PRESS RELATIONSWrong Doing Their

Learn Why Most People Are

it’s fuck*** personalDon’t be fooled

#journalistsarehumans

But first, a quick story

#journalistsarehumans

When you look for a job, a resume is the best way to…

#journalistsarehumans

this kind of placeth

leading to this charming boss

working in a pretty place like this

with outstanding missions like that one

(which lead you to wear this kind of tie)

Generic Press Release, is a bit like a resume.you send them blindly to masses & get nothing in return

#journalistsarehumans

To get press coverage, you need to do exactly what you would do to find a job

#journalistsarehumans

To get press coverage, you need to do exactly what you would do to find a job

you build human connexions

#journalistsarehumans

& understand others’ needseg: deadline, issues, goals, pure passion…

once you know them & understand their needs

help them !eg: intro, off-the-record, reactivity, etc.

#journalistsarehumans

Good PR =making journalists’ lives as easy as possible

#journalistsarehumans

Modus Operandito build human connexions

you first need to know the people you want to know

#journalistsarehumans

Goal: creating a list of journalists covering your topic

Todo : 1. Google News2. Buzzsumo 3. Google

Tool: Spreadsheets

Prerequisite : identify your topic

#journalistsarehumans

Goal: creating a list of journalists covering your topic

Tool: Spreadsheets

Prerequisite : identify biggest media in your field

Todo : find the relevant journalists

#journalistsarehumans

Jedi Trick

if you know a very effective competitor in PR (or anyone who share your target market), use its campaign to map the relevant media

1. Use Google Search with quotation marks in a specific extract in an article(key figure, quote, etc.) 2. Use Google Images when you ID images of his (product picture, users in situ, etc.)

#journalistsarehumans

#becomingaStoryteller

Even if you get close with the journalist

you need fuck*** great content“Give me something I care of and that my readers will love.“— The Journalist

“Please. Tell me good stories. Make me smarter. Make me laugh. Challenge my beliefs.“ — The reader

One-sentence pitch*

My company <name> is developing <offering> to help <audience> to solve <problem> with <secret sauce>.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/03/madlibs-pitch-adeo-ressi-founder-institute/

Pre-requisite

#becomingaStoryteller

* yes, this is what marketers call positioning

“End of Software.“ “Create, deploy, and manage online campaigns that increase revenue in SaaS“

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

#becomingaStoryteller

You need to select the right level of details depending on the situation:

mission actions

http://firstround.com/article/The-Best-PR-Advice-Youve-Never-Heard-from-Facebooks-Head-of-Tech-Communications

The RIBS TestCaryn Marooney, head of tech communication Facebook

Relevant (Mark Benioff launched Salesforce as the “End of Software“) Do you really improve someone’s life? Do you deserve his/her attention? !Inevitable (Facebook: connecting the world with technology) Whatever you’re developing is inevitable.

#becomingaStoryteller

The RIBS TestCaryn Marooney, head of tech communication Facebook

Believable (Benioff comes from Oracle and knew software & all its issues) It will happen and you will be the ones to carry the ball over the line !Simple (“End of Software“) Take your messaging and edit it down. Get it to its essence.

http://firstround.com/article/The-Best-PR-Advice-Youve-Never-Heard-from-Facebooks-Head-of-Tech-Communications

#becomingaStoryteller

Happy Journalist = Good Content = Viral Content

#becomingaStoryteller

The Secret Formula for Virality is…

http://fr.slideshare.net/Upworthy/engineering-virality-dc-week-2012

#becomingaStoryteller

http://fr.slideshare.net/Upworthy/engineering-virality-dc-week-2012

clicks

views

definition

=share

viewsx

Jedi Trick

clicks

share=Virality

1. clickability 2. sharability

#becomingaStoryteller

http://fr.slideshare.net/Upworthy/engineering-virality-dc-week-2012

clicks

share1. clickability = = headlines

#becomingaStoryteller

let’s see how to write very efficient headlines

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3028193/evidence/upworthys-headlines-are-insufferable-heres-why-you-click-anyway

Good Headlines = Information GapInformation-gap theory: “The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce or eliminate the feeling of deprivation.“ Loewenstein (source)

#becomingaStoryteller

Information Gap

too vague, don’t want to click

too specific, don’t need to click

just right, compelled to click

“This is an amazing video!“

“This monkey sniffs own armpit, passes out from doing so.“

“Adorable chimpanzee does something rather unexpected.“

#becomingaStoryteller

#becomingaStorytellerInformation Gap

junk information only? (1/3)

Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist set out to improve the way he talk about science.For inspiration he went to the library. He found something he had not expected: the most successful author all began with a mystery story. The authors described a state of affairs that seemed to make no sense and then invited the reader into the material as a way of solving the mystery. One exemple that stuck in his mind was written by an astronomer, who began with the following puzzle:

#becomingaStorytellerInformation Gap

junk information only? (2/3)

#becomingaStoryteller

from Made To Stick, Chip Heath & Dan Heath p80-81

Information gap = giving people the urge to know more, aka “closing the gap“

Information Gapjunk information only? (3/3)

http://fr.slideshare.net/Upworthy/engineering-virality-dc-week-2012

views2. shareability = =

share emotional arousal

#becomingaStoryteller

Relaxation

Joy

Fear

Sadness

POSITIVE EMOTION

NEGATIVE EMOTION

EMOTIONALAROUSAL No influence on shareability

What truly matters

#becomingaStoryteller

Finding the underlying emotion: “The 3Ys technique“

#becomingaStoryteller

If you don’t know whether your info has the potential to create an emotion arousal or not, ask yourself: “Why does it matter?“.*

If you do it 3 times, you’ll find the underlying emotion.

