The 2025 State of Digital & Content Marketing is here. Read the report.
by Greentarget
Our Director of Social & Digital and Director of Content & Editorial Strategy provide a roadmap for using LinkedIn to help professional services firms garner leads and improve their social selling capabilities. In our latest video installment, they offer tips and strategies in the following areas:
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by Greentarget
Amid this unprecedented crisis, reporters crave access and new stories to tell. Individuals — patients, healthcare workers, nonprofit leaders, small business owners or any number of people in need — have the stories those reporters are looking for. Yet many think connecting with reporters is some mystical process that only people “in the know” can master.
We’re providing some resources for nonprofits and others who want to get their COVID-19 story heard — but may not know where to start. Below you will find our video presentation around the media relations process to help you and/or your organization:
We have also put together a convenient one-sheet to pass around to your teams:
Any questions? Feel free to email Joe Eichner, leader of Greentarget’s Community Investment initiative, at jeichner@greentarget.com.
by Greentarget
Podcast listenership, at least for now, is another victim of the coronavirus pandemic. But a time will come when daily commutes are once again prime time for podcasts – and smart organizations can use the current moment to strengthen their audio storytelling efforts.
In fact, some difficulties imposed on the working world by COVID-19 provide opportunities for organizations to shine (or, at least, regroup) when it comes to podcasting. Here’s a quick list of our recommendations.
Effectively Plan Content Around the Story of the Moment
For podcasts that have been around for a while, now is the time to look back through the archives and resurface episodes that might be particularly resonant amid the pandemic – perhaps about topics like telemedicine or the consolidation of rural hospitals. It’s a good idea to do a bit of recasting or updating to explain the rerelease, but that can be done without changing much of the original content.
Other pieces of audio content produced by your organization, notably webinars about COVID-19, might work for your podcast series. Under normal circumstances, audio quality could make that a nonstarter. But given the need to get compelling information to key audiences, an edited version of a webinar might work well, or well enough.
In fact, audio that’s a little rougher around the edges than normal might be appropriate right now, and to a point, listeners will understand.
Be Willing to Reconsider Format – at Least Temporarily
Given how quickly things are moving amid COVID-19, throwing out your podcast rulebook might make sense – at least to a point. For instance, series typically try to produce episodes of similar lengths, often around the time of the average American commute (25 minutes). But, as noted, fewer listeners are commuting, so consider shorter episodes to keep up with breaking news and points of view..
And while multitasking is common for podcast listening, it likely is even more so now, particularly for busy working parents. That means techniques that we always advise for hosts – flagging key points, summarizing when appropriate – are more helpful. Releasing full transcripts of episodes, which is always a good idea, could help listeners catch up on their favorite podcasts in front of their laptops instead of on the train.
The Benefits of (Effective) Remote Recording
If you’re a regular podcast listener, you know that recordings are often conducted with participants in multiple locations. But it probably happens more than you realize. Smart podcast producers combine high-end software, insightful guidance for participants and professional editors to create episodes that are near studio quality – even when the studio is a web browser.
In addition to the best practices listed above, in our experience we’ve found preparation is key – making sure hosts and guests know what they need (a quiet room, a strong internet connection, etc.) well before the “tape” starts rolling.
And who knows? Maybe guests who were pipedreams six weeks ago can be convinced to record a quick interview now that they’re stuck at home. Certainly, booking podcast guests has become generally easier, and with much of the world getting a crash course in communicating over Zoom or Teams, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would find the requirements of a remote podcast recording daunting.
Time to Regroup?
Finally, with listenership down, now might be the time for a series to regroup and plan for calmer days, especially for series with niche focuses that have nothing or little to do with COVID-19. That process starts by looking at downloads and other analytics to assess content focuses and distribution strategies. Other feedback, like reviews on iTunes, might be extremely valuable.
Podcasts have steadily grown in popularity for years, and they were especially impactful for busy decision-makers. That can still be the case amid COVID-19 – and it will definitely be the case when some semblance of normalcy returns.
Make good use of this current pause and your audience will come back even hungrier for your perspectives and guidance.
by Greentarget
To rise above the noise, just be quiet.
