InsidEPR

Top Twitter Tools for Maximizing Social Media ROI

By Mike Tomlinson & Mareesa Valentine

Are you looking to get more out of your social media program? Check out these five Twitter tools that will help maximize your social media ROI:

• Mentionmapp.com – Have you explored your full Twitter network? Mentionmapp provides great custom graph visualizations to display your interactions, key hashtags, and relevant influencers.

 

• Later Bro – This free Facebook and Twitter scheduler has a great interface for sharing content through multiple social media accounts. And did we mention it’s free?

 

• Twitter Counter – The best site for pulling analytics in two minutes or less. Great for comparing yourself against competitors’ Twitter accounts, too!

 

• Sprout Social – A powerful tool for more serious social media programs that provides valuable metrics and reports! Free trials are available, so try before you buy.

 

• Hootsuite – Our #1 social media tool, Hootsuite is a one-stop shop for all your cross-platform social media needs. It’s also inexpensive to upgrade if you’re a power social media user!

So you think you don't need analyst relations...

By Suzanne Panoplos

Often we hear prospects and clients tell us that they do not need help with Analyst Relations (AR)—typically because they believe they already have good relationships with key analysts. We whole-heartedly agree that our clients should ultimately own the relationship with an analyst. But are they equipped to actually manage it?

Here are a few ways to get a better handle on your Analyst Relations Program:

Initiate regular and frequent contact: Most analyst firms want to be part of a regular communications schedule. Analyst firms such as Gartner prefer monthly updates, whereas other firms prefer a bi-monthly or quarterly schedule. An agency can help you determine the right schedule and make sure that regular interactions take place.

Provide relevant and thoughtful information: A good agency can also keep analysts updated with the information that is relevant to their research and interest areas. This is not to suggest a “spray and pray” approach that includes spamming analysts with a rapid succession of press releases. Rather, a good AR manager will ensure the analyst receives only the information that is relevant, bridging the interest of the client and the analyst to form a more productive relationship.

Ensure participation in key research reports: One of the biggest frustration points for most companies is either not being included in an analyst research report or even worse, being positioned inaccurately. A good AR manager will be in front of all deadlines, helping the client to navigate through the timelines, questionnaires and reference requirements to achieve the desired outcome.

Manage key influencers: With the dynamic nature of the analyst world, it is not unusual for analysts to leave or transition into other coverage areas. In most situations, your PR agency contact is already speaking to these analysts and is aware of their movements and wider areas of interest. With this broader perspective, the agency is able to advise organizations on the most appropriate strategy for connecting with the right analysts and achieving the most from that relationship.

So the next time you think you do not need assistance in managing your AR program, you might want to think again.

Don't Forget About Your Audience - How Social Media Engagement Can Lead to Success

By Mareesa Valentine

You log in to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn first thing in the morning. Your coffee is ready, your content is scheduled and your timeline looks active. Everything looks good, so now what do you do?  Interact!
In the past five years, social media has not only grown into a necessary tool to promote your business, but it has also proven a direct and effective foundation for interacting with influencers like media, analysts, partners  and even consumers. You must learn to discover (#hashtag) by connecting (@mention) with all the right people to maintain a successful social media program. Let’s take a look at how this works using Twitter as an example:

 

Discover (#hashtag)

After you have scheduled your content on Twitter using a tool like Hootsuite or Buffer, the first step to engaging with other users is finding out what the relevant news or “buzz” that’s currently taking place. By understanding the topics that are relevant to your target audience, you can get a sense of how you might contribute to this conversation. Whether you will be attending a conference or you’ve discovered a new trend that demonstrates your knowledge of an industry, be sure to use proper Twitter language as well as visuals to fully engage with your target audience.  See examples below:

Discovering content is the easy part; it’s the connection you make to your influencers and customers that yields the greatest benefit. You can push content out all day, but if you aren’t following up with your followers and responding to feedback, all your hard work will be buried! Let’s say one of your favorite reporters or analysts is discussing an intriguing topic. By chiming in and providing insight or a compliment, you are showing  1) proof that you READ their content and 2) thought leadership in your particular industry. For example, Engage recently interacted with Phil Harvey  and Ray Lemaistre by doing a brainstorm on Light Reading’s podcast promotions:

If you’d like to stay ahead of your social media program, consider thoughtful engagement as a tactic to contribute to your social media success.

