Nata PR School (EN)

We often confuse advertising practices with what public relations does. What’s the purpose of each? Clearly, the purpose of both is to generate sales, but the way they appeal to consumers is different.

Of course, advertising and media relations are part of any good marketing plan. But the results are very different for each approach:

While PR likes novelty, advertising goes for established brands. This may seem obvious, but it’s much easier to sell a product to a customer who’s already heard of it. And this is where public relations plays its role – often underplays it, really – unlike advertising, which is more like a marching band.

At NATA PR, we’re experts in sharing our clients’ news. We already know which journalists and influencers will want to be the first to showcase our latest finds. There are so many of these go-betweens whose top goal is keeping their readers, listeners and fans up to date.

You’ll see why time is such a key factor for public relations to work its magic, whereas advertising can be more immediate.

Other PR experts used to like stirring things up, like AI and Laura Ries, who launched the cult PR book “The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR.” Naturally, this was before the Internet and the infinite advertising power of Facebook and Google came into play!

At NATA PR, we’re not from the school of thought in which PR can fix everything. But we know that if you can harness public relations, advertising and social media, you can create a massive force to reach consumers.

So if you have a new product or business, it’s to your advantage to use public relations at the start of your campaign. We’ve often advised our newsmaking clients to catch the interest of several journalists and influencers first, through a public relations campaign, before moving on with advertising.

There are multiple reasons why they would talk about you or your product. But the simplest reason is still that it’s new.

So it’s up to you to take advantage of this, and include PR in your marketing plan. If you want to discuss it in person with us, get in touch now at www.natapr.com

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In this episode, I’ll be talking about Step 6 in the NATA PR model for creating a public relations campaign with traditional media or influencers. It’s a key tactic for getting the attention of media and influencers—what I like to call reminders.

And here’s where I think media relations—the way we do it here at NATA PR—has something in common with sales. If you’re selling products and services, what I’m saying here should sound very familiar. You contact a client the first time to sell them your products, and it’s not likely you’ll make that sale right away, is it? It’s possible, of course—you’ve really done the homework on your timing and your contacts, and you know your product is what they generally purchase, or you have THE solution to a specific problem.

The same is true with follow-ups and reminders to journalists and influencers. You rarely get a response to your first email unless you have news that fits with the stories the journalists are working on: a stand-out new product in electric cars, for example. In that case, you’ll get the attention of niche journalists/influencers pretty easily.

However, our day-to-day at the agency has shown me that this is not true for all our clients. And this is where follow-ups and reminders can generate the results you want.

How many follow-ups and reminders should we do?

By doing a little research online, I’ve found a range of answers on this point. But they all agree on more than two. Obviously, you won’t hit your sales targets with a single reminder. Some experts suggest as many as seven. But you’ve got to take pains not to annoy that journalist or influencer. Use a light touch here to score points.

So if you send your press release just once and pray to the PR goddess, the odds are that you won’t even get a single response. And this is what new clients often tell us when they contact us: “We’ve sent out press releases and it's never done a thing.”

As I always say, unless you’re Elon Musk, Celine Dion or the Cirque du Soleil, no one’s out there waiting for your press release. That doesn’t mean that your news isn’t important unless you're an A-list celebrity. But it does speak of the volume of news that journalists are sent—so you should never hesitate to put yourself back in their line of vision.

I hope I’ve convinced you of the importance of Step 6 in our model. Play around with this! Try sending some attention-grabbing reminders. Change your email subject line. Share some news that isn’t in your press release. Be sincere and honest. Be real. And don’t forget that you’re sending this news to human beings!

If you want to learn more about our six-step model, download it now and get in touch.

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In this episode, I’ll be talking about Step 5 in the NATA PR model for creating a public relations campaign with traditional media or influencers. Today we’re talking about metrics, choosing metrics, and how metrics is simply the best tool for moving forward toward the success you want.

As some of you know, I’m fascinated by the professional coaching industry and its growth in recent years. I’ve been using professional coaches every year for many years, so I can make progress and measure my results. In 2020, in fact, I decided to earn my certification from one of the most reputable and qualified schools: The Life Coach School.

For me, choosing and setting targets that can be measured is simply the best tool. It’s what our amazing brains can use to help us find solutions that match our needs and move us forward toward the success we desire.

Whether you’ve taken on your own media relations or you’re working with an agency, you know how important it is to set quantifiable targets – what we like to call Key Performance Indicators (KPI). You’ve probably already heard the term, which simply means defining the key factors you’re going to measure when the campaign is over.

Here are a few examples:

What you choose to measure—your indicators—can vary widely. If you’re on your own and starting to send out press releases, set yourself simple targets for the number of contacts and follow-ups.

