Flack's Revenge

Is Crowdfunding the New Tech PR Press Release?

We glamorize entrepreneurship. This can be seen in the things that we read, and that get covered in the media; "new" can often mean newsworthy, and startups have a certain allure for the tech journalist or blogger.

But there is no shortage of new ventures, and a relatively high flameout rate. Journalists use a number of factors to determine which ones have legs and are worth covering. These can include the state of the business - does the company have product, a foothold in the marketplace and is it now really ready for a larger stage?

One more credibility builder is venture capitalist backing; after all, getting piles of cash adds another element to the story, and journalists know that VCs do their homework and kick the tires pretty well before they invest in companies.

However, more and more these days we are seeing startups burst onto the scene and the entry point is a crowdfunding platform and campaign, especially on Kickstarter. Crowd-sourced money raising can disrupt traditional methods of funding and launching companies; while the total funds raised may be less than with a major VC, more people have an incentive to spread the good word.

We first noticed this phenomenen not long ago, while assisting the crowdfunding platform Return on Change (one of their key differentiators is that they are making it easier for a wider range of investors to purchase shares in young companies; Kickstarter offers other types of remuneration, see this article by RoC CEO Sang Lee on Forbes ). It seemed that much of the great press around crowdfunding platforms was actually more about the companies that were raising funds.

More recently, while we were working with a new client, the teams huddled to try to better understand why another company in the space was getting so much buzz. The competitor had a number of things going for it, but unquestionably, one of the reasons for the excitement related to its use of crowdfunding.  We tracked online chatter that showed that many were focused on its funding goal; the suspense about whether the company would reach it seemed to add to the buzz, and interest in the company.

The takeaway here is that crowdfunding can shake up the traditional formula of how young tech companies go to market and get attention. If you are a startup, you should consider crowdfunding, not just for its potential to help you achieve your capital raising goals - but as a possible driver of buzz.

With these thoughts in mind we have assembled a team of professionals (see below) to offer a turnkey set of services that can help you optimize your listing, and meet your funding and PR launch goals. It taps our collective experience working with and promoting tech companies, and understanding of what works well with the major crowdfunding platforms.

If this is of interest, and you would like more info, please register at the following link.  We would be happy to send our article:The New PR: 5 Tips for Using Crowdfunding to Achieve Your Launch Goals.

Fusion PR

Miles Rose of SiliconAlley.com fame

Alex Romanovich and the Social2B team

John Copen

Randi Himelfarb

Google to SMBs: Don't rely on PPC, use Search, Social and PR for Top Results

SMBs that have wanted to improve results through online marketing have often turned to Google and AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

There is no question that shrewdly planned PPC campaigns generate results and hard ROI. However, the growing popularity of this method means that there is more competition for the keywords; the most coveted ones get more bids, which increases costs, and makes it harder to earn a return on PPC search engine marketing campaigns.

The New York Times wrote about this in its Small Business column: Small Players Seek an Alternative to the Expense of PPC.. It discussed the rise of SEO, i.e. a technique that improves organic search results to drive traffic, and social media marketing.

Of the latter, the article explained how many SMBs are jumping into blogging - and some are using platforms such as HubSpot to improve results. Ironically, Google is an investor in HubSpot, funny, because, as the article says:

Even though Google is one of its investors, HubSpot cut back on its own pay-per-click expenditures after realizing that organic searches were accounting for 60 percent more traffic than paid searches. “Most of our paid efforts shifted to platforms like LinkedIn, where we could target for the right kinds of job titles in line with our target customer profiles,” said Dan Slagen, who is in charge of advertising at HubSpot.

The story also quoted Google as recommending multiple strategies, anchored by relevance to customers, and that span social media and PR.

Google does not dispute the accounts of owners like Mr. Udell [someone who scaled back PPC spending]. A Google spokesman released a statement saying that small businesses can compete by making their ads more relevant to consumers and that they should use multiple strategies to pursue customers: “search, social media, earned media and more.”

Is a Town Hall Debate an Example of Content Marketing? One Authority Says "Yes"

My monthly column on Windmill Networking, which went live today, focuses on content marketing in politics - and the lessons that we can learn and apply.

Despite its title is ("Hail to the Content Chief"), the article was intentionally non-partisan.  However, this is my personal blog, and I feel freer here to express my support for Obama, and take great pleasure in the timing of this post, which follows his outstanding performance in the second presidential debate.

Perhaps I should have alluded to debates in my content marketing column.  I would not normally consider events such as these to be an example.  However one top authority apparently does.  The Content Marketing Playbook, by Junta 42 (now Content Marketing Institute, or CMI) lists executive round tables as a type of content marketing.

OK, not exactly a town hall debate, but not too far removed.  I supposed speeches and other types of debates fit the bill too.

The Hidden PR Persuaders

I am writing about a topic that you don't see buzzed about much on the PR blogs: persuasion.  

Perhaps we don't talk about it because PR people might not like to see themselves as persuaders (my fellow Windmill Networking columnist Judy Gombita wrote a nice post on PR Conversations that touched on PR echo chambers, among other things; thanks for helping to inspire this post, Judy).

After all, persuasion is most often associated with sales, right? And we like to think of ourselves as more than just slick salespeople. But let's face it, persuasion is a key part of what we do. Sure, we inform, educate, and talk about lofty things sometimes - but we also seek to persuade in many ways; e.g. that our news is worth covering. We help our clients master their communications skills, and write speeches that captivate and persuade. In tech, we craft campaigns that aim to persuade the market that our solutions are viable and better than others.

I started zeroing in on this topic following a family get together over the Jewish High Holidays. As sometimes happens at these events, the subject turned to politics and things got heated. My parents, who are seniors, are liberal and still very feisty, bless them... my brothers can veer a bit more conservative.

Both sides squared off.  Voices were raised. Faces got red. Flecks of spit spray punctuated loud proclamations.  Neither side could dislodge the other. One of my bros made a great show of the fact that he watches Fox News and CNN to get both sides, hence his viewpoint is more informed and balanced.

Coincidentally, there was an op ed in the NY Times soon after that cited very relevant research. It said, essentially, that people tend to stick to their positions despite being presented with (and absorbing) credible information from all sides.  Here is an excerpt:

...evidence suggests that balanced presentations — in which competing arguments or positions are laid out side by side — may not help. At least when people begin with firmly held convictions, such an approach is likely to increase polarization rather than reduce it... Our initial convictions are more apt to be shaken if it’s not easy to dismiss the source as biased... It follows that turncoats, real or apparent, can be immensely persuasive.

Another article in the Times focused on rhetoric - that is, the art of persuasion. It is a great primer on the topic, and e.g. explained something that we discuss in media training: why you should stick to three key message points.