Role of Media Relations in PR

Media relations, a subspecialty of Public Relations, can be defined as an organization's relationship  with people in news media, comprising: journalists, reporters, and news editors.

PR professionals in media relations  are saddled with the task of disseminating newsworthy content about their organizations or clients - across targeted media channels, to specified publics - who consume content from such media outlets.

Media Accent 

In the course of discharging their functions, media relations professionals, nurture good relationships with journalists - through a deliberate, sustained and planned means.

Media Relations professionals also develop and implement editorial plans and  calendars. This is  with a view to ensure their  organizations or clients newsworthy activities and stories are properly disseminated - across media channels.

 At Media Accent Nigeria, our Media Relations action plans are inspired by the need to ensure our clients gain favourable public image and perception - among targeted members of the public.

This ultimately impacts purchase decisions, as members of the public are inclined to patronize brands - whose positive press mentions and stories resonate well with them.

This view is underscored by a famous quote from US-based world renowned author and researcher, Seth Godin. He once said: "People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic."

How to write a Press Release

A press release must follow journalistic style in order to be given any kind of consideration by editors and readers. This task can be accomplished using the steps below.

Headline:
The headline for a press relase should be something that stands out and briefly summarizes the point of the release and rouses the readers’ interest.  A good headline should be a line, at maximum two lines should be enough. Headlines should not be more than about ten words or less.

Opening Paragraph:
Sometimes called a summary lead, the first paragraph of a press release is critical. This paragraph must explain "the five Ws and one H" of the story -- the who, what, when, where, why, and how.

This paragraph must summarize the press release, with the following paragraphs providing the detail. The opening paragraph must also contain the hook: the one thing that gets the audience interested in reading more. The hook of a press release  has to be relevant to the audience as well as to the news media.

The Body:
Using a strategy called the inverted pyramid, the body of the press release should be written with the most important information and quotes first. This inverted pyramid technique is used so that if editors need to cut the story to fit space constraints, they can cut from the end without losing critical information.

The Closing Paragraph:
This portion of a news release or story should repeat the critical contact information, including the name of the person, his or her phone number and/or email address.

Corporate Image and Perception

In Public Relations (PR)  image refers to the perception or impression people associate with any object. This could be a corporate organization, individual, institution, product, service or even an idea.

The way individuals interpret an image - is influenced by a variety of factors -  including reputation.

Reputation in PR, refers to  how an individual, corporate organization or institution is rated -  on a continuum of performance vis-a-vis expectations of relevant interest groups.

Types of image:

Wish image: This is how an individual or organisation wants to be perceived by the public.

Current image: This reflects facts on ground and can be determined - through an image study - best carried out by external consultants

Corporate image: This reflects the perception associated with the entire organization and not individual products. Corporate image, can be influenced by factors.
These include: country origin, name of organisation and age, product portfolio, price, safety records asset base, staff strength, CSR, rank in industry, accreditation/certification etc.

Positive image:  This is favorable image PR resources should be used to secure.

Negative image: This is unfavorable image that can cause problems for the organisation.

Product image: Is the perception that applies to a particular product. These include: efficacy of product, weight, size, colour etc.

Mirror image: Reflects the organisation's belief about how its perceived

Multiple image: This reflects how an organization is perceived in different lights by different publics.

Tips for effective public speaking

A key component of communication, public speaking or speaking generally is an art that can make a message resonate well with a target audience. It also serves as a tool through which PR practitioners achieve their objectives. However, delivering a good speech relies on putting certain elements into effect, as listed below.

1: Research on the topic:

In order to deliver a good speech to an audience, a detailed research must be conducted on the topic before delivery. This would enable the speaker have sufficient knowledge on the subject and gain some confidence before the audience in the course of delivery.

It would also enable him/her to be able to take questions on the topic from the audience. This would also inspire confidence on the part of the audience and enable the message being passed by the speaker, resonate well with them.


2: Theme:

Every speaker about to face an audience in the course of delivering a message should focus on a particular theme. Having a particular theme in place would keep him or her on track with the message without veering off into another topic.

Developing a theme would also enable the speaker reinforce the message before the audience and remain consistent in the course of delivering the message to the audience. Being consistent with the message would keep both the speaker and audience on the same page.

3: Stick to your personality:

While speaking to an audience it's important the speaker embraces his/ her own distinct personality and not try to be someone else. Trying to imitate someone else
can alienate the speaker from the audience. It's important for a speaker to understand that his/her unique personality is conveyed through  the tone, expressions and body language.

4: conduct Research on the audience:

It's crucial for the speaker to conduct a research on the audience he or she would be addressing. This would enable him or her know the educational level of the audience and other details such as their age grouping, sex and professional backgrounds.

A good knowledge of the audience's background would enable the speaker tailor his message to suit the level of understanding of the audience based on findings from such research.

5: Practice:

Every person about to speak to an audience, especially for first timers, owes it a duty to practice. This is necessary in overcoming stage freight and boosting confidence of the speaker. To begin with the speaker should identity those things he or she is not confident about before the audience and develop a means to deal with them.

6: Engaging the audience:

Another critical component of effective speaking borders on actively engaging the audience. This is necessary in order to keep them active and not passive. Actively engaging the audience can be achieved by creating room for moderated questions and answers.

Catch words, which the audience can respond or chorus to can be developed. Engaging the audience in the course of speaking serves as a key element in public speaking. It creates room for a discussion among all parties involved. This makes an event lively and shifts attention from the speaker to the audience as well.

The History of Public Relations in Nigeria

By Dominic Nwelih

The history of PR, Public Relations in Nigeria dates back to the years which preceded the Second World War.

