SKC Insights

Navigating success can feel like riding the tail of a dragon in the dynamic world of digital PR and marketing. There's no better time than this Year of the Dragon to explore how to better leverage digital platforms for business success. The dragon represents power, strength, luck, and prosperity – everything within your reach. Hold on tight to the dragon's tail, and let's soar together through 6 essential tips for thriving in the digital age. 

From rising YouTube stars to Instagram models, to TikTok trendsetters, social media influencers drive successful marketing and PR campaigns. With the power to captivate audiences, amplify brand messages, and send engagement rates skyrocketing, these influencers shape brand perceptions in ways one can only dream when using traditional methods. Get ready to harness the potential of this dynamic marketing approach and take your company to new heights.

Here are 6 ways working with influencers can boost your business:

Don’t let your marketing be mid. Don’t speak Gen Z? Let us help! To translate: don’t let your PR and marketing suffer from holding onto outdated strategies. Having grown up online, Gen Z and Millennials sometimes sound like they have an entirely different language. Companies are striving to figure out how to market and sell to this generation, especially as their spending habits differ drastically from the previous generations. 

Finding out how to appeal to Gen Z require new perspectives. The way the marketing world has been targeting consumers for the last two generations will not work with this one. Their beliefs and values differ greatly, and they’re willing to stop buying to force change. If we want to sell to millennials and Gen Z, we will have to adapt. Here are four essential marketing "dos" and one important "don't" that will help build loyalty among a younger consumer base. 

With the emergence of ChatGPT and all its hoopla, artificial intelligence is once again a hot topic, It’s now impossible to find an industry that’s yet untouched by AI, including public relations. Will AI replace PR, marketing, and communications teams at your company one day soon? 

In a recent interview, Jacob Puthenparambil, CEO of PR firm Redhill, was asked whether he thinks technologies like ChatGPT will replace PR. AI, he said, could replace some content production, but at the end of the day, PR is still a people-driven industry. AI is a tool, not a human and lacks the emotions needed when it comes to much of the business. Do you agree?

There are some challenges of AI in PR, but there are many upsides too. Let’s take a look at the top 3 of each—and how they might affect your business.

2022 brought us lessons of growth, resilience, and transformation as we conquered the challenges of a disruptive year. With another exciting year behind us, SKC has compiled our take on the top public relations trends and challenges for the year ahead. What will 2023 bring? Here are six trends to consider and leverage for your company:

New year, new goals! As you navigate the exciting journey of business growth in 2024, consider the invaluable contributions a marketing/PR firm can make to your success. We might be biased, but even visionary leader Bill Gates once said, “If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing budget, I'd spend it on PR!” Partnering with a PR firm adds a wealth of strategic communications expertise including proven marketing campaigns, knowhow, media and influencer connections, social media chops to grow your online communities, press coverage, reputation, and so much more! 

Ready to elevate your success? Here are six benefits of partnering with a PR firm in 2024:

We’re in the heart of best-of season right now, the time of year when everyone releases their lists of favorites from the past 12 months. 2022 has been a fun and results-filled year for SKC and our clients, where we’ve added a creative flair to many PR campaigns to help clients to stand out from the crowd. 

These are some of the highlights from 2022: 

So, you’re thinking about starting or sprucing up a corporate blog? Good for you! A company blog is a great marketing tool for connecting with prospects, customers, partners, and to build thought leadership. And with figures like these – 77% of Internet users read blogs and spend 3X more time on them than email in the US – blogs aren’t something marketers can ignore! But blogging has to be done right to be successful and effective.

Here are our 5 Do's for creating and maintaining a successful corporate blog:

So, all your hard work and smarts have paid off. You’ve conquered your home market, and now the world beckons. You’re ready to grow your company’s global footprint – open new offices, serve new customers, and of course reel in more revenues. To ensure success, you’re cognizant of the instrumental role marketing and public relations play in building global brand awareness which inevitably precedes sales.

Whether you’re an international company looking to boost your profile in the US, or a US-based business aiming to expand globally, the way you handle your international marketing and PR is going to mean the difference between making it or breaking it. So, let’s get it right. Here are five considerations for planning your global communications strategy: 

“Summer breeze makes me feel fine,” croon Seals & Crofts. You probably agree. The summer is when you, clients, and customers go on vacation. The long summer months are also when businesses slow down, including industry conferences and events. Even lots of journalists take time out. While this may be a "quieter" period for business activity, it's one of the best times to focus on PR and marketing activities for the Fall rush.

Here are five tips to help you tackle the new season well in advance:

Have you ever wondered how a company turned their one-star reviews into a five-star campaign? Or how another rose above the pandemic to help those in need? And how do others use leetspeak and illustrations to attract followers? These are just glimpses into how businesses have embraced and are thriving on social platforms. With more than four billion users online, companies are increasingly prioritizing social media marketing and seeking new ways to promote their brands and products. Here are 7 tips for social media marketing to stir your creative juices for more innovative ideas of your own.

“Death of Mr. Peanut,” a 2020 Planters campaign, is a great example of social media success. It began with a tweet: It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that Mr. Peanut has died at 104. In the ultimate selfless act, he sacrificed himself to save his friends when they needed him most. Please pay your respects with #RIPeanut. Within hours, even other brands like Dr. Pepper were spreading the hashtag, and the campaign quickly became a viral sensation. Planters later revealed that Mr. Peanut was reborn as a Baby Nut, and now tweets from the Peanut Jr account.

Planters’ viral sensation and marketing prowess has continued to this day, where it has leveraged social media to engage and build followers and customers. Here are 6 ways social media can bolster your brand:

With Covid-19 regulations easing up in the US, large-scale events and convention centers are back in action. Whether in-person or hybrid, trade shows, and conferences are great networking opportunities for companies to promote their brands and products. With thousands of attendees, most of whom are eager to see, look, feel, and experience, these events put you in touch with a plethora of potential customers, partners, and even investors. 

These conferences are a perfect way to showcase your product in the best light possible to a critical mass of like-minded people. With hundreds of companies fighting for the attention of the attendees, however, you must find a way to make your booth stand out from the rest. This can be with banners, offers of demonstrations, or even just photo opportunities. 

Here are 8 easy tips and tricks we found to help your booth stand out from the crowd.

Being a small business can be a challenge, especially when just starting out. Bringing customers into your business is the first step to growth, but how does one bring the customer in? The answer lies in marketing and leveraging available tools at your disposal. While taking the time to find everything on your own is viable, it’s time-consuming and wastes precious resources. This is where a CRM comes in.

