Drew Porcello, Author at PIVOT PR

Now Hiring: PR Manager

Summary

Pivot PR, a dynamic and rapidly growing public relations agency, is seeking a highly motivated communication professional to serve as the client lead on business-to-business and business-to-consumer accounts. The PR Manager role requires deep communication acumen, keen project management skills and creativity. As a boutique agency, Pivot PR offers employees an unmatched opportunity to grow and expand in his/her role and work with top-tier brands/companies, all within a traditional agency framework yet cutting-edge and current-day mentality. The individual must have agency experience.

Key Responsibilities & Qualifications

Create customized and strategic public relations plans for clients
- Lead meeting(s) with clients to assess business goals and gain needed information
- Conduct secondary research to shape plan
- Hold internal brainstorm meetings to ideate creative strategies and tactics to include in the plan
Strong knowledge of all public relations communication tactics; must know how/when to execute, including but not limited to:
- Messaging/Content Creation: must be extremely adept at all types of writing, including media materials, blog/social media/web copy, white papers, case studies, technical articles and award nominations
- Media Relations: building media lists, developing creative pitches, story angles and media lists, as well as monitoring and spokesperson training
- Influencer Relations: identifying influencers, building rapport and project managing social media campaigns
- Community Relations & Events: will be in charge of developing community-based programs, identifying appropriate partners/organizations, establishing communication plans for trade shows and all aspects of promoting events
- Additional consideration for crisis communications and content marketing
Should have experience leading client and new business meetings, in-person and via teleconference; must be organized and clear with agendas, follow-up items and campaign/project management
Needs to be proficient in recording billable time for clients
Will develop detailed monthly client reports including work completed, goals attained and future forecasting
Develop new business proposals

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive salary based on experience with additional profit sharing opportunities. This is a work-from-home position (must be in Charlotte area) and candidate must be available during regular business hours. PTO and other benefits also dependent on experience.

Requirements

At least a four-year degree in journalism, public relations, mass communications or marketing
Strong writing experience; must provide writing samples and perform writing test
Must be proficient in Microsoft Office suite and in AP style
Should be a self-starter, able to work independently and proactively, but also able to collaborate and work well in a team setting
Additional considerations for experience in social media, web development, design, video production and/or advertising

Four Ways to Help Your Brand Gain Consumer Trust

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As a consumer, do you feel as if you are able to trust the brands you interact with? The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer revealed that 52% of the U.S. population does not trust businesses as an institution. Meanwhile, consumer trust has become a controversial topic that is leading brands to further discuss how they interact with their consumers. Contrary to popular belief that brands are not to be easily trusted, many brands are now working actively to establish trust with their consumers. Below are four ways your brand can enhance consumer trust and, in the process, improve the overall consumer experience:

Stay consistent: Every aspect of your brand should be consistent including your overall message, logo and design, and brand personality. If any of these are inconsistent, consumers may not recognize it, and you risk “losing them”. Using a brand management software like Frontify can be very helpful in staying consistent and organized across all channels. Consistency is a proven strategy that will secure a local brand following while solidifying your reputation as a trustworthy brand.

Above and beyond customer service: The foundation of any positive personal relationship requires reliability, honesty, and care. The same values should apply for businesses as they relate to their consumers. Showing consumers that your brand cares can come in many different tactical forms, including surveys or questionnaires. Surveys allow your consumers to feel heard and empowered while also showing that you not only value, but require, their opinion. But no matter how you choose to execute your excellent customer service, always remember that a successful and trustworthy brand relationship must be two-way. Your customer needs to see that you give, and not just see you as the only recipient “taking” something in your transactional relationship.

Be personal: Making your brand feel authentically personal is a great way to gain and keep consumer trust. It must start from the inside: Encouraging employees to be less scripted and “robotic” is the first step to relating in a more personal way with your consumers. To put it simply, always view your consumers as the real people they are – and less like someone you are trying to win over or sell something to. Being more personal is an easy principle to nurture and can quickly change the overall impression of your brand.

Always be accessible: Making your brand available across all platforms and through different forms of communication is vital. A huge miss for businesses is forcing customers to search exhaustively for contact information. A phone number, email, direct message option, or even an instant chat box should be noticeable and easy to access on any website or social media account. It is also important to remember that not everyone prefers the same line of communication. Therefore, having a phone number ready for the consumer that wants instant answers is just as important as regularly checking your direct messages on social media for the consumer that prefers to online chat. Accessibility will allow your consumers to not only trust your overall brand, but also trust you to give them the highest levels of clarity and communication.

4 Tips for Building Sound Influencer Relations Campaigns

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Are you more likely to buy a new product after seeing an ad directly from a company, or after seeing someone you follow on Instagram actually use it? We thought you might say the influencer … crazy world we live in, right? Today influencers are not just Hollywood celebrities, but regular individuals with large, loyal and highly engaged followings. The 2018 Influencer Marketing Report from Business Insider found that influencers on Instagram have double the user engagement rate compared to corporate brands, clocking in at whopping 5.7%.

