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Brand journalism – organizational storytelling

Brand journalism has been around for a while now. Here at AHA, we’ve been using brand journalism to tell our clients’ stories for several years. As a communications tool, it does seem to be gaining traction. Which is a very good thing.

The Public Relations Society of America listed brand journalism as one of the top 12 trends in PR for 2012 and it was included in sessions in 2011 at SXSW. (I think, like here at AHA, this may have been a little ahead of the curve. We’ve been watching the use of brand journalism for quite some time and it is just starting to emerge as a key communications tool.)

The core of brand journalism is storytelling – and when it comes to marketing, we know that good content is king. Brand journalism is an approach that provides brands with the opportunity to tell their story in the context of their industry, area of specialization or field. It can’t be marketing or advertising content – although it can link to those areas on a website. It has to have an editorial approach, which means providing balanced coverage. This demands a paradigm shift for some who are so used to selling, promoting or marketing that they don’t quite understand how to do this.

In our initial brand journalism planning meetings with clients, we spend a fair amount of time discussing this area and outlining the necessary steps to move into an editorial-focused, brand journalism strategy for content. It’s always exciting to see them “get it” – even more exciting when we review web stats a month or two after they have begun sharing stories through their brand journalism approach and they see the increase in readership, shares and engagement.

I was fortunate that my first career was in journalism. I learned the art and craft of storytelling and journalistic integrity from some of the best journalists in the country. Brand journalism allows an organization to tell its stories in a compelling, engaging and authentic manner. While it might feel like it takes a leap of faith to shift into this type of storytelling, there are so many rewards.

A great example of brand journalism is being done by Alabama Gulf Seafood. Take a look. It will give you some great ideas on how you can use brand journalism to tell your organization’s story.

Happy New Year. On behalf of the AHA crew, we want to take this opportunity to wish you much happiness and success for 2014.

I had several interactions throughout the holiday season that made me think about how many levels and approaches there are in the world of communication (and in the world!).

I had the good fortune to travel to South Africa in December and, while there, I met several people I will keep in touch with. In our conversations about how to keep in touch, the response was split pretty evenly – half of the people were on social media (especially Facebook and Twitter) and half weren’t.

Some of these people are senior people in organizations; they are the decision makers and influencers. I learned that, for the most part, their preference for staying connected with others is by e-mail, telephone or in-person meetings. But, being curious, I had to ask – where do they get their news and day-to-day information, and how do they stay connected? The answers included reading the newspaper (hard copy), reading the newspaper online, listening to news radio, and watching the morning and/or evening news. It is interesting to note that when I asked about providing their opinions and feedback – or seeing the opinions and feedback in others – there really wasn’t as much interest as I thought there would be. One person responded: “Have you seen some of the comments on news articles? Not only are they uninformed, but they can be nasty, racist and border on bullying. I am not interested in getting into that kind of discussion.”

It’s important to remember that, for a range of reasons, not everyone gets their information or connects on social media. Here at AHA, we spend a fair amount of time in the social media arena – for our clients, for AHA and personally. It’s always good to remind ourselves that not everyone is as engaged on social media as we are. When it comes to planning out a campaign, initiative or project – while social media should always be on the table – it’s also important to identify where the target audience or community gets their news and information. Being clear about this will help you to build an effective plan for where, how and when to reach out with what you want to communicate.

Media relations is a crucial component of your public relations efforts. It is important to maintain positive (and ongoing) relationships with journalists. This doesn’t mean they are always going to write what you want them to write (they don’t work for you, your client or your organization), but creating mutual respect and trust is valuable. Below are several guidelines that will help build a positive relationship with journalists.

Understand what the journalist you’re pitching does. Don’t send a music pitch to the TV critic unless the song is about to be played on a hit television show and you are hoping for a small mention. (You wouldn’t believe how many PR people out there don’t take the time to do this or just spam an entire list of random media. This doesn’t work and it doesn’t build long-term relationships.)

Don’t pitch four journalists at the same outlet without letting them know the others you also sent the pitch to. (Going into a story meeting with a good story and having another colleague pitch it to their editor isn’t any fun and they will realize and remember that they were put in that position by you.) Be transparent. The fact is, some stories cross media “sections” – let them know of everyone receiving the pitch at their organization.

Don’t exaggerate your stats or details. (If you don’t know, it’s okay to say: “I am not certain about that; let me get back to you.” Then make sure you get back to them ASAP.)

Do not be late for anything with the media. (Deadlines people. And live TV or radio waits for no one.)