Message Mania

By Fran Lowe

Message mania is often closely aligned with Definition Dyspepsia (the customer and media indigestion caused by yet another vendor-inspired definition for "cloud”, “big data” or your choice of technology trend).The end result is that your customers, partners and prospects are confused or even worse - they feel alienated.

As an agency that works with technology companies – most often in the B2B marketplace – we encounter the frustration of clients when they feel that their messaging has been hijacked by a competitor. Or, clients are upset that a competitor’s claims are not supportable in reality; but, they still seem to be winning business. And in other cases, there is a feeling that if they only could get prospects and the media to give them 10 minutes, they could show their superiority.

We all know by now that perception is reality. You may well have more justification for claims being made by your competitors, or have a product or service that is better at meeting customer needs, but if you are not able to communicate that clearly and in a compelling manner, you may not be around to prove it. Go to any tech trade show and you’ll see vendors struggling to define what they do and to message that value in a way that is easy to communicate and distinguishable from competitors on the show floor.

Budget notwithstanding (competitors with deep pockets and an extensive marketing team present a sizeable challenge), how do you give yourself the best shot at reaching your target audience and speaking to them in their language? How do you break out of the pack and get considered along with the big guys?  To be clear, this is not easy stuff and can’t be done in 5 minutes or even 5 hours.

Where to start? With your customers and prospects. What do they really care about? What’s keeping them up at night and what language do they use to talk about their business and their needs? Who exactly is it that you need to communicate with and what do they value? How do you meet those needs in ways that are more compelling than what your competitors offer?

If you forget, your PR agency should remind you that talking about yourself and the products and services you have to sell is rarely the way to a customer’s heart. Technical superiority alone is never enough today. Educating your customer, providing them a path forward and a shared vision for their future and yours (built around the value you bring) is the only story they’re actually interested in.

What's Your (Business) Problem?

By Caitlin Mattias

A few team members from Engage ventured out this week to PRSA San Francisco’s event titled “PR Measurement in the Digital Age” where Chris Foster, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton braved an audience made up mostly of PR agency folks to address a divisive topic – how PR professionals can utilize measurement and analytics to strengthen their partnerships with clients.

After more than eight years at PR agencies, Foster is now advising healthcare and biomedical sector clients on the management consulting side. One of the first points he shared with the audience was one that rang very true. Chris pointed out that when businesses issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for PR services, they almost always miss the point when giving a situation analysis or “reason” their business is looking for PR help. Often, “raising visibility” or achieving specific media targets is called out in an RFP as the chief goal of the PR program. But getting a company’s name in lights on the front page of the Wall Street Journal doesn’t solve any business problems and media relations is only one tool of many PR approaches that can help advance your business.

As media speeds forward at an ever-progressing rate with new outlets and old outlets with changing formats being announced on a weekly basis, the value of the single press “hit” is being shown for the limited success that it is. Public relations professionals are strategists and counselors by nature and profession. While we love to see our clients in headlines at leading publications, we get more excited by seeing a company succeed in the marketplace overall. Yes, we pay attention to your quarterly earnings statements!

Chris gave the example of a company looking to improve sales in a certain sector of their audience, but asked their agency for a top tier media hit. With the glut of information available via social media, not to mention traditional channels, targeting specific audiences is becoming easier than ever before. A PR agency might have been better utilized in this case identifying and monitoring the public dialogue happening with this target group and tailoring new messaging and materials that addressed their questions or needs in a more direct fashion. And this is only one example…

Businesses always have goals for growth and great efficiency. As you seek a PR agency or work with your current partners, be honest about the business problem that you’re working to address. Public Relations is much more than a method to reach reporters. We can help, but you’ll have to let us.

