Public Relations and Marketing Blog & Resources

Long Island Business Journal subscription

Today we were contacted by the Long Island Business Journal to renew our subscription. The sales rep shared some information with me that I thought might interest our readers. The Journal is now offering a Business discount on its annual subscription. $99 gets you 52 weekly issues plus 4 seasonal issues and entitles you to … Continue reading “Long Island Business Journal subscription”

Today we were contacted by the Long Island Business Journal to renew our subscription. The sales rep shared some information with me that I thought might interest our readers.

The Journal is now offering a Business discount on its annual subscription. $99 gets you 52 weekly issues plus 4 seasonal issues and entitles you to a 4 week “listing ad” about the size of a business card. Also, the subscription is tax deductible if used for “business purposes.” To take advantage of this offer, call 1-866-913-4691.

Long Island Souvenir

PRMG just learned about this brand-new publication coming out next spring. Geared toward tourists and travelers, the Long Island Souvenir will serve as a high-end resource guide to Long Island visitors, staying at Suffolk hotels. The Souvenir is in the process of obtaining contracts from hotels and bed & breakfasts across the county that will … Continue reading “Long Island Souvenir”

PRMG just learned about this brand-new publication coming out next spring.

Geared toward tourists and travelers, the Long Island Souvenir will serve as a high-end resource guide to Long Island visitors, staying at Suffolk hotels. The Souvenir is in the process of obtaining contracts from hotels and bed & breakfasts across the county that will allow their guide to be placed in every room in these establishments. Vacationers are ready and willing to spend money, even in tough times. The Souvenir will provide original content about local towns and points of interest, as well as ads and reviews for advertisers.

We recommend this publication to restaurants, family attractions and destinations, and even retail establishments looking to appeal to travelers. Please contact PRMG for more information.

NFL Football Advertising on FiOS

Advertising during NFL Football games on FiOS is an excellent way to leverage your advertising dollars in these highly rated programs. New York DMA (approximately 400,000 households) at $600 per 30 second commercial for ESPN and $300 for the NFL network. Long Island only at $300 per spot for ESPN and $150 for NFL network. … Continue reading “NFL Football Advertising on FiOS”

Advertising during NFL Football games on FiOS is an excellent way to leverage your advertising dollars in these highly rated programs. New York DMA (approximately 400,000 households) at $600 per 30 second commercial for ESPN and $300 for the NFL network. Long Island only at $300 per spot for ESPN and $150 for NFL network. Packages also available for i networks. Cable ads on these games often sell-out and the prices rise as the season progresses, especially for Jets/Giants games. See schedule:

•MON, SEP 13 7p Baltimore at NY Jets ESPN

•MON, SEP 13 10:15p San Diego at Kansas City ESPN

•MON, SEP 20 8:30p New Orleans at San Francisco ESPN

•MON, SEP 27 8:30p Green Bay at Chicago ESPN

•MON, OCT 4 8:30p New England at Miami ESPN

•MON, OCT 11 8:30p Minnesota at NY Jets ESPN

•MON, OCT 18 8:30p Tennessee at Jacksonville ESPN

•MON, OCT 25 8:30p NY Giants at Dallas ESPN

•MON, NOV 1 8:30p Houston at Indianapolis ESPN

•MON, NOV 8 8:30p Pittsburgh at Cincinnati ESPN

•THU, NOV 11 8:30p Baltimore at Atlanta NFL Network

•MON, NOV 15 8:30p Philadelphia at Washington ESPN

•THU, NOV 18 8:20p Chicago at Miami NFL Network

•MON, NOV 22 8:30p Denver at San Diego ESPN

•THU, NOV 25 8:20p Cincinnati at NY Jets NFL Network

•MON, NOV 29 8:30p San Francisco at Arizona ESPN

•THU, DEC 2 8:20p Houston at Philadelphia NFL Network

•MON, DEC 6 8:30p NY Jets at New England ESPN

•THU, DEC 9 8:20p Indianapolis at Tennessee NFL Network

•MON, DEC 13 8:30p Baltimore at Houston ESPN

•THU, DEC 16 8:20p San Francisco at San Diego NFL Network

•MON, DEC 20 8:30p Chicago at Minnesota ESPN

•THU, DEC 23 8:20p Carolina at Pittsburgh NFL Network

•SAT, DEC 25 7:30p Dallas at Arizona NFL Network

•MON, DEC 27 8:30p New Orleans at Atlanta ESPN

WALK FM Back-to-School Safety Announcements

WALK FM is looking for organizations to sponsor their back-to-school child safety public service announcements, which will run September 7th through 10th (Tuesday – Friday after Labor Day). Sponsors will receive one 30 second mention on the air during the morning or afternoon commute and their name and logo on WALKradio.com. The announcement will include … Continue reading “WALK FM Back-to-School Safety Announcements”

The announcement will include information about how to talk to your child about safety and provide the number for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – 1 (800) The Lost. There is a $55 tax-deductible production fee for one mention.

If you are interested, please contact PRMG within the next few days.

Reservations must be made by the end of the week.

Bus Shelter Outdoor Advertising Avails throughout Nassau/Suffolk Counties

There are several hundred outdoor advertising avails using bus shelters throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties, including: Suffolk – Bohemia, Bellport, Bay Shore, Brentwood, Center Moriches, Coram, Deer Park, East Islip, Holbrook, Islip, Miller Place, Medford, Middle Island, Mount Sinai, Port Jefferson, Ridge, Rocky Point, Selden, South Setauket and Yaphank. Nassau– Albertson, Baldwin, Bethpage, East Farmingdale, Elmont, East … Continue reading “Bus Shelter Outdoor Advertising Avails throughout Nassau/Suffolk Counties”

There are several hundred outdoor advertising avails using bus shelters throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties, including:

Suffolk – Bohemia, Bellport, Bay Shore, Brentwood, Center Moriches, Coram, Deer Park, East Islip, Holbrook, Islip, Miller Place, Medford, Middle Island, Mount Sinai, Port Jefferson, Ridge, Rocky Point, Selden, South Setauket and Yaphank.

Nassau– Albertson, Baldwin, Bethpage, East Farmingdale, Elmont, East Meadow, Flower Hill, Freeport, Franklin Square, Garden City, Glen Cove, Great Neck, Hempstead, Hicksville, Island Park, Jericho, Levittown, Long Beach, Lake Success, Massapequa, Merrick, Mineola, Manhasset, New Cassell, N. Valley Stream, Oceanside, Plainview, Port Washington, Rockville Centre, Roosevelt, Seaford, University Gardens, Uniondale, Valley Stream, Wantagh, Westbury and West Hempstead.

When using outdoor advertising, it is imperative that your ad be simple, with little text, and be eye catching. This is especially true for these relatively small outdoor ads. They are often best used when advertising are seeking attention for upcoming roadside retailers and attractions. If available, it is better to get one of these ads at a traffic light. Pricing ranges up to $460 per location per month. Volume and contract length discounts available.

Cable programs premiering August & September

Several cable television programs will premiering over the next month. Considering zoning opportunities and demographic targeting, these programs may make sense for your advertising budget. Amazing Wedding Cakes Premieres August 29th Sundays 10-11pm The four AMAZING bakeries are back and ready to out-do even their own past cake creations. With more bold, beautiful and creative … Continue reading “Cable programs premiering August & September”

Several cable television programs will premiering over the next month. Considering zoning opportunities and demographic targeting, these programs may make sense for your advertising budget.

Amazing Wedding Cakes
Premieres August 29th
Sundays 10-11pm
The four AMAZING bakeries are back and ready to out-do
even their own past cake creations. With more bold,
beautiful and creative cakes, this season is sure to be
sweeter than ever.

Little People Big World
Premieres September 6th
Mondays 8-8:30pm
Parents Matt and Amy Roloff are both little people but they are determined to succeed in a world that isn’t always
accepting of differences. Viewers follow the lives of the
Roloffs as they face the pressure of being little in an
average-sized world and the financial burdens of operating
Roloff Farms.