We’re all inundated with screaming headlines, relentless statistics and endless so-called thought leadership. Most of it, particularly the thought leadership, is shoved in our faces with little thought for what we need to know, what’s worrying us, or what questions we wish someone would answer.
Outside of global pandemics, we like to say that true thought leadership, the kind of content that builds authority, has four attributes: relevance, urgency, novelty and utility. But at this point we’ll assume that anything you’re publishing related to COVID-19 is relevant (the crisis effects everybody) and urgent (it’s a crisis). The insights that will rise above the noise during the crisis are the ones that are new and useful.
Learning From Crises Past
To a degree it’s always been that way. I was a college reporter in the days and weeks after 9/11, and an editor around the 2008 financial crisis, and I still remember the urgency we all felt to go find novel stories our readers needed to hear.
Of course, we were always looking for those stories. And on an intellectual level we understood that our reporting and editorial judgment mattered. But in the wake of global calamity, with lives and livelihoods in the balance, that understanding became visceral. You could feel the weight of the crisis in the almost-desperate search for stories that nobody else had told, in the ferocity of the conversations about what our readers needed to know.
And the only way to get at those new and useful stories was to go talk to people. And more importantly, to listen.
How to Listen Today
There are a bunch of different ways to listen, and now is a good time to employ them all. The first, most obvious and most literal is calling clients, prospects and others who’re in the audience you want to reach and just asking them what’s keeping them up at night, what questions they’re asking, what problems have them perplexed.
My guess is most practitioners are already doing that. We recently worked with an attorney to publish a smart perspective on the coming battles between businesses and their insurance companies – an article she could only write because she’d been listening to her clients.
But as valuable as that kind of listening can be, we have to tread carefully as well. We risk producing insights that are too narrow – the last person you talked to doesn’t necessarily have the same problems and questions as their peers the world over.
So it also makes sense to listen in the aggregate, using data tools to see what your audiences want to know. SEO data can help you home in on utility by telling you what questions the audience is asking. Media-research tools can show you what’s already been said, so you know where the novelty lies.
If you don’t have the tools, or don’t know how to use them, a simple Google search on the topic you want to write about can tell you how much has already been said, who’s said it and how well. If the first page of search results reveals a litany of others saying what you wanted to say, your choices are either to advance the conversation or move on and start a different one.
In the first few weeks of the COVID-19 crisis (which already feels like nine months ago), it may have made sense to just run and gun with your content, to get the insights flowing quickly, knowing your clients and prospects were desperate for information.
Now that just about everybody has done that, the flow of insights has turned into a raging, deafening river of noise. The worst thing any of us can in our communications is add to that noise.
But if we can just be still for a few moments and listen to the people we’re trying to reach, we can find out what information they need, what would help them get through this. If we can provide it, they’ll have no trouble hearing us above the noise.
by Greentarget
Just like you, we are actively monitoring the COVID-19 global pandemic. Our team has quickly acclimated to a new way of working while staying locked on addressing our clients’ most pressing needs. Here you will find a toolkit of resources that may prove useful as you grapple with the unprecedented challenges we’re all facing.
Without the ability to bring a group of experts together and amid the chaos of the abrupt work-from-home transition, we needed a new approach to help corporate America reduce employee burnout, attract talent and build healthier organizations.
COVID-19 and the subsequent stay-at-home orders brought confusion and frustration, but it also taught us that even as businesses evolve, corporate values should always ring true – both inside and outside the office.
If these latest crises have shown us anything it’s that there’s no one way to plan for everything. Instead, the sudden lockdown and the pressure organizations felt to respond to recent events underscore why today’s communicators need an improvisational mindset
Most GCs don’t find client alerts useful. Making them better may be easier than you think.
In our latest video installment, we explore a few different nimble and flexible approaches to research that help professional services organizations demonstrate true subject matter authority and drive door opening conversations for client development during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
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Authorities are back. And not just the kind who order you to stay home and wash your hands a lot. I’m talking about true subject matter authorities – those experts who have the knowledge and experience to help us make sense of what’s happening.
Podcast listenership, at least for now, is another victim of the coronavirus pandemic. But a time will come when daily commutes are once again prime time for podcasts — and smart organizations can use the current moment to strengthen their audio storytelling efforts.