Engadget: Expand 2013 – Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA

By Mike Tomlinson

Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending the first Engadget: Expand conference, held at the Fort Mason Center in sunny San Francisco. While the usual tech giants were in attendance, like Lenovo and Nokia, smaller exhibitors with disruptive technology were the premiere attraction as throngs of people crowded display tables to get a glimpse of the latest in cutting edge gadgets.

If you were one of the lucky ones, you were able to test drive a Tesla Model S, “try your hand” at robotically-assisted medical operations in a demo from Da Vinci Surgery, or jam out to some Beatles on the Zivix Jamstik, a compact digital guitar with real strings (disclaimer: an Engage client). You can catch up on everything that happened at Engadget: Expand in this wrap-up article, and by checking out our slideshow below!

 

Friday by the Bay: It’s SF Beer Week!

By Bob Eastwood

Last Friday, February 8th marked the kickoff of this year’s 4th annual SF Beer Week—an event featuring an embarrassment of beery riches with somewhere around 80 breweries participating in more than 400 different events across the Bay Area. Over 65 Northern California breweries converged on the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco for the Opening Celebration, which kicks off a ten day marathon of beer tastings, festivals and food pairings. This was one of the four largest of the week’s events including: the following day’s 13th annual Double IPA (DIPA) Festival at The Bistro in Hayward (my favorite); the 20th annual Barleywine Festival on Saturday the 16th at the Toronado; and the final event, Celebrator Beer News 25th Anniversary Party on Sunday.

Last Saturday found yours-truly on a cool sun-drenched and closed-off block in downtown Hayward surrounded by fellow hop-heads for the 13th annual DIPA festival. I accidently happened across this event when it was only in its 3rd year and have been returning ever since. For years it was the only festival of its kind on the planet, and currently boasts being the only event in the world to judge Triple IPAs—something that Bistro owner Vic Kralj considered aloud while handing out medals “could become another separate event!”
 
Food

It’s no surprise that in the food-focused bay area there are numerous happenings that address our love of cuisine with the week featuring special menus and pours at local pubs and restaurants, including food trucks, artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, chocolates and pairings of all kinds. The Saturday DIPA festival housed a cart distributing fried pickle chips from Those Fabulous Frickle Brothers with a variety of sauces. Yum! Even sweets are included this week with Dynamo donuts’ Biere de Chocolat doughnuts and Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream’s variety of malt-inspired treats including a tart Passion Fruit Lambic Sorbet and a creamy Magnolia Stout.

The Island

Even Alameda, California— the island home of Engage—boasts two events. The PS Eatery on Park St. is featuring Belgian style beers from NorCal breweries all week and The Fireside Lounge on Webster has California craft beer flights with your choice of any four of the brews on tap. Speaking of Alameda, recent scuttlebutt is that the island will soon get its own brewery, Faction Brewing. While at the fest I ran into former Drake's and Triple Rock master brewer Rodger Davis and his wife, Claudia. Starting this year, they will begin churning out barrels of medal-quality beer at the island’s famous “Spirits Alley” on Alameda Point’s Monarch Street, where they will occupy half of a former hangar next door to St. George Spirits and just a stone’s throw from Rock Wall Winery. (Sorry Rodger and Claudia, the pictures didn’t turn out.) I also ran into Lost Coast local distributor Jack Van Stone, but that’s an entirely different blog.

Technology and Social Media

Since Engage is a hi-tech PR and marketing communications agency, I would be remiss if I didn’t include mention of SF Beer Week’s many tech-savvy followers and their use of apps, blogs, hash tags and other technologies. While at the festival I noticed an entire wall of people standing in the shade staring intently at their smart phones; texting and tweeting their latest photos, videos and proclamations to their friends using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (@sfbeerweek) and a host of other real-time social media. I should also use this venue to give a special shout-out to the incredibly responsible Beer By Bart, a blog site that encourages you to “Get to craft beer without driving” by riding to 40+ beer venues on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).  Even while I was writing this blog I saw the following tweet from one of SF’s local neighborhood pubs, designed to encourage Tweets about the bar and the event:

‏@TheAveBar One hour to go until Tap Takeover! Three hours of exclusive local beer. Mention Twitter and get your 7-brew flight for only $6! #SFBeerWeek

