at Amendola, so reach out to us at info@acmarketingpr.com to learn more.
Another year, another Cision “State of the Media” report.
The 2020 edition, which represents the 11th annual report in the series, surveyed more than 3,200 journalists from across the globe to provide a picture of today’s media landscape. While much of the yearly report generally reads like PR 101 for experienced public relations professionals, it often contains some nuggets of interest that are worth further reflection.
In that spirit, following are a few notes and observations after digesting the 29-page report:
COVID-19 did NOT change everything: In the marketing and public relations worlds, things can seem to change fast, so it can get easy to become caught up in the moment and lose a little long-term perspective. Don’t allow COVID-19 to let that happen to you. Yes, our professional lives during the pandemic are undoubtedly different in many ways, but lots of things in the media world remain largely as they were pre-pandemic. Email is still the preferred method of pitching. Journalists still want to hear from local and national experts who can offer perspectives that illuminate their audiences. To cut through the noise, pitches still need to be timely, relevant and targeted. These things are unlikely to change any time soon.
The media business continues to be brutal: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated what was already a years-long trend of the media business shedding jobs. Journalism advocacy organization Poynter maintains a depressing and frequently updated list of recent industry layoffs that illustrates the severity of the problem. For reporters and editors, a lack of staffing and resources was cited in the Cision report as the biggest challenge they face. For public relations outreach, this presents a challenge as the number of media outlets continues to dwindle, but also represents an opportunity as individual journalists are under pressure to produce higher volumes of content and could use help finding stories.
Press releases are still relevant: In spite of its obituary having been written a number of times over the years, the humble press release remains very much alive. In fact, journalists who took the Cision survey cited the press release (36%) as the most useful of all brand sources, beating out spokespeople (19%), email pitches (13%) and company websites (12%). For marketing and communications professionals, this qualifies as great news: There is still a place in the world for the well-crafted, well-timed and appropriately targeted press release.
The major takeaway? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Given the barrage of news and information we’re confronted with on a daily basis, separating the signal from the noise is rarely easy for anyone let alone journalists dealing with budget cuts and shrinking staffs. Standing apart from the pack requires the same focus and commitment to timely and relevant messaging that it always has.
In my last post, we learned that a key technique to resolving problems is fostering dialogue with another person, or even a group of people. This wisdom comes from the best seller, “Crucial Conversations.”
Having the other person’s best interests in mind goes a long way toward resolving work and personal issues. That seems like a no-brainer. But when emotions get the best of us, conversations can go sideways in a hurry. Truly serving another person’s interests and seeing her point of view start with building mutual purpose and mutual respect during crucial conversations.
Here are some questions to ask oneself before engaging in dialogue:
Do others believe I care about their goals?
Do they trust my motives?
What would I do now if I really wanted to see
results?
You may be saying to yourself: I’m committed to those values, but I can’t get the other person to come around. The authors, through their countless use cases and observations of crucial conversations, admit that sometimes one has to create a mutual purpose. That may involve finding more meaningful goals, or longer-term ones.
It also means adroitly combining confidence, humility and skill to make people feel that they can safely contribute their thinking to a conversation.
Confidence enables various opinions to be contributed to the “pool of meaning” without threat or emotion; humility underscores that others have valuable inputs to contribute; and skill avoids the Fool’s Choice we learned about earlier.
Here are some phrases and questions to consider as you pursue mutual purpose:
“I want to talk about what each of us likes and doesn’t like. That way, we’ll be able to see what we need to do to improve and why”
“It seems like we’re both trying to force our view on each other”
“I commit to staying in our conversation until we have a solution that satisfies both of us”
“I’m beginning to feel you are upset with me. Did I do something to anger you?”
“Does anyone see it differently? Am I missing something here?”
What the authors make abundantly clear in imparting their techniques is they’re not advocating that every decision be made by consensus. “Dialogue does not equal decision-making.”
