Written by: Annette Densham, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Anyone who’s worked in the marketing space for long enough knows that when things go sideways, spending on promotion and marketing are the first to go. The fallout the past year is no different. As businesses went into hibernation or pulled in tight, clients pulled in their marketing spend like a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
This restraint to market and promote was not limited to a single industry; it was all encompassing, across multiple industries. COVID was an equal opportunity disruptor of business. Yet, there’s no better time to ramp up brand awareness than now. Businesses are slowly emerging from the fallout, licking their wounds, and assessing the best way forward … and investing in public relations (PR) is a great use of time and energy, especially if strategies you can learn to DIY inhouse.
By investing in brand awareness, your agency can use PR to position itself as the go-to amidst all this craziness as a voice of insight, great information and rock-solid messaging. While mainstream media has also taken a hit over the past few months, with regional and suburban mastheads ceasing print publication and moving online, there are a plethora of PR opportunities out there, ready to be taken advantage of by savvy agencies.
There’s such power in PR because it’s the ultimate in third party credibility and an impactful way to build know, like and trust. You cannot discount the value of someone else giving your kudos through the gamut of PR tools there to tap into. Businesses are going to be searching for a way forward, to recover lost business. Tapping into PR, sharing your stories across multiple platforms, will put you in front of them. With businesses feeling a little bruised and battered, the more stories you have out there, the more people can engage with your agency, the more you can earn their trust, the more clients you’ll attract.
PR starting point
The first place to start is spending time on reassessing who your ideal client is. Having a better understanding who your ideal client is means you can be laser focused on investing in targeting the right PR platforms. Knowing what industry, they are in, their job role, the size of the organisation, who their target audience is and what they are looking for will help you reach them quickly. Don’t forget those around your ideal client – the PAs and other staff who have influence within an organisation.
When you understand your audience, content has cut through; it speaks in the language of the audience, the tone hits the mark, and it understands the pain points. Defining your audience correctly and precisely, means you can target those most likely to buy from you with information that adds value, solves problems, showcases the agency’s expertise and talents, and builds a connection.
Targeting industry verticals
Understanding your ideal client means you have a deeper insight into the media to use to reach them. With so many ways to communicate, it is never a good idea to go the scattergun approach; taking aim across too many platforms diminishes messages and waters down the impact you can make. By understanding what media clients tap into to stay informed and updated, an agency can hone in on them, like a heat seeking missile packed with information that resonates with their audience.
Getting featured in mainstream media like Sunrise or ABC Radio is a great achievement but the challenge with this approach is if your audience are businesses, the likelihood of them tuning in is limited. That is why including a vertical media approach can elicit better results. Verticals media are specific outlets or platforms under an overarching industry. If your ideal client is in education, you could target break down your verticals into tertiary, secondary or private and public. Information can be tailored and speak directly to your ideal audience instead of a broader approach needed when targeting mainstream media. When you pitch to vertically, you can speak their language. When mapping out a PR plan, also consider vertical industry associations, trade shows and other events; they have newsletters, social media, and host industry events. PR is all about third party credibility, by tapping into industry verticals, already trusted by your shared audience, the battle for their business is half won.
Cast a wider net
There’s comfort and safety in sticking within an industry; like a comfy pair of shoes, well-worn and loved, many agencies focus on their own industry’s media. The problem with this is that is not where your target audience is; you’re talking to the converted. The only time to go to your industry’s media is for announcements. Spread your PR wings to include other types of media.
Spoilt for choice
Gone are the days when businesses only had Yellow Pages and mainstream media to rely on to get content out into the marketplace. There are so many platforms, to reach your ideal client. Since you have done that work, you can spread your stories far and wide. Consider:
blogs – on your site and others. Blogging for aligned businesses/industries means being able to reach a wider audience
industry newsletters
websites
social media – any of the platforms are a great way to reach potential clients
online news – there are thousands of online magazine and new sites that are hungry for great content.
Podcasts – give your agency personality and be accessible. With so many time-poor, these PR platforms are ideal for reaching an audience as they go about their day
TV/radio – there’s enormous value in appearing on mainstream programs but do not overlook Facebook live, ads on social media, and live radio and TV created by those within the industries being targeted.
Be generous with your content
If defining your ideal client is your PR anchor, then the content is the sail. Gone are the days when businesses can just sell, sell, sell. People want to know the businesses they work with care about them. You can do this by creating content that not only showcases your expertise and skills but also generously provides content that educates, informs, inspires, and gives. The key is to not talk about the agency but to create content that shows how you help clients and showcases knowledge and expertise. An integral aspect of a PR strategy is the editorial calendar; content that provides tips, advice, latest industry research, stats and figures, case studies of those helped within a sector and how tos. There’s a reticence to give away too much information; the thinking being that by being too generous with industry knowledge, the client will not need you, but the opposite is true. By being generous, an agency can build awareness and a reputation for their brand as the go-to and as a trusted partner in business.
When businesses need an agency to work with, where do they go looking? They Google it. Sharing content across a range of platforms, builds brand visibility; writing articles for online industry verticals, appearing on podcasts, writing blogs for the agency’s site and others, and being quoted in industry magazines helps with Google searches, pushing the agency to the front page ‒ organically. This is also useful because many journalists let their fingers do the searching, looking for great talent and stories using Google. If your agency is not prolifically creating content for PR purposes, you will be missed.
All of this can be done inhouse – learning how to do PR adds another tool to your marketing toolbelt.
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Annette Densham, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Multi-award-winning PR specialist Annette Densham is considered the go-to for all things business storytelling, award submission writing, and assisting business leaders in establishing themselves as authorities in their field. She has shared her insights into storytelling, media, and business across Australia, UK, and the US speaking for Professional Speakers Association, Stevie Awards, Queensland Government, and many more. Three times winner of the Grand Stevie Award for Women in Business, gold Stevie International Business Award, and a finalist in Australian Small Business Champion awards, Annette audaciously challenges anyone in small business to cast aside modesty, embrace their genius and share their stories.