To place your photos onto SF Beer Week’s Gallery, you can use Instagram to share, just tag your photos with #sfbeerweek to add them to the feed. At the bottom of the homepage it says you can “Download the official SF Beer Week mobile app for iPhone and take Beer Week with you wherever you go.” Unfortunately, the reviews of the app’s performance are not good, and Android users are acknowledged only by the phrase “Android coming soon.” Nonetheless, my overall rating of sfbeerweek.org and its use of technology is positive, as the home page features an extensive schedule and interactive map of events for you to easily find a happening near you, and—let’s face it—these are beer people not software engineers. Prost!

 

 

 

 

 

Love & Social Media: The Top Social Media Tools We Can't Live Without

By Leslie Schmidt

To get into the Valentine’s Day holiday spirit, the Engage team took a moment to daydream about the top social media tools that we could not imagine living without. Follow your heart down our list of tools to find out which one you love the best. You may have some competition, considering we have already sent them all “I Love You” tweets.

SproutSocial:
My one true love is SproutSocial, of course! This is the best visual tool for getting an overview of my clients’ Twitter and Facebook accounts and obtaining key statistics.  With SproutSocial, you can compare Twitter accounts, determine what messages are resonating within your communities and easily track engagement and reach. Check out the free 30 day trial and you’ll fall head over heels like I did.

Pipl:
What can I say? I’m a Pipl person. This site allows you to search people by username. So if you're trying to get background info on, for example, a twitter user and they don't have a bio listed, you can search their twitter handle on Pipl and glean a little more background on the person.

Buffer App:
This tool stole my heart because it makes scheduling tweets a breeze and it's FREE! Nothing like a cheap date…

TweepDiff:
Wondering if you’re compatible with the love of your life? Try TweepDiff to compare your Twitter accounts. This tool allows you to enter two Twitter profiles and see what followers you’re missing without going through manually and comparing. This is great for making sure that you’re catching all the influencers a friend/colleague is also following.

TweetDeck:
I love TweetDeck for its interface. It’s easy to navigate and you can stream all of your Twitter lists to an active panel. It’s so simple, how could you not love that face?

HootSuite:
I’m in love with HootSuite for its analytics. It uses ow.ly as its URL shortener, which enables click tracking for individual links as well as many other helpful features and gives users a break down of top tweets within a specific region or time period. Much like TweetDeck, HootSuite allows users to manage multiple Twitter accounts at the same time - so it's great for PR pros that manage several client accounts (and not to mention their own)!

Social Mention:
Have I mentioned I’m in love? This free service allows you to dynamically search social sites for specific topics all in one platform. It measures sentiment, key words and the top users that are talking about them.

TweetReach:
This tool makes me reach for the stars! It quickly measures the reach of your Twitter account or a specific tweet or #hashtag.

Twellow:
Find your perfect match by interest and location. This is a free tool that has lists of users that are indexed by topic that you can narrow down by geography.

Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope you found your match!

 

Streaming Video: What To Do with the Leviathan on Today’s Networks

By Mike Tomlinson

Streaming video. It may be no surprise that we all use it to some degree—whether through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or any of the ever-growing number of streaming services available. But what may be the real surprise is the rate at which we subscribers are consuming it. As more wireless-capable tablets and home entertainment media hubs (like AppleTV and Roku) are added to the network, wireless providers and ISPs are struggling to keep up with bandwidth consumption, as even 4G seems barely capable of containing the rate of user demand.

A recent article in VentureBeat cites data from video analytics startup Ooyala, showing (among other startling things) that “…the overall share of tablet video viewing grew 90% in the past two quarters” alone. Not shocking enough? How about BBC’s report that their web-tv iPlayer saw 177% YoY growth. Or how about Apple selling over 2 million AppleTV units in Q4 alone. Let there be no doubt-- we are streaming video (and consequently, consuming exponentially more bandwidth) like never before. Which begs the question: just how are we going to keep the network “grim reaper” at bay?