During this period  unfavourable policies of the  British Colonial Government had to a large extent strained relations between it and Nigerians.

This continued until 1943 during the Second World War, when the colonial government deemed it necessary to institute its own Public Relations practise - with a view to keep the public informed about developments at the warfront - since Nigerians had also been recruited  into the battle field.

Dubbed: War Information Office, the organization was also saddled with the responsibility of ensuring dissemination of favorable news  narratives about the colonial government and its policies.

To this end, it  employed  many Nigerians - most with journalistic background - as publicity officers.
Some notable officers included: Cyprian Ekwensi, Anthony Enahoro and the late Dr. Sam Epelle.

However, since there was strong opposition to colonial rule at the period, activities of the PR outfit, were viewed with distrust among Nigerians.

Subsequently, other government agencies, parastatals as well as the private sector, embraced the practise of Public Relations - as a means to manage the flow of information between their organizations and their publics.

In the public sector, they included:  the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria and Nigerian Railway Corporation.

The private sector included organizations like United African Company of Nigeria (UACN) and Shell BP Petroleum Development Company.

This paved the way for the emergence of PR consultancy firms - which emerged in the 1960s.

Some individuals who operated Public Relations consultancies  on individual basis, include the likes of late Ebun Adesioye,Otunba Kunle
Ojora, Peter Hospidales, Dotun Okubanjo, Dr Clarkson Majomi and Mr. Olu Ademulegun.

Media Accent Nigeria Nuggets

Research is key. No research. No plan. 👍👌

PR Target Audience

A key method used by public relations professionals  is to identify the target audience, with a view to
craft messages to influence a particular audience - also known as publics.

 In some cases the overriding  interests of varying  audiences and
interest groups common to a public relations campaign inform the crafting of distinct but
complementary messages to target publics.

On the other hand stakeholders theory identifies an audience with  a stake in a given institution
or issue. It assumes all audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are
audiences.

 For instance, if a not-for-profit charity engages a public relations agency to develop an advertising
campaign to source funds in order to develop a cure for an ailment , the charity and victims with the disease are
stakeholders. Nonetheless,  the audience comprises any individual  likely to donate money towards the cause.

Origin of the press release

The history of the press release dates back to 1906 and was  created by Ivy Lee - a seminal figure in PR history. Lee’s agency was working with the Pennsylvania Railroad, in the USA at the time of the 1906 Atlantic City train wreck.

The New York Times was said to have been so impressed by Lee’s release that the newspaper printed it exactly as Lee had written it.

Ivy Lee and the company collaborated to issue the first press release directly to journalists, before other versions of the story, or suppositions, could be spread among them and reported.

He used a press release, in addition to
inviting journalists and photographers to the scene as a means of fostering open communication with the media.

How An African Grey Parrot Became An Insurance Salesman

In a recent PR campaign for Ceska Pojistovna, the largest insurance company in the Czech Republic, Carl – an African Grey parrot – pulled off a major publicity stunt. Carl, the parrot, was trained to sell pet insurance by a Hollywood animal handler.

Over a 3 month period, Carl was taught to bark the words ‘car insurance’. He was taken on a country-wide tour around major pet stores. Carl’s custom-built ‘office’ had a built-in tablet and a pre-loaded landing page that prompted visitors to buy insurance.

Overall, the creativity of the PR practitioners engaged to provide publicity for the insurance firm, did prove to be a major headline-grabbing stunt, which impacted positively on the bottom line of the Insurance firm.

Media Accent Nigeria Nuggets

Underscoring the roles of PR in AGM planning

For the management of a company, the AGM is an important PR  occasion when important financial statements including audited accounts are put up before the shareholders.

 The Chief Executivegives details of the company’s performance during the last one year and usually comes up with the
company’s plans and strategies for future development.

AGM is called by the Company Secretary;
Finance Director and his team members are the dominant players; the Chief Executive is the central figure for the occasion but the PR can perform well from the background as well as in direct focus of acknowledgement of his role.

Unfortunately, many companies have turned the AGMs to an avoidable farce, an attitude that clearly demonstrates the management’s fear of facing the wrath of the shareholders. There are,
however, many more companies continually seeking new and more effective ways to use an AGM to inform and educate shareholders, earn their confidence, understand investor thinking, explore new
ideas and to introduce new products.

In relation to AGM, the tasks of PR, with adequate management support, are as
 follows:

(i) In financial public relations, PR activity must not be restricted to media relations. In
practice, financial PR covers much more than just dealing with a few financial journalists.


Total media relations are of utmost importance but PR can demonstrate its effective role in many other finance-related activities including AGM.


(ii) PR has to realise the importance of making the chairman’s speech reach a much wider audience. It is through this annual statement that PR can project the organisation to the outside world as a dynamic entity, alive towards the welfare of the community at large.

PR takes the initiative to distribute brochures, literature and informative documents highlighting the performance, product, research and further developments. Video presentation is another effective way of attracting shareholders’ attention to the company’s efforts and achievements.

(iii) PR must have good access to the Chief Executive, senior management and the board;otherwise, he may not succeed in his effort to make his role noticeable in AGM matters.

In fact, PR has to develop keen business acumen and be a part of the business group, which handles investors relations programme.

PR can be of immense help for expert guidance in finalising AGM requirements like audio-visuals, agenda preparation, conducting the meeting efficiently, hospitality arrangements, selection of venue, holding exhibition and display and be constantly conscious of public relations aspects of AGM and actually implement them in practice.


(iv) Now comes the question of total media coverage. The shareholders, the larger investor groups, financial analysts, stock market, the management and the employees as well, will expectantly look forward to media reaction to the proceedings of the AGM.