If you say you will do something for the media, do it immediately. They have deadlines. You have a made a commitment. If you hit a snag in getting them the information, give them an update on where you are in getting it for them.

Be respectful of their time. Have everything prepared and be ready to go immediately.

I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance that went something like this:

Him: “Hey Ruth, I was thinking about those hash mark thingies…”

Me: “Do you mean hashtags?”

Him: “Yeah, those things. Do you think it would be worth choosing one to put on our e-mail signature?”

Needless to say, we had a more in-depth conversation about hashtags. We also discussed developing a one-on-one social media workshop for him so that he could better understand social media from both a strategic and a tactical (tools and technology) viewpoint.

The challenge is that this person handles a component of communications at a senior level for a very high profile organization. He is one of a handful of people who provide guidance and advice to the CEO of this organization, including advice on social media. And he has been advocating for the use of Twitter and Facebook for a few months now.

Don’t get me wrong, the person who asked me about the “hash mark thingies” is very smart and highly successful in his field of expertise. However, he doesn’t understand social media and doesn’t realize how much he doesn’t know. That is an issue for his organization.

We get calls pretty regularly from senior people who want to know more about social media. Some of them want to meet privately and have a tutoring session; others want to include their senior team, their board or others in a social media workshop. I think that for those of us who are involved in the world of communications and PR, there is an assumption that everyone knows what we know. That just isn’t the case.

First off, the tools and technologies are ever evolving. It can be challenging to keep up. And, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Talking to your kids over dinner about Facebook or Twitter is not the same as having someone who understands your business goals and your communications objectives assist you in developing your social media strategy (as a part of your communications strategy). Social media is not a stand-alone or “stand-apart” component; it belongs in your overall communications plan.

The fact is – not every organization needs to be “active” on social media. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know what is going on in your industry or that you shouldn’t monitor what’s being said about your organization on social media. Both negative and positive conversations should be monitored. Developing your plan on how, what, when, where and why you will use social media is something that needs to be clearly defined and taken seriously.

Speak with your communications department, PR team or your consultant – or call us. We can help you define what you need when it comes to social media workshops or coaching.

Before you make any decisions about social media activities, make sure you understand the landscape relevant to your industry, the social media environment and what your risks and opportunities are – relative to your communications strategy.

We recently had several discussions with clients and colleagues about the use and value of hashtags. For some professionals who aren’t regular users or participants in social media, there is a perception that a hashtag can be created and it’s then yours – that you kind of own it and have control over it. Nothing could be further from the truth. (If you aren’t quite sure what a hashtag is, please check out Wikipedia for a definition. And as a communicator, don’t assume that everyone knows what a hashtag is. It might be a common term in your world, but there are many who don’t know. And they might be afraid to ask for fear of looking stupid.)

While social media conversations and dialogue can be started, facilitated and participated in, any organization that believes that it can – for any length of time – control the dialogue is sadly mistaken (and really isn’t seeing the value of social media, in my opinion).

One of the interesting things to come out of advertising, marketing and even PR is the defined use of hashtags in campaigns. Many (usually larger) organizations use them in the hopes of driving social media users to help their hashtags trend and get their community to engage in positive sharing about their goods or services. That approach has some big risks involved. If it goes sideways, your hashtag no longer becomes a tool for positive communication; it can become a key facilitator for negative comments, humour at your expense and, at worst, attacks on your brand.

Hashtags are meant to allow people to easily find a topic, to bring people interested in a topic together organically, and to help organize and find the incredible amount of information out there on Twitter and Instagram. They aren’t meant as a promotional tool for your organization.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t use them in that way, but you do need to clearly identify the risks to this type of usage and have a plan in place in case your hashtag is hijacked. You can’t stop popular opinion (or in the case of Twitter – active opinion by a small, committed, influential and often really funny group of individuals). They could take what you thought was a brilliant promotional campaign and turn it into a mockery of your brand that then makes it onto The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report. And that’s bad for your brand reputation.

I found a piece on Mashable that showcases some hashtag hijacks that have gone wrong (and one that went right as far as truth, justice and equality go). You can read it here. You have to admit, hashtag hijackers can be funny people.

We always go through a strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, threats (SWOT) review with clients if we are considering any kind of social media outreach. You can’t make assumptions that everyone is going to respond in the way you want them to/expect them to on social media. And it is always important to remember that you don’t own your hashtag, your Twitter feed, your Facebook page or other social networking sites. You might be the administrator who facilitates the discussion, but it’s the people who decide the tone and topic. Respect and appreciate that. Even if there are negative discussions, you can glean some valuable stakeholder/target market feedback.