For starters, there are many solutions on the market for managing streaming video, the juggernaut of modern data consumption. Ultimately, the best fixes will incorporate solutions on multiple levels — including both the format in which streaming video is packaged, as well as the underlying service provider infrastructure. While these are not exhaustive solutions, we’ll look at both.

First-- some of the biggest news coming out of CES this year (besides the petition to eradicate “booth babes” once and for all) is the proliferation of 4K television. You’ve heard of 1080p? 4K blows that out of the water. If you thought streaming MPEG-2 HD video from Netflix was challenging, try streaming movie theater-quality video over the same network infrastructure. Thankfully, just last week the ITU announced the approval of a new streaming video standard, H.265, which replaces the current H.264 protocol and could usher in the era of mobile HD video streaming as soon as mere months from now, according to ExtremeTech’s Joel Hruska. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not holding my breath that I will be able to stream 4K over my aging Android phone any time soon.

Service providers are starting to look at ways to manage this increase in traffic. As a result, there are those companies that have developed traffic-shaping and video optimization technology to manage the impact video streaming has on the provider’s network. For example, implementing policy controls so that non-time sensitive tasks (like sending email and exchanging IMs) are delayed by a matter of milliseconds can have a significant impact on a network’s ability to stream video.

Whether the ultimate solution lies with the coding of modern HD video in more compressible and transmittable formats, or with modernizing service provider infrastructure-- one thing is clear: while the amount of streaming video has increased dramatically as of late, the companies who are delivering the video to your devices are actually making very little to no money off it. According to new research from Informa’s Guillermo Escofet, “No direct end-user revenue is generated from most mobile-video streaming; yet it is the single biggest drain on cellular-network capacity…” In layman’s terms, that’s like having a Ruth’s Chris filet mignon delivered to your house every night, but the deliveryman is only making a few pennies off your purchase. Oh, and delivering your steak requires a full tank of gas. How fair does that sound?

Clearly this distribution model has to evolve—and it’s getting there. As hunger for video content grows, service providers are devising clever monetizing strategies to cut in on the action. A recent example is one of Microsoft’s recent partnerships with Comcast, allowing Xbox users to stream live events through Xbox Live without counting that video consumption against the subscriber’s monthly data limit. While this stirred net neutrality advocates everywhere, users must accept the cold hard reality that carriers see monetization of this vast video streaming explosion as mission-critical, if anything to recoup investments in newer, faster infrastructure that will deliver the hottest, greatest kinds of video and content we haven’t even thought of yet.

What do you think? Leave a comment on our blog, or check out our Storify post on streaming video.

Engage NFL Pick ‘Em Tournament Winner: Caitlin Mattias AKA “Coin Flipper”

By Mike Tomlinson

Hearts were broken and tears were shed during Sunday’s Super Bowl, when the San Francisco 49ers struggled to compete against the Baltimore Ravens ferocious defense. But while the Bay Area reacted with grief and anger over the loss, one member of the Engage staff eluded the angst and emerged as the winner of the 2012-2013 Engage NFL Pick ‘Em Tournament: Caitlin Mattias, aka “Coin Flipper”, who correctly predicted the outcome of 175 games this season!

While it was a bitter and hard fought battle to the top, Caitlin’s superiority in the NFL game-calling arena will remain unquestioned until the next NFL Pick ‘Em office tournament begins later this September. In the meantime, wish Caitlin congratulations on her twitter account - @ceemat, and wish her luck going into the March Madness bracket tournament—she’s got the rest of the office gunning for her!

Stalking Made Easy: Brought to You by Facebook

By Leslie Schmidt

Earlier this week, Facebook made an announcement and as with everything else Facebook does, everyone was listening. It was the unveiling of its newest feature, Graph Search, a tool that allows Facebook users to dig through the endless pool of the site’s data such as photos, status updates, likes, etc. to find, well… anything their hearts desire.

There have been discussions upon discussions that have attempted to decipher who exactly will benefit from this tool: Journalists, recruiters, relationship seekers, stalkers… the list goes on, but first let’s take a look at what this tool has to offer.