This is a major challenge and opportunity for applying key elements of PR communication at several stages of AGM actively. Any well-planned PR programme will cover media relations, Press-TV-Radio interviews, news releases, and press conferences and follow up or post-
meeting exercises.

The whole operation must be carried out with a practical time commitment
and a clear understanding of the PR objectives.

Role of Financial PR in preparing Annual Report

Role of financial PR in preparing Annual Report

As far as financial PR is concerned an annual report is the most essential and first-hand communication to introduce the company to the financial public as well as to financial collaborators.

 It is an obligation on the part of the
management to present audited accounts of the company before the shareholders at the annual general meeting.

The annual reports would have passed through phases of dynamic changes but the basic requirements are:
 (i) Chairman’s speech
 (ii) Report of the Board of Directors (iii) Balance Sheet
 (iv)
Profit and Loss account and
 (v) Auditor’s Reports.

In this process, many companies make use of the space and opportunity to focus attention on the achievements in functional areas like production and sales, distribution, new products and
services, new projects, human resource development, industrial relations, contribution to the exchequer, environmental measures, research and development, energy conservation and thus present as complete a picture about the company as possible to the shareholders as well as to the financial public and the media.

Consequently, the annual report is an essential input of financial PR.

 The Public Relations role in the preparation and production of the annual report could usually be as
follows:

 The company secretary together with the finance wing of the company will be in total
command of the annual report draft preparation. But PR could lend its touch of class not only in production techniques but also in the total purview of economic and financial perspectives.

PR plays a constructive role by emphasizing the need to be frank and free to
admit difficulties, and explains the steps taken to overcome them, which will create a sense of confidence and understanding among the financial public including shareholders.

PR will have its eyes and ears turned to the ground realities to fulfill the specific
requirements of the shareholders, investors, press and media and the financial world and keep them sufficiently informed about the current operations and future plans of the company.

The annual report can thus be effectively used as a tool of PR communication.

PR advises the management that, statutorily, though a lot of information is put into the annual report it is sound business sense to focus special attention on one main them.

 While highlighting the company’s progress, performance, plans and outlook for the future, the various facets of the company’s activity will have the obvious linkage with the main theme.

Printed annual report, however well produced, will continue to command limited and captive circulation. One way to win over mass attention is to publish the chairman’s statement in selected newspapers and journals, mainly those that specialise in financial matters.

In addition to communicating a message of significance to the shareholders, space
buying in the print media provides good scope for larger audience appeal.

The PR department involves itself in the preparation and maintenance of a complete circulation list for annual report dispatch.

This is a golden opportunity to be in contact with the financial press and concerned financial public to encourage useful and informed comment.

How to prepare financial PR press kit

Preparing an appropriate press kit, specially in the event of a financial press conference, is of crucial importance. What should go into a press kit? Strictly speaking, the kit should contain an assorted collection of information designed to serve as a reference for the media.

The traditional gift articles at a major event for the media are inescapable but the information material to be provided depends on individual company needs. PR has to evaluate the requirements and finally decide among
the options.

Checklist for an ideal Press Kit

(a) A major press release is always expected at a major press meet, which normally sums up the event.

(b) A bunch of photographs will be useful. These may include portraits of newsmakers and general, sometimes specific view of production or service operations, product photos etc.

Instead of photos, or in conjunction with photos, an artist’s depictions of a physical
object are effective as well.

(c) Brochures and biographies are useful handouts. Brochures, in addition to providing a succinct history of the organisation, must give detailed financial particulars in which the media will find background information about the company. Biographies must pertain to
achievements of the top management persons in achieving the financial goals.

(d) It is a good idea to provide a text or summary of the speech of the main speaker in the press kit. This simplifies the job of the media people and they appreciate it very much.

The speaker has to stay quite close to the circulated text during his actual speech, otherwise, there may be confusion leading to inaccurate reporting.

(e) Annual Report of the Company providing balance sheet and a statement of profit and loss account of the company during the last one-year.

A question-answer session will be used to clarify points mentioned in the text of speech or when the journalists make reference to issues, which are related, to the main topic or to the functioning
of the company. This is a risky ground, which has to be treaded cautiously.

Media Accent Nigeria Nuggets

Role of the Press in Financial PR

The Press as PR Tool in Financial Communication

For the purpose of financial communication, Public Relations employs a variety of tools and methods to promote business development. It may be true that the key element in any financial PR programme will be aimed at the financial community. At the same time, the business and its communication must gain the acceptance of the government and citizens in the present social, economicand political environment. In order to build the bridge of co-operation and understanding, the business
communication has undergone tremendous changes in class and character, and more so in the domain of information sharing. Here comes the importance of the ever-increasing numbers of the financial
public and the wide-ranging tools and techniques employed to reach this public.

The Press

The Press will continue to play an ever-increasing role as a means of communication by companies to various categories of investors and the financial public. The press activity helps the
shareholders, potential investors and analysts to maintain a record and understand the performance of the company on the financial front.
The Press includes national, regional, and local publications and specialist financial andeconomic press.

 In addition, there are a host of trade journals, consumer and marketing publications and even women and general interest publications. In fact, financial public relations entails a much
bigger role than just dealing with a handful of journalists representing the financial and economic press.

Professional press relations will involve quite a few accurate steps, which may go a long way in tackling this sensitive area more effectively.

These are:
(a) In press relations no PR person should ever run short of time.

(b) The spokesperson from the company, even at the highest level, must be approachable and accessible. It is the duty of the PR to ensure this aspect; otherwise, he will lose credibility with the Press.