The real focus is on solving problems and building relationships. And to achieve those things, you need everyone to feel comfortable adding information and
perspective to a discussion.
When people are silent for fear of retribution or respond with vitriol, the results are the same: loss of safety and dialogue. But when they feel they can safely
contribute, the greater the possibility for true dialogue and resolution.
The ultimate goal in all of these techniques is to “aim for progress, not perfection.”
Probably the greatest single piece of advice I’ve ever heard about content creation didn’t come from a college class/professional course, or a boss/mentor, or any other supposed expert source. Instead, it came from the movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” Here it is:
Yes, it’s said in anger and frustration as part of a much longer rant. The whole piece is brutally painful as well as brutally funny.
But within the comedy is a true pearl of wisdom: Try having a point.
Death of a story
We see this all the time. Someone at an organization recognizes that they need to produce content to demonstrate the organization’s expertise so they can gain a competitive advantage.
The organization’s subject matter experts (SMEs), who are very knowledgeable and have strong views on the topics in their wheelhouses, share their ideas and experience with the marketing team and PR agency. They have the makings of a great story that will capture attention and position the organization as a leader in the market.
The content is produced, and it captures the passion and expertise of the SMEs. Then the review rounds start, and by the time the organization is done scrubbing the content what was once a fat, juicy steak has been sanitized until it is reduced to a piece of limp broccoli that will be of interest to exactly no one including an editor.
Sometimes it takes the form of genericizing the content until it sounds like something a high school senior would turn in for a composition class after the grades have already been posted. It’s serviceable, grammatically correct and decently organized, but it no longer conveys the fire that the SME felt for the topic.
Basically, any sense of personality has been removed. That’s bad enough.
Worse are the reviews that take an interesting, informative piece and convert it into a blatant marketing piece for the organization. That might work on the organization’s website, but it won’t fly if you’re trying to get it past an editor for earned (read: non-paid) media.
Of course, even if you could make it past that gatekeeper, there’s really nothing in it for the reader. If they wanted to read marketing-speak they would have gone to your website.
Healthcare’s special challenge
Healthcare organizations have a special challenge because our industry loves us some jargon. It seems like healthcare as a whole never met a technical term or three-letter acronym (TLA) it didn’t like.
It’s almost as if the goal is to make the content as difficult to read as possible, like it requires some sort of book cipher to read it. Which of course goes against the most basic rules of successful selling, where you want to convey information in the easiest-to-understand language to reach the broadest audience possible.
Making content effective
The most effective content is the content that has a point to make and makes it convincingly. It doesn’t just convey information. It grabs the reader or viewer by the lapels and says, “Sit down and listen, because I’m going to tell you something you need to know.”
It then does just that: focuses on what the reader/viewer needs to hear rather than only on what the produce of the content wants to say. But it does it in a way, as Steve Martin’s character says, that is much more interesting for the listener.
In many cases, that means telling a story that has a beginning, middle and end. As humans we are wired to understand information presented in story form. It’s part of our survival mechanism.
The Vanishing Hitchhiker approach
Take urban legends. The point of an urban legend isn’t to get you to believe in the legend itself (although social media may have changed that intention). The point is to warn you that something bad could happen if you’re not careful about certain behaviors, like teenagers parking in a remote area to do the things teenagers do.
But even when we’re not warning about the dangers of parking near insane asylums when a resident with a hook for a hand escapes, stories help give us context we can use to process information and ultimately take an action. For marketing that means becoming interested in our product or service.
That doesn’t mean every piece of content must tell a story. But unless it’s a data or spec sheet, it needs to be interesting enough to capture and keep our attention, especially when so much else is competing for it these days.
The point is…
If you make your content bland, or plain vanilla, it’s true you’re unlikely to offend anyone. But you’re also unlikely to persuade anyone either.
If your goal is to capture hearts, minds and ultimately sales leads, be sure your content has a point. It’s so much more interesting for the listener/reader/viewer.