Maintaining a willingness to explore creative approaches to research in a time of unprecedented constraints can empower your organization to emerge from this period in a position of strength.
While journalism has never been more important, the media business has rarely been so unstable, as publishers begin to feel the impact of an economy on lockdown.
Amid this unprecedented crisis, reporters crave access and new stories to tell. Yet many think connecting with reporters is some mystical process that only people “in the know” can master.
Through formal and informal conversations, we’ve discovered that a leader must play not one but several different roles in a leadership position, if they want to inspire lieutenants to do their best work.
As we navigate one of the most fluid and uncertain health and economic crises of our lifetime, firm leaders face a multitude of issues around their most precious commodity: their talent. While every situation is different, so too are the considerations for reducing professional and staff-related costs and the process for communicating those decisions.
If we can just be still for a few moments and listen to the people we’re trying to reach, we can find out what information they need and what would help them get through this. If we can provide that, they’ll have no trouble hearing us above the noise.
In the age of information overload, connecting with an audience requires knowing exactly what they want – and how to give it to them.
How can PR/Marketing maintain demand for services NOW and drive demand for services LATER? Guided by these questions, what are the best paths forward to navigate the COVID-19 crisis?
Professional services leaders are facing unique communications challenges and opportunities during this uncertain time.
For business leaders and communications professionals working through the COVID-19 crisis, scenario planning has never been more important. But it’s also not all that difficult.
Given the pandemic information overload and uncertainty ahead, how do we find out what clients and key audiences are really looking for? Where do they need the most help right now?
Research is more valuable and trusted than ever. “The sudden outbreak of COVID-19, a disease caused by a new coronavirus, is proving to the world every day the important role research plays in the response to global health emergencies.” — STAT
How do you get your authority position to stand out during times of rampant noise?
What is the C-suite really looking to get out of their COVID-19 content? What do they need most from content right now?
We believe that true authorities have a responsibility to participate skillfully in the ongoing conversation. With audiences heavily relying on outside information during these uncertain times, it’s imperative to communicate in an effort to combat disinformation.
We’re here to help and would welcome a chat to discuss what we’re learning as this extraordinary situation unfolds.
A few weeks ago, our copy editor, Stephanie, walked into my office and handed me a piece of paper. “Want this?” she asked. Assuming I didn’t, I took it from her. But before I could drop it in the recycling bin I took a quick peek and…oh! An award! We won! (Kind of.)
Turns out the Content Marketing Institute named ThinkSet a finalist for Best Digital Publication in its 2019 awards. Not long after, ThinkSet also earned an honorable mention in the Ragan’s PR Daily Content Marketing Awards in the Electronic Publications or E-Newsletter Category.
ThinkSet is our client BRG’s magazine; we’re its editors. We plan, manage and edit all ThinkSet stories, and produce all the podcasts, in collaboration with BRG’s design, marketing and internal editing teams. Along with the marketing team, including Phil Rowley, the Chief Revenue Officer, we identify the story ideas that will showcase BRG’s smartest, most original, most advanced thinking. Our job is to use our editorial experience and know-how to help turn the firm’s best ideas into stories, or podcasts, that will connect with business leaders.
Happily, BRG is loaded with ideas. That enables us to produce stories like this one, describing the role business leaders and investors must play in combatting opioids. Or this one, which mines the PC and smartphone revolutions to reveal what the advent of autonomous vehicles could mean for the automotive business. Or this column about how big employers were driving innovation in healthcare long before Amazon got in the game.
Articles like that arm BRG’s team with powerful business development tools. Our media-relations team amplifies the impact, sharing the stories with reporters to demonstrate the authors know their stuff. That’s led to BRG consultants getting quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The American Lawyer, among many others.
We didn’t win the CMI award – it went to this amazing graphic novel instead. No argument there, and we were in good company among the finalists. Qantas Airways and Volkswagen (that one’s in German) also made the list.
The recognition is gratifying because, alongside the BRG team, we’ve worked hard to make ThinkSet a compelling, valuable business magazine. Maintaining a weekly publishing schedule takes a lot of effort and producing a quality magazine takes a lot of talent, commitment and creativity. The BRG team brings it all, every week. We’d like to think we do too.