Sons Of Anarchy
Premieres September 7th
Tuesdays 10-11pm
Season three continues to explore the notorious outlaw
motorcycle club, The Sons. The club continues to try to
protect its livelihood while ensuring that their town of
Charming, California remains exactly as it has always been.

World of Jenks
Premieres September 13th
Mondays 10-10:30pm
Documentary filmmaker Andrew Jenks shadows a complete stranger in each episode. Jenksexplores their lives; interacting withtheir family, hanging with their friends and living life through their eyes.

The Ultimate Fighter
Premieres September 15th
Wednesdays at 10pm
Viewers watch as twenty-eight lightweight hopefuls square off against
each other with hopes of being crowned The Ultimate Fighter and winning a six-figure contract with the UFC.

Annual County Medical Society Executive Directors’ Conference

The Medical Society of the State of New York will be hosting its 24th Annual Conference September 22-24. there are exhibitor and sponsor opportunities available to companies interested in “exposing themselves to the ‘gatekeepers’ of the physicians in their region.” opportunities include ads in the program, tables at the conference and your company’s logo on … Continue reading “Annual County Medical Society Executive Directors’ Conference”

Please contact PRMG if you would like more information about sponsoring Medical Society events and marketing to doctors.

Navigating Google Analytics

by Steve Gerbino, Web Developer, PRMG How the System Works Google Analytics is a powerful Knowledge Management System and Geographic Information System. It gives everyone with access to the Internet the capability of understanding how the world views, manipulates, and navigates their website using the latest data mining technologies. Its ideal availability makes it one … Continue reading “Navigating Google Analytics”

by Steve Gerbino, Web Developer, PRMG

How the System Works

Google Analytics is a powerful Knowledge Management System and Geographic Information System. It gives everyone with access to the Internet the capability of understanding how the world views, manipulates, and navigates their website using the latest data mining technologies. Its ideal availability makes it one of the top analytical information systems used by small businesses.

Getting started is extremely simple, and tracking starts immediately. A Google account and access to one’s Web server is needed. The user then navigates to the https://www.google.com/accounts/Login page, enters their account details and follows the steps necessary to create an analytics account. Google will then provide the user with a JavaScript code to apply to each page they would like to track. They may then view the status to make sure everything has been installed correctly.

Once it has been verified that the JavaScript code has been implemented correctly, Google Analytics will begin collecting data on the visitors to the user’s site. Reports are made on a 24-hour basis, so they can be viewed the next day. Once the 24-hour period has passed, the user can now click “View Report” to enter their dashboard, summarizing all of the data collected.

From here, the user can get a complete overview of the information collected on their site — how many visits, how many are unique, how long did the visitors stay on each page, where are they located geographically, what browser and operating system did they use, what version of Flash do they run, do they have JavaScript capabilities, what percentage each page was landed on, and where the traffic originated, among other useful data. You have the option to customize your dashboard, to show you the ratios that you want to see. You can customize your own ratios, graph types, and location of the information on your dashboard.

A menu is located to the left of the user’s dashboard. This is where they can get more specific in each data collection category.

Each menu item provides a more detailed report on each category, including Intelligence, Visitors, Traffic Sources, Content, Goals, and Custom Reports.

The first menu item, Intelligence, is a new feature for Google Analytics. It is an alert system to identify irregular patterns recognizable by Google Analytics. Users can set their own custom alerts and allow Google Analytics to alert them when their system sees an issue. This can be handy when users analyze many websites that they don’t visit daily. They can see a drop in visitors for a day and find out that there is some problem with their site, such as coding, DNS, worms, or other forms of computer crime.