(c) The financial, economic and relevant technical discussion with the members of the Press would require a thorough knowledge and expertise on the part of the company spokespersons. There cannot be any compromise or uncalled for delegation of authority.

Appreciate the role of journalists, financial or general, that their primary loyalty is to their readers and that the financial columns will keep alive if they serve their readers with facts, truthfully
and sincerely. Therefore, providing the right kind of information to them, enabling them to fulfill their assigned roles is a key part of any communication programme.

What is financial PR

Simply put financial PR in Public Relations is communicating with the financial publics. But, then, if all publics are equal in the eyes of PR, how do some publics come to gain special importance with the same Public Relations? In fact, these special publics are quite sizeable in number and form dominant groups in the domain of financial public relations.

They matter more to the organisation although no PR and management can ignore any public, and effective communication with all of them is essential
for the existence of the organisation itself.

In general, the financial public, who are of immediate concern to the organisation, comprise the following:

(i) the registered shareholders;

(ii) the investing community including potential shareholders with available funds for spending or

(iii) the direct financial community comprising  banks and financial institutions, stockbrokers, and a variety of key players in the global money market, individual or institutional;

(iv) the financial and economic press in particular should include a large number of newspapers, trade journals, other publications and the electronic media in general, who evince interest in
economics and finance; and

(v) the audience in the market scenario comprising the business community, politicians, customers, employees, and on specific occasions, the general public.

How to write a press release

In order to give readers a great story it's important to adopt appropriate techniques and methods in writing a press release from an editor’s perspective. This is found in the inverted pyramid technique in writing.

 It's essential to write in inverted pyramid style, because editors cut from the bottom of a story. In the inverted pyramid style the most important information belongs in the first paragraph, and additional information follows in order of importance.

The inverted pyramid technique prevents both the editor and readers from searching for the important points. A writer should always tell Who, What, Where, Why, When, and How. It's essential to rely on facts, not sensation. These facts should be presented clearly and simply, and the editor allowed to decide what is important.

Editors are hired to exercise sound news judgment. Use active voice and subject-verb construction and conversational language. Public relations practitioners must possess the skills needed to communicate to their respective publics unambiguously, concisely, and honestly.

Simple sentences should be written in two or three sentences per paragraph. Typically one page is good; two pages are more than enough for a great story contained in a press release.  After writing a news release or story, PR practitioners should have someone unfamiliar with the subject or contents read the story or press release. If it doesn't make sense to the test-reader, it probably won't make sense to an editor or readers .

Public Relations vs Marketing

A key component of the Marketing Communications mix, Public Relations (PR) is often misconstrued to mean some form of paid promotional marketing for goods and services, whereas that's not case. Herein underscores the need to highlight distinctions between the two.

Below are five key distinctions between Public relations and marketing.

1: While Public Relations (PR) lays more emphasis on managing an organization's reputation by sustaining favorable media coverage and promoting mutual understanding amongst its interest groups, marketing seeks to achieve its objectives through direct  promotional means - such as advertising.

2: Duration: While the benefits of investing in  Deliberate, Sustained and Planned  PR activities can be reaped in the long-term, the impact of direct marketing promotional activities such as advertising can be reaped in the immediate term through increased sales.

3: Direction: At its core, Public Relations tends to focus more on nurturing and sustaining relationships with varied interest groups as they relate to an organization, marketing on the other hand lays greater prominence on an organization's  products, goods and services.

4. Target: In public relations the target of various media campaigns are split across what is known in PR parlance as  publics, which comprises particular stakeholders or interest groups to an organization. These include: Employees, the media, regulators, shareholders, buyers and suppliers.
In marketing campaigns the customer is the  target and the focus is mainly channeled towards identifying and meeting customers needs.

5: While PR activities are largely achieved through earned media or "free publicity" - via news mediums, such as blogs, newspapers and journals; marketing activities are largely actualized through paid media.

Managing employees role in the organization's voice

As far as managing an organization's social media voice is concerned, there are a number of best practices that would be better learned than by making public communication mistakes.

As mentioned in previous posts, behind every organizational voice across social media channels there are people (or a person) who represents the organization.

 These people have a critical responsibility because they must not only provide content across social media channels that will be valuable to readers, they often are called on to drive revenue, as well. Around both of these goals is the need to use a vocabulary and style that represent the tone and feel the organization wants to provide to its
readers.

If the people who manage the organization's social media voice get it right, they create a positive impact for the
organization.  At the same time, an employee can make a single comment and injure the organization’s relationship with everyone. Oft times, people seem to forget the volume and reach social media channels represent. If an organization has 100,000 followers, the actual reach is much greater because if something posted is really good or really bad, many followers will forward the information or comments to their contacts.

So potentially the number of people who could “hear” about it could be one million or more. Because the responsibility is so great on those who post on behalf of the organization, it makes sense to have rules and reviews in place so costly mistakes are avoided.

The first step is to make sure you’re aware of anyone who reports to you who creates content for one of the organizational voice channels. You should provide specific assistance for these folks. It makes
sense to review these concepts and provide training for all your people so that no one finds out the hard way the dangers of a misstep.

Media Accent Nigeria Nuggets

...think Media Accent Nigeria 😉

We deliver strategic content.

What should your organization do during a crisis?

A subspecialty of Public Relations, crisis communication management is designed to protect the image and reputation of an individual or organization facing a crucial challenge in public domain.

 Such challenges may emanate from a public scrutiny into activities of an organization conducted by government agencies. It may also be in form of an investigation from government agencies, criminal allegations, media inquiries, violation of employees rights, shareholders lawsuits, a violation of environmental regulations, or other scenarios involving the legal, ethical, or financial standing of the entity.