You can start with as simple a list as five carefully-chosen media outlets or influencers, and test their interest and their responses.

Set yourself follow-up targets with them—four, five or six with different angles and news.

Between you and me, achieving 100% of the targets you set isn’t essential, especially when you're just starting out. What is vital, however, is identifying what works and what can be changed and improved. Public relations is not an exact science, and that’s what keeps me so interested.

I especially like Alain Fernandez’s definition of metrics. He’s talking about economics here, but it applies to us:

“You don’t measure to control, but to steer. In our corporate approach… we’re too quick to associate the terms ‘metrics’ and ‘indicators’ with ‘control’.”

He goes on:

“… You must move away from the approach of upstream planning and downstream reporting, toward a dynamic and responsive approach: measure/act/react.”

In short, you’ve got to choose which measuring points will answer your questions. If your target turns out to be hard to measure, like increasing your visibility, it’s even more important to make it quantifiable—in other words, something like writing three articles on the company’s history.

I hope I’ve convinced you of the importance of Step 5 in our model. Look at it as a game and have fun measuring the actions you take and the results you get.

If you want to learn more about our six-step model, download it now and get in touch.

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In this episode, I’ll be talking about point 4 of the NATA PR model to create a traditional public relations campaign, or one with influencers. If you’ve been asking yourself what tools you need to get people talking about you, then this episode is for you.

Have you identified why people would talk about you, written your press release, and found five to 10 genuine influencers or journalists who are interested in your product, service or sector? If so, you’ve already done more than 80% of the work.

So, what’s missing? A visual aspect to illustrate your story! It seems simple, but remember that image quality is crucial. You might interest a journalist with an excellent subject, but then they suddenly refuse to talk about you because you don’t have high-definition photos or images of your product on a white background. In this era of social media, if you don’t have photos or videos, you barely exist.

If you don’t know what the right type of image looks like, browse some online publications that feature your industry or your products. Do you know which images and photos are used in articles? More than 80% of the time, they’re provided by the company or brand that’s looking to get featured.

What visual do you want to accompany the text written by a journalist or influencer who chooses to talk about you, your service or your new creation? A strong image could well tip the scale in your favour. Underestimate the power of images at your peril. It’s also what will grab the attention of readers or followers of the influencer you’re working with.

At NATA PR, knowing what works is second nature, because it’s what we do every day. That said, here are some stats to convince you how important certain tools are.

Every year, CISION group releases a “State of the Media” survey of more than 3,800 journalists across approximately 2,160 media outlets, spanning 17 regions across the world. These figures are tangible evidence of what we see at the agency.

Over the last six months:

81% used images in their articles

46% used videos

41% used infographics

39% used social media posts

More than half of journalists (54%) go so far as to say they would be more likely to cover a story if provided with multimedia.

Going by journalists’ most-used multimedia elements from the last half of 2021, images may be the fastest way to get out of journalists’ inboxes and onto their editorial calendars.

Not only do photographs, videos, audio clips, infographics and illustrations help contextualize a story, they add a visual or aural dimension that has been proven to increase consumer engagement.

I hope this has convinced you how important it is to have high-quality images. The web and social media are swarming with professional photographers. Make sure you use them!

If you want to learn more about our six-step model, download it now and get in touch.

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Step 3 in the NATA model:

Identify the real influencers

Far be it from me to think there are real influencers and fake influencers. The trick is to identify those who are relevant for you, your product or your service. Those who bring you REAL results.

Where to start

Nothing beats a real-life case in illustrating how to grow your own contact list.

Let’s take a student who’s creating high-end perfumes:

You can start with a list of five contacts, then add one or two new contacts each week, and see how they respond to your proposal.

Our fragrance-creating student started with a list of 10 contacts, which she added to over time. With about 20 contacts on her list, she was able to generate five articles and references on her new perfume.

It’s a myth that you need weeks or months of full-time work to build your list. Take it one step at a time. This advice applies to any country and any market. The basics of PR are the same in every market.

It’s also a myth that your list has to have thousands of contacts to get results. What matters is finding the REAL ones, the right influencers.

Google – Your best friend

Yes, it’s one of our top tools at the agency, and you can access it too. In the past, we had to subscribe to a media list and wait for updates to find out about, say, journalists on new programs.

Today, though we’re still on those media lists, we do online searches daily to find, for example, who wrote articles about Valentine’s Day last year in Vogue USA (Valentine’s Day + Vogue). You see how you can easily refine your searches to find the RIGHT influencers.

