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By early afternoon Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed a second case of the new coronavirus on American soil. With cases now being detected in Europe and across Asia, the world is watching and worrying about the potential spread of this dangerous virus. There are 63 cases being monitored in the U.S. that stretch across 22 states, including the first patient in Washington state and the new case in Illinois, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Officials said the new patient, a woman in her 60s, is doing well and is in stable condition. She remains isolated in a hospital as a precaution, U.S. health officials said on a conference call with reporters. The Illinois patient traveled to China in late December and began experiencing symptoms when she returned to the U.S. last week, officials said. She did not have symptoms while flying, they said. “She was not symptomatic when flying. And based on what we know now about this virus, our concern for transmission before symptoms develop is low, so that is reassuring,” Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s public health commissioner, said on the call. January 24 – CNBC As this story progresses – there are a lot of questions journalists are asking. How is this virus spread? How worried do Americans need to be about the coronavirus? Are there warning signs or methods to prevent the spread? And how far away are we from a vaccination? If you are a journalist covering this developing issue – let our experts help. Dr. Jian Zhang has worked with the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization prior to moving to the United States. He obtained a Doctorate in Public Health from the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina before he joined the faculty of Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. He is available to speak with journalists regarding the coronavirus and its origins and its potential to spread across America – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Social Media Spaces Can Be Instruments of God’s Unconditional Love, Theologian Says
Being 'always on' can be a source of anxiety or sorrow, but it also can be a way to strengthen faith, Baylor author says Many of us are “always on” — scrolling through social media, checking email or searching the web, says author Angela Gorrell, Ph.D., assistant professor of practical theology at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. In her book “Always On,” she writes about how social media spaces can be instruments of God’s unconditional love — but also sources of anxiety, jealousy and depression. With the arrival of 2020 — and its potential for change for the better — she discusses in this Q&A some tools for understanding social media and enabling Christian communities to address its use in constructive ways. Q: From your perspective as a practical theologian, are the social media strategies you recommend aimed solely at people of faith? Dr. Gorrell: Practical theology takes different forms. Ultimately, I aim to write about issues — like social media — that matter to people and shine the light of the Gospel on them. I also research and write about theology and faith in practice, how people express and perform their values, hopes and beliefs through practices, rituals, disciplines, activities, relationships, work—through their way of life. While I write about social media from a Christian perspective, much of what I have written about using social media mindfully and having “interested conversation” about media is applicable to people from a variety of religious and philosophical perspectives. Q: There is much talk about how people spend too much time on social media, to the point of ignoring family and friends when in their presence. How much is too much? And what problems can this create for people? Dr. Gorrell: The most important thing for people to realize is that how you spend time online is more important than how much time you spend online. There are a variety of issues that “passive,” unintentional, unregulated, time online can extend and nurture. I say extend because all of these issues can also be in-person issues. For example, empathy burnout, depression, anxiety and jealousy. We often encounter an enormous amount of suffering online. The amount of suffering and the velocity of these encounters — and rapidly seeing multiple examples back to back in articles or our newsfeeds — can nurture empathy burnout. We can become numb to the suffering we see online and take in but do nothing about it or think very little of it. Likewise, being on social media and passively scrolling through people’s status updates, tweets and stories for unbounded sets of time and looking at copious amounts of content but never replying, messaging, posting or sharing has been linked to depression and anxiety. Similarly, passive following, which is following people closely that we do not know (e.g., celebrities) or people we do not see regularly in person (e.g., high school friends) has been linked to jealousy, which can negatively impact how we perceive ourselves and our lives . . . When we see someone a lot in person or talk to them regularly by phone, we know that their lives have a lot more going on than what they are sharing online. Q: What strategies do you suggest help people use social media wisely? Dr. Gorrell: The goal is meaningful participation. I encourage people to limit passive scrolling and following as much as possible. Create something and share it online. Join conversations. Reply to people’s statuses rather than just clicking emojis. When you see that someone is celebrating, share their joy in a significant way. Share it as your status with a note of congratulations or text them or call them. When you notice someone is mourning, message them. When you encounter suffering online, stop scrolling and do something in response. Get offline, take a walk and pray about this suffering. Give money to an organization that is relieving this suffering. Find other articles and educate yourself on the issue. Learn more about how to help or how to invite other people to care. Q: Any suggestions as to how and where people might create a space to ask and answer questions about social media use? Dr. Gorrell: Asking powerful questions about people’s online experiences that encourage storytelling and helping each other think about new media can happen around the dinner table, in a church small group or on a road trip in the car. When family and friends ask each other about one another’s lives, we can include asking questions about and discussing social media experiences. We can ask curious, open-ended questions without simple yes or no answers like: 1. How do you make decisions about what to respond to online? 2. Have you ever been frustrated or sad about new forms of technology? What causes frustration or sadness for you? 3. When have you had a joyful experience online? Could you describe a time when you felt heard, affirmed or understood online? 