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a great way to collect all your data in one place, allowing you to compile information from several sources, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. By using a CRM, the time you would have spent on individual sites can be spent growing your business in other avenues. But what other benefits are there in using a CRM? Why should you invest in a CRM? Here are 6 great reasons:

2021 brought us lessons of growth, resilience, and transformation as we conquered the challenges of a disruptive year. Now, it’s time to turn the calendar to a fresh page and begin anew. While the future remains unclear, one thing we can predict is that public relations and marketing will continue to change. What will 2022 bring? Here are six trends to consider and potentially leverage for your company:

“See you on Zoom!” How many times have you heard that since 2020? From work to school to social gatherings, our lives have shifted online ­– and so have many PR events. Zoom interviews, online webinars, virtual press conferences and more have largely replaced in-person activities, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.

At SKC, we believe the advantages of going virtual outweigh the challenges. We’ve organized several online events over the last year, and now we’re letting you in on our secrets!

Here are 8 tips for planning a successful virtual press event:

What do Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, and Sheryl Sandberg all have in common? When they speak, the media listens. They’re thought leaders and generally looked upon favorably – and as a result, have become media “darlings.” But it didn’t happen overnight. Endearing yourself to the media takes time, along with careful strategizing and intentional actions. 

Follow these eight steps to get started on your journey to becoming respected, heard and reverberated out into the world as a media darling.

As an entrepreneur/marketer, you know how much public relations can help grow your business. You have probably partnered with an agency, researched its value adds and contemplated its ROI. And you’ve leveraged content marketing, press releases, and media relations. But did you know PR also has a rich, colorful history full of insightful stories that we can all learn from, even today? Without further ado, here are 12 fun and fascinating PR facts: 

Once upon a time, marketers focused on buying advertisements, mailing postcards, and making telemarketing calls. But people's behaviors have changed, and the traditional marketing playbook must change with them. While cold calls once netted enormous volumes of leads, today more than 235 million Americans are registered on the FTC's "Do Not Call" list. And that glossy flier you sent to your loyal customers? It won't even reach half of them, as 58% of direct mail recipients never read, or even scan, their mailers.  

What’s a marketer or entrepreneur to do?  

Some of this may seem bleak, but there’s good news – and it’s called inbound marketing. This holistic, data-motivated approach cuts costs, builds higher trust and credibility, and generates quality traffic and leads. Sounds too good to be true?  

Here are 5 ways inbound marketing stands apart from traditional marketing:

Spring is in the air, bringing warmer weather, blooming flowers, and the annual itch to deep clean your home. Just as you'd clean out your closet, you can clean out your PR and marketing strategy. In the end, you’ll have a more agile communications focus and a clear vision to propel your company forward. Here are six ways you can brighten up your marketing and PR efforts this spring:

Are you a company or an entrepreneur who's just not at all sure if a PR/Marketing agency can truly help your business? Not sure if it's really worth your time or investment?

Last month, SKC outlined why engaging with a PR firm is smart business. This month, we're diving deeper and exploring how public relations and marketing specialists add strategic value to any endeavor. From counseling management to uncovering your core story to generating investor interest, here are 7 ways we can strengthen your business:

What a difference a year makes! With 2020 in the rearview mirror, is it wise to predict what the next year holds? Our team thinks it’s worth a shot.

While "change” might still be the name of the game, 2021 already looks full of possibilities. As COVID-19 vaccines roll out around the world, the economy bounces back, and there’s a bit more hope in the air, it’s time to recalibrate and adapt your company’s goals and grand plans. We might be a little biased, but we truly believe that now, perhaps more than ever, is the time to partner with a communications agency to be successful in a brave new world.

You might be asking, “but why should I partner with an agency?”

Ahh, we're glad you asked. This is the question that most C-suite executives have to ponder at some point in time. Before we dive into how an agency partner can help with the latest and greatest in the coming year, here are 7 reasons why engaging with a PR firm is smart business in general.

Thanks to technology, it’s much easier to gather marketing data to boost your business. But are you leveraging that data for your company's public relations?

All the little marketing data-points — those you need before a campaign, those you get during one — come together to inform how you can tailor messages to achieve the most efficient effect. Companies that analyze and use their data can see big benefits.

Here are 4 ways to integrate data into your PR to boost your business:

Generating leads - both high in quantity and quality - is a marketer’s most important objective. A successful lead generation engine is what keeps the funnel full of sales prospects while you sleep. Surprisingly, only 1 in ten marketers feel their lead generation campaigns are effective. What gives?

There can be a lot of moving parts in any lead generation campaign and often times it’s difficult to know which parts need fine-tuning. To break it down, the best lead generation campaigns contain most, if not all, of these four crucial elements: an offer, a call-to-action (CTA), a landing page, and a form.

Here are SKC's 10 favorite tips and tricks for lead generation:

Once upon a time, companies large and small relied on an overwhelming number of tools to market and promote their companies. Marketers were inundated by clumsy spreadsheets, a plethora of e-newsletter programs, separate social media accounts, blog extensions, and analytics tools galore. Then along came marketing automation platforms – HubSpot, Marketo, Infusionsoft etc. – with a unifying automation approach that changed the way we do marketing forever.

Today, many companies are reaping the benefits of martech and marketing automation and their belief in it is evident in their spend, now expected to reach $25.1 billion annually by 2023. This spend translates to coveted lead generation and conversion for many marketers, with 77% stating that they convert more leads with automation. What have these companies gained by leveraging marketing automation? How have their businesses and marketing and PR processes improved?

Here are 5 ways HubSpot and other marketing technologies boost your business.

It’s 3 in the morning. You’re wide awake and your mind is besieged. Your competitor just sent out a new funding press release. How do you match that? Why is it so hard to reach the right investors? The right customers? Your team throws ideas at you. Dazzle with 3D presentations. We better be everywhere – on TV, on TechCrunch, on Facebook, LinkedIn, at tradeshows, everywhere! And don’t forget blogs, white papers, case studies, and email campaigns! And on and on and on.

It’s now 4am and sleep eludes you. You’re overwhelmed. Why are PR and marketing such enigmas? You know you need it to truly grow and attract investors and customers. But how? Where do you start? To think you once thought asking Rita to the prom was the toughest thing you ever did.

Sure, PR and marketing may feel daunting. But we’re here to say it doesn’t have to be. Take a deep breath, let go of everything you think you have to do. Instead, focus on just two steps that will make all the difference: First, build your foundation, and second, build your house.