FIVE MINUTES OF FUN

It’s easy to create contact lists and add to them every week. Try it out for five minutes, then tell me what you were able to quickly find. As we all know, everything’s online nowadays. Make Google your best friend and find contacts you can use.

If you want to learn more about our six-step model, download it now and get in touch.

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This episode is also available in video format ► https://youtu.be/vnl0RTttwXE

Antoine is an expert in social media management, and J7 Media has evolved over the years to become a 100% Facebook advertising agency since 2017.

This specialization has allowed J7 Media to manage more than 30 million dollars annually in Facebook advertising, and it has three case studies on the Facebook site itself.

In 2018, J7 Media was among the first agencies in the world to obtain the Facebook Marketing Partner badge or Meta Business Partnercertification.

A podcast enthusiast, Antoine hosts three weekly podcasts: Hypercroissance (a 100% entrepreneurship-oriented podcast – I’m a guest on Episode 58), Social Selling (a 100% Facebook ads-oriented podcast) and Commerce Élite (a 100% e-commerce-oriented podcast).

Where to find Antoine Gagné et J7 Media:

LINKEDIN

https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoine-gagn%C3%A9-69a94366/

AGENCY

https://www.j7media.com/en

PODCASTS

Hypercroissance

https://www.j7media.com/en/our-hypergrowth-podcasts

Social Selling

https://www.j7media.com/en/social-selling

Commerce Élite (FR)

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/commerce-%C3%A9lite/id1621999577

In this episode, I’ll continue to explore with you our six-step model that we use every day at the agency to create public relations and social media campaigns.

If you don’t already have a copy of this model, you can get one by clicking on the link at the end of the episode: THE NATA PR MODEL.

In episode 123 I talked about step one, which is THE first question you should ask yourself:

Why would they be talking about you?

Once you’ve identified why “they” (journalists or influencers) would be talking about you, step two is telling your story.

You don’t need to be a writer

If you run a company or have a job, you almost certainly have to write emails every day. Telling your story should be just as easy as your regular discussions with clients or suppliers.

We’ve developed a point-by-point technique at NATA PR that helps us get straight to the point when we’re talking to journalists or influencers. The purpose of this technique is to make information easy to read and maximize the chances of a journalist talking about you.

Practise this technique using these simple questions. Answer them and then remove the questions before sending your email:

WHAT:

• Brand Z is launching a new vitamin C serum.

WHY:

• The vitamin C doesn’t become oxidized and retains all its properties that help reduce skin pigmentation.

• It’s a completely new patent from company Z and they are the only ones in the world that have it.

WHEN:

• It’ll be launched on X.

WHERE:

• On X’s website and in reputable pharmacies.

CONTACT:

• Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Getting journalists’ or influencers’ attention is one thing. Getting them to actually read your email is another. If it’s long, it’s very likely that they simply won’t read it. You’re asking too much of your target audience.

If you want to develop this technique with us, why not sign up for the NATA PR SCHOOL (link at the end of the episode)?

We’ll teach you the basics of how to create simple press releases that sell. Indeed, although emails are essential, press releases are still the number one public relations tool that can help you tell your story in more detail.

Some of our students used this method before they even finished their press release and they managed to get interviews with local TV channels, newspapers and trade magazines.

If you’ve got what they’re looking for, it’s likely that they’ll reply and talk about you.

Is a little voice in your head telling you that it can’t be that easy? Well, think again! By keeping your message simple and accurate, you’ll increase the chances that your target audience will want to read what you’ve written.

You’re making their job easier and giving them information that’s easy to digest. If they can read the whole thing with one glance, you’ll get their attention.

If you want to learn more about our six-step model, download it now and get in touch.

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For those of you who are just discovering NATA PR SCHOOL with this episode – we have a six-step model to guide you as you create your public relations or social media campaign yourself.

We use this model every day at NATA PR. Step one in this model is so simple and, hands down, one of the most important. It’s THE first question you should ask yourself:

Why would they be talking about you?

“They” being the target of your choosing: a journalist or influencer.

So why would the journalist from the daily that you read routinely be talking about you?

If you read this journalist’s articles, you know that they’re interested in companies that sign contracts abroad, have set up programs for their employees, have developed tools to help their customers out during a recession, and so on.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Some of the journalists we talk to regularly, for example, specialize in fashion and have a regular column on local fashion. So, we know that journalist is on the lookout for that kind of news. It’s up to us to share it with them.

What we call trends—the hot topics—are good indicators as to why journalists/influencers would want to talk about you.

Identifying the latest trends has become a daily habit for me. Obviously, depending on when you’re listening to this podcast, the trends I name here may be over – or not. Here’s an example of what I mean:

We have clients who are offering new products but also want to keep their best-sellers in the news. It’s often by means of these trends that we get the word out.

