Zer0 to 5ive recently added another award to our extensive list of accolades. This time it was the industry coveted PRSA Silver Anvil! Considered the icon of best public relations practices, the Silver Anvil is awarded annually to organizations that meet the highest standards of performance in the industry. Symbolizing the forging of public opinion, the Silver Anvil recognizes successful programs that incorporate sound research, planning, execution and evaluation.

0to5 won this year’s Silver Anvil in Integrated Communications in recognition of their work on CashEdge.Inc’s innovative “Popmoney” campaign.

The campaign was a tremendous success exceeding all goals and ultimately resulting in tremendous media coverage, seven new customers and a pipeline of hundreds of prospects. The campaign achieved more than 250+ million media impressions, including more than 150 articles, 25 interviews, 5,000+ release postings, 85+ tweets and retweets.

Our special thanks goes out to CashEdge Inc. and everyone who helped make this campaign such a smashing success!

By the Zer0 to 5ive Team

As more and more magazines, newspapers and trade publications move into the digital space, public relation firms can leverage SEO tactics to gain greater exposure for their clients.

Journalists and bloggers are using search engines and tweeting and blogging today’s hottest topics. The majority of online content is redistributed content; bloggers and online writers find content and re-post or rehash it. This means that making your PR materials SEO friendly can help you generate continued pick-up online and gain your clients further exposure.

For many traditional public relation firms, SEO may be a new challenge. However, it’s one that must be adopted for greatest success. Here is broad overview of the components that make a press release SEO friendly. Look for future blog posts that dive deeper into each of these areas and download our free SEO Guide to maximize your search presence.

Select Smart Keywords: What are the key search terms that are relevant to your content or your client? Choose 3 or 4 terms that are most relevant to the piece. Keywords with higher search volume are more competitive and harder to rank for, so be selective of the keywords you want to target. Including geo-specific terms can help you eliminate competition. For example, “Philadelphia PR Firm”, “Philadelphia Online Marketing”, or “PA Integrated Marketing” would be targeted terms that Zer0 to 5ive would like to have visibility for. The term “Public Relations” has a far larger scope but may be too competitive to rank for.

Include Keywords: Once you select the best search terms for your content, include them in the piece as much as possible without detracting from the piece’s clarity. Including the phrase verbatim in the title is key, as this title will often have an H1 Tag (an html component in the copy of a webpage) and be included in the Title Tag (html code that displays at the top of a webpage)once brought onto other website domains.

If your client posts the release to their website, be sure to tell their IT team to include the keyword phrases in their Title Tags, Description Tags, and Keyword Tags. Also tell the programmer to use header tags in the copy when the phrase is used. Provide the piece in plain html; do not use it as a PDF or image. This will help search engines see what words you are relevant for.

Use Links: Including links in your materials can be a savvy SEO practice. When you use a keyword in the body of the press release, hyperlink it back to the client’s website. When the content is picked up on a new URL, this link will help boost the SEO of your client’s website.

You can even link the article to itself if it is hosted on the client’s website. Again it is important to be selective. Covering your materials with links can detract from the flow of the piece and make it look spammy. Linking in a boiler plate or author bio section is a good technique for maintaining your credibility and gaining an SEO edge.

Utilize Linking Resources: If you have a Facebook page, Twitter account or blog, include a keyword rich link to the article once it is hosted on the client’s website. For example: Zer0 to 5ive PR Firm Tackles SEO. Remember to use keywords in the anchor text.

All of these tactics can help your piece make its way onto search engine result pages. Use the checklist below and look out for future posts that explain these components in full-detail. Keep all of these tips and the checklist below in mind for your next release and let Google do some pitching for you!

SEO Checklist

• Research keywords for your target audience/subject matter

• Select 3-4 keywords or phrases to target in the release

• Add these keywords to your release title and sub-titles (Header tags if possible)

• Add keywords strategically within the body of your release

• Add 3-4 links that point to the client’s website, by hyper linking a targeted keyword (this can be done in the body of the release or in the boilerplates)

• Have links pointing to the content from any blog or social media outlet available

Post by Zer0 to 5ive’s SEO Strategist Ryan Purtill

The start of every year brims with opportunities for great marketing and results. Here are some key take-aways from 2009 as we move into 2010.

Key Marketing Take-Aways From 2009

1. Your message and brand fundamentals are as critical as ever

2. The addition of a multitude of new channels via social media only means that it is more important than ever to understand who your audience is and where they get their information

3. The press release is not dead – in fact it is more versatile and useful than ever before

4. SEO is critical, but it must be aligned with traditional marketing strategies

5. Customers and prospects still love – and react to – great creative in all its forms

6. Customers will tell you what you want to know if you ask the right questions

7. In an age of electronic communications, a phone call or hand-written note goes a long way. Along those lines, bulky direct mail gets opened

8. Despite the decline of print media, nothing makes a client more excited than seeing their name in print

9. A great customer reference is invaluable

10. Measurement in all its forms continues to be a challenge – but it can be done and with the growth of web analytic, instant metrics are becoming an industry standard.

And, as always, an integrated strategic communications plan that takes into account all facets of marketing and public relations always delivers the best results! Begin 2010 with a resolution to make your marketing count.

Post by Zer0 to 5ive CEO Michelle Pujadas

Thursday night, I was at the PRSA’s Silver Anvil awards and we won in the Integrated Communications: Business to Business category for our work with the School Systems group of Pearson.  As I watched the highlights of the winning campaigns, one thing became apparent.  Not only was it about the results — the awareness and brand building — it was about the research, strategy and subsequent “big idea” that held all of these campaigns together to get the results.  Big ideas are important — they are the breakthroughs that help engage your audiences. For me, it’s the excitement of marrying strategy with creativity.  Even with the onslaught of social media, the big idea hasn’t gone away, it’s just found additional outlets to engage.

Key elements of the integrated Powering Performance marketing and communications program centered on the Powering Performance theme and engaging and informing all of Pearson’s key audiences. The campaign also included a major customer migration program, a new web site, ongoing education-leadership initiatives, industry research, consumer surveys and top-tier media coverage.

This Silver Anvil represents work from all four Zer0 to 5ive offices and encompasses research, branding, creative, public relations, writing, marketing and social media. Nine 0to5ers touched at least one part of the overall campaign!

This was my second Silver Anvil, and it was as much of a high as the first time around.  We also won the Silver Anvil Award of Excellence in 2004.  If you would like a copy of our Anvil submission, send me an email or give me a call.  In our world, all companies, large and small, deserve award-winning work and we’re happy to share our approach. 

(posted by Michelle Pujadas)

Welcome to the Zer0 to 5ive blog. While many of our team members have been actively blogging on their own for years, this is our first foray as a group with the goal of sharing ideas, sparking discussions and examining the changing face of marketing and communications.

We all know that our communications landscape is changing. In just a few short years, we have seen the rise of new channels and the demise of long-standing media outlets. We’ve seen marketing and communications evolve to a new level of complexity and overlap. But we have also seen “old” tactics resurrected. At the same time we are tweeting, we are sending bulky direct mail. At the same time we are blogging, we are engaging customers and prospects through newsletters and seminars. It has all come down to the simple foundations of brand building — message and audience. What has changed is the myriad of channels we can now use to package and present ourselves. For each client and brand, the mix of channels change — that is the excitement and the challenge.

So, thanks for tuning into this channel — we encourage you to jump in and join the discussion!