Originally posted to www.carnsight.com and written by work experience placement, Ruby.
Today we’re handing over the blog to Ruby who’s been doing work experience with us this week at Carnsight. It’s been fantastic having Ruby in the office and she’s handled every task we’ve thrown at her incredibly well. Here’s Ruby to report back on a week at Carnsight Communications…
Hello, I’m Ruby and I have spent the last week at Carnsight Communications partaking in work experience. In the last week my eyes have been opened to the world of PR and I have learnt so much more than I even could have imagined.
Walking to the Carnsight office on Monday morning I found myself wracked with nerves that I don’t usually experience. I consider myself to be confident when it comes to meeting new people and trying new activities however, my commute to the office was full of worries and ‘what-if’s’. However, within two minutes of being at the Carnsight office I found myself instantly relaxing as I looked around the office at four young, smiling women. The whole team was so friendly and made me feel welcomed instantly.
Senior Account Manager, Leigh-Ann, walked me through exactly what is done here at Carnsight Communications and I learned about all the different positions in a PR business. Being made aware of all roles such as leading client accounts, ghost writing, media releases and social media content creation exposed me to the variety that the day in the Carnsight office brings.
My first task was writing a press-release for Carnsight themselves and whilst I felt slightly overwhelmed the women here at Carnsight were quick to increase my confidence by ensuring me I was doing a good job as a complete newbie. Since then, I have created social media content for Yasmin and Alex, and written the fortnightly newsletter, which I did find challenging! However it definitely gave me an interesting insight to the type of clients that Carnsight works with.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my week here and found myself loving the different tasks that each day brings. I admire the work that the women at Carnsight do day in and day out and marvel at the way Jess has created and grown this business over the last eight years. I will always take pride in my weeks work here at this successful women-owned business.
The last week here at Carnsight communication has inspired me to work hard in my second year of A Levels to ensure good results in my exams next year. I would love to go University to study Psychology and one day enjoy working in a profession I love, like the women here at Carnsight do.
If you’re interested in reading more about work experience at Carnsight check out Martha’s blog, our work experience student from last year.
Originally posted to www.carnsight.com
Any PR worth their salt will be looking at any and every way they can secure good coverage in the right publication for their clients. They’ll know a number of different routes in, and they’ll always be looking for new and creative approaches to securing coverage.
PRs also understand that the way into these right publications will be different depending on several factors from the type of publication itself, and the relationship built between publication and client, to the strength of the story and the existing profile of the client.
One way to secure coverage in big and wide-reaching publications which is often overlooked is through response articlesand letters to the editor. We’ll come back to response articles in a later blog, but today let’s talk about why letters to the editor are a great way to secure some excellent coverage, and how you can write an editor letter that stands out.
There are a number of reasons editor letters are a fantastic form of coverage and can be considered a great way to get into a publication.
First of all, editor letters serve to amplify your expertise. Submitting a letter to the editor allows you to showcase your knowledge and expertise in a specific field. When responding to an article, you can provide additional information, offer alternative perspectives, or even try to provide solutions to the issues raised. By sharing your insights, you demonstrate to both the publication’s editorial team and its readers that you possess a deep understanding of the subject matter.
Letters to the editor provide a unique opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussions with other industry professionals. When your letter is published, it opens the door to a wider conversation. Readers and other experts may respond to your letter, offering alternative perspectives or expanding upon the ideas you presented. Engaging in these discussions not only expands your own understanding but also enables you to forge connections with like-minded individuals who share your passions and experiences.
To expand on that, the letters to the editor section is a networking goldmine. When your letter is published, you gain visibility among readers who may be interested in your point of view and offering. This exposure can lead to new opportunities. By actively participating in the discussion that follows your letter, you have the chance to connect with other professionals.
By expressing your views on important issues using an existing publication platform, you can contribute to the public discourse and potentially sway opinions. Your insights may reach decision-makers, journalists, or influential individuals who have the ability to effect change.
If you want to get your letter featured, you’ll need to stand out from the crowd. Here are some simple but crucial tips for writing a great letter to the editor.
This might sound ridiculously obvious, but you’d be surprised. Make sure you’ve read the publication – including letters to the editor – and ensure this shows in your letter. Highlight elements of other articles that you read and use that to form the basis of your letter. Respond to an argument or question already posed.
Keep your letter short and sweet. Editors receive numerous submissions, so it’s important to make yours clear and focused. Stick to one main idea or argument and support it with relevant facts or examples.