The next menu item, Visitors, is a highly powerful view of individual visitors to the site. Here, users can view how many visits, how many absolute unique visitors, how many page views, average page view per visitor, the time spent on their site, their site’s bounce rate, and percentage of new visits. It also shows the users the connection speed for their visitors. You may ask, what is a bounce rate? A bounce rate is a ratio of people who land on someone’s site and immediately leave. The goal of the user is to lower their bounce rate, which is increasing the time on their site. Up at the top, there will be a linear graph of visitors over time. One can see if the changes they made had a negative or positive effect on the amount of visitors they have had with just a glance.

Visitor also contains several sub-menu items including:

Benchmarking – compares the user’s site to sites of similar size
Map Overlay – shows the user geographical locations of visitors
New vs. Returning – new visitors vs. visitors that return to the user’s site
Languages – languages spoken
Visitor Trending
Visitor Loyalty
Browser Capabilities – Flash version, JavaScript support
Network Properties
User defined

Traffic Sources

Traffic Sources is very useful in determining how someone’s site is doing. This will show the user where their visitors are coming from. Direct Traffic means that the visitors actually type in the user’s address in the browser. This usually indicates a returning and loyal visitor. Referral sites are people who’ve clicked a link for another website and landed on their page. Having many referral sites increases the user’s traffic and ranking dramatically. Here, they can see exactly what websites are bringing them the most traffic. Thirdly, Search Engines will show the users what traffic that search engines are bringing them. Not only do they show users what visitors Google has referred to their site, but they show them what they actually searched for in Google to get to their site. Now the user know what keywords are hot and what’s going to get them more traffic. This page is extremely handy.

Traffic Sources also contains the following sub-menu items:

Overview
Direct Traffic
Referring Sites
Search Engines
All Traffic Sources
AdWords
AdWord Campaigns
Keyword Positions
TV Campaigns
Keywords
Campaigns
Ad Versions

Content

Content can be viewed over time, of course, at the top. Users can get a more detailed understanding on the most viewed content on their site, and a variety of other really useful information regarding what content is visible on their site.

Content sub-menu items include:

Overview
Top Content
Content by Title
Content Drilldown
Top Landing Pages
Top Exit Pages
Site Overlay

Site Overlay is an interesting item. It will bring up their website with a Google Analytics toolbar at the top and then put an overlay over their site so that it is shown in sectors. Each little slice of the user’s website will have a click-through percentage. This gives them a very powerful visualization of where people are actually clicking on their site. Users can find every link with a white tab showing them the percentage that it was clicked. Where are the hot spots? Where do people never click? This all can be shown with Site Overlay!

Goals

Goals are set by the user. They are pages the user wants their visitors to end up. If the user’s company is selling goods, they may set your goals to the Order Completion page. If the company is looking to get more members on their site, you may set a goal to the Registration Activation page. Another capability of Goals is funneling. A funnel is a path the user specifies from start to finish to achieve a goal. They may specify several funnels to a goal, and once a funnel is specified, they can then analyze where users stop the path or how long each step takes. On their overview, users will have a goal conversion rate — that is, the percentage of the visitors to the user’s site who have completed the goal you have set. This is a very powerful tool and can be used to improve the user’s intentions for their website.

The following are sub-menu items of Goals:

Overview
Total Conversions
Goal Verification
Reverse Goal Path
Goal Value
Goal Abandoned Funnels
Funnel Visualization

Positive and Negative Points

Cons

There aren’t many cons to begin with. Google Analytics is JavaScript code, and if users are looking for information about how Bots are hitting and viewing their site, Google Analytics cannot do this for them. JavaScript is not enabled in a text-based session of a bot. Also, viewers that do not have JavaScript enabled will not be tracked. This number is extremely low and will probably affect less than 1% of the user site’s population.

Does not track bots
Does not track users without JavaScript

Pros

The Pros outweigh the Cons significantly. This software is absolutely free. It costs the Web developer nothing to have this information system working for them within minutes. Why would Google offer such a great service for free? Well, the answer to that is easy. Google realizes the value of data, and with Google Analytics, users have the option to submit anonymous data about their traffic and help Google keep their practices top-notch. Google uses an opt-in approach to this, meaning the user, by default, is going to submit anonymous data to Google. They can easily uncheck the box to stop this.

