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Press Release

North Coast Communications Advising Disaster Relief, Climate Campaign

North Coast Communications LLC Logo

WASHINGTON—Mar. 6, 2023—North Coast Communications, a digital public relations and communications consultancy, is advising a disaster relief and climate campaign benefiting families and individuals affected by 2022 monsoon flooding in Pakistan. With Shezad Habib, President and Managing Partner at Manhattan Strategy Group, North Coast Communications is implementing a public relations and development strategy for The i-Care Foundation.

The campaign has produced in-person and virtual engagements with,

  • U.S. Federal Government agencies,
  • the United Nations Environment Programme,
  • U.S. foundations and philanthropies,
  • think tanks and policy institutes in Washington, D.C.,
  • national and international news media,
  • non-governmental organizations, and
  • corporations.

The campaign is boosting The i-Care Foundation’s response to 2022 monsoon flooding, The Coalition for Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction, which has benefited over 500,000 individuals impacted by climate change. The i-Care Foundation is a donor-advised fund and international charitable organization that works with and oversees a network of vetted charities and partners to uplift underserved communities in Pakistan.   

“The climate challenge requires governance, process and system innovations,” said David N. Silverman, Founder and President of North Coast Communications. “We’re helping raise awareness about a philanthropic model that can respond to evolving needs dynamically and with scale.”

Within three months of flooding, The i-Care Foundation’s flood-response coalition coordinated a multi-sector disaster response that reached over 500,000 beneficiaries in over 39 districts. More remains to be done. As many as 4 million children are still living near contaminated and stagnant flood waters and an estimated 9 million people are being pushed into poverty or forced to forego their education. To support The i-Care Foundation disaster relief and climate campaign, please visit The I-Care Foundation website.

About North Coast Communications

North Coast Communications helps organizations, projects, and programs effectively plan, implement, and optimize their digital public relations and communications. David N. Silverman started North Coast Communications in 2020 because mission-driven organizations, businesses, and social-impact campaigns need trusted PR and communications expertise at a fair value. Based in Washington, D.C., North Coast Communications supports public affairs campaigns and private, nonprofit, and public sector clients.

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Good, Done Well

Press Release Protocol for SMBs and NGOs

North Coast Communications Press Release Protocol for SMBs and NGOs Hero Image

A press release protocol is a strategic necessity.

True, the press release is not the cornerstone of public relations and communications it once was. But information is no longer produced and distributed the way it once was. Newsprint, cable, and radio news desks are no longer the exclusive arbiters of what is, or what is not, news.

Nonetheless, a press release should remain part of your digital public relations and communications strategy. Because, when publishing and distribution are well planned, a press release benefits your brand, organization, or campaign in multiple ways.

How a press release helps you

  1. A press release is a factor in your online discoverability (i.e., SEO).
  2. A press release is a source for secondary and repurposed content (i.e., social media).
  3. A press release captures and demonstrates institutional credibility and performance.
  4. A press release is a critical step for developing media relations and winning media coverage.
  5. A press release is a vehicle for building customer trust and engagement.

The press release is still important.

And, in the age of digital public relations and paywall journalism, it remains one of the only sources of information that everyone can still freely access and one of the most trusted. That’s important, too.

With all that said, don’t count on a newswire service to do the heavy lifting for you. Simply submitting a press release to one of the many pay-for services won’t guarantee distribution to your target audience. You may just end up paying exorbitant sums for mere vanity metrics and no publicity.

Instead, first ask, how should I publish and distribute my press release?

A step-by-step guide for your press release

This is a modern press release protocol for SMBs and NGOs.

Use it and you’ll not only own your news, but you’ll see if it blazes, burns, or fizzles. Then, if your analytics suggest that your community digs it, distribute it via paid newswire to traditional media for more consideration, and to reach more of your target audience.

An 11-Step Modern Press Release Protocol

  1. Define keywords or phrases that will attract attention from your target audience. Include them in the headline.
  2. Create a meta description that accurately summarizes the content and reinforces its key value to the reader. Use that meta description as a subtitle under the headline.
  3. Optimize the content for online search. Include keywords throughout the piece but maintain readability. Use subheadings to improve readability and break up text into logical segments.
  4. Include calls-to-action for direct access to related information. Include links to relevant pages on your website. Include a quote or two. A quote can increase the likelihood of it being published should the editor/writer decide to run it as a brief. Include a contact for additional reporting inquiries.
  5. Now own the press release. Embed it in your website. Create a dedicated URL and more feature content and social media sharing widgets. Link to it from other pages on your site and, if possible, partner sites.
  6. Provide a sharable and printable PDF version. Include high-resolution photos and videos as part of a hosted digital media kit.
  7. Push the release to customers and prospects via email, chat, community groups, etc. Share it directly with social media influencers interested in your niche.
  8. Share on social media using hashtags identical to the press release keywords and phrases. Follow social engagement strategies to promote it.
  9. Stop and listen. Analyze audience feedback, site traffic, and any social chatter. Is your audience talking about it? What is the general sentiment?
  10. If you are sensing traction, pitch your release to your favorite journalist as an exclusive or to your media list.
  11. Ready to go further and you have the budget? Pay up. Pick a newswire service and push your press release to editors and journalists. There are many options: PR Newswire, Business Wire, GlobeNewswire, PRWeb, eReleases, Newswire Today, Press Release Jet, Newsmaker, PR Underground, Nova Release, and more. Want to scale down? Consider regional or niche-specific options.