We have an agrifood client who’s an expert in frozen foods. Stories about the economic, nutritional and zero-waste aspects of the frozen food industry are an excellent way to get the brand talked about.

We could also team up with nutritionists or chefs offering simple recipes featuring frozen foods to inspire journalists to include them in their stories (on recipes or economics).

There are multiple reasons why they would talk about you or your product. But the simplest reason is still that it’s new.

Say you’re selling a new vitamin C serum that will give skin that glow. That’s all it may take to get the attention of beauty reporters, because their job is to catalogue everything that’s new in their sector and what’s local. A beauty brand made here, as we like to mention, may get its moment by highlighting that it’s local.

If you want to find out more about our six-step model, don’t hesitate to download it and get in touch with me.

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I’ve often heard business leaders, who were coming to us for our public relations services, question how we managed to generate results. They’d tried it out with their in-house team, and here’s what they would tell us: “We’ve often sent out press releases and had no one ever respond. It just didn’t go anywhere.”

This belief, which is still quite embedded, that all we do is send out press releases tells me a lot about what these business leaders know about communications and public relations.

Here are the questions I ask them when they believe that sending out press releases is ineffective:

Be aware that no one’s waiting for your press release, unless you’re a publicly traded company and you have to report your earnings every quarter, or you’re already very well known.

Still, that’s no reason not to release anything at all, quite the opposite – if you don’t do it, many of your competitors will and they’ll take up all the media space.

In over 20 years, I’ve lost track of the brands that have had great success even before the internet and which, in recent years, have realized that their younger, better-known competition is busily eating up big market shares. Yes, young companies that know how to get featured and who communicate regularly are dislodging them.

No one’s waiting for your press release, it’s true. But it’s the number-one tool for grabbing the attention of journalists and influencers. A critical tool, in fact, for getting known.

Let’s have a little fun. Why not put yourself in the place of the journalist you’re trying to reach? Let’s have a seat in their office, at their screen. What are they after?

Here’s what they’re thinking:

Knowing what this journalist is thinking, all you have to do is make it easier for them and send them information they can use.

Simplicity always wins here. Write a short press release that contains basic information free of hype. Make sure you have high-quality, high-resolution images and list your prices, points of sale, and so on. Just the facts.

If you want to know more about the number-one public relations tool, the press release, don’t wait to get in touch with me.

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You’ve written your first press release which contains relevant information. Your catchy title should capture the attention of journalists and influencers. But you’re wondering what’s the right timing for sending it out.

This is an excellent question and, as you might suspect, there’s more than one answer.

Monday morning: not unless you’re a major company that’s already well known. Monday mornings are often very busy for media and influencers, just as they are for you. It’s back to work after the weekend, and people often empty their email inboxes and prepare the week’s agenda. Generally speaking, we avoid sending out press releases on Mondays. But be aware, if your news is connected to the headlines, Monday mornings could be the ideal time.

At NATA PR, we maximize the impact of our press releases by sending them out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

However, since we have to create weekly action reports for many clients, I ask my employees to prepare those on Thursday and to write press releases that can be sent out first thing Friday.

Again, it all depends on your line of business, but be aware that Fridays are a good time if you need to speak directly to journalists or influencers. On Friday afternoons some journalists will be busy wrapping up articles for the weekend, but in our business, where we’re often approaching magazines, Friday has always been an excellent day. We’ve even held events on Fridays.

There is this misconception among public relations professionals who specialize in promoting products, who assert that Fridays are not good days to send out press releases or hold events. This is wrong, but be careful, because if you decide to invite influencers/journalists to visit a new spa or shop, you’ll have to let them know in advance. We’re talking several weeks here, to maximize the number of journalists and influencers who show up.

At NATA PR, we have, many times, organized press trips with groups of journalists or influencers on Fridays. In those cases, we notified the media and influencers weeks ahead of time so they could block off that time in their schedule.

These are often short press trips to visit a new spa or tourist attraction 60-90 minutes away from downtown. By giving them ample time, we let them schedule their workweek so they can finish up earlier on Friday and join us on the press trip.

There’s no one-size-fits-all guideline here – we’re in a world that’s constantly changing. Nothing’s stopping you from asking three journalists and three influencers what they think the best times are to be invited to presentations/events.

One thing is for sure: good timing is a key component in the success of our events and our public relations campaigns, and the timing that worked before the pandemic may not be a useful standard anymore.

Make sure you have that time, because if you only have 10 days to send out invitations and confirm who’s coming, there’s a good chance that your media and influencers already have something on their calendar.

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