With more marketers and influencers saturating the market every day we must be smart when working to insert our brand into their precious scrolling squares. Keep these 4 things in mind as you approach new influencer relationships:

1. Identify organic influencers who jive with your brand | Just as you target your media pitches, you also want to target your influencer pitches. If your brand is kid focused, you want to connect with the mommy influencers; if your brand is beverage focused, you want to connect with the foodie influencers. If the brand and the influencer do not share the same values, then your end result will reflect that disconnect.

2. Do your research, then outreach | An influencer is going to be more inclined to work with you if you show that you took some time to get to know them. Many influencers share personal information and experiences with their followers, making their outlet a vulnerable place for them. Respect this; learn what they care about it and craft your pitch around it.

We regularly follow and interact with influencers on our business Instagram account so that we can get to know them better, and in a recent case, catch them enjoying our product organically. In this specific scenario, we reached out, noting that we had seem them enjoying our product already and created a partnership moving forward.

Even if they are not currently using your product, reference a recent blog post or Insta Story in your outreach email to show them that you are paying attention and care about the content they are working to provide for their followers.

3. Communication and collaboration are key | Just as in any relationship, the ability to work together openly and honestly are extremely important. Your initial contact should lay out what you are looking for, why you want to work with them and that this is a collaboration, not a sales pitch. Have a direction in mind but trust the influencer’s knowledge of their own audience and allow room for conversation and brainstorming around what type of content would be best.

Additionally, be upfront from the beginning about the benefits to both parties and if there are any payments, trade product or other benefits trading hands. You don’t want to get deep into building out the campaign and then realize the influencer was expecting financial compensation you weren’t planning to provide.

4. Provide an authentic experience | The reason consumers trust influencers over traditional advertising is due to the authenticity of their content. They trust that they have used and liked the product they are telling them about and are giving an unbiased review. One of the ways we have been able to give influencers an authentic experience with our product is to host VIP or exclusive events within our client’s stores. This allows influencers to interact, taste, sample, ask questions and feel appreciated for the work they are putting into the partnership. We never let them leave without a goodie bag and the opportunity to pass a similar in-store experience on to their followers in the form of a gift card giveaway – mutually beneficial for both parties.

When done right, thoughtfully cultivated influencer outreach can pay off long after your initial campaign. Never think of it as a one-off, but as an ongoing relationship. Even if you don’t have another campaign soon, keep in touch by following them on their social networks and becoming part of the conversation. They’ll appreciate it and take notice for next time

VP Eric Osterhus Presents at PRSA Symposium

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You’re focused on promoting all the exciting growth and strides your company is experiencing. Everything is trending upwards. Then, in a single moment, without any notice… everything changes.

Are you prepared for when your organization faces a crisis?

Recently, I had the opportunity to present at the Public Relation Society of America’s (PRSA) Communications Symposium at the Ritz-Carlton in Uptown Charlotte. My breakout session, entitled Navigating the Rough Waters of Crisis Communications, provided the audience with several factors to consider before their companies or organizations face a potential crisis. The discussion focused on my experience in the summer of 2016 as the Brand Communications Manager of the U.S. National Whitewater Center, when we found ourselves at the center of media attention on a national and international level… virtually overnight. Among a room of communications professionals, I offered a few key takeaways to help presently prepare their own companies and organizations. I asked them three simple questions:

Who is your team? Know your key players to call on in a crisis situation before one arises. This will simplify the communications process in what will otherwise likely be a stressful period of time for your organization.

Who is your audience? It may sound obvious… but it’s vital. If you can clearly define who you are speaking to, it will help in crafting your message and determining the best mediums for sharing it.

What is your voice? Your organization’s voice does not change in the face of a crisis. Remain consistent with the reputation you have built for yourself. The public will recognize your authenticity and be more open to your message.

Interested in learning more? Check out our recent post on Navigating the Rough Waters of Crisis Communications!

Marketing vs. PR… What’s the Difference?

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It’s the age-old question, what’s the difference between marketing and public relations? We spend most of our day hereat PIVOT PR explaining this until we’re blue in the face, but today we’re going to simplify and give you an explanation that actually makes sense. Why? Because no one really understands the definitions below, and the lines between marketing and PR are increasingly blurred.

The American Marketing Association (AMA)
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
Publicrelations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.  

Would you agree that these are too vague and don’t really tell you…anything? Consider the following three things when evaluating marketing vs. PR.

Revenue vs. Reputation
Marketing exists to drive revenue, while public relations exists to build a reputation.

Paid vs. Earned
If you pay, it’s typically marketing. If it’s free, usually PR.

Public Relations is Marketing
Rather than seeing them as mutually exclusive, it’s important to understand that public relations is a small portion of all things marketing. Marketing is the holistic arm which supports the 4 P’s: product, price, place, and promotion. In addition to PR, marketing includes things like sales, advertising, packaging, graphic/web design, qualitative/quantitative research, etc. 

Want to putyour knowledge to the test? Take THIS Marketing vs. PR test and let usknow how you scored!

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