Performance review

This is a press release protocol for SMBs and NGOs. It can be improved and tailored to your needs.

You followed the steps above. Now take some time to look at what worked and what didn’t. Here are some sample questions to kick off your review.

Performance Review Sample Questions

  • Did we adhere to an effective schedule?
  • Did we have the right target audience for our news?
  • What does engagement data from owned media indicate?
  • What does engagement data from paid media indicate?
  • Did we get earned media coverage? Who are their readers?
  • Does the demographic data for engagement align with our audience personas? Maybe there is a new market to target.

For SMBs and NGOs, a press release protocol is a strategic necessity for effective digital public relations and communications. Plan your distribution well and your brand, organization, or campaign will benefit. Make it a component of your digital public relations and communications toolkit.

If you have questions, we can help.

If you want to download or share this article, here is a PDF.

Categories
Good, Done Well

Digital PR and Communications to Grow a Community Organization

Newton Southeast Little League logo

North Coast Communications used digital PR and communications to help Newton Southeast Little League recruit players and volunteers and raise funds for youth sports programming.

Review

North Coast Communications (NCC) was brought on to assist our Massachusetts little league organization with off-season registration and communication activities.  E-mail and registration communication metrics were significantly higher under NCC management, when compared to metrics of prior years.  NCC was adept in managing social media accounts and partnered seamlessly with league representatives in the generation of content across several platforms.  I fully expect our league will engage NCC in the future on new collaborations.  Highly recommend!

Kyle Mikulis, Google Review

North Coast managed the organization’s social media and email marketing channels, producing newsletter and social media content for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and led its communications and distribution strategy.

For North Coast Communications, it wasn’t the first time working with a mission-driven organization or managing social media accounts. (In fact, I did these tasks frequently as a Federal government contractor.) We’re happy to support youth sports because we know first-hand how they can positively impact a child’s life. That’s #GoodDoneWell.

How can North Coast can help you? Tell us.

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Good, Done Well

Audience Segmentation in Public Affairs

Source: Gary Fox

Getting the right message in front of the right person at the right moment is easy–if you have a bottomless budget and unlimited time. The truth is no one has both and most folks have neither.

That’s why North Coast Communications is helping a state-level advocacy campaign focused on enhancing the voting process. And we are seeing early and promising success in our social media campaign.

Why? Because we know the audience. We knew the audience before we started testing. Frankly, we knew the audience before we even started planning.

If you can have those audience insights early, you are, in effect, creating extra time and budget for your project or campaign.

Apropos, this article on Psychographic Segmentation from Unbounce. It is a rock-solid introduction.

Your campaign, project, or nonprofit can–and should–use psychographic segmentation and other audience learnings to improve your communications and outreach. If you need help, reach out for a free consultation.

-David

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Good, Done Well

Building a Better Digital Presence for NH Tech and Business Lawyer

“I needed a strategic approach and technical know-how to build and harmonize my organization’s brand and digital presence. North Coast Communications listened first and then provided communications and marketing advice. David stood up a nice, clean website for me and made sure my story was told well and told consistently across digital platforms.” -Ross W. Fishbein, Managing Partner at Fishbein Legal

Lawyers and law firms, like charities and nonprofits, need to differentiate themselves. In today’s world, that means building an effective and honest brand and digital presence.

North Coast Communications connected with Ross, understood his needs, scoped out the work, and set up a timeline and workplan. Then, we went into the lab and completed his project, on time, on budget, and to his complete satisfaction.

I started North Coast Communications to help folks like Ross build their brand and digital presence. Fishbein Legal does great work. Not only is Ross is involved in his community, but he frequently provides pro-bono and low-fee legal services to nascent and small local businesses. He understands Good, Done Well and what North Coast Communications is all about.

So, if you need help finding or raising your digital voice, let’s talk about it. Just email me, and we’ll set up a time to chat.

Forward!

David

An image of Fishbein Legal website.
Categories
Good, Done Well

North Coast Communications Launches Brand Website and Social Media

We exist to help social impact organizations, campaigns, and nonprofits plan, launch, and manage their communications and public relations.

Consequently, we take brand style and look-and-feel seriously. Here is some of the thinking and review that went into our own site.

The website is purposely austere, simple, and direct. It is built on the WordPress Twenty Twenty Theme. It employs two sanserif fonts, Poppins and Open Sans, for easy reading and includes a pallet of subtle primary colors: blue, black, and white. Lastly, a neon pink serves as a bold accent color. No space is wasted.

The logo, designed by David N. Silverman, evokes nautical navigation. The “N” suggests the directional, north, and represents the first word in the company name. Encircled, like compass face, by two “Cs” that educe the navigational. Together, these elements convey the brand initialism: NCC, North Coast Communications.

Learn more about us and follow along here and on social media.