Cost-free
Very powerful
Easy to use
Easy to understand
Totally customizable
Integration with other systems
Integration with Google AdSense & AdWords

Recommendations for Implementation

There is nothing else needed to prepare the integration of Google Analytics to a site. A basic knowledge of Web development and access to one’s Web server through their Web hosting service are all that is needed. The user simply places the JavaScript onto their site’s pages and begin analyzing data. Google could not have made it easier. Extensive training is unnecessary. Once the user logs in to their dashboard, everything is right there at their fingertips. For those who have an advanced system and wish to stream data into it, Google provides information on how to do this, as well as a number of companies who have already designed software to take this information and display it in many different ways.

Customer Service

Google provides a huge knowledgebase of FAQs, as well as a help forum. There are many best practice methods available and ways to improve one’s visibility all in Google’s documentation. One can reach customer service by logging in to their Google Analytics account and submitting a post on their forum, or searching their knowledgebase. Seeing as though their software is top-quality, anyone knowledgeable in Information Technology should see installation of this software as trivial. Any detailed questions have been addressed in their FAQ section, and the forum is reserved for more specific issues.

References

http://web-analytics-review.toptenreviews.com/free-web-analytics.html describes Google Analytics as both “comprehensive” and “easy-to-use”.

http://www.blippr.com/apps/337954-Google-Analytics users describe Google Analytics as “amazing,” “All of the tools you need to report from tracking page views to ecommerce,” “The most powerful analytics!!!” and “Google Analytics continues to make progressively better enhancements while the former leader WebTrends remains relatively unchanged.”

http://www.mediacollege.com/internet/statistics/software/google-analytics/ claims that Google Analytics is “The best stats application I have used.”

Top 10 PR & Marketing Techniques For Businesses & Non-Profits

The growth of the Internet has made it both tougher and easier to reach your potential clients. While it has increased competition by leveling the playing field, it has also provided a channel for marketing your services on a low-cost budget and reach many more people than was possible earlier. As these new marketing techniques … Continue reading “Top 10 PR & Marketing Techniques For Businesses & Non-Profits”

As these new marketing techniques proliferate, it is no longer enough for corporations or organizations to rely only on referrals or word-of-mouth publicity to earn new business. At The Public Relations and Marketing Group, we recommend that clients tap into a mix of both traditional and new marketing methods to promote themselves and their business.

This article outlines PRMG’s top 10 PR and marketing techniques that will help both businesses and non-profit organizations build their brand, demonstrate their expertise and attract many more clients or a community of supporters.

1. Media Availabilities

Is there an important issue (relating to your area of business) in the news you can comment on? Do you have an opinion on a prominent public policy issue that may affect your business? Making yourself available to speak to the media is an excellent strategy that will not only help you display your leadership and expertise, but also help you build professional credibility. Once you establish yourself as a reliable, useful source, the media will want to write about you. A great way to attract media attention is to ensure that your press release has a strong news angle and targets the right publications and beat reporters. Pitching a local angle in your press release will help to secure coverage in local media outlets.

2. Monthly Columns

Writing monthly columns for your local merchant chamber or trade association’s newsletter or for a mainstream publication will help increase your visibility and establish your reputation in your area of business and can often serve as the backbone of your marketing strategy.

In particular, advice columns can be highly effective in attracting potential clients and may be well worth the time spent in answering queries and giving out advice for free. If getting your article published in mainstream publications is difficult, you can submit them to popular article directories such as ArticleBase and EzineArticles.

3. Seminars/Lectures/Networking Events

Speaking at seminars and offering lectures or workshops will also help you expand your professional network, increase your visibility and build your personal brand. Attending professional or business networking events will help you connect with prospects. Despite the growth of social networking and virtual communication, building relationships through face-to-face networking is one traditional marketing technique that will never go out of style.

