DECEMBER 19, 2022

The Marketplace Excellence team wishes you a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for your support of and contributions to our content over the past several months. We will return on Monday, January 9. Until then, have a blessed and joyous Christmas and a most excellent start to 2023!

Marketing and PR outlook for 2023

Last week we focused on some of the travel trends we anticipate for 2023, including travelers wanting authentic experiences and those which are kind to the environment and the communities that deliver service to visitors. This week we take a look at the top marketing and PR tools we expect will be used heavily in Q1. * Lockdowns and self-isolation increased our reliance on social media, so a major focus for marketers and public relations professionals should be on all manner of social media channels and digital outlets. * Audiovisual content becomes much more important in the post-pandemic era.  * More dynamic, gripping creativity should be developed and employed for all messaging.  * In a break from past practices, artwork can be woven creatively into news, features, and yes, the news or press release.  * Despite its detractors, the press release is not dead. It remains an important story-telling tool that PR pros can use to their strategic advantage. * LinkedIn and other platforms can be mined for content and story leads to pitch journalists. * Training for the realities of post-pandemic communications and media will be key.

End-of-year recap: How to get the story “write”

The ABCs of writing for the media As we reflect on 2022, one highlight of the content we shared is our four-part series on writing for the media, something our team does in some form every day. Here’s a brief recap. Geared toward marketing and public relations professionals, Getting the story “write” delved into the ABCs of writing for the media. We broke it down into the following points: * Authenticity * Building Relationships  * Clear, Concise and CorrectDemographics In our first segment, we talked about authenticity. Journalists can smell a sales pitch coming from a mile away, and they rarely want those. Share honest, media-appropriate stories about your clients. Members of the media respond well to what is genuine. Next, we talked about building relationships. Writing for the media boils down to creating positive connections with journalists, TV hosts, radio producers and the like. If these busy professionals enjoy working with you and your clients, they’ll probably want to work with you again. They may even open doors to others who may be interested in your story. Our third installment spoke to the value of being clear, concise and correct in your writing. Simple language that gets to the point quickly and does so while being accurate is the best route to take. Bonus points for using the correct spelling and journalistic style for the publication/media house to which you’re submitting. Making a journalist’s job easier will only work in your favor. Finally, we addressed the issue of demographics. Finding your audience is key to helping your story reach more people. Naturally, you need to focus on the obvious markets for your clients’ products or services, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Consider the community connections your clients have and think about their background and interests. What are some untapped markets you can explore? These points create a roadmap for successful storytelling. Determine the people you want to reach, tell your story honestly and accurately, and nurture the relationships you form so you can tell them more stories in the future.

Neki Mohan

Next up in our “Diversity in the Diaspora” segment is Caribbean-American communicator Neki Mohan, Vice President of Multicultural Business & Community Engagement for Visit Lauderdale. The longtime resident of Broward Country is a passionate advocate for showcasing the diversity of her community and creating opportunities for everyone. As a veteran journalist, she is known for her energetic storytelling and has won awards for her work at home and abroad. In 2020, she launched her own media company and has been shining a spotlight on things she loves about her community in South Florida and the Caribbean.  A sought-after motivational speaker and moderator, Mohan is a key resource to teams getting out vital information to the community. Passionate about building community and sharing good news, she has served as an ambassador for the Caribbean community on arts and culture, health news, education and empowering women.  Mohan anchored a No. 1-rated morning show at the ABC affiliate in Miami for more than a decade. Her reporting has taken her across the Caribbean, the United States and globe. She has covered red carpet events, world leaders and some of the biggest news stories at 10 television stations in five cities.  Born in Brooklyn to West Indian parents, she was raised in Trinidad and Tobago and came back to the U.S. for college. She began her career alongside journalism greats such as Carole Simpson, Peter Jennings, David Brinkley and Sam Donaldson at ABC News’ Washington Bureau. Mohan’s on-air career began in Jackson, Mississippi and has taken her to Los Angeles, Cleveland and Miami for two decades. Mohan has been mentoring for the Women of Tomorrow program for 20 years. She has also been an adjunct professor at Barry Universityand is a board member of the Jack and Jill Early Childhood Education Center in Fort Lauderdale. What makes this dynamic professional tick? Stay tuned, and we’ll tell you more later in the week.

Digital Digest

Understanding your Website Analytics 101 A website is an online digital store for your brand. Websites are not only a great tool to carry the brand’s message, services and products but they are also a key resource to understand your audience. Traffic landing on your website is constantly leaving a footprint. Understanding and acting on these insights can be helpful in developing your brand’s communications strategy. * Users: This is the number of people who visit your website. The number helps you to understand your website’s performance. Everything else is secondary for analysis; if there’s no traffic on the site, there’s nothing from which to extract information. * Source: It is critical to understand from where the traffic is coming. If your website has great domain authority, then most traffic would be direct; strong SEO indicates traffic coming from search engines; an excellent social media presence means traffic coming from social media channels; and if your website has strong mentions that means traffic is coming from referrals. * Bounce Rate: This is defined as the “single-page session” on your website, which means users left the site without taking any action. Websites with no clear call to action (CTA), high load time, distracting popups, etc. usually have a high bounce rate. We suggest making your homepage as welcoming as possible. * Session Duration: This is defined as the timeframe during which users arrive, interact and exit your website. If your website is offering relevant, interactive content, the session duration will be high. The higher the session duration, the more time people are spending on the site. Feel free to reach out to us for help understanding your website analytics in detail.

Medical Moment

PAHO director offers advice for the holiday season Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Dr. Carissa F. Etienne advises countries to keep communities safe leading up to Christmas and New Year festivities. With reports of increases in COVID-19 infections, seasonal influenza,and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in the Americas, Dr. Etienne advised that the strategies used to limit the spread of COVID-19, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, also apply to other respiratory diseases, including RSV, for which there is currently no vaccine. She further indicated that although reported vaccine-prevented diseases such as monkeypox and polio have declined, the cholera situation in Haiti continues to worsen. The PAHO leader cautioned that communities must remain vigilantabout all of these health threats and not take the lessons learned from COVID-19 for granted.

MPE Caribbean Report

This week the MPE Caribbean Report reflects on the resilience of the Caribbean’s travel and tourism sector and its committed stakeholders.

Marketplace Excellence Corporation (MPE) is a global public relations, marketing and media company.