Free pass to "Integrating Online & Print Communications Course"

A lucky reader of this blog can win a no-strings-attached guest pass to the Federated Press 10th Integrating Online & Print Communications Course at the Courtyard By Marriott in Toronto on September 13 and 14, 2010. This pass is valued at $1,975.

At this event, I'll be presenting a session on push vs. pull media, including:

• Pros and cons of pull media
• Pros and cons of push media
• Types of information suited for push and pull media
• The latest (and most effective) tools to implement your strategy
• Integrating push and pull tactics to enhance your communications plan
• Ensuring your overall strategy is aligned with the business strategy

To win this free pass, please supply ONE idea for each of the above bullet points in the comments section below. That's it! I will choose randomly from the entries and announce the winner of the guest pass at the close of business on Thursday, September 9. Hurry!

Comments

[Susan Masterson]

❏ Pros and cons of pull media – Pro: prospective client requests the data, so it is defined as meeting their current needs. Con: If the client is not tech savvy, they may not know how to search effectively for the data that they require.
❏ Pros and cons of push media – Pro: delivers an organization’s message to a wider audience. Con: Not all subscribers will be viable prospects.
❏ Types of information suited for push and pull media – RSS/web feeds, newsletters, blogs, product advertising, web conferencing.
❏ The latest (and most effective) tools to implement your strategy – social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter / subscription services like Constant Contact / WebSockets on Google Chrome.
❏ Integrating push and pull tactics to enhance your communications plan – To expand your pull/reach, you might focus on improving your ranking with the various search engines through expanding your keywords, etc. and then you will want to verify your success by analyzing the results of this effort and then you could refine your push tactics accordingly, such as offering something at a low or no cost to make the initial connection, following up with related offers that match the target’s interest and always giving subscribers the opportunity to unsubscribe – which ultimately lets you reach and retain your true target audience.
❏ Ensuring your overall strategy is aligned with the business strategy – tough place to make a general suggestion/recommendation as each organization’s business strategy will be tied to their individual market and the skills, assets, finances and technical competencies that allow them to compete, as well as the existing external and environmental factors that may impact their business. In a narrow manufacturing environment for example, the target audience may be more inclined to rely on white papers and product and technical specs, which may be more likely delivered by traditional means of communication.