November 2010

Reaching Consumers in 2011: Get Personal

When Steve Jobs announced Apple's new iTunes service “Ping” he described it as the vehicle for “discovery.” With the noise of the web increasing, Apple is not the only company touting the benefits of discovery. Big players such as Microsoft’s Bing have made the case for relevant results for a few years now. Upstarts such as Genieo provide free services that use your browsing history to develop custom, personalized web experiences, bringing forth news, products and social updates that you will actually care about. Like your best friend, these services understand you and your
interests . . . if they were your spouse they would get you the perfect gift for your birthday.


With the ability to filter nearly everything, consumers are becoming more accustomed to personal touch. In 2011 CMOs and marketing leaders should adjust their approach to cater to this expectation. As a PR professional, I have always made it a principal practice to personalize my outreach to reporters, it takes longer but has a better success rate. And yet, we all still receive massive amounts of email blasts that vary only in the way it is addressed, "Dear <insert name>, please buy our services at the upcoming CES trade show." "No thanks!"

With all of the tools out there revealing personal details, it is becoming easier to uncover someone’s likes and dislikes, and therefore, if they are a target audience for a company, should be approached accordingly. Let me give you an example. The president of our company, Bryan Scanlon, was impressed recently when a vendor trying to get his attention sent him a comic book with a personal note – via snail mail! – after discovering some references on his twitter feed to his affinity
for old school comic series’. Bryan accepted that first meeting. Foot in the door.

If companies don’t know who that target audience is, they can use services such as Klout.com to identify the influencers in their market, and narrow their list down quickly. Everyone wants to know they matter, it’s a well-documented human desire, so if you want their business, show them you hear and understand them. They didn’t post  all of that stuff on their blog/twitter/facebook/linkedIn profile to go unnoticed.

To reach consumers in 2011, get up close and personal!

Posted by Kim Angell on November 30, 2010 at 7:36 PM
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Content Marketing Roundtable with Brian Halligan, HubSpot and Ann Handley, MarketingProfs

Schwartz offers content marketing services that increase website traffic, convert traffic to leads, and provide a framework for measuring, in concrete and strategic terms, the effectiveness of our programs.

We believe the best content marketing programs are closely aligned to visibility efforts. We also believe that visibility comes from professional media, bloggers of all shapes and sizes, and social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We try to close the loop in our programs by developing a strategic plan, creating content of all types, earning visibility, and then measuring how we did in terms of website traffic and lead generation.

In December, Schwartz is hosting a breakfast event to discuss content marketing and inbound marketing. We are very excited that two incredibly influential experts on the topic are joining us for the discussion.

--Brian Halligan is chief executive officer of HubSpot, a Schwartz partner and Cambridge software company that provides tools to power content marketing programs.

--Ann Handley is the fuel behind MarketingProfs, an outstanding resource for marketers given the shifting nature of our world.

I strongly believe we're on to something at Schwartz, which is a combination of content marketing, inbound marketing, and visibility programs that define the future of B2B communications.

I hope you will join us December 15 at 8:30 a.m. for our breakfast roundtable event. The location is the Schwartz Communications headquarters at 230 Third Avenue in Waltham, Mass.

Posted by Ross Levanto on November 11, 2010 at 1:08 PM
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ELECTION UPDATE

Election results are still pouring in. However, initial returns indicate the pundits were correct and major changes will become a reality in January 2011. The House of Representatives will be under the control of the Republicans, and while the Senate remained under Democrats control, the majority is much slimmer. A great place to find election results and analysis is Real Clear Politics.
 

So what does this mean? It means several significant opportunities. A lame duck session (a legislative session prior to newly elected candidates taking office) is all but certain. Both the House and Senate are set to return November 15 for one week of legislative business followed by a one-week break for Thanksgiving. Following Thanksgiving, Congress will reconvene for a minimum of one week at the beginning of December to take up and potentially pass key Democratic initiatives.
 

A recent article in The Hill confirmed Democrats may try to pass as many as 20 bills in the lame duck session. The possibility topics for consideration include energy reform, to card check to Social Security tax hikes based on the president’s deficit commission recommendations. 

What does this mean for your company?

If you are currently engaged with Schwartz’s public affairs services, or have been thinking about utilizing these services, the present political environment presents a unique opportunity to create a positive impact for your company.
 

With the Continuing Resolution (CR) set to expire on December 3, Congress will need to come back in session to, at the very least, pass another CR. The failure of Congress to pass a budget or the annual appropriations bills means that the vote on a potential omnibus appropriations bill in the lame duck session is likely. The omnibus bill may include funding for many of the Obama administration’s other priorities such as global warming regulations. The upcoming legislative sessions, and the omnibus appropriations bill in particular, represent a great opportunity to push forward with the legislative action of interest to your company.

For Renewable Energy and Green companies – The newly-elected Republicans will be seeking out opportunities to cut federal spending. Many pundits speculate green tech and renewable energy will be among their primary focus. However, there is potential that a Renewable Electricity Mandate bill could be part of a lame duck session. This legislation is sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), a lame duck Senator who now serves as Governor-elect of Kansas.  As such, the lame duck session represents a fantastic opportunity to apply for funding and introduce helpful legislation in a more receptive Congress.This was recently discussing in an article at RenewableEnergyWorld.Com.

For Homeland Security, and IT Security companies – Republicans have generally supported advancing capabilities in this area, and while funding may be tougher to come by with the new Congress, Schwartz is positioned uniquely to help navigate the landscape. With nearly 15 years of Hill experience, including a new team member fresh from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Schwartz public affairs group has relationships with important decision makers in Washington. As Republicans look to decrease spending and balance the budget it is essential for companies looking for government funding to effectively show the value of their products and services.

Health Care IT – Medicare/Medicaid represents the largest portion of our government’s mandatory funding expenditures.The Republican controlled House will make examining the cost of providing this service a priority. This presents an opportunity to Health Care IT companies to demonstrate how their products and systems can help streamline, improve, and reduce costs to the healthcare system.

For additional information or to schedule a call to discuss government affairs in greater detail, please contact, Corey R. Lewandowski, Director of Public Affairs at 781-684-6572 or CLewandowski@schwartzcomm.com.

Posted by Corey Lewandowski on November 4, 2010 at 2:13 PM
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The power of personality to drive conversation: Baker v. Patrick

Sometimes when you analyze data, something jumps out at you that makes you really take notice. This morning, I was analyzing the social media volume and tone of the Charlie Baker and Deval Patrick campaign for Governor in Massachusetts. I had not paid much attention to it as Schwartz (and I) am not involved with either campaign.

Earlier this year, we analyzed the discussion around Brown vs. Coakley, and the data showed how Scott Brown clearly won the social media war (particularly among Twitter users).

When we analyzed social media conversations involving Patrick and Baker over the past 30 days, we found the following:

Overall, the conversation was relatively equal, with Patrick getting a bit more. But Gov. Patrick had a very significant spike on October 15 (which equaled 10% of all conversations involving Deval Patrick this month). The reason? President Obama came to Massachusetts to campaign for Gov. Patrick.

This really drives home the power of the presidency (and the power of personalities, influencers and mavens) to drive the conversation. There is nothing earth-shattering in the data, but it was interesting.

Some practical advice for all PR pros:

1) Look for influencers to help you move the needle on conversations.

2) Just because someone can generate discussion, doesn't make them influential. More in-depth analysis is required to determine if they just generate noise, or can shape the discussion and move opinion.

Posted by Mark McClennan on November 2, 2010 at 11:03 AM
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