PR and digital marketing on a budget: FAIT ICI

Scoring coverage for cheap

Jackson Wightman

FAIT ICI

Bio

• Director of Communications at Causeforce• Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend to End Women’s Cancers• Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer• The Underwear Affair

• Entrepreneur • FAIT ICI – local focused, organic store in Montreal

www.faitici.ca

• Contributing Editor at PR Daily• www.prdaily.com

• Blogger • www.jacksonwightman.com

Outline

• Background on FAIT ICI• PR and social media as marketing channels• Getting to know the tribe • Listening first• Using social to get coverage

– Twitter: a media relations dynamo– Blogging – Ici et here

• Hosting a PR event• Results• Summary

Background: FAIT ICI

• “Urban general store” in SW Montreal– 5 product categories, unique mix

• Local focused, organic– Name means “made here” in French

• 9.5 months old as of March 2011

• No budget for ads (or much else)

• PR guy doubles as broom sweeper

• 25+ media hits for under $500

Target Media

• Major (traditional) media outlets in MTL

• Mommy bloggers

• Montreal “city” bloggers

• Foodie bloggers

– Gourmet people

– Nutrition people

– Ethical food people

• Greenies

Owned media?

PR and Social Media as channels

• PR and social media are inseparable

– Not about where “social” is housed, it is just an integral PR tool

• Many similarities:

– ‘Free’ BUT with ‘costs’

– Time is the main cost

– Patience is a requirement re returns

NEED TO HELP OTHERS BEFORE ASKING FOR HELP!

You need to know the Tribe

• Not just who, but what:

• What norms?

• What language?

• What generates reactions?

• What gets shared?

• What media do they like?

Listening: how, why and for how long?

• Old days: buy a media list and blast

Listening: how, why and for how long?

• Now: internet and social allows for careful observation, monitoring and tailored targeting

Tips on listening and learning about the Tribe

• Who’s blogging what– you build a blog list by digging and uncovering (MTL food community as an

example/illustration)– Importance of blogrolls

• RSS/email subscriptions to blogs– Subscribing is the key – don’t miss a thing

• Google alerts and culling info• Twitter

– Seeing who follows who– Why not follow others’ lists? Helped us discover people we did not even exist– Monitter.com – monitor keyword use by geo-location– Nutshell Mail for social media monitoring – Tweetbeep– google alerts for twitter– Social oomph – schedule tweets/monitor

Lessons on listening

• No one likes a blowhard

• Listening for AWHILE is critical when you are playing in new realms that you do not know – At FAIT ICI we listened for almost two months before actively speaking

• Especially critical when dealing w/ a group you don’t know well

• Key to putting you in a position to give before asking

• Listening can be free

Social media and coverage

• Old and new is a silly distinction

• But “the new” can get you coverage in either realm

• Social is inseparable from PR – no matter where housed

Twitter: a media relations dynamo

3 key PR problems:

1) Show media you know their beat/interests

2) Help them/express opinion on their work

3) Be seen to share their work

PR people used to have to spend time/money on these things

Twitter: a media relations dynamo

• Twitter solves all 3 probs with a mouse click

• Also allows you to respond and help in real time

• Your retweets are remembered and a platform for beginning dialogue

• Lists allow for careful tracking

• Twitter also has cultural particularities that can help you get covered

• 85-90% of the press at FAIT ICI is via Twitter relations.

• Both old and new media are in this space

• Cost = $0

Twitter: Tips and Lessons

• Retweet others’ content and add your own commentary

• Thou shalt follow often

• Follow others’ lists

• It is fine to disagree – in fact good sometimes

• Use #followfriday wisely

• Respond quickly

Blogs and Blogging to get covered

• Again here the mantra is give before asking to get

• Start EARLY – we had blog up and running 3 months before store opened

• Subscribe via email or RSS those you want to cover you

• Set a goal of 2-4 meaningful comments per week– What is a meaningful comment?

– Began this initiative early – 3 months before we needed anything

• Link a lot – gets you noticed – currency of the internet

• Link love posts

Guest blogging

• Going to others or having them come to you is great

• Exposure goes both ways

Guest Blogging – Case Study

• 1 week; 5 posts; 5 people

• Selection criteria:– Knew them

– Liked them

• Goals:– Generate long lasting, good content for our online

community

– Solidify relationships with the participating bloggers

– Expose new people to our blog and brand

– Increase traffic to our blog

– Help us learn a few new things about food and food issues

Guest Blogging – Case Study

• What happened?– Traffic increased 300%

– Shares and retweets increased 30%

– Great content that lives on

– Solidified relationships (bloggers are tighter than ever w/ us and talk about us in social spaces)

– 2 major print hits (in both languages)

– 1 national print hit about the initiative

– COST: $0

Guest Blogging – Case Study

• Lessons from a week of guest blogging:

– Go with who you know

– Right mix of writers helps

– Release control

– Let other press in the space know

• Group blog – 52 posts, 52 weeks, 52 people

• On the ‘interplay of food & life in Montreal

• Food bloggers, journalists, Hollywood actress, NYT

bestselling author, chefs, etc.

• Generate earned media via creating owned media and

bringing influencers

• Content for other owned media properties

• Score traditional media coverage

• Help build community

Who cares about a store opening?

Relevant PR events for cheap?

• Don’t events have to cost whacks of cash?

– Swag

– Production

• Immensely valuable

– Relationships

– Ability to say what you want

PR events on the cheap

• Key is to situate PR event in a broader context– Not just a store opening but an info session– Suppliers involved as speakers – media opp for them– Swag donated

• One day for media, one day for friends and family• Coverage of launch in 6 places• Key is to make it worthwhile for everyone• Ensure you have a decent online newsroom for afterward

– Backgrounder– Bios– Images, Video

• PR does not end after event

Results

• Over 35 press hits in 9 months

What did it cost?

• Flip cam - $200– Highly recommended

– Video is “ultimate social object”

– Culture of imperfection aka “authenticity”

– Easy to publish and quick

• Press materials (printing etc) - $100

• SWAG - $0 – donated by suppliers

• Time, sweat, blood, tears - $0

• Total - $300

Summary

• PR not a voodoo priesthood • Nor does it need to cost a zillion• Listen before talking • Give before asking• Old and new media media is a red herring• In 2010, PR needs to know social• Social not a panacea for getting coverage

– Takes loads of time to show returns

• Blogs– Find and subscribe– Set goal for meaningful comments– Link lots

• Use Twitter to find and get noticed by influencers– Solves old school PR problems quickly

Thank [email protected]

jacksonwightman.comTwitter @jaxx09 or @faitici

faitici.ca