Graph Search in Action
Some publications compare Facebook’s Graph Search to Google Search - except it hits an entirely different level of specificity and relevance. For example, instead of searching for “road trips” and receiving countless sites and articles on the topic, Facebook allows you to search within the network for “friends who like road trips” providing extremely targeted results.

This short YouTube video shows just how specific your searches can be with Graph Search:

  

The Invention of “Power Stalking”
With this launch, the argument has shifted from the usual “this is invading my privacy” response to “this is just creepy!” Not only will this tool allow Facebook users (read: stalkers) to search posts that you forgot existed; but,  they’ll also be able to see posts that you originally thought were private. These nuggets of personal information have now become prime stalking bait in their advanced treasure hunt. Even better news for stalkers, Graph Search speeds up the search process and eliminates the guessing game allowing for “power stalking,” giving self-proclaimed “professional” stalkers more time to, well… stalk.

Mark Zuckerberg: The Relationship Guru 
Almost immediately after Graph Search launched, numerous articles popped up comparing Facebook to dating sites like OKCupid and Match.com; however, once users witnessed the search demonstration for relationship status within any given location they went one step further and coined it “the future of online dating.”

For the record, Zuckerberg, not every girl who’s single on Facebook is looking to find her mate on Facebook. Making a power tool for every guy in the San Francisco area to search for “single women in San Francisco who like Bud Light” is not going to end well for some. On the other hand, I need to play my own devil’s advocate here - many relationships that derive from friendships are successful.  So Zuckerberg could actually end up being a relationship guru responsible for more marriages than eHarmony and Match.com combined. Only time will tell.

Enter at Your Own Risk
Although Graph Search was officially announced earlier this week, it is still in beta and is only available to those who sign up. However, the chances are high that this “power stalking” tool will bring up information that may embarrass, confuse or frighten you, so enter at your own risk. Can’t say we didn’t warn you. 

Good Luck 49ers!

By Mike Tomlinson

The playoffs are here, the playoffs are here! While this signals the beginning of the end of our beloved NFL football season, Engage’s NFL Pick ‘Em tournament is still well under way. We’ll give you a full update on our office pool winner after the Super Bowl, but for now we conducted an informal office poll to see who would be in the super bowl—and who would end up with the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy.

While it may not come as a big surprise, the general consensus in the Engage office for Super Bowl matchup is the San Francisco 49ers vs New England Patriots, with the ultimate winner being the 49ers. There were a few naysayers; namely, Green Pay Packers fans around the office who are in denial of what Jim Harbaugh’s football warriors are capable of doing… but even in the playoffs, fans are allowed to dream, right?

Best of luck to the 49ers this weekend as they play the Packers! Let’s make it all the way to the Super Bowl this year!!

A Sign of the Times: Trends and Predictions for 2013

By Fran Lowe and Caitlin Mattias

As the news has shifted rapidly to a 24-hour cycle, public relations and marketing professionals are challenged to keep apace of the media's changing needs. To prepare for another year of apps, IPOs and memes, Engage has assembled a list of trends and projections for the coming year. How does data fit into the news, and how has reporter conflict-of-interest disclosures helped or hurt your business’ chances for coverage? Will opportunities for contributed content be plentiful, or will you need infographics and video to tell your story?

Is your interest piqued? Read on here.

 

Friday By the Bay: Gettin' Crabby!

By Roya Pakfetrat

Boy do we love crab in the Bay Area so we couldn’t be happier that it’s officially crab season! One of the best places to find crab in these parts is at the ever so famous Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. So what better place to attend a Crab Festival than Fisherman’s Wharf?

This may have been my first crab fest but it most certainly won’t be my last! There were 10 local restaurants and local winery, Treasure Island Wines, letting us taste an endless variety of crab treats and red and white wines. I had some of the best crab chowder, crab cakes, and crab salad you could imagine! I may have been distracted by all of the options around but I managed to capture a few pictures from the event. Check out this slideshow!

 

 

Happy Holidays from Engage

The Engage Team

As we draw closer to the predicted apocalypse - we couldn't help but have a little fun envisioning what would happen if there was a "PR apocalypse" and all communications came to a screeching halt.