This is what we mean: 

“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two -- and only two -- basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.” – Peter Drucker

For far too many companies today, the main focus is on engineering and product development. This laser focus bodes well for creating breakthrough innovations. And while these products may indeed change the world as we know it, without marketing and PR, no one will ever know about them. This gives companies with better PR and marketing, but not necessarily better products, a competitive edge.

If you’re not convinced, here are 5 reasons why you should care more about PR and marketing:

“A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”

While this quote comes from the pop culture explosion that is Game of Thrones, it doesn’t make it less true, especially when it comes to PR and marketing! Reading the techniques and strategies from seasoned professionals keeps communication skills sharp and inspires new ideas for your business. PR is constantly evolving and there is always something new to learn.

Here are SKC's list of 14 books related to PR that are must-reads for the executive eager to learn.

You’re proud of your startup, and rightly so! Building a startup is no mean feat and you want to share your company with the world. As a new company looking at the giants monopolizing your industry, this can be daunting. But a good dose of PR and marketing can give you the leg up you need.

Even the big guys rely on PR. As Bill Gates said, “If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” Not convinced it’ll work for your startup? Just take a look around! Many startups get their foot in the door for new customers and potential investors by leveraging proven public relations and marketing strategies.

Here are 4 examples of how PR changed the lives of these startups for the better:

If you're a small company, trying to handle your PR and marketing on top of everything else you have to worry about, it can be overwhelming. Sure, you've got just as much ambition as a more prominent company, but you're short-staffed and as much as you hate to admit... you're not Superman or Wonder Woman.  

We're here to tell you that it's okay.

Great leaders know when to ask for help and how to delegate. So stop trying to grow that third shoulder to carry the weight of your company's marketing and instead share that load with an agency that knows what they're doing.

Here are five reasons why you should:

You've followed all the steps to become a thought leader. You've planned your media event down to the smallest detail. Now, all of your hard work has paid off, and it's your turn to take the spotlight. You might be thinking, I'm ready, now I just need to connect with my audience. Whether you're talking one-on-one with a reporter, hosting a webinar, or giving a keynote speech at an industry event, what can you do to boost your confidence and wow everyone listening?

Here are 5 tips for connecting with your audience:

1. Tailor Your Message

"One size fits all" is nice in theory, but it's not very realistic. Before you publish that PowerPoint, understand what your audience is looking for. What information are they expecting you to provide? What are they hungry to learn? Should you use industry jargon or avoid it altogether? Tailor your messages, your tone, even your delivery style to fit each audience. Taking time to customize your presentation can mean the difference between making a connection and getting a cold reception.

The press release is approved. Let’s get it across the wire. Let’s not!

This has happened before. You find yourself in a tug of war between newswire advocates and antagonists. Each group insists their way is the only way. The advocates argue that services like Business Wire and PR Newswire offer a broader reach and deliver trustworthy content. But the cynics are up in arms about costs and insist that social media will suffice.

SKC is here to say, wires are wise to use, just not all the time. Definitely, let’s use the wire for big news such as funding rounds and major product launches, but let’s decide on a case-by-case basis on softer news like new hires and award wins.

Here are 6 reasons newswires are still relevant and helpful to companies today:

1. Make Your Release Official

A press release that “has just crossed the wire” with a date and time stamp immediately establishes itself as an “official” announcement, something that a simple release posting on your website can’t accomplish. This simple act provides you with additional gravitas, and if you’re a startup, allows you to begin building much-needed momentum for scaling your business.

2. Broaden Your Reach

Wire services have established and ever-expanding distribution channels with media touch points all over the globe. A wire-distributed release will be picked up by hundreds of portal sites, word for word, helping you broaden its reach beyond just your own company channels.

The press release is dead. Long live the press release!

The debate as to whether the press release is a relic of the past (the first one was sent over 100 years ago), or still a relevant tool today has been raging for the past few years. No one reads them, they don’t get “picked up,” and SEO value is limited these days, say the press release naysayers. But we’re here to tell you, don’t rule them out entirely. And while at times another tactic will work better, they do fulfill some very useful PR purposes.

Here are 6 reasons to keep press releases in your PR toolbox:

1. Releases are Trustworthy

The release is a go-to source for reliable information -- it's information direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak. And when well-written, it provides consistent, factual messaging for the company to get out to its audience.

2. Attracts Visual Interest

The press release of yesterday was a block of text with little to catch the eye. But not anymore. Now a release can provide excellent content, and also be a host for images, videos, and other multimedia to add value to your news. Editors love an attention-grabbing picture. 

Are you aspiring to be a thought leader? Being a thought leader may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Thought leadership can take many forms, but the most powerful tool in your arsenal is the contributed article. Such an article provides insights and positions you as an expert, without a hint of self-promotion. If you do it well, the benefits are aplenty, including having people seek you out as your industry’s "guru” and knowledge purveyor.

So, let’s get you published! To see your name, story and picture featured in your coveted industry magazine or even business and technology outlets like Entrepreneur and ReadWrite, here are 5 tips to getting your thought leadership articles accepted.

1. Offer Your Unique Point of View

Your point of view is not about your product. It’s your unique, even provocative perspective, informed by your experiences past and present, that are relevant enough to be part of your industry’s conversations and meaningful to your audience. Shawn Guan, CEO of Umbo Computer Vision, watched the artificial intelligence (AI) market evolve over the years and formed a unique insight on how AI will revolutionize video security. His “The Next Evolution” opinion caught the attention of Security Today which published the piece for their audience of security professionals.

Public Relations and digital marketing have a common goal. Both want to increase visibility and awareness, but while one is about your relationships with customers and prospects, the other is more about your relationships with reporters and media outlets.

A healthy marriage of the two disciplines benefits each side — making each one stronger than it would be on its own. PR gets access to digital audiences beyond their traditional sphere, and digital marketing gets the experience of tried-and-true methods of communication. And you get a cross-channel strategy that can’t be matched that provides the following 5 key advantages to your business.

1. Amplifies Your PR Efforts

By incorporating digital marketing tactics into your PR activities, press releases, thought leadership articles, case studies, and press coverage can be spread and amplified through new channels. Reporters will be able to find information on your business through twitter or a google search. Backlinks and/or SEO key phrases in your press release can boost viewership of a piece of news to a whole new audience. Sharing contributed articles or coverage clippings on social media extends PR to your followers and beyond. PR materials are also a great source for content-hungry channels and for content marketing where you can chop up a release for a blog post or whitepaper.