4. How does social media help you love God and others and/or prevent you from loving God and others? 5. When have you had a painful experience online? Could you describe a time when you felt unheard, bullied, left out or misunderstood online? 6. What are the top two feelings you experience when using social media, and why do you think this is so? Q: How can we do a better job of using social media? Dr. Gorrell: Develop a rhythm for life with your friends or family that specifically addresses technology — when you will use it and for what purposes, when you will not use it, what boundaries you will have. Using social media constructively requires intentionality. I encourage people to find times in their week or month or year to not use devices and social media and to write down their plan on a calendar. A college student told me that he and his friends put all their phones in the center of the table at restaurants and say that the first person to pick up their phone during dinner pays the entire bill. Since they started this ritual, no one has picked up a phone during dinner. Practices like these help people to be present to people they are with in person. It is a great idea to put all devices away at night one to two hours before bed so minds and bodies can get prepared for sleep. I know families that have a basket for this purpose in their homes. I especially encourage parents to make sure children under 18 do not have a device in their room during sleeping hours so they can get adequate rest. I invite people to consider turning off notifications from all social media platforms and email and only check apps and email at a certain time each day. It is also important to have a plan for difficult moments and conversations online. What will you do when you get angry, disagree with someone else or feel depressed about your life or feel left out? What will you do next? It is equally important to think about what you will use social media for. How can you use social media to love people well, truly stay connected to people, expand your thinking on certain subjects, remain humble and open to being corrected, and nurture your creativity and increase your compassion? How might meaningful participation online support goals like these? ABOUT ANGELA GORRELL Angela Gorrell, Ph.D., assistant professor of practical theology at Baylor’s Truett Seminary, is the author of “Always On: Practicing Faith in a New Media Landscape,” which addresses the perils and possibilities of Christian faith in an era of massive technological change. She also is writing a book that addresses America’s crisis of despair, illuminated by its suicide rates and opioid addiction, and describes joy as the counteragent to despair. Gorrell earned a bachelor’s degree in youth ministry from Azusa Pacific University and an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary. She came to Baylor from the Yale Center for Faith and Culture at Yale Divinity School, where she developed relationships with more than 250 scholars from roughly 150 institutions on four continents while managing metrics and evaluation for the project. She has more than 14 years of experience in congregational and parachurch ministry, including serving as a chaplain at a women’s maximum-security prison. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT GEORGE W. TRUETT THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary is an orthodox, evangelical school in the historic Baptist tradition that equips God-called people for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, Truett Seminary provides theological education leading to the Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, Master of Theological Studies, Doctor of Ministry and Ph.D. in Preaching. The MACM and MTS degrees also can be completed at the seminary’s Houston campus. In addition, Truett Seminary offers joint degrees: M.Div./M.S.W. and M.T.S./M.S.W. with the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, M.Div./M.B.A. with the Hankamer School of Business, M.Div./J.D. with Baylor Law School, M.Div./M.M. with the School of Music and M.Div./M.S.Ed. or M.Div./M.A. with the School of Education. Visit www.baylor.edu/truett to learn more.
MEDIA RELEASE: Changes to Out-of-Country Medical Coverage Now in Effect
CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) is reminding travellers that changes to out-of-country medical coverage in Ontario are now in effect, prompting the need to review travel insurance coverage. “We are working to educate travellers to make sure they know what they are buying. We are an organization founded to help keep our members safe, and coverage while travelling abroad is a big part of that,” said Elliott Silverstein, director, government relations, CAA Insurance. “Travel insurance protects from unexpected and costly emergencies and it’s important to evaluate available coverage, based on personal needs, to determine how to best safeguard you and your family. This is even more important now that there is no coverage through OHIP.” Some of the key things to consider when it comes to buying travel insurance are how many trips you are taking a year; if you want comprehensive coverage or medical-only insurance; and whether or not the insurance provider offers additional assistance such as interpreters, hospital recommendations and other coordination services. Additional tips to consider when buying travel insurance Ask questions. Speak to a knowledgeable travel insurance advisor that understands your needs. Be honest. It is important that you answer any questionnaire accurately to disclose any pre-existing conditions, and ensure you have the proper coverage suited specifically for you, so you can travel with peace of mind. Build travel insurance into your travel plans. Purchasing travel insurance must be done in your home province. As you begin to consider your next destination, add travel insurance to your “to do” list. Don’t base your decision on price alone. Look at what coverage is most appropriate for your circumstances and consider all different types of plans and levels of protection. Questions to ask: What are the eligibility and exclusions? What is the pre-existing and stability clause? What are the benefit limits? How many days am I covered? Is there a deductible? Do they offer upfront payment if a claim occurs? It’s important to remember that the intent of travel medical insurance is to treat emergency conditions, and return you to your home province for ongoing treatment once your medical condition is stabilized. Emergency travel medical insurance may require completion of a medical health questionnaire depending on age. Medical questionnaires determine premium, NOT coverage. Always answer questions related to your health accurately If you aren’t sure how to answer, ask your physician to help you. For more information resources on travel insurance and what you need to know before you travel, go to: https://www.caasco.com/insurance/resource-centre/travel.