Consider starting with a compelling anecdote, a thought-provoking question, or a nice stat. The opening should be concise but engaging.
Back up your claims with evidence or examples to strengthen your argument. This could include citing sources, referring to relevant studies or research, or sharing personal experiences. Providing evidence helps to establish your credibility and makes your letter more persuasive.
A given (you’d hope).
Before submitting your letter, carefully proofread it to ensure accuracy and clarity. Check for spelling and grammar errors, and make sure your sentences are clear and coherent. You can find our top tips for spotting typos here.
Submitting a letter to the editor is a powerful tool for engagement, expertise recognition, and networking. So, next time you find yourself moved by an article, seize the opportunity to share your thoughts with the wider world through a letter to the editor. And use these tips to maximise its effectiveness. You never know where it may lead you.
This article was originally posted on: www.carnsight.com
Whether you’re creating a social media strategy for B2B or B2C, the end goal remains the same, to grow your business to the best of its ability. By now, we understand that having a social media presence is crucial for whoever your target audience may be. However, creating social media content for your business can be tricky when you are targeting both B2B and B2C. In this blog, we will be sharing three things to keep in mind for targeting either business or consumer, ensuring that your content is correctly transferred between the two.
B2C is all about connecting and building relationships with your everyday customer. A good way to do this is with storytelling. Your message should be delivered with emotion and share personal experiences or struggles that resonate with your audience, before offering a solution that to enhance their lives. This audience is broad and want a quick fix to their everyday problems.
B2B branding is a little bit different. Your aim here should be to portray your business as an active and credible player in the industry. You should be highlighting your company’s expertise as well as provide in-depth hard data to support your product or service. Your target audience is a lot smaller in B2B than it is in B2C, so you need to make sure your content is on point in portraying your brand as an industry expert. This content will, overtime, build awareness and increase interest, and tempt big decision makers of businesses into considering your product/service eventually making a purchase.
With B2C, you must step into the shoes of your consumer. Their perspective is important and should be used as a guide to your content creation. The language must be straightforward and in a relatable voice. Your tone must be casual and friendly. Be strategic, use emotion to your advantage, and leave any technical jargon at the door.
B2B on the other hand, is where you’re targeting big decision makers and other professionals who share your expertise. For this type of content, emotion should be left behind, and your focus should remain on providing detailed, comprehensive information about your product or service. Your tone should be professional, formal, and trustworthy.
It’s important to thoroughly understand where each audience is to tailor your content accordingly. There are many factors that can be considered here, but as a guide, this is what we recommend:
B2C: Facebook is the number 1 social media marketing platform according to workspace.digital. This is due to the mindset of users on the platform switching from business mode to consumer mode. Depending on what your business offers, Instagram is also a great place for B2C content. A report by Photonics states that 60% of B2C companies reported an increase in sales due to using these platforms.
B2B: LinkedIn is the clear and obvious answer here, with 97% if B2B companies using LinkedIn to share their content. Another popular platform for B2B targeting is Twitter, due to the platforms offering of fast feedback, being able to seamlessly jump on industry trends or simply to build brand awareness.
Need help growing your LinkedIn Business profile? Read our blog on four ways to grow your LinkedIn business page.
Originally posted on www.carnsight.com:
This week’s blog is an exciting guest feature to help get you radio ready. Industry expert Jill Misson has taken over the Carnsight blog to deliver some insightful tips for on-air deliveries and on-the-spot speaking straight from the source. She is a freelance writer and broadcaster with over 20 years experience working on radio stations in the UK and around the world. As a presenter and producer she has hosted programmes, podcasts and documentaries for the BBC and BFBS. Without further ado, here’s what Jill has to say on the matter.
If the thought of taking part in a radio interview or podcast fills you with horror, you’re not alone. No-one likes the sound of their own voice and it can be intimidating to imagine everyone listening to every word you have to say. However, it would be a shame to miss out on a good opportunity by simply talking yourself out of it.
With good preparation and some insight into what to expect, you can accept that invitation with confidence. You never know, you may even enjoy the experience!
If you are being asked to talk about a topic on radio or on a podcast, the chances are you know it inside out. Whether it is your industry, your product or your personal story, this is an area you already understand well. If this was Mastermind, it would be your specialist subject and not the quick-fire general knowledge round. Remember that even if you are an expert in your field, listeners may not be, so keep it simple and avoid too much jargon.
