The connected PR campaign
When it comes to assessing the value of PR, there are many different theories over which part of a campaign proves to have the biggest impact on a business. We don’t however, believe it’s good to focus on just on one or two or even three aspects – it’s the whole package that gives a campaign longevity. And for us, it’s something that has resulted in us having a lot of long standing clients, as well as being a vital part of the small client projects that we have worked on.
1. Relationship building
For us, this starts from day one. We work hard to always have open dialogue with our clients to understand the direction that they want to take the business and how they want PR to support it. It’s not a one off conversation and we continually speak to clients throughout our relationship, having frequent calls and meetings to discuss how the campaign is going and to agree future plans. It’s one of the most important parts of any successful PR campaign, along with our on-going engagement with journalists. Furthermore, when we have clients who are happy to put themselves forward for comment, we’re able to secure phone or face to face interviews for them, which generates really strong pieces of coverage and tells a journalist that they are a good source for industry quotes.
2. Third party endorsement
A business shouting about how great its product or service is, is one thing. Having someone else do it for you takes the business to another level. A journalist that is writing for a publication or website that talks directly to your targeted audience, and therefore your prospects, will have substantially more influence over them than a business will potentially ever have on its own. Sharing a business’ insight into an industry or consumer issue and providing a solution to help businesses or their customers will automatically have more power behind it and be more hard hitting. Also, even if comment hits a publication that isn’t considered to be a top tier target – all coverage is still promotion for what you do! Don’t forget, third party endorsements also help with Google rankings.
3. Website traffic
PR strategies are excellent for assisting organic SEO activity. By placing your content on highly ranking pages – such as industry publications – and boosting implied links, your website will be boosted in Google searches to appear alongside the publications carrying your content.
4. Social media reach
It’s true that LinkedIn and Twitter are seen as the two key social media platforms for businesses with Facebook also an option, though more consumer focused. The number of impressions (eyeballs on a post) and the level of engagement, number of followers, shares, likes etc that an update gets all help promote your business. It’s important though, to not just shout about your products and services but back this up with sharing articles of interest for your followers, coverage and taking part in key conversations that are happening within the world of social media.
5. Website content
It’s important that key words used on a company’s website are also used in PR content. New fresh website content also helps with SEO and content used within the PR campaign can be repurposed not only within marketing efforts but online too, such as blogs. Again, all of this is good to use within social media campaigns, directing followers to your website – see it’s all linked together!
6. Print or online
We’re living in an increasingly digital world, and thanks to social media, the internet has become the place to digest news and other articles. Online tends to have the highest circulation figure and of course, helps to boost SEO, but print magazines and newspapers have a wide, loyal readership. Plus, there’s always a degree of satisfaction seeing your name in print. It’s always useful to take along print coverage to pitches or even have a copy of the magazine or newspaper in your reception for customers and prospects to browse through.
7. Lead generation and sales
Ultimately, PR needs to support the sales team and can result in direct sales leads but almost all the content produced can be used within the sales pipeline, including the coverage achieved. How valuable is it to be able to show prospects where you’ve received coverage and have content that shows you’re thought leaders in your market and have customer case studies that echo your sales message.
So, this is how we approach our campaigns here at Neo PR and we encourage our clients to view them in the same light. Working closely together on all of these areas helps to achieve the results both us and our clients want.
Need help getting to grips with getting your PR campaign off the ground? Give us a call! 01296 733 867.
