After last night GOP Presidential Debate, it is still unclear what the candidates stand for. We know what they are against, we know what they don't like, but what is their message and what is the brand they want us to remember them by? Democrats and Republicans need to bring together the most creative minds they can find to solve the problem of what Democrats and Republicans stand for today.
Conflict is inevitable with any high profile project. However, a carefully structured dialogue could offer a more effective and durable method to resolve conflicts and build consensus around controversial or often complex projects.
If project teams for high profile projects, such as a new international border crossing, a jail, new stadium or arena or a large mixed-use development are serious about seeing their vision a reality while contributing to the community, an effective strategy would be to engage the community and other stakeholders early in the process.
Public affairs professionals with a solid reputation in the community and one who is familiar with the stakeholders and the issues important to them, can then help develop strategic and meaningful relationships, long before a high profile and often controversial project is announced. That professional can then create a community roadmap to help the project team navigate through the minefields of any project. They will help minimize risk and help anticipate barriers to seeing projects to their completion.
The community benefits when everyone is engaged. From the design stage to the public process in securing permits, in addition to raising capital and targeting potential retailers and other tenants, constant engagement is vital to the success of any high profile project.
Developing strategic relationships “early-on” helps minimize risk and helps anticipate barriers to seeing projects to their completion. Effective communications is vital to the public’s understanding of the project and the governments involved in helping the project move forward. Therefore, the company or consortium leading the project should be in control of the process and be proactive with their messaging and outreach.
There are so many apps and websites today that try to make you more productive and stand out from your competitors that it is difficult to find the right tool that meets your needs. You need to find something that is easy to work with and produces results and stick with it. At the same time, identify new technologies to improve your usability, widen your reach and position you in front of your key infuencers.
Here is a list of just some of the resources available to you:
VISUAL – Canva, Ease.ly
VIDEO -– Magisto, Wistia, EZGifs, Wideo, Giphy
INTEL -- Cyfe - Rival IQ – Oktopost
SOCIAL Sproutsocial, Buffer, Scoop.it, Triberr, Contactually, Insightly
KEYWORDS – SocialBro, Twtiterlet
CONTENT Stream Science, influenceandco, Onespot
BACKUP Mozy, BackBlaze
PASSWORD1 password, LastPass
PROJECT MANAGEMENT/CRM Asana, Nimble, Podio, 17Hats, Workfront, FullContact, XPLORE
TEAM COMMUNICATION Slack, Hipchat DOCUMENT COLLABORATION Dropbbox, Google Docs
MORE EFFICIENT EMAIL Boomerang, Rapportive, Sanebox
MARKETING COLLATERAL + EBOOKS+GUIDES Guides.co, Canva, Behance
*North Coast Strategies does not endorse or represent any of the companies listed above.
Timing is everything and if you are planning to launch a new product on today (June 15) or make a major announcement, I would reconsider. In launching a product, announcing an event or otherwise trying to make news in a time when reporters are working on multiple stories at once, while posting to their social media feeds, timing is everything.
Every day companies are faced with changing their business model – a bad economy, a dying industry and new technology force all of us to re-evaluate the future of our industry even our marketing-communications strategy
When I talk with clients and they want to issue a news release, I ask them, Why? What do you want to accomplish and who do you want to reach?
In today’s world, a press release is a great exercise in figuring out what we want to say, but in terms of sending it out to reporters without doing our own due digilence, it is no longer an effective use of our time or your money.
The media is fragmented, reporters are working on multiple stories in multiple areas. They are forced to not only write the story or piece it together, they need to post a blog and a tweet and constantly follow up with sources, not to mention shoot a video to add the multi-media story and beat their competition.
Today, your marketing communications (marcom) team should write the story and take it directly to those that you want to reach, using a variety of mediums, traditional press, direct marketing, social and video -- on your website and through other collaborations.
This is important because we now interact with the media and our stakeholders on a minute-by-minute basis. Checking our social media posts, clicking on what our friends are sending or liking and checking our news feeds.
o before you retain a PR firm to write a press release to launch a new product, celebrate an award or share insight, ask yourself, WHY? and How is the best way to reach my influencers. A press release is no longer the answer.
Social media is a blessing and a curse. There is so much to do and so many people to follow that we can waste so much time posting and following. However, in regards to getting the most out of trade shows and conventions, social media continues to change the we we collaborate, communicate and educate and it could add value to your next conference or trade show.