Gaining media traction as a startup can be difficult. You approach a reporter at a trade show, but he gives you a blank stare and mutters, “Who are you again?” You write email after email, but they seemed to have fallen into an abyss of no return. This anonymity can be especially frightening against the fact that 90%of startups don’t make it. How can people buy your product or service if they don’t know you exist?!

If journalists are ignoring you now, here are 5 reasons why this might be happening.

1. Your Pitch Needs Work

Not getting any responses? It’s time to tweak your pitch. It may not have enough information, or too much. Or it may not be punchy enough. Even trying a new subject line could help stoke media interest. An email with the subject “Interview Offer: ‘Ending Cyber Attacks’” is much more intriguing than “Unknown Company X Requests Meeting.”

Press coverage of your event amplifies your message and reaches many more people than just event attendees. Media coverage also builds positive brand visibility, credibility, and leads to increased revenues. But with shrinking newsrooms and journalists flooded with press invites every week, how do you ensure your event gets on their to-do list?

Besides genuine uniqueness and proximity to venue, here are ways to sweeten the pot (as they say) with catchy news angles:

1. Hype Up Superlatives

Is your event the biggest, first, or fanciest around? Play up the uniqueness of your event and pitch it as a hard news angle. When a new indie bookstore opened in 2016, they knew they needed a media boost to make a grand opening in the age of Amazon. By billing themselves as North America's only romance-focused bookstore, The Ripped Bodice celebrated their launch with stories in L.A. Weekly, Huffington Post, and Hollywood Reporter.

The advent of social media has turned the public relations world topsy-turvy. New media content creators, or Influencers, are now carving a niche for themselves with online video, photos, podcasts and more. On Instagram alone, the top 50 influencers command a total of $3.1 billion followers. That’s nearly three times the population of China!

People browse their social apps daily, actually, some much more frequently, to check out their favorite fashion insta's #OOTD (outfit of the day) or how a MUA (makeup artist) does their eyeshadow. They live vicariously through influencers’ Instagram travel photos and gaming livestreams on YouTube. And they buy the products and services featured, that in 2018, a stunning 49% of consumers relied on influencer recommendations for their purchases.

More and more companies are realizing it’s not enough to do traditional PR with media and analysts, and are now cultivating influencers because they are great at…

1. Providing Stunning ROI

According to a study from St. Joseph Communications, the ROI of influencer marketing can be eleven times higher than traditional marketing, such as TV and print ads. That makes it $6.50 earned per $1 spent on building connections with influencers.

2. Generating Sales

Social media sites like Instagram have made it easier than ever to generate sales thorough their platforms. Features like purchase links let users buy products that influencers display on their feeds.

3. Creating Content

“Content is King” is a constant mantra in digital marketing and influencers are the kings (and queens) of content. Their expertise in content creation can lead to new depth in your own content marketing, as they know the quality and frequency that their followers love.

Would you like to become a thought leader and reap the benefits that come with it? Thought leaders—like Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos—are people who have visions and strong degrees of expertise in subjects, topics, or issues. But more than that, they have publicly and relentlessly demonstrated their bona fides by taking a stance, having a perspective, and voicing their views and opinions. They’re leaders others want to meet, learn from and emulate.

Thought leadership takes time and effort, but the benefits are worth it. From building credibility with investors and customers, to shortening your sales cycle, to creating a legacy for the future, your efforts will not only help elevate your industry but catapult you to a new level of success and renown. Here are 7 steps to get started:

1. Be a Journalistic Resource

Getting quoted in news articles and publications is a great way to establish yourself as an expert or leader in a field. To be quoted, position yourself as a valuable source and make yourself known to reporters. Put yourself out there and be visible – engage in conversations with journalists, share your great ideas and insights. Help reporters choose you.

The beginning of the new year brims with possibilities. You have goals and grand plans for your company. You have a brand to build, products and services to launch, more customers to win over and an opportunity to scale. You have so much to do and so little time!

Yet you’re challenged. You’re dreaming up ways to stretch your 24 hour-days into 48-hour days, spitballing ideas on how to meet these goals without adding headcount. Well, you’re not alone. From brand building to media relations to digital marketing, there are plenty of reasons why so many companies have found their solution by partnering with PR/marketing firms. Here are 6 reasons why hiring a PR and marketing firm is smart business.

1. Frees Up Your Time to Focus on What You Do Best

You're building your company, designing, developing and selling products and services. That’s what you do best. The PR agency has clients and products to market. We write, message and position you, pitch media, create news stories, secure speaking opportunities and awards, execute digital marketing – that’s what we do best. When you find your trusted agency, take a sigh of relief as you can now free up your time to focus on what you do best, paving the way for you to build products that are PR-worthy.

Tradeshows are like marathons. They aren't for the faint of heart. The biggest ones, like CES, run for six days and are packed with early mornings, late dinners, bustling business exchanges, and constant industry buzz. Tradeshows are also popular, albeit noisy, forums for promoting your company, your successes, and your messages. But how can you make sure that your company is not swallowed up by the sea of vendors vying for mindshare and media attention?

Here are 5 ways to grab the CES media spotlight:

1. Be Prepared

While CES 2020 is almost upon us, there’s still time to uncover media opportunities -- from inclusion in tradeshow dailies to exclusive invitations to media events. Do your research on the myriad media and award opportunities for the show. Get your releases ready now so they can be pitched in advance. And now is the time to enlist the expertise of PR pros to refresh your message, update your media kits, and get your executives interview-ready.

Sometimes “bad timing” can be “good timing.”

Conventional wisdom dictates that companies should avoid media pitching and outreach during the holiday season. The belief is that everyone, including consumers, reporters, and editors, is too busy and distracted to hear our story pitches, look at press releases or read news articles. The truth is this is an ideal time. The news cycle is slower, creating content holes for reporters. For companies, the holidays are the perfect time to gift news outlets with story ideas.

Here are 5 tips for getting yourself some coveted coverage during the holiday season:

We hear you. The marketplace is brutal. Customers are fickle. Competitors are breathing down your neck. And worse, some prospects have never even heard of you! You need positive press coverage and brand awareness yesterday — there’s simply no time to wait.

We wish we could come in and magically wave a wand to get you some visibility right now. But, unfortunately, public relations doesn’t work this way. PR, like so many other business processes, rewards the companies who approach it with preparation, commitment and time.

Getting rid of misconceptions and myths — and facing these 6 hard truths about PR — will help you gain traction and take advantage of all it has to offer.

