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| Jackie Pantaliano |
Jackie is a frequent contributor to Girlfriendz Magazine and is one of the magazine’s original founders. Jackie is also the former Burlington/Camden County Chapter Leader for the parent support group ASPEN (Asperger Autism Spectrum Education Network). Last, but not least, she is an incredibly proud mother of an amazing Aspie son, a stepmom to three terrific adults, a dog mom to two adorable pooches, and a wife of almost 24 years to a great husband. No surprise, Jackie is also a voracious reader and a self-proclaimed "word nerd" who has always fantasized about being a champion on Pyramid. You can learn more about one of South Jersey's most popular PR ladies by visiting Jackie's website, ImPRessions, or simply getting into a fun conversation with Jackie...right now!
Jackie, what are your thoughts on the PR market at this time. Is traditional PR and digital PR merging, or is public relations today really the same as it always has been - promote great information and great news in every possible way?
While I do believe PR means promoting great information and news in every possible way, doing so digitally is becoming a must. All of the traditional forms of media, including newspapers and magazines, have jumped on the bandwagon. While many are still producing print versions, their pubs are also online and many are producing accompanying videos. Other pubs have gone solely digital. Journalists are also all over social media, tweeting and posting on Facebook and Linked in. It’s important to discern who your target market is and where they are getting their news. For example, if you’re reaching out to seniors, social media will not necessarily be your primary vehicle, or even in your mix, although if you want to reach the baby boomer children of seniors, it will.
How important is social media to a company or individual's overall public relations outreach campaign? Does every business need a Facebook and a Twitter identity? I do believe that today it is essential in most cases. Again, if your audience is solely seniors, I might say otherwise. It’s amazing how things have changed. Not too long ago, I was getting by without a website or social media pages for my own business! Because I’m a purposely small PR firm that receives most of its business through referrals, I’m typically never at a loss for new business, but for simple background purposes, having a website is a must. I used to attach PDF documents of my background, client list and testimonials to client prospects via email! Today if you don’t have a social media presence you won’t be taken seriously. Also, I’ve always been a big fan of multi-purposing and leveraging PR beyond one day’s coverage, so posting links to print and broadcast coverage on social media is a must! However, with that said, I do think it’s tough for smaller firms to keep up the same level of posting via social media as their larger counterparts, but as long as you keep a fairly regular presence it helps your credibility and communication.
Jackie, what are the three most important elements to any successful public relations campaign?
1) Research, research, research to discern what the newest trends are and how your client fits into or is leading the next trend. While I wrote research 3 times, I’m only counting it as the critical first element! Research involves following the publications, social media outlets, and programs where you want your client to be and being very clear about who covers what.
2 )Determining what is most unique and newsworthy about a client and getting it out to the right media contacts (I’ve always used the top media resource directories that the largest PR firms do).
3) Crafting your pitches, articles, blogs, social media posts and news releases in the most compelling, well-written way. This includes joining and posting to the right Linked In groups and other targeted social media outlets (i.e., using the right hash tags in your Twitter posts) and arranging speaking engagements with the appropriate audiences, among other tactics.
With content driving more and more public relations strategies, now more than ever, how do you advise your clients in terms of content management and content creativity? Does each client need to have a blog?
I definitely advise on the importance of these elements and refer clients to web gurus and outstanding graphic designers, such as the folks at The asterism* Group! In terms of verbiage, it still amazes me how many folks have typos and grammatical errors on their websites. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves, as I believe it greatly hurts a firm’s credibility and professionalism. I advise clients on ways to more logically re-position elements on their websites and better phrase their verbiage to more clearly communicate and show their target audience WIFM (what’s in it for me). I don’t think every client needs a blog yet, but it’s definitely a plus to have one and may become more of a necessity in time. And when ready, one of the go-to blog queens is Marie Alonso, also @DigitalPRLady on Twitter!
What are the most important content goals for any business hoping to get recognized?
Compelling, clear, consistent language and graphics and a targeted, brief and pithy message to the right market. This includes the proper tone for the audience, using humor whenever fitting.
Jackie...are you a morning person? When do you get your best work done?
I’m NOT a morning person, although I’m woken at ungodly hours by my pets and when my son’s in school. But then I go back go bed! I seem to do my best work around 4:00 p.m. and beyond! Crazy, I know! I had one client ask me if I reserved my work for her account late afternoons, as she received a large output of work from me then. I had to laugh, as that’s when everything seems to coalesce for me. It’s also a time when there are less interruptions from coworkers, phone calls or emails coming through. It’s not that I’m not working prior to that!
Just how important is a press release, these days? Do companies get as much boost from Facebook updates and Twitter posts, or is the press release still the backbone of any outreach campaign?
I would have answered this very differently a short while ago! I’m finding press releases less effective than in the past, unless they are specifically about a new hire, award, new acquisition, calendar event or a post-charitable event photo-caption. Those are all virtually guaranteed to garner coverage and folks are still reading them, because they’re stopping my clients and letting them know! News releases on other topics are not getting as much traction as they have in the past. Of course, I love taking a news release that has received press coverage and running the link on social media pages and on a client’s website. That’s getting the most bang for your buck.
What businesses do you admire, in terms of their PR? Apple, for example? When you view a company, in terms of its PR, do you view the social media, communications outreach and media coverage - or do you view how the company inspires its community and reacts to timely issues. What makes a company GREAT at public relations?
I tend to judge a company as having great PR by how they inspire their community and react to timely issues, as that’s generally what captures the general public’s eye. We all know firms that have botched PR, especially in crisis situations, and that’s what tends to resonate. For this reason I’m a big fan of Kickstarter, for its prompt, public apology letter after promoting a seduction guide that was found offensive to women, and its subsequent $25,000 donation to an anti-sexual violence organization. I’m also a fan of the whole Oprah conglomerate. Oprah never shies away from admitting when she’s made a mistake and quickly fixing it (think about the interviews with the memoir writer who turned out to have fabricated much of his book, and the abusive teacher problems at her school). Oprah is a major philanthropist and extremely inspirational. She has grown tremendously through the years from a TV talk show host to starting a magazine, a school, acting in movies and starting her own network. She has also launched the careers of many others. With all that she’s done, controversy follows, but she handles it very well.
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| Jackie and her loving family. |
I don’t believe so right now, but who knows in the near future. I certainly think a good blog greatly enhances a company’s presence. The problem again is when you’re talking about small firms that are already on overload. Blogging takes time, skill and commitment if a firm is writing it themselves, and if not, it takes funding to farm it out.
What do public relations executives know...that most other executives do not?
How to think 3 steps ahead in a media interview! It enables us to anticipate the likely questions and prep our clients so they are not caught between the eyes! It also enables us to delicately jump into the interview and prompt our clients or add important information our clients may have forgotten.
Jackie, can you share with us one of your favorite quotes!
“We live in a society bloated with data but starved for wisdom,” by Elizabeth Lindsey, quoted in More Magazine. We’re all on information overload and everything is speeded up to the point where folks are tossing information out without properly vetting it for accuracy and other redeeming qualities. While we’re a nation of rubberneckers (think how we’re drawn to car accidents and reality TV), if the information we put out there isn’t useful and uplifting, do we really need to be putting it out there?