There’s no Tour de France for women; it’s time to address the inequity in professional cycling
Since the Passing of Title IX, there have been many improvements in accessibility for girls and women in sports. This trend has not been as strong for some sports, like competitive cycling. “We know that when we look at numbers for licensed riders in the U.S., 15% are women, and that means 85% of competitive cyclists are men,” said Erin Ayala, Ph.D. “Because races are generally run by private organizations, they don’t fall under the Title IX umbrella. It looks very different. They can say that because only 15% of women are in the field, they think they don’t need to add more races so women can participate. This then creates concerns regarding skill development and safety while racing.” As a cyclist who races nationally, Dr. Ayala can attest that women cyclists are treated very differently than men. “I did a large national investigation on the experiences to find out what the factors are that affect participation for women in competitive cycling. A lot of women spoke of importance of creating an encouraging and supportive atmosphere. They'd say, 'If I have people on sidelines cheering me on, that means the world to me.' “Another piece was that race promoters and directors sometimes combine women with master’s men, 50-60-year-old men, to help with field sizes, but that can create a toxic environment because women are racing with older men who may not want them to be there. Women are also paired with younger junior cyclists, which can feel condescending and patronizing because it results in shorter or easier races. “In a lot of races women race shorter distances or durations than the men, which can feel insulting. There’s no Tour de France for Women. It’s a tough atmosphere. Then there are the podium girls, women in high heels and makeup whose job it is to stand next to the male racers to give them their prizes and a kiss on the cheek. The underlying assumption is those women are there to accessorize the male racers. It speaks to the gender dynamics in those sports. “Things that decrease participation are unsupportive environments where women feel they do not belong, inequitable fields, and unequal prize pools; sometimes men are paid more money to win the same race as women. We have good hard data to talk about it. We need to do better, and one of biggest themes that came out of it was ‘Build it and we will come. Invest in us, and we will start to show up more often.’ We are hoping to create some change in communities and nationally to make more room for women in a sport that does not have many women. Are you a journalist covering this topic and looking to book an interview? That’s where we can help. Dr. Erin Ayala is a licensed psychologist and core faculty member in the counseling psychology doctoral program at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She is also an expert in the areas of women’s health and sports psychology. To book an interview with Dr. Ayala – simply click on her icon to arrange a time. Read more on Dr. Ayala's research: https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2020-V12-I1-9912.
Is your social media ready for when the next crisis strikes? Let our experts help!
At the National Institute for Social Media, response plans are the priority. A response plan is the high-level look, or the umbrella overview, that crisis management falls under. Your response plan details how you respond to positive, negative feedback, and any neutral feedback that comes your way. Take a compliment and make the most out of it: Positive feedback feels like you’re off the hook. If feedback is all positive, you feel like you don’t have to do anything. But that’s your opportunity to nurture and strengthen those who are already your supporters. They then become your brand champions. Avoid the neutral zone traps – react and respond accordingly: Questions or posts that aren’t really positive or negative land in neutral space, and that’s really not crisis communication, responding to those is just good customer service. When crisis strikes: If you have a crisis, most people associate it with an isolated event, and sometimes you can plan for it, sometimes you can’t. A few years ago, when Nordstrom’s discontinued Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, they anticipated a negative backlash by those who would accuse them of being politically motivated. They stated sales was the reason, and 100 percent came out neutral, but they could anticipate that particular feedback. Whereas, in the viral video of a passenger being physically dragged off an airplane, the airline couldn’t have anticipated that event. However, with an online response plan, they would have been prepared to respond to the unexpected event. A quick response is important but an informed response is more important than anything else. If it fits the situation, you may buy yourself time to do a little research by commenting that you’ve passed their question on and will respond soon. If you don’t have a strategic plan to fall back on, and you respond quickly but poorly, you run the risk of doing more harm than good. With an online response plan, people understand how to assess a given situation. Respond: To show transparency, we want everyone to see we are responding to customer; we have a planned response where we acknowledge the customer. Take offline: Give them an offline option for sharing additional information. Resolve: This allows the customer to have their issue resolved and be heard but discourages them from sharing ugly details on that highly visible platform. The plan is for a social media manager to have a path when they don’t know what to do. The viral airplane video is one example because by the time their social media people saw it, it was already going viral. They had every indication they should be panicking. Did they have a person to talk to help them make the decision about how it needs to be addressed? For those crises we can’t anticipate, there needs to be a clear path to a leader who can help with this difficult situation. One of my favorite things to tell people is that you don’t have to be victimized online just because you’re a professional organization. You can set up community guidelines. Some businesses think, what if someone starts using racial slurs or inappropriate comments? You can post community guidelines that state these