One common fear is the prospect of a presenter asking you a question that you don’t know the answer to. There is nothing wrong with admitting that on-air but it is far less likely to happen if you are well-prepared. Although they may be unable or unwilling to provide a list of questions in advance, the producer should always clearly explain the focus of the interview. Make sure you have done your research and practised saying your answers out loud.
It can be tempting to assume that you need to write a script but you are not going on stage and this is not a key-note speech. Radio and podcast interviews are usually much more conversational. You need to respond to the natural flow of the dialogue between you and the presenter rather than reading out a series of statements. People can hear that a mile off.
Once you have decided on the key messages you want to get across, write these down as bullet points to jog your memory. You may want to add any details you are likely to forget such as numbers, dates or names. Keep your notes to one side of paper to place on the desk in front of you to glance at. This stops the sound of rustling which will pick up on the microphone and allows you to maintain eye contact to engage with the presenter.
Listening is one of the best ways to prepare yourself. Tune in to the radio programme or download the podcast ahead of your appearance to get a feel for the content and the tone. With any luck the same presenter will be interviewing you so you’ll start to understand their style and personality. You can get a sense of whether your interview is likely to be informal, intense or intellectual.
You may be able to do an interview from the comfort of your own home or office on the phone or a video call but if you are booked to go into a studio it pays to arrive early. You don’t want to get on-air feeling flustered after running late. It also gives you the chance to stop and listen. There may be an interview with another guest on the same subject that you can refer to later. You may hear the presenter chatting about another story in the news or a TV show so just bear in mind that could pop up in conversation if it has been a talking point.
Feeling nervous can make your mouth dry so it is a good idea to be well hydrated before your interview. Take a bottle of water to sip while you are waiting and if you are at a studio you may even be offered a cup of tea if you’re lucky.
Whether you are on a programme live or recording an interview or podcast, your levels will be checked beforehand. This is so that you can be heard clearly and at a similar volume to the presenter. To do this you may be asked a simple but random question such as: “What did you have for breakfast this morning?”
Try to relax and smile to sound warm and natural. Take time to breathe and pause to keep yourself calm. There can be a tendency to talk too fast if you are conscious of only having a short time to make your points. If you do stumble, just correct yourself and move on; everyday speech is not word-perfect. All pre-recorded interviews will be given a polish afterwards to edit out major mistakes, extract highlights and reduce the overall length.
In reality, your interview will probably be much quicker and go much better than you expected. It is so easy to imagine the worst when you step out of your comfort zone into unfamiliar territory. The experience will hopefully be far less daunting than you feared.
There’s only one way to find out.
A big thank you to Jill for sharing her wisdom. If you’re after another insightful read, this blog about how to keep your communication so less sales-oriented and more meaningful genuine.
Originally posted to: www.carnsight.com
Ethical, organic link building is central to topping the charts when it comes to Google’s search engine ranking factors. Quality backlinks are prized possession, and one of the ways that they can be earned is in the press/news media. However, while we as PRs will always strive to earn these SEO wins, we can’t always guarantee them. Before we explain how to approach backlinks in PR, let’s lay some groundwork for technical terms.
The world of SEO is full of technical terms and concepts that can be confusing at first, so let’s get the lingo down before we go any further. Here’s what you need to know:
As SEO has squarely cemented itself into digital environments, more and more media outlets are introducing specific policies regarding backlinks and the inclusion of external links their content. For instance, some publications strictly adhere to a no-follow policy, meaning that any included links do not contribute to SEO efforts. Some might offer to include a link but limit its visibility – the link is embedded and clickable, but not coloured or underlined to differentiate the text and indicate link presence.
Others – especially larger entities – have begun to monetise this service and may charge for including backlinks or only allow them within certain types of content, like guest articles or sponsored posts. Hence, these emerging structures/frameworks often mediate the relationship between PRs and journalists when it comes to including backlinks and must be respected to practice good media relations.
It can be controversial, but the general consensus is that you there is a certain etiquette around asking a journalist to provide backlinks. We typically recommend taking a proactive approach. Offer up the links in a more appropriate, subtle way by linking them in your press release or correspondence so that they are there if the journalist wants them. We’ll discuss more about how a journalist might make this decision further down.