Truth #1: PR Takes Time

Effective PR takes time. Like the sales process and growing a pipeline, PR is something we can’t do one day and walk away from the next. Companies in the know start by building a solid messaging and story foundation, creating quality content and relevant news angles, and cultivating the right audiences. This takes ongoing commitment and a regular sharing of your story in a variety of interesting ways to achieve PR success. The best results come to the companies who stick with it.

When Steve Jobs received his first big investment for Apple – $250,000 from angel investor Mark Markkula — it was meant for the development of the new Apple II product, the first major Apple product to hit the masses. However, before he started investing in new hardware, Jobs hired the best PR professional in Silicon Valley, Regis McKenna. Jobs knew before he could focus on building the products that would launch his company that he needed to have a PR plan in place.

Jobs embraced PR, and so do Richard Branson and Bill Gates. How about you? In fact, Gates once said, “If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” And these business titans aren’t alone in their fervent faith in PR. Many executives from companies feel the same.

Here are 14 reasons why:

1. Master Your Message

If you don't tell your story, others will tell it for you. Avoid negative or misleading press by presenting the best version of yourself with public relations.

2. Differentiate Yourself

With so many products and services out there now, it is far too easy for customers to get overwhelmed. Good PR programs can make you stand out from the pack. As Seth Godin says, “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic.”

3. Create Buzz (and Adoration)

Do you have a product coming out? Start building that fan and customer base by influencing the influencers. Stoke that excitement with social media, bloggers, journalists, grant interviews, offer reviews and you’ll see awareness evolve to adoration.

Before the internet was everywhere, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had a vision of selling books, then everything, online. While people were happy with cell phones that were only used to make calls, Apple Founder Steve Jobs had a vision of a phone that was much smarter. And Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg had a vision for women in the workplace to “lean in” and take charge of their careers.

Bezos, Jobs and Sandberg…not only did they forge new paths, they were inspiring teachers and extraordinary thinkers. And they’ve made an imprint. They’re leaders that others most want to meet, learn from and emulate.

They are thought leaders.

Just telling people you are a thought leader doesn’t make you one. Thought leaders are people who have visions and strong degrees of expertise in particular subjects, topics, or issues. But more than that, they have publicly and relentlessly demonstrated their bona-fides over time by taking a stance, having a perspective, and voicing their views and opinions.

Being a thought leader takes time and effort. But by embarking on a strategic thought leadership program that integrates public relations and digital marketing, all the time and effort will be worth it, and here are 4 reasons why:

1) Become Well-Known by Those Who Matter

Imagine you are a startup and you’re trying to sell a new type of software that you believe will change how people interact with computers. Now imagine you’re the CEO well-known in this industry, speaking at events, being sought out by reporters and those seeking to learn more from you. How much easier will it be to have business opportunities come your way? Peer recommendations are still the most trusted across ages and countries, so having a foot in the door with your thought leadership is a great way to take advantage of that.

The customer of today is no longer the customer of yesterday. With competitors offering more and customers’ expectations growing, companies are struggling to deliver their messages and gain market share. Think about it. Traditional outbound marketing—advertising, cold emails, cold calls, snail mail and trade shows—are not yielding results like they used to. So, what’s a company to do to stand out from their rivals and attract more prospects and customers?

Here’s where Inbound Marketing comes into play. Inbound marketing – a customer-centric approach to providing helpful content and experiences to meeting prospects’ needs and challenges – is a strategic and wholistic marketing practice that brings together a plethora of techniques ranging from blogs to podcasts to videos to SEO to social media, and more, to spur companies onto unprecedented growth.

Here are 10 ways Inbound Marketing, sometimes referred to as “digital marketing” or “content marketing,” can benefit your company:

You've put in all the time and effort building your company. You know that your technology and brand story is a major differentiator, and that having the right PR agency partner will raise your awareness and credibility, catapult you to the next level, help get your story out, earn you positive media raves, and compel your prospects to buy from you and partner with you.

You know the timing is right to bring on board a trusted PR agency. But how do you choose the agency that’s right for you? Asking the following five questions might just get you closer to your ideal agency!

1. What is Their Track Record for Helping Companies Like Yours?

Finding a PR firm that has helped companies like yours is helpful. Look at companies that the agency has on their past and present roster. Are they from your or related industries? Are they startups or Fortune 500s? If you are an AI startup, agencies with applicable AI experience will understand your offerings and ramp up more quickly, but equally important, it means that your team will have relationships with reporters at the media outlets where you want to be featured. Treat the agency’s track record like a portfolio and prediction of how the agency will work with your company.

"Sorry, that's not news." Have you ever stumbled when a journalist tells you what you have to offer isn't newsworthy enough? You gulp. Here you are, with an exciting piece of news or scintillating insight, ready to strut your stuff, but they decide "it's not newsworthy" and don't give you a clue on what makes them tick. 

Well, we can't generalize for all media, but in our many years of working with hundreds, if not thousands of them, we have developed a good sense of the types of news and information that companies can create and package to pique the media's interest, earn their trust, and get written up in their news stories.

Here are 8 tips for creating newsworthy content:

1. Dazzle with Facts & Figures

Journalists love hard data. And that's a fact! Shining the spotlight on facts and figures, preferably with announcements about reports that shed light on industry trends, can entice a reporter to write about your organization as part of a larger trend story or even lead them to creating news just on your content. Survey data works great. When ACUHO-I's Annual State of ResNet Report was published earlier this year, media outlets picked up the story based on the strength of the numbers and infographic provided. One outlet, Campus Technology, even used the report in not one, but two articles, drawing from various newsy aspects of the report to cover multiple angles.

It's summer! While some of us are dipping our toes into warm sand on a sunny beach, did you know that magazine editors are already thinking of gifts under a Christmas tree? While it feels like the holidays are coming sooner every year, companies know that an early start to marketing their products is crucial for holiday sales. The National Retail Federation reported that winter holiday sales topped almost $700 billion in 2017, and a good chunk of that money was spent on products recommended in holiday gift guides - targeted lists of top products curated by journalists.

For companies looking to sell toy robots, fun gadgets, and Barbie drones, inclusion in gift guides is likely some of the most valuable coverage you can get. Many major magazines, like Wired and Entrepreneur, are already mapping out their guides, with blogs and news websites following in their wake. You could wait until holiday carols are playing non-stop on the radio to pitch, (last-minute gift guides accept until the week before), but then you might miss out on some great opportunities.