Crisis communication management means
may include creating statements, known as “messages,” often tested by research and polling. Other measures may comprise proactive media outreach inspired with a view to get such messages and context to the media. It further includes coopting the right opinion leaders or influencers  who can issue a favorable narrative of the organization's  side of the unfolding story.

Crisis communication is also regarded as a sub-speciality of business continuity. The ultimate objective of crisis communication management in such contexts is to enable organizations retain continuity of crucial business processes and dissemination of  information under such circumstances.

An effective crisis communication strategic plan should inculcate the following objectives:

• Maintain connectivity

• Be readily accessible to the news media

• Show empathy for the people involved

• Allow distributed access

• Streamline communication processes

• Maintain information security

• Ensure uninterrupted audit trails

• Deliver high volume communications

• Support multi-channel communications

• Remove dependencies on paper based processes

Media Accent Nuggets: Flame wars

A flame war is a  lengthy exchange of angry or abusive messages between users of an online forum or other discussion area.

Social media management: Managing authority to speak

In the course of managing  social media accounts for an organization, the first thing a social media team needs to understand about using social tools to communicate with the public on the organization’s behalf is what authority they have and don’t have. This is a basic concept, yet people will often feel they are “allowed” to respond to a negative comment they see online about the organization or one of your products.

The danger here is saying something like this: “I work for X and take exception to your comment about our product. The
truth is our product works exactly as specified in the instructions and if you’re having that problem, it might be user error.”

To your employee this might sound like a reasonable response. One problem with that is if the customer learns the product was actually defective, he or she may
document the story and your response, then use it as an example of how arrogant and uncaring your company is.

When television, radio, magazines, and newspapers were the main way an organization talked to the world, it was easy to restrict who could comment on your behalf. The lines of authority were clear. It’s now more complicated because every employee has the ability to see a
comment made about the organization and to respond in an instant to millions of people.

You must make it clear to your staff which employees are allowed to speak on behalf of the organization, and the rest are not. You must also make it clear to people how to represent themselves if they enter a conversation.

The options include telling people they work for the organization and what their title is, or they can state that this is a personal opinion and not provide the organization they work for. Both of these may be more appropriate than speaking as
if they’re speaking for the company. You must make sure that your people understand there’s a concept of authority around what they say publicly on behalf of the organization.

How publicity stunt made French painter famous

Historical publicity stunts: How
Harry Reichenbach made French Artist, Paul Chabas' painting famous

Another early PR practitioner was Harry Reichenbach (1882–1931) a New York-based
American press agent and publicist who promoted movies.
He claims to have made famous the Paul
Chabas painting, September Morn, through a publicity stunt he stage managed. Supposedly, he saw a print in a Chicago art store window. He made a deal with the store owner who had not sold any of his 2,000 prints.

Reichenbach had hired some boys to “ogle” the picture when he showed it to the moralist crusader Anthony Comstock.
Comstock was suitably outraged when he saw it. Comstock’s Anti-Vice Society took the case to the court and lost. However, the publicity stunt  aroused interest to the painting, which ultimately sold millions of copies.

Media Accent Nigeria Nuggets

Don't gamble with your reputation, leave it to the #professionals #Media Accent #Nigeria 

How often should you post on social media ?

If you’re in the situation where you’re managing some form of a social organizational voice across social media platforms be careful about how often you send or post content. The good side of “talking” to your followers daily via posts across your organizations social media platforms, is they think of you often.

 The downside can be that you annoy them because you don’t have interesting things to say each time. Don’t wear out your connections by inundating them with information they won’t value.

Media Accent Nigeria

How to write for SEO using keywords

By Dominic Nwelih

Learn basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)  writing tips to enable your web posts stay ahead of competition and be found on search engines - be it Google or Bing.

1: Keywords selection
 Select appropriate keywords or phrases. This is that particular word or phrase people type into search engines. It's also imperative to ensure selected keywords are used often in your content.

2: Headline:
Ensure selected keywords and phrases are cast into the headline of your content. Remember headlines should be kept short and simple.

3: Early usage: Ensure you selected keywords are used at the early stages of your post. This should be woven into the first or second sentence.

4: URL: Ensure selected keywords appear on the URL of your published content. This makes it easier for search engines to know what your content is about.

5: Sharing: Ensure your content generates web traffic and is visible to as many as possible. This could be achieved by sharing same on social media platforms.

Media Accent Nigeria

Content marketing and the right to sell

We’ve mentioned this concept a couple of times. Almost every organization is trying to sell something through its content marketing initiatives. In the zeal to accomplish this, many pollute their content and conversation streams with too many attempts to coerce someone into taking action. Focus on providing a valuable stream of information to your constituents, and once that is accomplished, they won’t mind if you sell to them every once in a while.
It’s akin to a television show running commercials. We don’t like them all the time but we understand they fund the making of the shows.

Posted by Dominic Nwelih 

Media Accent Nigeria

How Bernays pioneered PR publicity stunts

The earliest publicity stunt in PR (Public Relations) history occurred in the 1920s. At that period  it was a taboo for women to  smoke outdoors. At that time, a cigarette brand  Lucky Strike cigarettes, was seeking  to aggressively grow its  customer base - and this included women.

 Consequently, the cigarette maker engaged the services of a seminal figure in Public Relarions history, Edward Bernays.
As part of his strategy to break the taboo, Bernay's orchestrated a now-legendary publicity stunt by convincing women
to smoke at the Easter parade in Manhattan as a statement of rebellion against the norms of a male-dominated society.