are our expectations of how our customers can participate respectfully, and we reserve the right to delete your content. You can set the expectation that you want people to engage respectfully. You have to get to the heart of what people are really asking or wanting. In the case of Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, nobody was upset because Nordstrom’s wasn’t carrying the clothing line; what they were really upset about was that a large organization could be taking a political stance against the at-that-time republican candidate. Are you looking to know more about how corporations and institutions need to be prepared and how they need to react when bad news goes viral? That’s where we can help. Amy Jauman is social media expert, consultant, writer, and professor at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Dr. Jauman authored a (National Institute for Social Media) NISM textbook for social media strategists and is available to speak to speak with media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Optimizing Expertise in the Higher Education Sector: Southern Utah University
Higher education institutions are amongst the wealthiest knowledge-based organizations when it comes to expert resources. While many of these organizations acknowledge the value of their in-house experts, they often struggle to harness their expertise and communicate their strengths to external audiences. But when higher education institutions do take steps to market their expertise, the payoff is exponential. Here’s how Southern Utah University (SUU) leveraged expertise marketing to celebrate their staff, grow their digital presence and drive close to a 10x increase in media inquiries. Embracing Expertise SUU has been acknowledged as a leading university in the U.S. Most recently, the U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Best Colleges list ranked SUU as one of the top Regional Universities in the West and the highest-ranked public school in all of Utah. Southern Utah University President, Scott L. Wyatt, attributes these accolades to the people within his organization: “Our faculty and staff have dedicated themselves to creating the best educational experience at Southern Utah University,” said Wyatt. “This recognition acknowledges their success and the wonderful learning community they have created!” In fact, SUU is so proud of their people that their initial motivation for expertise marketing was to show their experts exactly how much they were valued. SUU’s faculty and staff bring a wealth of expertise in their professional disciplines, but they’re also deeply immersed in the university’s culture and surrounding environment – including the region’s breathtaking national parks. With this in mind, SUU set out to celebrate their experts’ professional and personal achievements through expertise marketing. Optimizing Expert Content While SUU had expert content on their website, they didn’t have a great process for structuring, organizing and publishing. “We had an Expert Directory, but it just didn’t have background structure we needed to nimbly change profiles and deliver up-to-date content,” said Kenzie Lundberg, Internal Communications Specialist at SUU. ExpertFile’s Platform gave SUU the tools they needed to manage their content, but they still needed a bit of help optimizing their expertise marketing program. They reached out to our customer success team to see how they could better leverage the ExpertFile tool and implement best practices for expertise marketing. After auditing their digital presence, we identified three main areas for SUU to focus on: Showcasing Faculty with Relevant Stories: While SUU had some expert content on their website, it wasn’t structured in a user-friendly way. ExpertFile suggested that Spotlight posts would help them make their content more accessible and encourage audiences to get in touch with their organization. Unlike a standard blog post, ExpertFile’s Spotlights enable users to connect with experts or media relation teams directly from the post while simultaneously distributing the post to the Associated Press, Dejero and ExpertFile Search. By using Spotlights in multiple areas of their website, SUU would be able to drastically improve their visibility and gain better traction with media outlets. Highlighting Specialized Areas of Expertise within SUU: SUU used the ExpertFile Platform to organize and attribute areas of expertise in their expert profiles, but our audit revealed that the topics needed to be more specific to garner audience engagement. ExpertFile recommended that SUU add areas of niche expertise to their expert profiles. For example, a biology professor might list topics like “Invertebrate Evolution” or “Cardiovascular Physiology” in addition to the term “biology.” This optimization would make it easier for audiences like journalists and media outlets to find experts on specific topics. Expanding SUU’s Digital Footprint: One of the key advantages of the ExpertFile Platform is how easy it is for organizations to improve their digital presence. For example, the ExpertFile Design Lab allows marketers to quickly create, publish and manage Expert Directories and Spotlights across various pages on their website (click links for examples). To help SUU better utilize this feature, we suggested linking to their Expert Directory and Spotlights directly from the homepage. This would make it easier for audiences to find their expert content and increase opportunities for engagement. SUU’s Results SUU took the ExpertFile Customer Success team’s advice and their results reflected just how valuable expertise can be to the bottom line. From Q1 in 2018 to Q1 in 2019, SUU went from 3,030 views and 12 media inquiries to 11,949 views and 115 media inquiries. And their success didn’t end there. SUU’s latest analysis of their expertise marketing program revealed some truly impressive results: CALmatters Feature: David Berri, professor of economics, was requested for an interview on equal pay in sports in September 2018. From the interview and stories that followed, SUU received the equivalent of $112,500 in publicity value and 25.3 million unique views. The State Journal Feature: Michael Mower, executive director of SUU Aviation, was asked to be featured in a story highlighting SUU’s partnership with Marshall University in March 2019. The story was published on The State Journal’s website and had the potential to be seen by 800,000 unique visitors. Qualtric’s X4 Conference: Ravi Roy, assistant professor of political science, was asked to join the ranks of the visionaries and leaders behind the world’s most iconic organizations and present at the 2019 X4 conference. Other presenters included President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Sir Richard Branson. Over 15,000 people attended the conference. “I really enjoy using the ExpertFile Platform,” said Lundberg. “It’s great that I’ve been able to learn about our experts’ backgrounds – we have some really fascinating people. It’s so unique to be able to see all of their talents and to be able to highlight that for them.” Kenzie Lundberg – Internal Communications Specialist SUU The team at ExpertFile is thrilled that SUU has seen so much success from the optimization of their expertise marketing program. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for their organization and their experts. Download the Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing For a comprehensive look at how expertise marketing benefits the entire organization and drives measurable return on investment, follow the link below to download a copy of ExpertFile’s Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing: The Next Wave in Digital Strategy or download one of our tailored Guides for Corporate & Professional Services, Higher Education Institutions, Healthcare Institutions or Association & Not-for-Profits.
7 Tips for Executing Expertise Marketing
Now that you understand the value of expertise and have defined who your experts are, you might find yourselves asking, “What’s next?” Our research with hundreds of organizations reveals that there are major gaps in the way organizations present their expertise and how it impacts the effectiveness of their digital content. The challenge for many marketers is that they don’t know how to approach the creation and publication of expert content, but it starts making a lot more sense when you look at the bigger picture. Expertise marketing is about evolving our content marketing initiatives to deliver a more engaging experience to audiences. And because it’s so closely related to content marketing, it borrows several of the core principles we already use for our digital channels – but with an expert spin. At the end of the day, we’re simply collaborating with experts to ramp up the credibility, authenticity and integrity of your digital presence. The Core Principles of Expertise Marketing In the list below, you can see that expertise marketing shares a number of best practices with content marketing. The difference is in how we execute them and the quality of the end product. By following these seven core principles of expertise marketing, you’ll be able to create and deliver the content your audiences are looking for. Discoverable: If you work in the digital space, you know how important search is to your success. Experts produce a wealth of structured information that can be optimized to improve your rank on Google and increase your overall market visibility. Rather than limiting content to an About Us page or corporate intranet, you should make it more discoverable by publishing it across multiple areas of your website. Personal: Expertise marketing takes an inclusive approach to getting expert content mobilized across the organization. But even when we ask our experts to create content, we tend to attribute the outputs to the organization rather than the individual. When showcasing the work of your key employees, it’s important to personally recognize this. It builds trust with your audiences. Remember that people want to deal with people so let your experts be recognized and they will support your growth. Relevant: Organizations often miss opportunities to position their expertise for breaking news and emerging stories. In many cases, you may be an expert in the field, but if your content doesn’t align with current news topics, broadcasters and reporters won’t know to come to you for insights. Your overall readiness to speak to the topics in today’s news cycle greatly impacts customer engagement and your potential for earned media. Credible: Journalists and other audiences looking for expert sources require proof that your employees and their content are trustworthy. It’s not enough to have a headshot and bio on your About Us page. Enhanced profiles should be easy to scan and complete with important fields like education, certifications, research, publications, awards and media/speaking appearances. Visual: If you want interaction, you’ll need to first get your audiences’ attention. Rich media such as video, social media feeds and interactive content are proven to outperform text which can be tedious for audiences to read. It’s now critical to feature multimedia assets in a way that creates a more dynamic presence and maximizes audience engagement. Curated: Audiences are consuming more digital content than ever and it takes a lot of work to feed the content beast. Rather than rushing to market with sub-par content, organizations need to think about how their content serves a range of audiences looking for expertise. Is your content aligned with today’s emerging topics? Is it specialized enough to be relevant? Is it up to date or does it look tired? Audiences are becoming more discerning and even Google is determining search rank based on these factors. Distributed: As specialized third-party search sites grow in popularity, organizations need to ensure that expert content isn’t confined to a single website. This means thinking about social channels, directories, and reputable sites that help get your message out there. By dynamically synchronizing your expert content across internal and third-party sites, you’ll increase your reach, drive more visitor traffic and initiate better digital conversations. Download the Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing For a comprehensive look at how expertise marketing benefits the entire organization and drives measurable return on investment, follow the link below to download a copy of ExpertFile’s Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing: The Next Wave in Digital Strategy or download one of our tailored Guides for Corporate & Professional Services, Higher Education Institutions, Healthcare Institutions or Association & Not-for-Profits.
