{"id":4659,"date":"2023-10-19T18:41:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T18:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/?p=4659"},"modified":"2023-10-19T18:42:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T18:42:24","slug":"going-viral-on-linkedin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/going-viral-on-linkedin\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Viral on LinkedIn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
PHOTO: George Milton\/Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In early September, I published an article on LinkedIn, sharing best practices for organizing press events during yacht shows. It contained several do and don’t tips based on my own experiences as well as those of fellow exasperated editors. We shake our heads year after year at last-minute invitations, press conferences that run too long, and a general expectation that a cocktail party masquerading as a press event makes it worth covering. Days later, I received a direct message from a fellow yachting industry professional who I had never met, thanking me and saying, “You’ve gone viral.” Apparently my article was making the rounds among marketing and public relations reps in the industry. The analytics on LinkedIn revealed the rounds were fast and furious, too: more than 1,000 views in one week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I write this today, that same post has earned more than 8,000 impressions and 42 comments. I’m republishing it here, in cae you missed it. If you’re a marketing executive, it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; take this advice to heart:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAs an editor, I\u2019m afraid the days are gone when media can attend events and just swan around being dazzled by free exotic cocktails. If I send someone to an event, then they have to come back with meaningful content\u2014preferably that no one else has\u2014it\u2019s as simple as that. We want useful info and need it to be editorially interesting (which doesn\u2019t always match what the client wants to promote). We want to interview senior knowledgeable people, and they must expect questions beyond whatever it is the event is about. We need hi-res images from the event\u2014especially of those interviewees\u2014asap afterwards too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn summary, if you want media there, your first thought must be \u2018how are they going to justify their time to their editor\u2026?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I ever meet Andrew Davies, who shared these thoughts here on LinkedIn<\/a><\/b>\u2014and, notably, isn\u2019t in the yachting industry\u2014I\u2019m going to shake his hand vigorously and say, \u201cNailed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew\u2019s commentary appeared in my LinkedIn feed last week, coincidentally when I first sat down to write this. For the past few years, I\u2019ve noticed a trend come boat-show season. The number of press conferences is rising dramatically, yet some are more like thinly veiled cocktail parties (or lunches and breakfasts), lacking editorial substance. Since boat-show season is upon us, the issues are about to come front and center once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in good company with this frustration, a soft of club where none of us want to be card-carrying members. A few fellow yachting editors shared their annoyance with me during a show last year, all of us agreeing that it was all the more exasperating because the issue is so simple to avoid. We also talked about other press-conference issues, again finding common ground. So, based on those conversations as well as my own experiences, here\u2019s advice for those of you inviting us to your press events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Do send event details well in advance. A few exhibitors hosting press conferences at this month\u2019s Monaco Yacht Show sent \u201csave the date\u201d emails in July. More sent full RSVP requests in August. As the old saying goes, the early bird catches the worm.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Don\u2019t expect a big media crowd if you schedule a press conference the day before the show opens. It\u2019s nothing personal. Rather, it\u2019s a reflection of us being a multi-national group. Some of us will still be in the air when you\u2019re planning to step up to the microphone. Still others won\u2019t arrive until day one of the show, even with the luxury of a commute via train or car, because of obligations in the office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Do feel welcome to call or email us before you schedule your press event to check if other companies already announced their own press conferences for the same time. We\u2019ll gladly share what we know. The same is true of the show organizers’ media teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Don\u2019t schedule hours-long press conferences in the late afternoon or early evening. We\u2019ve been on the go and on our feet since the early morning, and all week. We are exhausted. (I\u2019ve gently nudged fellow friendly editors to wake them up.) Plus, we have client dinners and our own corporate events to shower and change for, too. Keep it simple, and keep it to an hour or less.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Do send a full press release and multiple good images specific to your announcement immediately following the press conference. This way, those of us at the show can write meaningful articles at our earliest convenience, or assign stories to editors back in the home office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Don\u2019t hold a press event unless you have something new\u2014truly new\u2014to share. One prominent yacht company has for the past two years devoted most of its press conferences to information revealed months prior. I recommend the 75-25 rule: at least 75 percent of the press conference should focus on never-before-discussed details.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Do understand that some of us won\u2019t be able to make your press event. The days of every media company sending full editorial staffs to boat shows are long gone. Between end-of-year budget tightening and, as Andrew Davies said, the need to justify the time, sometimes we\u2019re one-person bands. Off the top of my head, about a dozen major outlets send one or two editors\/writers. Considering there are more press conferences every year, sometimes back-to-back at opposite ends of the show, schedules are challenging. Again, it\u2019s not personal. I feel the need to repeat this, since a major builder became quite cross with me for not attending their event a few years ago. I chided them (as gently as I could at the end of a long day) for failing to realize they\u2019re not the only exhibitor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Don\u2019t schedule press conferences off site during show hours unless it\u2019s absolutely, positively necessary. Pre- and post-show hours are fine, since we have time to make our way over to the hotel or conference center. However, once the show opens, sites just a few minutes\u2019 walk from a main entrance are never \u201cjust\u201d a few minutes. Oftentimes, we have another press event, client meeting, or onboard tour within the show immediately before or after your event. Sometimes it\u2019s both, and sometimes they\u2019re at far ends of the show. We don\u2019t want to be late for any of you, and we don\u2019t want to cut any of you short, so when push comes to shove, appointments within the show tend to win out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Do ply us with water and coffee at press events during the day. There\u2019s no such thing as too much of either.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Don’t be late. Barring unforseen and unavoidable delays, start your press conference on time, and end it on time. Few things are as frustrating as having to walk out the door before you get to the vital details.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In early September, I published an article on LinkedIn, sharing best practices for organizing press events during yacht shows. It contained several do and don’t tips based on my own experiences as well as those of fellow exasperated editors. We shake our heads year after year at last-minute invitations, press conferences that run too long, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redhedink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}