The demonstrators were not aware that a tobacco company was behind the publicity
stunt. Bernays dubbed his PR campaign the: “Torches of Liberty Contingent”
Publicity photos of these beautiful fashion models smoking “Torches of Liberty” were sent to various media outlets and appeared worldwide. As a result, the taboo was dissolved and many women were led to associate the act of smoking with female liberation. Some women went so far as to demand membership in all-male smoking clubs, a highly controversial act at the time.

For his work, Bernays was paid a tidy sum by George Washington Hill, president of the American Tobacco
Company.

Bernays was the profession’s first theorist. He drew many of his ideas from Sigmund
Freud’s theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape human behaviour.

Bernays authored several books, including Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923), Propaganda (1928), and The
Engineering of Consent (1947).

He saw public relations as an “applied social science” that uses insights from psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the
thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public.

Posted By Dominic Nwelih
Media Accent

10 rules social media management teams must observe

• Social media management teams should learn to  write like humans would speak. Corporate speak will bore people and they’ll dismiss your conversation stream as a waste of time.

• Deliver a recipe of information that’s valuable to the reader. If you spend too much time trying to sell people products, you’ll be regarded as spam.

• In the course of managing your organization's social media accounts be ready to interact with people who comment or reply to you. The worst thing you can do is connect with people and then not answer their comments or questions.

• Don’t be a lurker. Engage in conversations when people are talking about you and your products. But only if you have something meaningful to add.

• Have a sense of humor. Nothing makes information more interesting or seem more
human than having a little fun with things.

• Don’t whine or complain. Someone is going to say something negative about your
organization at some point. If you choose to engage them, do so professionally. Admit
you’re wrong if you are, then apologize. Or correct them if they’re mistaken.

• Don’t spin the truth, tell lies of omission, or flat out lie. This seems obvious, but do this in front of several million people, and someone will find out and tell the rest of the world.

• Stay consistent with the tone and style of the organizational voice. It confuses and
annoys people if it changes every week.

• Never engage in flame wars with competitors or angry constituents. This makes everyone look immature.

• If you don’t have anything valuable to say, don’t say anything at all. It’s better to be
silent than obviously filling space because you feel you should. By the way, go find
something valuable to say!

Four ways Google ranks content in search results for SEO

By Dominic Nwelih

1: Bounce Rate: A major factor that works against Search Engine Optimization SEO efforts is the bounce rate. This refers to the percentage of website  visitors who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.
According to Google: "A bounce is a single-page session on your site. In Analytics, a bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session."
Google further describes Bounce rate as "single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server."

2: Time spent on page: The more average time visitors spend on your page coupled with low bounce rates serves as an indication to Google algorithms that you boast compelling content, which viewers find satisfying and spend more time reading.

3: Traffic: Wikipedia defines  Web traffic as " the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site. This necessarily does not include the traffic generated by bots.
It further defines traffic as "the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are popular and if there are any apparent trends, such as one specific page being viewed mostly by people in a particular country." Google algorithms also take cognizance of the amount of traffic your published web content is generating and uses same to rank search results.

4 Links: The more people share links to your content also serves as an indication that  its content is endorsed. Consequently, Google's algorithm is more likely to rank content with more shares higher than a competing one with less shared links.

How effective content boosts marketing and sales

By Dominic Nwelih

 The advent of the internet and  sheer volume of information posted daily has severely influenced consumer behavior patterns as it, relates to marketing. Content marketing strategies are now obligatory and form a critical component in the tool box of discerning marketers. 

This is underscored by its use as the preferred  medium through which consumers seek and evaluate information about goods and services, before making purchase decisions.

From reading up information about offerings on products and services
on blogs to reviews and articles published via online journals, news outlets,  industry trade publications and a plethora of  sources which abound on the internet - today's "smart consumers" in Lagos, Nigeria and across the globe are able to make informed choices.

Third party endorsement of goods and services using content creation and other apt  Public Relations (PR) methods - offered by Media Accent Nigeria and other PR consultancies operating in Nigeria,  prove more effective than in-your-face advertising.

Simply put, advertising is directly saying to consumers your products and services are good. Public Relations on the other hand, is getting a third party to do same on your behalf. As a consumer which narrative would u trust?

As the case may be, that third party or neutral medium could be a journalist from a credible news source, influencer, blogger, opinion or thought leader who disseminates and gives a seal of approval to your written or produced content obtained independently via press release,  interview or other forms of media events.

Herein,  underpins the need for effective content generation targeted at the right audiences, as a marketing strategy tailored to boost leads and drive up sales.

Currently, content serves as the main thrust that propels the internet.

Important statistics related to content on the internet:

- On average around three million blog posts are published daily .

- Over 65% of consumers  learn about products and services before making buying decisions from publications on the internet - as opposed to in-your-face advertising.

- Marketing teams who  post  content regularly online enjoy improved sales, as opposed to those who do not post content online. Surveys show marketers who post content steadily enjoy about 12 times more return on investment, when compared with teams that don't.

How should corporate speak sound ?

For those authorized to speak on behalf of the organization, the skill of “talking” to
people in the correct voice becomes important. We’ve now moved into a time when people are tired of and jaded by corporate speak. They want even large institutions to have a soul, and they judge that by their actions and the vernacular used when they talk to their constituents.

There are a few difficulties in creating a consistent voice that accurately represents a brand and the organizational culture. When people are asked to write in a style that’s not cor-porate speak, they often resort to their own personal style, and this may conflict with the specific organizational style.
.
To get everyone on the same page, you must be able to define how the voice should
sound. Do this by showing people examples of communications that hit the mark, and
combining that with descriptions of the unique elements of the voice. For example, if you look at the voice that Google uses to speak to the world, they clearly want the company to have a feel, that includes a sense of humor, cleverness, openness, and a willingness to get along with other organizations and standards in the world. If you can’t define how the voice should sound, people will create their own versions and that will be a branding nightmare. Most entities have a good idea of how their voice should sound.

