RHetoric

The books are closed on 2009, and the various account teams at RH Strategic have been busy working with clients on their 2010 PR and marketing plans.  Here are some tactics we are recommending to clients and anyone else who wants to compete more aggressively for business in the healthcare, government, and technology markets this year.

This checklist is not a carbon copy of last year's recommendations.  That is because the landscape has been altered by current events (recession, stimulus spending) and the new ways prospects are gathering information (Twitter).

With that, here is the short list:

Move your best customers to the front.  In 2010, buyers will be cautious and looking for evidence that your solution is low risk - particularly in the government and healthcare markets but anywhere the recession has had a deep impact. Document your customers' best successes and market them through online case studies, speaker placements, press coverage, and awards. Sometimes a single case study becomes industry lore that generates returns for years!

Catch up with Twitter.  If you are still a cynic, it's really time to take another look.  Chances are good to excellent that some of your prospects are being heavily influenced by just a few people on Twitter.  You should be one of them - however avoid the bland corporate tweets that read like press releases. Focus on issues and ideas.  If you're already tweeting, focus on tagging to build followers.  Healthcare is surprisingly Twitter-friendly.

Update your web site with an inexpensive video or two.  The days of the $50,000, 15-minute corporate video are long, long gone.  The cost of web-quality video capture and editing has come way down.  Like down to a few thousand bucks.  And it turns out web visitors are much more likely to watch a 30-second video than they are to read web copy for 30 seconds.  Get a product developer on camera, a customer service rep, or your best customer.

Tie your messaging into what's happening in D.C. Let's face it: D.C. is the private sector's new partner in capitalism.  Buyers are looking for clues that you are in tune with directives coming from the top.  Creating jobs, fostering transparency, keeping Americans safe, improving patient safety - the list goes on.  Work it into your collateral, web site, and talking points.

Spruce up your proposals.  It will be important to show that you not only survived 2009, but you are leaping ahead in 2010.  A fresh, professional look and updated messaging communicates confidence and permanence.

Keep your web site current.  A regular drumbeat of press releases announcing customer wins, events you will be attending, and blog posts all show your company is current, relevant, and has momentum.  No one wants to call on a company whose last press release was April of 2008.  Regular content updates also do wonders for your search engine rankings.

And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t note that RH Strategic is happy to help with these or any of your communications needs in 2010.  All you need to do is drop me an e-mail at john (at) rhstrategic (dot) com, reference this blog post, and leave me an e-mail or phone number.  In most situations we would have a conversation about your needs and review some initial ideas from our team.  Then we will quickly craft a proposal that includes pricing for you to consider.  It’s pretty simple!

All the best for 2010.

RH Strategic had a great year in 2009, with much of the credit going to the government tech and healthcare IT markets.  These are two areas of expertise at RH Strategic and we were thrilled to see them in the driver's seat despite the recession. Our general technology clients were hunkered down, but with strong balance sheets and perseverance did just fine.  They are sporting new optimism going into 2010.

We had our fair share of unusual requests last year, including one crisis communications project that was unlike any other we've experienced.  Let's just say you should be careful who you choose as your business partner and make sure you have enough life insurance, and we'll leave it at that.  Of course if you want to know more e-mail (john at rhstrategic dot com) me and I'll fill you in.

I think the most interesting development in our business for 2009 was the rise of Twitter.  The year began with one client CEO proclaiming, "Anyone who spends time on Twitter is not doing real work."  I'll admit we were cynical too.  But it turns out Twitter is the solution to a lot of valid information needs.  People who should be recognized for their ideas rise to the top, outside of the confines of traditional media.  People who should be linked to one another but never knew each other are finally linked.  For these reasons and more, Twitter is an important part of corporate communications.

We saw lots of resumes this year - probably more than in every year prior, combined.  Many of them were unsolicited.  We hope 2010 is good to all of those people who want to get back to work, and we hope they will keep in mind that sudden, disruptive change is difficult but sows the seeds of greater opportunity.

Finally, David and I spent a great deal of time back in 2002 ruminating on Jim Collins' book, "Good to Great."  This year we finally accomplished what we have worked to achieve all those years - get the right people on the bus. The RH Strategic team is a solid bunch and the most authentic, reliable, results-driven  crew you could wish for.

Best wishes to everyone for a prosperous 2010.

I am not one to be brashly competitive, but when I hear from executives that are being under-served and overcharged by large PR agencies, I can’t help but tighten the laces on my racing shoes. The truth is that for most businesses, a smaller agency can produce twice the results at half the price.

Long gone are the days when a start-up company needed the Edelman or Ogilvy name to appear on its road show deck to impress investors that it is working with “the best” (and at 30k per month, plus hourly fees over and above a cap, plus a 10% mark-up on all expenses). Likewise, many established, mid-sized companies that dabbled with the biggies have also pulled back, finding true partnerships with smaller agencies.

Yet many mismatches remain in the marketplace. In my opinion, no company or division needs a global public relations firm on its team unless it is substantially more than a $1 billion-a-year business. Even then, a large agency is not the only option.

Think about the culture of a large agency, which is run like a large company. It is full of very smart, seasoned people who have ascended into management, leaving junior account reps to deliver the daily value to the clients. This is where mediocre writing, naive pitches to reporters, and jaw-dropping client maltreatment come into play.

In a large agency, as in a large company, these shortcomings are overcome by the volume of good work that is done by others. The result? Average. However, the waste and average results of this model are not so welcome in smaller organizations, where every dollar spent on talent must be optimized for maximum effect.

To make matters worse, a lost $10k retainer is a rounding error in a large agency, where the largest clients are the bread, the butter, and the dessert. Waggener Edstrom, which employs roughly 500 people, is one of Microsoft’s PR agencies and grew its revenues to $100 million because of that. I have never met anyone at that company who doesn’t work on the Microsoft account, with the exception of one senior vice president in Lake Oswego who doesn’t work on any accounts (although my sample population is skewed toward the Seattle area).

This example is not meant to degrade WaggEd in any way, instead, it’s meant to point out that they are well-suited for a multi-billion dollar company like Microsoft. Not so for the vast majority of companies seeking PR expertise.

A smaller firm can get a lot done without that overhead. Every person is wholly invested in their clients’ success, because their livelihoods are directly tied to retaining every client. Small firms tend not to hire mediocre talent, and can’t afford to mitigate it if they did. Small firms know what it means to be lean and mean, and that quickly translates into an account service ethos.

Finally, the economy is tightening. Now is not the time to waste precious marketing or PR resources. I suspect that much of the griping I’m hearing from corporate execs engaged with large agencies is backlogged discontent, surfacing now in anticipation of belt-tightening. Maybe the economic uncertainty will cause another healthy shakeout in the industry, much like the one that occurred in the wake of the dot-com bust.