3 Steps to Earn Local News Coverage
“HOW DO WE GET OUR COMPANY FEATURED POSITIVELY IN THE LOCAL NEWS?” This is the question I get asked the most as a public relations professional, media coach and as a former long-time journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC): how do we get in the local news? The question usually comes from a small, independently-owned business owner — a company or organization that doesn’t have anyone doing marketing or communications. They are looking for LOCAL media coverage primarily — but they don’t even know where to start. It’s understandable for them to ask this question. Earned media is the holy grail of building credibility and reputation — having your executives featured in the news media as experts on a subject. Those stories then get shared on social media and it becomes the gift that keeps on giving, living on in perpetuity on the Internet, helping your search engine optimization. I can tell you this — the local media wants your story pitches. That doesn’t guarantee you’ll get covered. However, local media has been cutback so much and is forced to do so much work in such little time now, that they appreciate a good story idea landing on their desk for consideration — especially during a slow news cycle — and especially if it’s not coming from a slick PR agency voice on the other end of the line. They want authenticity. So, how do you get there? Here are 3 simple tips based on my experiences. In no way am I saying this is the only way to do it — but I’ve seen others have success with it and hopefully you will as well: #1 – Do NOT Hire An Agency Yup. I just said that. And, yes, I do realize I am a public relations professional. However, based on experience, I can tell you the majority of small, independent businesses aren’t going to be able to afford PR firms to get local news. I reiterate we are talking about getting local news coverage — not national news. So, if they’re not going to pay for it anyways, why not give them a hand? I believe in karma. With a little bit of guidance on this blog, you’ll be able to do it yourself. In the past, I’ve helped small companies, pro-bono, get in the media (hoping they make it big and hire me later). In the future, I’ll just send them the link for this blog and save me some time. You can do this. Just stick to the basics. #2 – Prepare A Newsworthy Pitch This is important. And, it can be as complicated and detailed as you want — but for the sake of this blog, I recommend keeping it very simple and keeping it authentic. Answer these questions to decide whether the story you want the media to cover is actually newsworthy from the reporter’s perspective — because they are the people who assess the newsworthiness of a pitch. What is the story? You should be able to summarize the story in less than 30 seconds. Just like a good pitch deck for potential investors, a good media pitch typically involves the identification of a problem or a trend and coming up with a solution for it or insightful analysis in the case of a media story. This is simplified but you get the picture. Why should people care about this story? A good reporter wants stories that appeal broadly to their audience, the public. So, be prepared to proactively explain why people will care about this? Is it timely? Does it impact a broad group of people? Does it solve a problem that’s been impacting society? Who is driving this story? Is it you? Is it one of your employees? Who will be the main interview for the reporter and why them? (FOR TV) What are the visuals? If it’s television, what are some strong visuals the news crew will be able to capture on video? What can viewers expect to see in this story? It will help your TV pitch if you can illustrate a visual image for them ahead of time. #3 – Pick Up The Phone Pick one media outlet you want to pitch your story to and make the call. First decide what news media is good for your story? Is it a story with very strong visuals? Perhaps TV is the way to go. Is it a story that requires a more fulsome conversation? Maybe public radio is the best option. Newspaper is the best if you’re a nervous person and worried about being on TV or radio. Newspaper is the least intrusive of the media. Once you’ve decided what outlet, decide which reporter specifically. No emails at first in my opinion. It’s too impersonal for local news and you risk getting lost in the inbox shuffle. Doing it by phone also allows the reporter to ask any clarification questions they may have, right then and there. Now, if you call the general media outlet phone number, you can end up in phone transfer Hell or end up getting an editor or producer who is putting out six fires and juggling 4 balls. So, you are better to call an individual reporter (perhaps your favourite one). Do this in the first part of the morning before they get too busy. If they’re not there, leave a message and be prepared to call back later. Reporters are busy and may forget to call you back. Don’t take it personally. If you reach them, thank them for taking your call and make your pitch. Get to the point. A few minutes tops for the pitch. If they like it, they’ll tell you. If they don’t like it — again — don’t take it personally and don’t burn any bridges. Thank them for their time. When you get off the phone, contact a reporter with a different media outlet and do it again. Shop that story around and you’re likely to get a nibble. Final Thoughts: This isn’t a science. There are no guarantees. This process is just my personal opinion based on experience. Just be yourself. Be genuine. The reporters will like that as opposed to dealing with professional PR people or communications officers. They may find it refreshing to deal with a “real person” who isn’t trying to spin them. Beyond the initial pitch, whether it’s successful or not, offer yourself as a research resource to them on issues related to your industry — even if it means you won’t be in the story. This is how you build a relationship with a reporter and it may bode well for you in the future. Good luck. Let me know how it goes.