To prepare for the 2018 winter holiday season, here are five tips for getting into holiday gift guides:

1. Sniff Out Who to Contact

Finding the exact editor in charge of holiday gift guides can be a bit tricky, as they change all the time. A few of the largest daily newspapers and many smaller blogs will have the same person reviewing products for gift guides, but for many editors, it’s a one-time job. Your PR partner and tools like Cision have updated databases and lists of potential contacts so when you're building out your media list be sure to reach out so you know that you're contacting the right person. Sending your pitch and product to an editor who no longer in charge means you could miss your shot as your pitch gets lost in the shuffle.

It is remarkable how publicity -- high-profile media coverage, speaking opportunities, and awards --- leads to bigger share of mind, and a bigger piece of the market. Public relations builds buzz and triggers people to talk about you in ways that you can never buy through advertising. But once you get the publicity, how do you really make money from it?

Here are 5 ways to turn publicity into profits:

1. Shout it on Your Turf

Your company and insightful quotes from your CTO have just been included in a cover story in your most coveted industry media outlet -- one all your prospective customers read. Wait. They have given you an award too! Besides popping the champagne and doing the victory dance with your colleagues, what else should you do? Well, let's make sure you shout it! Broadcast it to everyone at the office, frame the media coverage, decorate your lobby with plaques and awards, bind the stories into books, and display them prominently -- lobbies, conference rooms, and office walls. Open your treasure chest and let your credentials shine loud and clear.

Great media coverage starts with a great email pitch. It introduces and excites the journalist to various facets of your company -- be it your products, your founders, your unique proposition for a changing industry, your customer successes and/or your insights or predictions about the future. A pitch needs to be short and sweet, informative but not overwhelming, but what does it actually look like? For our post today, we've whipped up an imaginary pitch to aid our discussion, and broken it down into the 8 must-haves of a great media pitch:

1. Make Them Feel Special

When it comes to pitching, personalization comes in two parts. First, while it may save time to list all your contacts in bcc and send one email, journalists find mass email blasts to be impersonal and often delete such emails without even looking at them. Avoid the bcc line and you'll avoid the spam folder. Second, make sure you use the name of the contact you are trying to reach. A vague "To whom it may concern" or (heaven forbid) the wrong name tells a contact that you haven't put in the time or effort to get to know who you're emailing. Let them know that you care by taking the time to personalize your email.

When you're running a company, trying to handle PR and marketing on top of everything else can be overwhelming. Sure, you know how important reaching out to your audience is, but between product launches, fundraising, sales prospecting, hiring, team building and the myriad of other things on your plate, the time just never appears. As much as you hate to admit it...you're not Superman or Wonderwoman.

We're here to tell you it's okay.

Great leaders know when to ask for help and how to delegate. So stop trying to grow that third shoulder to carry the weight of your company's marketing needs and instead share that load with a PR partner who knows what they're doing.

Here are 5 reasons why you should outsource your PR and marketing:

1. Delegate to Focus

Successful execution of your company's PR/marketing program is no side job. It's demanding work to be planning, strategizing, messaging, shelling out press releases, writing blog posts, case studies, social media, white papers, conducting media pitching and more. If it's not your only priority or even your area of expertise, it can weigh heavily upon your shoulders. Having a partner dedicated to this frees you up so you can focus on your mission-critical tasks.

Building 365, or even 182, days of content can test the most creative and best writers among us. Sometimes, it might feel like no matter what you do, you can't fill the blank spaces on the calendar fast enough. Fret not. Here are some tips to create timely content for your blog, newsletters, contributed articles, infographics, white papers, etc.

1. Celebrate the Holidays!

With built-in themes and dates, holidays are fantastic sources of content inspiration. Centering your content around the anticipated needs of your prospective customers, like including some of your fun gadgets as gift ideas for Mother's Day, is a great way to build content in advance. Some image creators, like Canva, even have holiday templates months ahead of time that you can use for stress-free planning. No big holidays coming up? Look for other opportunities. If you're a security company, you can have a field day with National Cyber Security Awareness Month. 

Content is the main ingredient when you’re cooking up a luscious digital marketing strategy. Just like how a chef works with different ingredients, a content creator works with varying types of content to entice their audience.

Here are 8 types of content to boost your digital marketing:

A wise old woman once said, "There is more to life then meets the eye, including the success of your business. If fame and fortune are what you seek, then perhaps it would be wise to look to the lunar calendar."

Before you consult your friendly neighborhood fengshui master, the answers to a prosperous year may be found in the Chinese zodiac animals of public relations.

Here are five signs that PR is meant for you:

1. When You're Out & About, But Nobody Knows You

Industry trade shows are high-powered affairs where major players are conveniently located under one roof. So you mingle with a mission. But without any buzz about your company, you will most likely be dismissed with the networking kiss of death. "Oh...hum...what's the name of your company again?" These words strike you in the heart as your potential client nods, smiles, and walks away. If you are crying inside because you were branded a "nobody" among your peers, this, my friend, is a sign. Our zodiac advisor says it's time to summon the PR DOG, the best friend of man as well as the best friend of business.

Face it—without trust, nothing gets accomplished. Prospective customers, partners, investors must first be convinced of the credibility of your company and products before they will sign on the dotted line. Wouldn’t it be great if they already know about your company and track record and seek you out even before you approach them? This happens when you build credibility for your organization and it becomes a trusted brand. But how do we build trust?

Here are Five Ways to Build Trust:

1. Get Ink in the Media

News sites, industry magazines, newspapers, selective blogs and other media are credible independent outlets that regularly mention companies and quote executives in their stories. When you’re quoted in the media, your credibility is enhanced, and your prospects’ trust in you deepens.

A common dilemma: You have a growing company, great products and services, happy customers and a knowledgeable CEO. But no one knows who you are. Thankfully, a strategic, focused public relations program can change that. Many companies have relied on proven PR strategies to raise awareness, build industry presence and even bolster sales. You can too.

Here Are 6 Ways PR Can Help Your Company:

1. PR Positions Company

Ever get the question, "What does your company actually do?" Are you inundating prospects with confusing messages? A PR program can craft direct and memorable messages that can effectively position and differentiate you from rivals. It also positions the company and CEO as the "go-to" source for industry trends and news.

Email, a major pillar of any savvy company's marketing strategy, is the only channel where we have full control of our messages, design, and distribution. Plus, the ROI and conversion rates are consistently higher than other marketing tools.

So what makes a marketing email effective? Is there a secret formula that can help produce consistently great emails? There is!