4. Traditional Advertising

Among traditional advertising tools, you could also consider advertising in daily newspapers and specialty publications but in general, print advertising has been providing diminishing returns. Through television advertising, especially cable television, you can target niche markets or demographics with special programming. This offers you the advantage of reaching a larger audience at a lower production cost and is increasingly becoming an attractive option for smaller, local businesses. In the long run, nothing beats television advertising in establishing a brand that people will remember.

5. Online Advertising

With an increase in the amount of time people spend surfing the Web, online advertising offers great opportunities for reaching your target audience. Google AdWords, a pay-per-click advertising program, allows you to target your ad based on keywords people type in the Google search engine. You pay Google a certain cost per click whenever people click on your ad and visit your Web site – and not how often your ad is shown. Pay-per-click ads are easy to create and allow you to reach an audience that is looking for information on the services you provide.  You can also buy pay-per-click ads on Facebook or LinkedIn, targeting your ad based on demographic criteria such as age, gender, education, profession, geographic area and other select keywords (such as your audience’s interests).

6. Web Marketing

Since your Web site is often one of the first impressions people will get of your business or organization, it’s important to plan carefully for your site’s design and content, keeping in mind your target audience and the message you want to communicate. While most organizations and even small businesses now have Web sites, many ignore the importance of using search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure that their site is easily found when people look for them online. Using on-page and off-page SEO techniques, you can improve the volume or quality of traffic to your Web site from search engines; the higher a site ranks in search results, the more traffic it usually receives from search engines.

7. Social Media Marketing

Before the growth of social media, most businesses needed to either buy expensive advertising or receive media coverage to attract the attention of their customers. Using social media tools like blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you can easily network and connect directly with potential clients and deliver information about your services. Social media can also be useful for driving people back to your Web site by posting your latest events, company news or even informative articles on issues that may serve as a useful resource for your target audience. Think of social media as a tool for two-way communication with your potential clients and for displaying your professional expertise.

8. Newsletters

Newsletters – whether printed or sent through email in an HTML format – can be useful for delivering relevant information to your target audience and keeping them updated on your organization’s services or recent events. E-newsletters are especially helpful for generating leads through e-mail programs such as Streamsend and Constant Contact. Using these programs, you can identify and track recipients who click on your e-newsletter. To convert these leads into prospects, you can then follow up with them by sending a brochure and making a follow-up phone call about your services.

9. Booklets

Creating a printed booklet or an e-book with informative articles or whitepapers on relevant issues that may be of interest and of use to your target audience is a great way to start engaging with your prospects and create an image of being a leader in your field. E-books can be easily sent in a PDF through e-mail or social media channels or they can be printed and distributed to your current clients and prospects or the media. You can also make them available for download on your Web site through a contact form that your prospects can fill. This will allow you to follow up with them and keep them informed about your services.

10. Direct Mail and D-Cards

Direct mail can be quite effective for localized businesses, especially if you purchase highly targeted mailing lists. If you are targeting a specific demographic profile in a particular geographic area, consider direct mail.

Another recommended option for direct mail is to use detached address cards or D-cards with your advertisement printed at the back. D-cards can be distributed through weekly publications in your local area at a very low cost of less than five cents each. If you want to saturate a zip code, and are not concerned that all residents will receive your mailer, you can use D-cards.

Free Whitepaper: Social Media For Non-Profit Organizations

Before the rise of social media, most non-profit organizations needed to either buy expensive advertising or receive media coverage to attract the attention of their target audience and spread awareness about their mission. The Web, however, acts as a great equalizer and offers tremendous potential for non-profit organizations to build a community that believes in … Continue reading “Free Whitepaper: Social Media For Non-Profit Organizations”

A recent annual survey on Long Island’s non-profit organizations found that only 40% of non-profits are using social media. Social media is one of the fastest growing channels for public relations and marketing today and by not tapping into social media, your non-profit organization may be missing out an opportunity to directly find and connect with those who are truly passionate about your cause.

To find out more about how your organization can leverage social media, click here to fill out a request form for your free whitepaper.