Some journalists/outlets may also view PR attempts to secure backlinks as compromising the integrity of the news outlet and blurring the boundaries between advertising and independent journalism, while others consider it presumptuous and some even write off a PR as ‘asking too much’ when ‘free’ publicity/exposure of a story feature is already on the table.
While a good PR agency will have forged strong, mutually beneficial relationships with journalists and often work with them to pitch a story, it’s important to remember that Journalists are independent individuals. They operate with their own principles and purposes and aim to satisfy and engage an audience of their own. PRs will always try to be strategic and work with Journalists and audiences who align with the story well to maximise coverage, but journalists ultimately determine the final content and format in of a piece for publication. They make decisions based on the newsworthiness of a story, its relevance to their audience, and their editorial guidelines.
So, what this means, is that backlinks are often a grey area – the decision can be entirely discretionary and up to the journalist, or it may be mediated by editorial guidelines, outlet policies, or reader preferences. It’s important to remember that it is also increasingly difficult for journalists to keep smaller, niche publications going in an oversaturated news market. They often have to work hard to find new ways to fund their platform; hence, backlinks have become the latest resource for monetisation.
Of course, we will always do our best to nurture a reciprocal relationship with journalists and the press to engender positive attitudes and encourage ethical backlinking. However, like many elements of PR, this is an art and not a science. We can’t guarantee a backlink in coverage, but we will certainly do our best to secure them.
Originally posted to: www.carnsight.com
Carnsight’s business owner and PR expert Jess Morgan recently had the exciting opportunity to speak at a student networking event for those studying sport business at Ashton Gate (thanks to Sophy Wells for the introduction). Jess seamlessly translated the team’s skills for promoting a business through PR to help those who want to promote themselves as individuals. If that sounds like you, then here’s a summary of the 7 steps to PR yourself that she covered on the day.
As we all hopefully know by now, PR is not all champagne and schmoozing.
Dictionaries like Merriam-Webster will say that PR is “the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution”. However, at Carnsight, we say that PR is about creating strategies and campaigns to showcase great work and achievements. It’s about getting noticed by the right people, at the right time. So, let’s get you noticed.
Questions of value and motivation are valid – what’s the point in PRing yourself, what benefit does it actually bring? To start, investing in getting your personal brand out there allows you to max out your advantages in a way that you can control and gives you an undeniable competitive advantage. At the end of the day, PRing yourself is not about pretending to be something you’re not. Instead, it’s all about putting your best foot forward, and that’s something we can all do.
Look to the horizon with a future thinking, bigger-picture mindset; set yourself up for the end game and then think about the steps to get there. As with PR, it’s often best to start at the end. Think about what you want to get out of your PR, and create a tangible image of the late-stage achievements you’ll aim for.
Do you want to be considered for a particular position, role, or placement? Get your foot in the door at your dream company? Or achieve something else entirely? Start with that and then you can plot your path to get there.
Leave no stone unturned. We explore more on PR touchpoints in this earlier blog post, but as a quick overview, it’s important to at least consider the followingtouchpoints:
Remember that your communication, presentation, and interactions reflect on you, from the texts you write to the emails you send to every meeting and greeting. From the security guard in the office to the receptionist, to the person getting you a glass of water. In an interview – and every interaction – it’s important to give a good impression.
Our advice: build every bridge you can and remember never to burn them. Even if the connection doesn’t seem as though it will immediately serve you or your current path, it is still valuable to maintain it. Above all else, strive to be consistent and helpful always.
Presentation and first impressions can count for a lot when PRing yourself. Showing yourself on a good day (even if you have to fake it until you make it), and ensuring you have enough substance can be key to acing these factors. Be the best version of yourself and don’t shy away from showcasing what’s unique about you. Lean into your interests and experiences, use images or even videos that you love. Authenticity goes a long way, and it’s usually something people pick up on for the better when its genuine.
Just like PR, it’s about telling a story here as well. Except this one should centre around you. It should put your full self on show – not just the professional bits. Showcase the person behind the achievements, the CV, the experience. Remember the elevator pitch? Nurture the spark and pin down the details of your own until you can pitch yourself in your sleep. It should become an effortless, natural, and genuine skill to do so in a way that is upfront but not boastful or arrogant. Sometimes you have to be your biggest cheerleader, so it’s important to be able to summarise your achievements and proven value in a work environment.