With 2018 in full swing there’s no sign that the issue of fake news is going away. In fact, it continues to plague major social platforms such as Facebook as well as the traditional media players. This erosion of trust begs the question – how can we ensure the right experts on important topics are at the center of the conversation? If your organization has experts, there is a silver lining. There has never been a more important time for experts – the real ones – not the “fake it till you make it” collection of posers and promoters that have read a blog on personal branding. We’re talking about the people who have put in their 10,000 hours of researching, building and publishing. Presenting your top people in a more visible, engaging and approachable way presents huge opportunities for you to build trust and deepen relationships with a variety of audiences, including customers and partners – not just the media. However, to really capitalize, you have to look closely at how audiences interact with your expert content. Based on our work with thousands of experts and their organizations, we’ve prepared a list of key trends and predictions you need to watch if you’re a communications and digital media professional. Trend 1: Organizations are measuring their “Internal Bench Strength”. The power behind any organization is its people, but many organizations fall short in taking stock of their roster of experts who are capable of building voice and reputation with key audiences. Communicators are increasingly turning to internal pulse surveys and annual assessments that better identify competencies, professional interests and attitudes across the organization. Smart organizations are using surveys to create an efficient roster of internal experts and match them to the news cycle. Identifying a “core group” of go-to experts who will best benefit from programs such as media training and carefully mapping key topics to experts will ensure the organization is aligned to support communications objectives – both for proactive story development and responding quickly to breaking news opportunities. Trend 2: Organizations are starting to function more like newsrooms. As newsrooms in the print and broadcast world continue to be streamlined and downsized, organizations can play a key role in helping journalists by making relevant content and credible sources more accessible. Incorporating better search features that allow journalists to quickly find experts using simple keyword searches is an important starting point. Showcasing experts in the context of key news events in a content hub with interesting story angles are increasing in popularity Trend 3: Next generation newsroom platforms will change how media find expert sources. Journalists have a challenging role today amidst a backdrop of fake news and increasing cynicism about the credibility and sources of information. They still have the same day deadlines, but with an increased responsibility to get the story right, so reliable sources are critical to their success. So it’s not surprising that journalists, television bookers and producers are gravitating to solutions that make it easier for them to discover, evaluate and connect with expert sources. We recently integrated our ExpertFile global directory into the Associated Press newsroom software which is used by thousands of print, broadcast and digital newsrooms around the world. The AP, as the world’s leading news organization, recognizes the pressures that publishers and broadcasters are under. They are committed to technology advances that help news organizations. Few journalists have the time to rummage around in poorly designed corporate websites and university faculty directories looking for the best expert. And if you think it’s just junior reporters using these online tools think again. We’re seeing seasoned journalists from top media outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Time Magazine, NBC, The Washington Post, the BBC, NPR Radio and the CBC making regular use of the ExpertFile platform. The bottom line: If you aren’t thinking about broader distribution of your expert content beyond your website you are missing out. Trend 4: New search technologies are helping organizations cut through the content clutter. Searching for the right person based on attributes such as key topics, publications, or geography inside an organization remains a challenge – even for those organizations that have invested heavily in content management solutions and intranet platforms. The organic and onsite search user experience has become a top issue for marketing and IT teams. Audiences who have been spoiled by “Google-like simplicity” expect to find relevant information, or they’re gone within seconds. That’s why many organizations are investing in new search technologies powered by machine learning to provide faster discovery and connections with their subject-matter experts. Last year we built Elasticsearch features right into our platform to save our clients the time and money of doing this for themselves. Search remains one of the biggest opportunities to quickly drive more market attention and audience engagement, as well as to improve internal collaboration between experts. Trend 5: Video will continue to outperform all other forms of content. There’s nothing quite like video to drive the value of owned content. But remember that video is becoming essential to boosting earned media. We’re continually impressed by the new research that continues to emerge on the power of video content. Last fall, LinkedIn reported audience engagement numbers for its new video feed feature that showed 20 times more engagement for video vs. all other forms of content on its platform. As more audiences demand video content, so does the demand in television newsrooms for broadcast-ready experts. That’s why we also partnered with Dejero to help broadcasters who use their platform to search for experts suitable for interviews. If you are looking to get more television coverage, then you have to invest some of your budget on video to showcase your experts. We predict that the most successful organizations will adopt a video-centric approach to storytelling, creating snackable multimedia content that connects with a range of audiences. Many marketers are overthinking video as something requiring a massive production with a big annual shoot”. That doesn’t work for audiences such as journalists who are feeding a real-time news cycle. Our simple advice – look carefully at your video strategy and identify opportunities to use video across your digital properties in areas such as your homepage, media room and even landing pages. We’re interested to hear how your organization is capitalizing on these trends to better promote your experts to key audiences. For more information on how ExpertFile can help your organization incorporate the latest software and services innovations into your thought leadership and expert marketing strategies please drop us a line at dtaenzer@expertfile.com.