AIDA is one of the longest serving models in marketing, commonly attributed to American advertising advocate Elias St. Elmo Lewis. Time tested, AIDA is a foolproof method of creating effective marketing emails with four essential elements. In fact, once you understand AIDA, you’ll start seeing it in every piece of marketing content that makes you say, “I need to buy that!”

1. Attention - Catch the Eye with A Killer Subject Line

Attention spans are shortening and you may only have seconds to attract a customer as they scroll through their inbox. So that attention-grabbing subject line is your essential foot in the door. Those few words will have to get your customer to read the first sentence of your email, which will lead to the next and the next. Peak their curiosity and self-interest with the promise of a benefit to them.

What separates the haves from the have-nots in the business world? The simple answer is "reputation," an intangible that fortunately isn't unattainable. Chances are you already have most of the components to build your company's identity and reputation. One thing is for sure, no matter how good your product or service, you don't stand a chance in the business world without a solid reputation.

Here Are Five Ways To Build Reputation:

1. Know Thyself

Laser-focus on the niche that gives your company its competitive advantage. Knowing where you stand in the competitive landscape is the first step to developing your company's key messages and a larger strategy for building your company's identity and reputation.

Lights...camera...action! The research is done; the presentation complete; the audience assembled; now it's your turn to take the spotlight. You might be thinking, I'm ready, now I just need to connect with the audience. Whether you're talking one-on-one with a reporter, hosting a webinar, or giving a keynote speech at an industry event, what can you do to boost your confidence and wow your audience?

Here are 5 tips for connecting with your audience:

1. Custom Fit like a Glove

"One size fits all" is nice in theory, but it's not very realistic. Before you print that PowerPoint, understand what your audience is looking for. What information are they expecting you to provide? What are they hungry to learn? Should you use industry jargon or avoid it altogether? Tailor your messages, your tone, even your delivery style to fit each audience. Taking time to customize your presentation can mean the difference between making a connection and getting a cold reception.

You have considered every angle of your PR launch. You've double-checked that you have every message a company needs. And you've planned for every stage of maturing your online presence. Yet you are still not getting the web traffic you thought you'd get.

With today's over saturation of competing media, it can be hard to stand out among the noise. So if people won't come themselves, you will have to get them to come. And the best way to grow traffic is email. The ROI figures alone prove it: every $1 spent on email marketing nets an average return of $38!

Here are 4 reasons email marketing can bring you the traffic you want:

With 2017 drawing to a close, you reflect on the milestones crossed and goals achieved. You also plan your marketing and PR goals for 2018. Does your company need greater brand recognition? Do your executives need more exposure to influencers and decision makers? Are your products, services, or spokespeople appearing in news sites that can bolster your sales efforts? Are you challenged by how to meet these goals without adding head count? Finding support in a PR/marketing agency might be your answer.

Here are five reasons for tapping into a PR and marketing agency in 2018:

1. Abundance of Resources

Securing media coverage, launching content marketing campaigns, winning awards and industry allies all begin with research - who to reach out to, what tools to use. Your PR and marketing agency will have already invested in the best, most comprehensive media databases, and received training in marketing automation tools thus saving you thousands of dollars in subscription fees and expanding your capabilities ten-fold.

You've spent months and years of your life on it, and you're finally ready. You're ready to launch your new company, product or service to the world. But how do you ensure that the right people notice? Many ingredients make a successful PR launch – a generous dose of time, a sprinkle of creativity, and most of all, intense preparation on all fronts.

Here are 5 Considerations for Your PR Launch:

Tradeshows are like marathons. They aren't for the faint of heart. The biggest ones, like CES, run for six days and are packed with early mornings, late dinners, bustling business exchanges, and constant industry buzz. Tradeshows are also popular, albeit noisy, forums for promoting your company, your successes, and your messages. But how can you make sure that your company is not swallowed up by the sea of vendors vying for mindshare and media attention?

Here are 5 ways to grab the tradeshow media spotlight:

1. Be Prepared

Months before the doors open and the crowds pour in, your PR firm can work in close coordination with event organizers to uncover media opportunities for you -- from inclusion in tradeshow dailies to exclusive invitations to media events. Plan your releases so they can be pitched weeks in advance, not days. Now is the time to enlist the expertise of PR pros to refresh your message, update your media kits, and get your executives interview-ready.

So, you've decided to hold a media event: a press conference to launch a new product or service that will change the industry (or the world), celebrate a company milestone, merger, or a bi-centennial. Before you send out invitations to guests, especially your media guests, review your checklist and make sure not to miss these five steps. As a host, it is up to you to intrigue reporters to gain their attendance and potential media coverage.

Here are 5 steps to planning a media event:

1. Have a News Hook

You might have organized a well-planned event: you might be disclosing company news, or launching a new product, or providing breakthrough sessions at your conference. Believe it or not, these might not be enough to tempt busy reporters to come to your event. You'll need solid, relevant and timely news hooks. How will your company news or product shake up the industry? What value can you bring outside of what the media can read from your press release? Can your news resonate beyond the conference room and event hall? Be sure to highlight trends, unique aspects of your product or service and demonstrate how your news will transform and elevate these trends. Where there's a news hook - there's a story.

"Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent," said Harriet Beecher Stowe, an abolitionist author who lived in the 1800s. More than 150 years later, this statement still rings true. Organizations must find ways to communicate and convince your target publics of the worth of your missions, services, and products - or compromise success.

Here are five reasons why you need the media:

1. Reach Your Target Audiences

The media has the uncanny ability to reach thousands and millions of the right people in an amazingly short time. The company and/or individual who knows how to interest and intrigue the media has mastered one thing -- the ability to leverage the media for mutual benefit.

With new forms of media appearing every day, it’s easy to forget tried and true methods of getting your story out. The company newsletter survived the transition from mailbox to inbox and continues to attract new customers while making current customers feel valued. Compared to social media, which can be done in as little as 10 minutes a day, a good newsletter requires time and effort.

A PR partner can put together the juiciest bits of information and services like HubSpot, MailChip and ConstantContact can make a newsletter easier to distribute. But even with all the support, you might ask why a newsletter is necessary?

Here are three reasons why a company newsletter is a valuable tool for your business:

In ye old days of print, a newsroom was the physical space where journalists gathered to pound out news on their typewriters. Now, the term refers to where companies post their news and all the information they want journalists to find.

Also known as digital pressrooms or media kits, your newsroom is the PR hub of your website. It not only attracts traditional journalists, but podcasters, bloggers, and influencers who are curious about your business. To ensure that they find what they are looking for, be sure to include newsroom essentials like:

Growing up is never easy. There are always unexpected twists and turns, but as children there was that shining light of adulthood at the end of the tunnel. Building an online presence for your company can feel the same. We dream of skipping those awkward adolescent years of slow news coverage and empty email lists and moving straight to being the go-to website for your market. But we need to learn to walk before we can run.