Step outside of your echo chamber and get some inspiration. Consider what others are sharing, gauge what works and what doesn’t. Borrowed interest, for example, can do a large part of the work for you. As defined by The Next Wave, “borrowed interest is the intentional association of an unrelated theme, event or image with a product, service or subject being presented, to attract attention otherwise not anticipated”. Consult a diverse range of sources to give you inspiration, from professional arenas like LinkedIn to trending content on TikTok.
Last but certainly not least, let’s run over the things you need to get right to form a good foundation. Like we said, first impressions can make all the difference, so it’s important to get your basics right from the ground up.
This means no typos, and no mistakes. Proof it, print it, and proof it again. Ask for that second opinion, re-read your email, scan over that document before you share it. Small mistakes may seem small and inconsequential but that can be costly, so always try to minimise the risk.
It’s also worth investing the time and resources you have on hand into creating a professional looking photo. Jump over to our article here to cover off all of the do’s and don’ts of good headshots.
Elsewhere, strong opinions are fine, but avoid anything too controversial. Remember you’re representing your professional self here too. Check over your old social media presence, because employers will too, and these days they know what to look for.
You can’t step through a door you haven’t first opened. PRing yourself is about being proactive, considered and genuine. Remember these 7 steps to PR yourself, like how starting at your end point often makes for a clearer way forward. Think ahead, keep the above in mind, and be confident in your ability to PR yourself
Originally posted to: www.carnsight.com
Let’s be honest, meetings are kind of a necessary evil when it comes to the corporate world, but there’s been a lot of talk in the media recently about just how necessary they are. With spring in the air and spring-cleaning season upon us, now could be a great time to spring clean your diary and tidy up those endless meetings.
Understandably, 2020-2022 saw a huge increase in the average number of meetings held. I think because we were all massively craving human connection during lockdowns. The thing is, that increase in meetings seems to have stuck and we’re all having more meetings than ever before. A recent report from Otter.AI on the cost of unnecessary meetings showed that employees are frustrated by the current volume of meetings. Almost half (46%) agree that they have too many unnecessary meetings in their calendar.
A lot has changed in the past few years, including how we define, expect, and run meetings. More people work hybrid roles and it’s far less common to travel for work and thus virtual meetings are still being used as a way to bring people together in one place. While virtual meetings were used to form connections and boost employee morale during the Covid lockdowns, too many virtual meetings are having the opposite effect today and arguably, we’ve all become a little too reliant on them. The takeaway: Just because you can, and we did, doesn’t mean that we still should. Perhaps it’s time to reassess and clear out the cupboard.
Meetings aren’t always useless, though. In fact, a well-run meeting can be incredibly valuable, but perhaps during the lockdowns, we all got a little bit too used to having a meeting for the sake of talking to another person in a day of being locked away inside. Now we have to get back into the habit of interrogating the purpose of meetings before we send over that diary invite. Here are some tips for things to consider when sending or agreeing to a meeting invite. Take each meeting (especially reoccurring meetings) in your calendar and ask the following questions:
Before putting a meeting in the calendar, it’s vital to ask what the purpose of the meeting is.
What do you want the meeting to achieve? What needs to be done in order for everyone at present to consider it a success by the end? What are the ‘must’, the ‘would be nice to’ and the ‘if there’s time’ goals of the meeting?
Though agendas are a pain to write, and often go unread, ensuring everyone who’s coming to the meeting at the very least knows what that meeting needs to achieve is very important. It’s also important that everyone who’s been invited to the meeting comes prepared with anything necessary to achieve those goals as efficiently as possible.
It’s worth noting that connection and morale are still valid reasons to hold a meeting. It can be nice to check in with your team in the morning, everyone with their coffees and a smile. However, you have to be sure that that purpose has been established in advance, that everyone is on the same page and ask if a meeting is really what people need for morale at that moment, or if another event, activity or treat is better suited.
But really.
Having too many attendees is a surefire way to lose control of a meeting. It’s also incredibly frustrating to be sat in a meeting with nothing to contribute and nothing to take away – those meetings are serious time sucks!
Think carefully about who needs to be present. Ensure everyone is given the space and consideration that add to the conversation. And also respect those who aren’t as vocal in meetings, remembering it’s about the end goal and establishing what’s necessary to achieve that, not waffling for the sake of it.
And when you decide, stick to it! Overrun meetings seem to be an epidemic! When the expectation is that the meeting will overrun, it’s much more common for people to go off track or meander. The workday is busy and there’s also a limit to how long people can concentrate when it comes to meetings, so keep it short and sweet where possible (ideally 30mins max). If a longer meeting with multiple goals is necessary, consider scheduling in breaks.