#dailylife

time to get your hands dirtyYou are connected and know how to make good content?

#dailylife

http://okdork.com/2014/08/12/how-to-do-pr-for-your-startup-without-spending-any-money/

The (good) email templateSubject: Re: <Their Story Title>

Hey <First Name>, !My name is [first name] from [company name]. After reading your article {{ story.title }} I thought your readers might be interested to hear more about [topic from their article which relates to what you're pitching] since the subject of [general topic from the article] has been in the news lately as you’ve probably seen. Looking over your bio and past articles sounds like you cover [topic from the article] a lot. !We developed a technology that… <insert your one sentence pitch here>. !We have some <insert your news/study> which relates directly to your interests and I wanted to shoot over info/details for you to review/check out. Let me know if you’d be interested? !Thanks, !<Your full name> <contact info>

#dailylife

in-house vs outsourcing?

In-HouseTo do: finding the journalists, getting to know them, daily press review, editorial calendar, incoming requests, writing press releases, follow-up calls, press invitation, etc.

OutsourcingTo do: pitching very precisely your company and its topics to the PR firm/freelance, editorial calendar, spokesperson ID + training, weekly review of news (any news in the company, hot topics, etc.)+ reporting of previous campaign, etc.

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/01/23/how-to-use-pr-firms-at-startups/

#dailylife

When to do PR for startups?By @clementdelangue

Start early and never stop! You’ll need at least a couple of months to become good at PR. !

Research the audience of the outlet. The better the audience, the more customized you can get. Also use tools like Linktally or Sharedcount to estimate if the articles get shared. !

Never delay an article more than a few days. If a journalist is interested, get the article published now, it will increase your chances of getting even more coverage for your “big launch”.

#dailylife

Going from Small To Big Medias

Local media/Small blogs

Blogs of national media/

Big blogNational Media

Trust Me I’m Lying, Ryan Holiday

It’s easier to target the left to reach the right. Journalists use more and more twitter and blogs as a source of news.

#dailylife

Newsjacking

http://fr.slideshare.net/Clementdelangue/newsjacking-101-get-media-coverage-for-startups

Use news to promote your own product/company. eg: when it starts to rain it’s easy to get coverage for your brand new

connected umbrellas ;)

#dailylife

#dailylife

#dailylife

#dailylife

#dailylife

DOs & DONT’sDONT’sDOs

DO

#dailylife

Send email with over-used/too vague subjects

“Press release about us“ “Launch of our last product“

“A Revolutionary Product“

DOBe specific

“[Infographics + Story]: New scheme of capital gain taxes

DONTDONT“Wonderful story“

#dailylife

Send the very same email to 200+ medias

Tailor made story to your targeted media + generic press release for the others

DODO

DONTDONT

#dailylife

Send emails too long / several attachment

Short email = abstract. (1 PDF+ 2 photo max) attached. Weblink to bios, tagline, company story & description,

logo, last press releases and stock of pictures

DODO

DONTDONT

#dailylife

Send purely promotional information

DODOInformation + content of added value (study,

barometer, infographics…)

DONTDONT

In bloggers’ shoes

#Behindthescenes

1

2

one of the leading blog covering french startups.. in french

By Louis Carle

By Liam Boogar

one of the leading blog covering french startups.. in english

#Behindthescenes

What You’ll Never Do

Not-targeted infos

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2

3

Pictures inside the body of the mail

Crappy subject (eg “talk about us“)

by Louis Carle

Best Practices

Information attached. Good design + hypertexts

1

2

3

Customized email

Media attached (.zip)

4 Private access

5 Direct contact by Louis Carle

By Liam Boogar

Five Ways to get on my shit list

We write in English. N’écris pas en français.

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2

3

I keep running list of bad startup names. Don’t make that list.

“Here’s a recent article of us on another blog“. Bad idea.

4 No good startup was ever pitched to a blogger in 140 characters. You won’t be the exception.

5Press release are attachments, not emails. Also I only read them after I decide to write about you, not in order to decide.

Five Ways to get my Attention

Be ready for Press. If you’re not sure what this means, you’re not ready.

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3

Short email. “Hi. We do X. Want to learn more??“

Get an intro from someone we’ve written about. I like all the people I’ve written about.

4Ask me to lunch/coffee – I do that every day, so you know I’ll be free in the next week.

5Tell me why Rude Baguette should write about you ( “we’re French” is not a good enough answer)

By Liam Boogar

Should you target tech blogs when you’re a B2C startup?

Only 4 valuable reasons :

Getting early adopters

Building your Search Story

Getting new employees

Being easily findable for other media

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3

4

these are “nice to have“

Target first the media read/watched/listened by your

targeted market!

What about Social Media x Press Relations?

#SocialPR

PR x Social Media can:

amplify your messages

make it last longer

create a movement

build a community

#SocialPR

level of mastery/force of your messages

Remember the french #geonpi

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GM of France Digitale, alliance of french digital champions Head of eBusiness Studies @ WebSchoolFactory (Paris) Happy blogger: www.brocooli.com willy (a) francedigitale.org @willybraun

Special thanks to Mathieu Daix (@mathieudaix), Patrick Robin (@robin24h00) & Clément Delangue (@clementdelangue) for their precious feedbacks

Willy Braun