Imagine the surprise in waking up to discover that the world had not ended; but instead, all of our clients had received coverage in the top publications and were Leading Lights award winners.

At Engage, we like to help our clients achieve these results every day -- come apocalypse or no apocalypse. Our passion for client success is in our DNA and something we work toward every day.

Reindeer dogs and PR elves -- well now that is another story.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

Beware of the Bait and Switch

By Jeannette Bitz

It’s the time of year when some companies decide to either hire or make a switch in PR firms. At Engage, we’ve been busy evaluating some of those prospects. Apart from the usual highly pertinent questions about domain expertise, media and analyst relationships, and social media and analytics, one thing stands out: companies are looking for counsel and ongoing involvement by senior PR people.

They are seeking assurances that the agency team members that showed up to the initial meeting will be part of the ongoing team moving forward.  This is the classic “bait and switch” − where senior PR experts and the agency’s best players are trotted out to win the business. Over time, these individuals are often replaced with lesser experienced team members.

It is for this reason that some companies may elect to look for a new agency. Size also comes into play, and while one could argue the pros and cons of the small agency versus a large multi-national agency, companies in the midst of a new agency search should be clear about their choices and the reasons for those choices. Some companies are deciding to move from a larger agency to a smaller independent firm because they are looking for a true partner. Many of the prospects we are speaking to now are working with a larger firm and feel like they have been lost in the shuffle or have been assigned the “C” team based on their size and budget. Other times, as some companies experience success and begin to mature, they believe that a larger agency is needed to accommodate their growth.

More often than not, we find that companies that elected to go to a larger firm will find that they lose the personal touch and senior counsel they had initially with a more focused, boutique agency. And not surprisingly, the company’s coverage is often no better than it was before with some organizations even reporting a significant decline. And to add insult to injury, they are often paying more for their PR.

If you’re evaluating an agency here are the questions you should ask?

Does the agency and proposed team understand your customers, their buying decisions and how they get their information about you?  Of course that also requires that the client be very clear about this.

Does the agency have a proven track record for delivering results? Do they have a way to measure growth and success of your PR program? At the end of the day, it’s about garnering consistent coverage that helps supports your business growth. Your agency should be able to measure and track their success.

Does the firm have the right experience and understanding of your market to make meaningful recommendations that can help drive coverage in between news announcements? Do they have the right team to consistently execute?  Having senior people help develop strategy and provide strong recommendations is great but it’s also about the ability to execute on those ideas.

How many clients does your primary contact work on and are they within your market? It’s Engage’s philosophy that team members should not be on more than 3-4 clients at once. If they are it means that they won’t have the time to really get to know your business, your customers or drive consistent coverage that builds mindshare?

Having strong senior support for clients is critical, particularly for those companies that need outside guidance to navigate through a company transition, e.g. during a company merger, leading up to an IPO or for start-ups preparing to launch. It’s equally important to make sure that the other team members, particularly if it’s your designated day-to-day contact, understand, can articulate and implement on your designated plan.

Media Predicts 2013: The enterprise takes center stage

By Caitlin Mattias

PRSA Silicon Valley's “Media Predicts” event is a rather unlikely (and pleasant!) meeting of two parties who at all other times are distinctly pursuing their own agendas: journalists and public relations professionals. Held on Thursday, Dec. 6, PR pros from the Silicon Valley, San Francisco and beyond joined to hear what some of the more preeminent technology journalists in the U.S. had to say about the biggest trends of 2012 and what the tech community might expect moving into 2013.

Attending were Jon Fortt (CNBC), Scott Budman (NBC Bay Area), Ina Fried (Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital), Michael Liedtke (AP), Joseph Menn (Reuters), Jordan Robertson (IDG Enterprise), Nicole Perlroth (New York Times’ Bits), Maryfran Johnson (CIO Magazine) and Bruce Upbin (Forbes).