Thank you for inviting me to the meeting. I appreciate the opportunity to participate, but I regret to inform you that I won’t be able to attend due to some urgent matters that require my immediate attention. Kindly share any notes taken during the meeting, and I’ll make sure to review them. I look forward to catching up with you at a later date. If there are any actions required from my side, please do let me know, and I’ll be glad to oblige when I have the capacity.
Meetings can be helpful and productive if done correctly. And the truth is, nailing the formula is difficult. I’m not sure we’ve even got it quite right yet, but it’s something we’re working on internally.
Remember that it’s important to assess the necessity of each meeting and make sure it’s well-planned. With the right approach, meetings can be a valuable tool for communication and collaboration.
You can find more productivity tips elsewhere on the Carnsight blog, including our review of Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Originally posted at: www.carnsight.com
Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the buzziest of all the buzz words making headlines right now; it’s starting to feel as though it is literally everything, everywhere, all at once. From the infamous ChatGPT to Tesla’s self-driving cars to Amazon’s Alexa, AI has arrived and it’s here to stay. But what does AI mean for PR, and how exactly can it enhance PR?
A useful tool
As we’ve discussed before, being open-minded is what will get you results in PR, and that includes being open to new technologies that can help you along the way. AI-enabled task automation has been simplifying PR processes for longer than we may all realise. It’s found a particularly useful niche in media coverage analysis tools, like Hootsuite and SemRush. Data insights based on real-time results boast increased accuracy and reliability when it comes to decision making, reporting, and evaluation.
Better still, AI review functions are a great grammatical tool for proofing a PRs work, giving advice on flow or structure. It can synthesise large chunks of information to educate PRs quickly on niche topics. It can also provide speech-to-text dictation for interviewing clients or jotting down thoughts for a press release. AI can even take a PRs to-do list and use data to create an optimised schedule.
What’s ethics got to do with it anyway?
The role of ethics is at play here too. That’s a more in-depth post for another time, but one key take away is that AI should be used positively as a tool and an aid, but it should not take on the role of the individual. Using AI to come up with work rather than merely fine tune it can be critiqued as not genuine. It takes away the human spirit and individuality that grounds good-faith, mutually beneficial PR.
‘A force for good fraught with danger’
AI in PR is definitely a work in progress. For example, the use of chatbots as an additional communication channel can be complicated by bias. Even when programmed carefully, it can still lack sensitivity and human-centred contexts that are critical to managing relationships in PR. AI bots can also compute inaccurate or incomplete data and negatively influence high stakes, potentially escalating a PR problem rather than diffusing it, or creating one where there wasn’t beforehand.
Here at Carnsight, we think it all comes back to balance. Make conscious decisions about how, when, and where to use AI to enhance your PR more effectively. Keep automation for the activities that aren’t people-facing or high stakes, where you can afford to save time and increase accuracy.
PR will always be people focused
The Chartered Institute for Public Relations confirms that 59% of PR skills are predominantly not candidates for AI. People are the heart and centre of what drives PR. While AI may be a handy tool in the working professional’s tool kit, it’s not about to take the wheel.
Originally posted to: www.carnsight.com
Luckily, the “d” word isn’t something we hear a lot. But if it’s something you’re feeling after a PR push, whether it’s one you’ve done in house or worked on with a PR consultancy, it’s really important to look at why it missed the mark. If you’re disappointed in your PR results, and campaigns are leaving you underwhelmed, here’s why that might be, and how it can be avoided in future.
What were your expectations?
You shouldn’t ever be eagerly anticipating coverage in The Economist if your story was only ever destined for a local news portal. That’s not to be disparaging – both publications have their place and both are important in reaching certain audiences. The point is, you should be given an indication of where coverage is possible (and where it isn’t) before the pitch. This conversation can even start when you first start discussing the PR campaign.
No one has a crystal ball, and you could get very lucky or less so. But a good PR agency should have targets in mind when they’re crafting content, and they should be able to share and agree those with you.
Art not science
Building on the point above, PR is an art, not a science. We’ve had BBC filming lined up only for the news to throw us completely off track and for a crew to abandon a shoot to cover a breaking story. Likewise, we’ve had small stories being picked up nationally because they happened to hit the spot and be just what an editor was looking for at that moment.