There is a culture and history that dictates the boundaries of the voice. In some cases the voice represents the founder or current leader. If your company doesn’t have a clear voice because the concept hasn’t been
discussed and agreed on, then stop here and direct a collective agreement on what the voice should sound and feel like for readers.

Posted by: Dominic Nwelih
Media Accent Nigeria

How to write an effective newsletter for email marketing...5 rules

By Dominic Nwelih

1: Avoid too many words when writing a newsletter. Make your news letter as concise as possible. The average reader has a short attention span.

2: Avoid typographic errors. Ensure it's proof read by someone with proof reading skills and an eye for detail to spot such errors.

3: Avoid grammatical errors. Before publishing, ensure it's read by someone who boasts good editing skills and experience. Readers won't take you serious if your newsletter is filled with grammatical errors.

4: Ensure you have a creative subject line capable of drawing attention and interest. Many subscribers are wont to dismiss a newsletter with a banal subject line.

5: Quit trying to sell your organization, products and services to readers. Instead give useful information and valuable content that would keep readers hooked. That way trust is built with readers and they are bound to contact you when the need arises.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): 4 primary methods Google uses in ranking web content

By Dominic Nwelih

1: Bounce Rate: This refers to the percentage of website  visitors who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.
According to Google: "A bounce is a single-page session on your site. In Analytics, a bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session."
Google further describes Bounce rate as "single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server."

2: Time spent on page: The more average time visitors spend on your page coupled with low bounce rates serves as an indication to Google algorithms that you boast compelling content, which viewers find satisfying and spend more time reading.

3: Traffic: Wikipedia defines  Web traffic as " the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site. This necessarily does not include the traffic generated by bots.
It further defines traffic as "the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are popular and if there are any apparent trends, such as one specific page being viewed mostly by people in a particular country." Google algorithms also take cognizance of the amount of traffic your published web content is generating and uses same to rank search results.

4 Links: The more people share links to your content also serves as an indication that  its content is endorsed. Consequently, Google's algorithm is more likely to rank content with more shares higher than a competing one with less shared links.

Media Accent Nigeria Nuggets

Marketing: How effective content drives up sales

By Dominic Nwelih

 The advent of the internet and  sheer volume of information posted daily has severely influenced consumer behavior patterns as it, relates to marketing.

This is underscored by its use as the preferred  medium through which consumers seek and evaluate information about goods and services, before making purchase decisions.

From reading up information about offerings on products and services
on blogs to reviews and articles published via online journals, news outlets,  industry trade publications and a plethora of  sources which abound on the internet - today's "smart consumers" in Lagos, Nigeria and across the globe are able to make informed choices.

Third party endorsement of goods and services using content creation and other apt  Public Relations (PR) methods - offered by Media Accent Nigeria and other PR consultancies operating in Nigeria,  prove more effective than in-your-face advertising.

Simply put, advertising is directly saying to consumers your products and services are good. Public Relations on the other hand, is getting a third party to do same on your behalf. As a consumer which narrative would u trust?

As the case may be, that third party or neutral medium could be a journalist from a credible news source, influencer, blogger, opinion or thought leader who disseminates and gives a seal of approval to your written or produced content obtained independently via press release,  interview or other forms of media events.

Herein,  underpins the need for effective content generation targeted at the right audiences, as a marketing strategy tailored to boost leads and drive up sales.

Currently, content serves as the main thrust that propels the internet.

Important statistics related to content on the internet:

- On average around three million blog posts are published daily .

- Over 65% of consumers  learn about products and services before making buying decisions from publications on the internet - as opposed to in-your-face advertising.

- Marketing teams who  post  content regularly online enjoy improved sales, as opposed to those who do not post content online. Surveys show marketers who post content steadily enjoy about 12 times more return on investment, when compared with teams that don't.

Did you know?

I bet u didn't...

Social Media Management: 10 Rules for managing the organization's voice

• Write like a human would speak. Corporate speak will bore people and they’ll dismiss your conversation stream as a waste of time.

• Deliver a recipe of information that’s valuable to the reader. If you spend too much time trying to sell people products, you’ll be regarded as spam.

• Be ready to interact with people who comment or reply to you. The worst thing you can do is connect with people and then not answer their comments or questions.

• Don’t be a lurker. Engage in conversations when people are talking about you and your products. But only if you have something meaningful to add.

• Have a sense of humor. Nothing makes information more interesting or seem more
human than having a little fun with things.

• Don’t whine or complain. Someone is going to say something negative about your
organization at some point. If you choose to engage them, do so professionally. Admit
you’re wrong if you are, then apologize. Or correct them if they’re mistaken.

• Don’t spin the truth, tell lies of omission, or flat out lie. This seems obvious, but do this in front of several million people, and someone will find out and tell the rest of the world.

• Stay consistent with the tone and style of the organizational voice. It confuses and
annoys people if it changes every week.

• Never engage in flame wars with competitors or angry constituents. This makes everyone look immature.

• If you don’t have anything valuable to say, don’t say anything at all. It’s better to be
silent than obviously filling space because you feel you should. By the way, go find

something valuable to say!

The differences between Content Writing and Copy Writing

Content Writing vs. Copy Writing

By Dominic Nwelih

Does your marketing team require a content writer or copy writer? Media Accent Nigeria could help you.

Know the difference between a copywriters and content writers

.Content writers answer questions about  products  goods or services through their writings. They raise awareness and interest about your offerings and build trust among your publics.  Copywriters seek to sell products, goods and services through their writing.