Small, medium or large? The real world presents us with an endless array of choices—from the clothes we wear to the size of our computers and sound systems. In a world of shrinking gadgets where nanotechnology reigns supreme, we've learned that big is not necessarily better. In the world of public relations and digital marketing, we've learned that small is often better!

Sometimes it is nothing short of mystifying when a competitor with lesser products, numbers, and brand recognition generates more ink than you. Just as the art of Chinese calligraphy is built upon layers of subtleties, spanning thousands of years of knowledge and imbued with the spirit of the masters, so are the complexities of telling your company's story.

Imagine… your words inspire, enlighten, provoke, stimulate. Imagine… your phone ringing off the hook. The media wants you, customers want you, and investors are interested in you. Media interviews give you an opportunity to demonstrate your company's thought leadership as well as breathe life and personality into your company’s image. They also allow you to reach an exponentially targeted audience quickly. This can be a momentous responsibility, but it is also a momentous opportunity.

Let's face it... few of us are truly comfortable in the spotlight. 

This is especially true when we come face-to-face with the media. When the camera rolls, we put on our most valiant voice, and pray secretly that we're not misquoted, misrepresented, misunderstood, or even ridiculed. Are those knees shaking? Is your heart racing? Fear no more, it's time to quash the nerves and embrace the spotlight!

We've talked about why and who should keep a close eye on your business' social media feeds, and now it's time to go over how to respond to all of the tweets, shares, and comments about your business. All of that feedback is a great source of unfiltered news, but the sheer amount can be overwhelming.

In our last post, we talked about why social media monitoring is so important for generating leads for your business. Today, we'll go over which groups should monitor your company's channels and how they benefit.

Social media, when managed properly, can be a great asset to any business. Last month, we talked about how to set up a simple and quick social media plan for your business with SKC's Weekly Social Media Checklist. Now that you have a plan, monitoring your channels is the gas that keeps your machine running.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first five years. Businesses who escape this fate and succeed, more often than not, have mastered the art of public relations. These companies have figured out how to use PR to multiply their effectiveness with customers, partners, and investors.

Among the hustle and bustle of your growing business, it’s easy to forget the little things. A mere 140 characters feels so unimportant compared to that big meeting and looming deadlines. Social media can drive brand awareness and generate leads, but keeping the machine running takes up your valuable time and resources.

Customers, partners and investors make decisions about your product or service based upon what they read, hear and experience. You are the expert on how to optimize your IoT product, fortify your cereal or leverage your portfolio of investments, but do you know the best approaches for optimizing your partnership with your PR firm? Here are five ways:

“I see trees of green, red roses too…” As Louis Armstrong sings, it’s a wonderful world. Every Earth Day we celebrate earth and our efforts to protect it. One of our environmental protection mantras is the 3Rs – Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. The idea of reusing old items to reduce waste can also be useful for your company’s marketing and PR content. Instead of the classic 3Rs, may we present, Renew, Recycle, and Repurpose:

Still searching for "the one"? For that perfect message, that is. Every company desires messaging that clicks with their customers and resonates loudly in the minds of prospective buyers and media. But creating the right perceptions isn't about having a single message. It’s about matching the correct messages, to the right types of audiences, at the right time.The secret to fantastic messaging is found in developing 5 key messages:

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Then in 2017, you and your crew set sail in search of buried gold to stake a claim on your industry’s uncharted territory. But alas mate, you find yourselves in the dreaded doldrums - where the calm sea of no publicity lies. If only a current of public recognition would carry you away, then you are this much closer to Treasure Island.
 
Well Captain, your crew awaits your instructions, so what should you do before there is mutiny on the bounty? It’s time to bring in the PR oars of salvation and start rowing your ship to the promised land.

Here are five ways to make news when there is no news:

Companies love media coverage — it reaches a large and broad audience at virtually no cost. The news website Mashable gets over 36 million visitors per month worldwide. So you’ve got an interview, but that doesn’t ensure a story or guarantee “ink.” So be quotable.

Here are five tips for a great media interview.

Generating high quality, and quantity, leads is crucial to any marketing campaign. Successful lead generation keeps sales brimming with new prospects and hardly requires any effort once put in motion. But as with any machine, getting the gears started requires some old-fashioned elbow grease.

Setting up your own lead generation systems requires focus on five areas:

Navigating in a new country or region can be daunting, especially when your company and product or service might not have the cache it has in your home market. Even with a strong corporate vision, building brand recognition takes time and effort. And with the right knowledge it can be a less bumpy road to success.

When it comes to marketing and public relations, lay the groundwork and remember these five tips: 

Today's headlines across the world are filled with examples of bad media relations practices. From lying to spying, American companies and politicians at the highest levels are behaving appallingly and unprofessionally toward the media. A good media relationship is a blessing and a joy for any company, but it isn’t always easy to walk the straight and narrow.

When companies plan their media outreach initiatives, we should keep in mind these four commandments of media relations:

Crowdfunding is becoming more competitive by the day. And for good reason. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and other crowdfunding platforms provide a tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators. That said, running a successful crowdfunding project is no small feat.

The new year is an opportunity for reassesment and goal-setting for your business. Reviewing what worked and what fell flat in the past year can reveal new insights to bolster your 2017 PR and marketing initiatives. SKC is pleased to offer our blog readers a 45-minute complimentary consultation to help you jumpstart the new year.

The internet has forever changed the way news is distributed. From blogs to podcasts to social media and 24-hour online news, your customers are consuming information in a whole new way. Regardless of your company’s brand, service or product, the changing media landscape means more opportunities to get your company in the public eye. But are your messages registering with audiences in ways you intended?

While we live in a new world with a plethora of arrows in the PR quiver, the press release is still an important foundational tool to master and leverage. It is a shout-out to the world and helps draw the spotlight to your company and its stellar progress. Keep these five types of news in mind, and you’ll be creating a steady drum roll of good news to catch the media's interest as well as build confidence amongst stakeholders such as investors, partners, customers and more.

The Year of the Yang Red Monkey heralds a year of adventure and discovery, a time for new beginnings and for forging ahead. Are you an Asian company with your eyes and heart set on expanding in the U.S. market this year? On top of the 99 things to do, are your advisors also nudging you to launch a public relations program to bolster your company’s US presence?