So whether your company has an exhibit or booth at the event or you are simply walking the trade show floor, depending on what you want to get out of event, here are a few tips for using social media:
Pre-Show
DURING THE SHOW
After the Show
In regards to media relations, you should also familiarize yourself with the trade media covering these events and work several months in advance to place your products and projects in their publications or work with them to place other content in the materials that will be distributed on the trade show floor. This may include sponsoring content and you should prepare a marketing budget to further assist you in reaching your goals while attending the event.
Daniel Cherrin, founder of North Coast Strategies, spoke at Wayne State University Urban Public Policy Resolution Conference on stakeholder engagement, "Giving Voice To The Community." This is his presentation on The Third Way -- The Way Forward and how we can take the politics out of the policy making process.
Public policy disputes have the potential of polarizing communities with the affect of delaying important decisions on vital issues of public policy, often resulting in diluted policies or no action at all. As a result, policy makers tend to avoid controversial issues or postpone crucial decisions hoping to avoid conflict. Facilitation helps resolves some of the high-profile policy disputes and finds resolution through controversy and clarity amidst chaos. To assist governments in resolving disputes by and between each other, the disputants need a trusted third party neutral who is knowledgeable about the issues and the process, while being sensitive to the politics of the issue.
It is time our leaders lead us forward, not back. This starts by reframing the problems plaguing our state or nation in a way that each side could identify with. Once we find a connection to an issue, we are most likely to work hard at finding a resolution. In doing so it is hard to look beyond the politics, but as long as we can agree to concepts and work to make small steps towards building or rebuilding trust in finding a common agenda, our lawmakers can eventually find common ground and those difficult issues, the ones that kept getting put off or “re-authorized,” will move off the agenda so we can focus on the next great challenge.
Great leadership requires finding common ground among diverse interests. The Michigan Legislature needs experienced facilitators to create systems and processes around an issue to help the stakeholders problem-solve and move complex multi-party and often political partisan issues forward.
With the election behind us our legislators need to now find a common ground, build trust and identify potential solutions to agree on and move forward with. Conflict among lawmakers and regulators is inevitable. However, carefully structured dialogues, mediated or facilitated by skilled third-party neutrals could offer a more effective and durable method to resolve conflicts and build consensus around controversial and often complex public policy issues.
We elected our leaders to represent a common mission not a party platform. Yet in legislating, most often it is politics that trump sound public policy. It is time to shift how government decisions are made and for our elected leaders to find a new way forward while seeking consensus instead of controversy. That is the path to smooth roads ahead.
Today we are more mobile than before and rely on our phones and tablets to check the latest news or check up on friends and family. As a result, we not only have to learn how to speak in soundest we have to learn how to say what we want to say in as few words as possible. That is we are starting to communicate more and more with photos and other images. Here is a brief guide from PRDaily to help you communicate.
Facebook - Posts with 40 characters receive 86 percent more engagement than posts with more than that amount - 40 characters
Blog headlines - People tend to only read the first and last three words of a headline - 6 words
Email subject lines - Subject lines that fall within this range average a 12.2 percent open rate and 4 percent click rate - 28-39 characters
YouTube videos - The average length of the top 50 YouTube videos is 2 minutes and 54 seconds - 3 minutes
Podcasts - Podcast listeners won't tune in any longer - 22 minutes
Domain names - The best domain names are short, easy to spell and remember, and don't have hyphens or numbers - 8 characters
Tweets – Shorter than 100 characters have a 17% higher engagement rate - 100 characters
Paragraphs – Opening paragraphs with larger fonts and fewer charcters per line make it easier for the reader to focus and jump quickly from one line to the next - 40-55 words
Hashtags – Don’t use spaces or special charcters, don't start with or only use numbers and be careful about using slang - 6 characters
Title Tags – Don’t exceed 60 characters or you will get clipped - 55 characters
News Release - Try to limit the content to 1,000 words. Optimal length that is short enough for people to read quickly and search engines to find is between 400-600 words or about a page and half (*Source iReach) - 1,000 words
Headline - 60 characters or you risk the headline cutting cut on a website, phone and tablet - 60 characters
*Source (unless otherwise indicated)
I have a friend who manages a number of properties and he is always quoted in real estate stories but has never used a PR firm.
He has developed relationships with a number of reporters in the region by sharing information with them over the years. Studies and research, tips and other great insight that would help them craft a solid story.
He gave more than he received and for that reporters would quote him as a third party resource. Over time. the advice was sound and the reporters started to quote him more and more.
If that is something that interests you, know what you can speak on and what you can share. Identify the reporters who cover those issues and follow them. Share their stories, send them an email or Tweet about their story, something you would add, perhaps additional insight into the issue and remain available and responsive should they eventually call you.