.Content writers in Lagos, Nigeria and across the globe produce the materials you read on blogs, web content, newspapers, articles and journals. Copywriters on the other hand produce the materials you see on adverts, product packaging, branded items, social media posts, videos and some other forms of marketing or promotional materials.

.Content writers produce writings that are thorough and well researched using keywords that resonate well with  search engines. This is with a view  to answer  questions about brands, products and services. Copywriters in Lagos, Nigeria and across the globe, keep their writings short and simple. Brevity is the golden rule for copywriters. Their aim is to draw Attention, rouse Interest, cause Desire and get you to take Action on the particular good or service they are promoting.


Media Accent Nigeria

Why image is important

The business world can be extremely competitive. Companies typically want to have something that makes them stand out from the crowd, something that makes them more appealing and interesting
to both members of the public and the media. A favorable image can help increase a company’s sales, and negative publicity can damage a company’s reputation and decrease sales.

Public relations can give consumers and the media a better understanding of how a company works. Within a company, a PR department might also be called a public information department or a customer relations department. These departments assist customers if they have any problems with the company.
They usually try to show the company at its best. PR departments also might conduct research to learn how satisfied customers are with the company and its products.

CORPORATE SPEAK: THE TONE, STYLE, AND FEEL

For those authorized to speak on behalf of the organization, the skill of “talking” to
people in the correct voice becomes important. We’ve now moved into a time when people are tired of and jaded by corporate speak. They want even large institutions to have a soul, and they judge that by their actions and the vernacular used when they talk to their constituents.

There are a few difficulties in creating a consistent voice that accurately represents a brand and the organizational culture. When people are asked to write in a style that’s not cor-porate speak, they often resort to their own personal style, and this may conflict with the specific organizational style.
.
To get everyone on the same page, you must be able to define how the voice should
sound. Do this by showing people examples of communications that hit the mark, and
combining that with descriptions of the unique elements of the voice. For example, if you look at the voice that Google uses to speak to the world, they clearly want the company to have a feel, that includes a sense of humor, cleverness, openness, and a willingness to get along with other organizations and standards in the world. If you can’t define how the voice should sound, people will create their own versions and that will be a branding nightmare. Most entities have a good idea of how their voice should sound.

There is a culture and history that dictates the boundaries of the voice. In some cases the voice represents the founder or current leader. If your company doesn’t have a clear voice because the concept hasn’t been
discussed and agreed on, then stop here and direct a collective agreement on what the voice should sound and feel like for readers.

Posted
Media Accent Nigeria

Corporate Speak

Refers to a style of communicating that is devoid of humanness. It lacks sense of humor, edge, or style. It’s bland copy that would never offend anyone, and has been stripped of anything that would give you a sense that a human wrote it.

Corporate speak often uses an overkill of industry buzzwords so that anyone reading it from outside the industry would need a dictionary to decipher the text.

Media Accent Nigeria
Posted by Dominic Nwelih

BUILDING RIVERS OF INFORMATION: STEP THREE

 DEVELOP A PROCESS FOR WORKING YOUR RIVER EACH DAY

Once you have great sources of information and the tools to collect them, you need to
actively discover, digest, and pass on the important pieces of information you find each day.
Note that we said “each" day. With the volume of information you have going through your river, it’s not wise to miss working it for a few days. The result of this is that you’ll have to do such a cursory review of everything you have siphoned off of the big river that you're likely to miss important pieces.

The No. 1 comment people give when exposed to this concept is, “I don’t have time to fit this in my day. I’m already swamped.” There’s no sense debating whether people really have time in their day or not, because most people feel like they’re already full up. Everyone must choose what they find most valuable to invest their time in and learning to leverage a powerful river of information is clearly something that can help your employees and the organization in many ways.

There’s no perfect way to integrate the river of information process into your day. Each
of us operates differently and ingests information uniquely. Some people need to sit down and review their entire river all in one setting. Others can do it five minutes at a time throughout the day. Generally, it should take no more than 30 to 45 minutes to scan through a normal volume
each day. You should look for the information that will be most germane to what you do. It doesn’t make sense to try and read every word that you receive. You have to think of it like doing triage.

You want to scan through the documents and headlines and look for things that
really intrigue you and focus on those.

Here’s a list of possible options to consider when creating your specific method of
reviewing your river:

• Reviewing the river once a day, preferably in the morning, helps get through it so it
doesn’t become a distraction during the day. Triage videos or Web sites you might want
to view later by saving them in browser tabs and review them when you have free time in between things.
• Split up content as to where it’s directed. Send text-based content to your laptop and
videos to your mobile device, for instance. This way you have content on multiple
devices so you have things to review regardless of your travel or location situation.
• Rank the importance of content in your river and send the critical items to your e-mail so you’re sure to review them each day as you do e-mail. Send the less important streams to other applications to be reviewed when you have the time to devote to it.
• Be sure to mix media and delivery types so you’re getting information in newsletters, blogs, tweets, video, audio, etc. This helps keep your interest, and assures a dynamic spread of content and ideas.
• Always be on the lookout for new aggregation and filtering tools to help you better handle the flow of information. Don’t get stuck on one way of handling your river to the exclusion of new ones. Tools come out every week, so look out for new ways of handling things.

There’s one important thing you must do while reviewing content, and that is constantly evaluate the importance of a specific feed. Don’t start off with 30 good sources, then look up a year from now and you’re still reviewing the same list. Always be on the lookout for new sources, and be willing to terminate information from a source that’s become weak over time.
Your river is a living source of information and must be pruned and added to each time you see something better.

MEDIA ACCENT NIGERIA
POSTED BY DOMINIC NWELIH