This is the world of PR! Ensure any PR team you’re working with keeps you abreast of what’s happening at each stage. They can’t control some of it, but they can and should give you as much information as they know at each stage.
Did you understand the journey?
We work with a range of clients who have never done PR before, or have had limited experience. That’s fine, and we can take most of it off their hands. But we do explain what we’re doing at each stage, what’s needed and how long things are likely to take.
If you were expecting something to land that didn’t – did you get given the full picture? Did you understand what was happening, and when? You don’t need to be a PR expert but some knowledge of the process helps to put things in context, in our experience.
Coverage is never guaranteed
We’ve talked about why we never guaranteed coverage in a dedicated piece, but in essence, no one can truly guarantee coverage in a publication, unless that’s a paid-for spot, such as an advertorial.
If you’ve been guaranteed coverage that doesn’t appear, it’s definitely worth asking more about it, and how (and why) it was guaranteed in the first place.
This mindset shift is a helpful step away from feeling disappointed in your PR results, and big a step towards getting it right next time.
Are you targeting the right audience?
If coverage appeared but didn’t hit the right audience – are you sure it was designed to target them in the first place? Some publications are great to appear in from a profile point of view. But some are more likely to hit your objectives than others. Ensure you’re always clear who’s being targeted and why that’s the right target audience for your objectives. Start with the end – what do you want those people reading the coverage to do? And then work back from that.
For us, it’s paramount that everyone understands what’s achievable, what could make the news (and where) and that no one is underwhelmed. We do put a lot of groundwork into explaining what we’re doing, we are responsive, honest and transparent and we partner with clients. That’s what gets the best results for everyone.
Originally posted on: www.carnsight.com
B2B PR is often overlooked by those considering a career in PR. B2C always seems so much more creative and alluring. But the truth is, B2B PR is more than just B2C PRs boring sister. In fact, B2B PR can be just as exciting, fast-paced and creative!
If you read our blog on the differences between B2B and B2C PR then you’ll know that while B2B public relations typically focuses on technical information and analytical data, emotion is still a key driving force when it comes to B2B campaigns.
In today’s blog, we’re explaining why that’s the case, and why B2B PR can be just as creative and boundary-pushing as B2C.
Cutting through the noise requires creativity
B2B audiences are bombarded with information every day, and so creative, emotionally resonant messaging is necessary to help a company stand out. By using unique and innovative PR strategies, businesses can capture the attention of decision-makers who may very well be jaded by the same-old marketing tactics. Fresh thinking is often what gets the best results.
People buy from people
People buy from people, not businesses, and so while yes, B2B PR does often target decision-makers within a company, it’s important to remember that those decision-makers are still people. By using emotion in B2B PR, companies humanize their brand and create better connections with their target audience. The result – greater brand loyalty and more meaningful business relationships.
Connect with a broader audience
Similarly, remember that businesses, now matter how big, are made up of lots of individual people. By creating messaging that resonates with individuals on an emotional level, B2B PR campaigns can broaden their reach and connect with a wider audience.
Drive engagement
Emotionally resonant messaging better drives engagement and increase the likelihood of your audience taking action. By creating content that inspires a response, businesses can encourage decision-makers to take the next step and move forward with a purchase or partnership.
Even though B2B PR is typically more technical and data-driven, creativity and emotion can play a critical role in creating effective campaigns that stand out, connect with decision-makers, and drive meaningful business outcomes.
To end, here are a couple of examples of B2B PR campaigns that really pushed creatively!
Octopus Group, in partnership with Hectare, launched Tudder, a dating app designed for cattle, as part of a Valentine’s Day-centered PR and social media campaign. The app, which functions similarly to Tinder, allows users to swipe left or right on profiles of cows and bulls. When there is a match, a mooing sound is played, and the interested party is directed to the SellMyLivestock platform for more information. Hectare aimed to raise awareness about “livestock love” through this campaign. Alongside the app, personalized Valentine’s Day cards were sent to targeted journalists, and exclusive briefings were held with media contacts. A comprehensive social media campaign was also implemented.
Slack leveraged the popularity of hit sitcoms such as The Office and Parks and Recreation by producing a humorous, mockumentary-style video advertisement to showcase the superiority of its platform over other professional communication tools.
The video linked below features Sandwich Video, an actual Slack customer, as they introduce the platform to their office. The video serves both as a testimonial-packed case study and a funny piece of media that entertains viewers.
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