Last year, I attended Media Predicts with a colleague (see our recap here) and was struck by how much the conversation was dominated by consumer products, namely tablets and the long-awaited Apple TV, while the enterprise was left as a footnote to the conversation. This year, a strong technology business-oriented panel brought discussion of HP, Oracle, Cisco and Microsoft to the fore, as well as recognizing the importance of the following:

• Data, data data – The past year brought Big Data’s introduction to the mainstream and the demand for predictive analytics and data scientists. The panelists expect Big Data’s presence to deepen in 2013.
• “SMAC” – Maryfran Johnson highlighted the importance of social/mobile/analytics/cloud in 2012.
• Shift of enterprise IT spend from CIO to CMO – A phenomenon termed “the math men meet the mad men,” the drive for the CMO to control and utilize IT spending will be closely watched over the next year. A new position, the “Chief Digital Officer” is rising in some organizations and may cause a challenge for the traditional CIO role.
• BYOD – The effect of BYOD policy decisions on enterprise IT infrastructure and security is not to be discounted in 2013. Mobile application management is also a macro-level issue for CIOs.
• Facebook Phone – The Bigfoot of the technology industry in the past year, Ina Fried pointed out that Facebook’s development of a mobile platform shouldn’t be confused with the suspicion that the company might issue its own branded handset.
• Fiscal cliff – The Silicon Valley and Bay Area generally often works in its own “bubble,” but fears of the fiscal cliff coming to fruition may slow business spending, according to the panelists.
• Social gaming – 2013 brings a big opportunity for startups who can create new ways for developers and platform providers to cash in.

For a tweet-by-tweet recap of the event, search Twitter for #mp13 or scan @engagepr for some highlights and quotable moments…like why Jon Fortt thinks Oracle is the Kanye West of the technology industry.

Engage, What Are You Thankful For?

By Leslie Schmidt

In light of the recent Thanksgiving holiday, the team at Engage has decided to take a closer look at some of the technology we’re thankful for on a daily basis.

Not surprisingly, the iPhone and everything that comes with it appears on our list more than once. Find out what else we’re thankful for during this tech holiday season:

 

• All of the technology that makes transportation a breeze - Clipper, FastTrak, iNextBus and Lyft - without them I'd be late, lost or left behind.
• MapQuest app because it gives voice navigation. It's much better than having to keep looking down at written directions. It's a life saver!
• The apps that keep me rockin’! Thank you WillCall, Spotify and Pandora!
• The Fuel Finder app that always delivers the best gas prices quickly
• Kickstarter - and for the totally cool new Mexican farm to table restaurant recently opened in my neighborhood as a result!
• Hootsuite -it makes tweeting so much easier!
• The Yelp app on my iPhone. I always find the best restaurants in every city!
• Emojis – howdid we ever communicate without them?
• On Demand TV, which allows me to watch shows I missed and shows I just want to see again. 
• The iPhone’s ability to not only find local restaurants, but to instantly link me to a GPS map with directions how to get there
• Yelp -  I would be clueless about some really good local eateries if it wasn't for that app!
• My iPhone 5 and an amazingly fast 4G Network that enables me to get information more rapidly!

And above all, we are all thankful for our wonderful clients who provide us with the technology that makes our world go round.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Bats, Boos and Beasts: What's Brewing at Engage?

By Roya Pakfetrat

October was one fun “treat” for those of us at Engage. Not only did the San Francisco Giants win the World Series but we were able to continue our annual tradition of cube “boo-ing” in celebration of Halloween. Check out our spook-tacular job in this slideshow to see what I’m talking about! (Oh and don’t mind our furry friends – they love Halloween too!)

 

Engage at Save the Bay 2012

By Mike Tomlinson

A couple of weeks ago, Engage had the privilege of trading our computers and notepads for fresh air and sunshine, as we participated in Save the Bay at the Martin Luther King, Jr. shoreline along the San Leandro Bay.

Over the course of the afternoon, Engage and volunteers from other local businesses weeded a sizeable chunk of shoreline, and planted multiple native plant species to help reestablish wildlife and beauty along the Bay. If you’re looking for a chance to volunteer while enjoying the great outdoors, we encourage you to sign up by visiting the Save the Bay website!

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