Working with Faculty Experts to Build Reputation and Market Visibility
The Baylor University Playbook Featured in CASE Currents Magazine PHOTO CREDIT: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS As traditional and social media organizations such as Facebook race to expose and disrupt the onslaught of “fake news”, a major opportunity exists for higher education institutions to more prominently feature their research and expert opinion to quell this steady flow of misinformation. We know that the gold standard of news reports and social media posts are substantiated with expert research and opinion. What gets in the way of comprehensive reporting and dialogue? It’s often the lack of input from great institutions and their experts. More than ever, traditional media organizations need to provide a steady flow of credible information to trump the influx of unsubstantiated content. But the media (from local mainstream editors to award-winning international investigative journalists) struggle with big challenges: growing editorial demands, small budgets, little time, limits to accessing information – all restricting their ability to pursue new research, data and expertise. So how do they get around this and cut through the clutter? A lot of the responsibility falls on organizations to be more approachable to journalists to help them with expert sources. Schools doing this well are already boosting their reputation with media and other key audiences by showing the relevance of their institution and faculty. In this month’s CASE Currents magazine, a feature article titled “Are Your Professors Ready for Their Close-Up?” Eric Eckert, Baylor University’s Assistant Director of Media Communications and Faculty Development, shares with other institutions the process his team took to prepare its faculty experts for the media spotlight with an in-house training program and the necessary tools to succeed. the Baylor playbook is a great read for any organization looking to boost media coverage and build reputation. Eckert, whose list of responsibilities at the university includes “Faculty Experts”, notes: “We demonstrate our commitment to this program by investing in tools that spread awareness of our researchers’ work. In addition to the time we devote to training and promoting our faculty members, in 2017 our office started using ExpertFile, a content marketing platform that includes the capability to create dynamic faculty profiles that expose our professors to a wider audience of journalists. We can also manage media inquiries through the platform. The software has reduced the time we spend updating faculty profiles. We can quickly add photos, videos, and links to an expert’s media hits and create faculty spotlights—a feature that helps us rapidly promote a professor’s expertise to take advantage of breaking news.” ExpertFile worked with Baylor to develop a searchable platform and content placements for their experts integrated into the Baylor website. To extend the reach beyond the website, Its experts are now also synchronized with the ExpertFile global experts directory and are also visible to thousands of newsrooms throughout the world through our partnerships with the Associated Press and Dejero. Eckert goes on to explain his organization’s use and success with ExpertFile Spotlight. Spotlight is a unique content hub solution that is growing in popularity with marketing teams looking to quickly feature their experts in the context of breaking news, emerging stories, valuable research and newsworthy events. Virtually all of our clients are seeing the importance of providing relevant story angles that can be produced to help journalists on same day deadlines. Eckert goes on to speak of his experience with Spotlights: “In September 2017, we created a spotlight to distribute a Baylor law professor’s comments on President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw authorization for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. A media inquiry received through ExpertFile resulted in a guest appearance on a nationally syndicated radio program in Canada.” Other coverage generated recently by the Baylor team includes: Are you ‘phubbing’ right now? What it is and why science says it’s bad for your relationships The Washington Post You might be cheating on your spouse with your smartphone The Toronto Star Four bad habits that executives should nix The Economist Can ‘bedtime’ teas really help you fall asleep faster? Women’s Health The better way to take a break Fast Company The profile that experts develop through thought out programs such as Baylor’s can extend well beyond media to other key stakeholders, including potential research partners, funders, event organizers, student enrollment and employee recruitment. How are your marketing, communications and media relations’ teams working with your experts across the campus to build market visibility and reputation for your institution? We’d like to know. For more information on how ExpertFile Spotlight works or to read more success stories please drop me a line at Deanne Taenzer at dtaenzer@expertfile.com