A non-profit, dedicated to connecting, educating and strengthening the tech ecosystems in Bristol & Bath, techSPARK supports freelancers, start-ups, scale-ups, SMEs and global corporations by connecting the best people, companies and investors with opportunities for growth.
AMBITIOUS PR will focus on increasing awareness of techSPARK and its thought leadership. It will support key initiatives, including those that address outcomes of techSPARK’s recently published, inaugural, ‘State of the Community’ board report which highlights the opportunities, challenges and barriers to success in the South West tech space.
techSPARK connects around 35,000 people monthly, through programmes and events. Grassroots community groups such as Bath’s Third Thursdays and Cyber Tuesdays, run alongside investment programmes that have supported over 350+ startups and the curation of a database of over 80 diverse founders and leaders who can speak at events to show how our industry can prosper when inclusive.
techSPARK also runs the annual SPARKies, the largest tech awards outside of London, Bath Digital Festival and Bristol Technology Festival which are growing in national recognition.
Ben Shorrock, managing director at techSPARK, comments: “Ambitious is well known locally for its ability to help organisations get cut through for their messages and enable strategic conversations. We’re delighted that they’re helping us tell the story of a community full of people doing globally cutting-edge research, building impactful businesses, and powering our region’s future economy.
B2B and corporate PR and communications specialists, AMBITIOUS PR recently reported a second year of 50% year-on-year growth, increasing its team by 22% in the process. With 40% of revenue coming from the tech sector, AMBITIOUS PR is the only agency in the South West to be ranked in PR Week’s Top 150 tech PR consultancies.
Sarah Woodhouse, co-owner and director, AMBITIOUS PR, adds: “We give back to the ecosystems in which we are working. Bristol and Bath have a huge opportunity to further develop their tech cluster and the techSPARK team deserves further recognition for the work they are doing to nurture, cultivate and grow the sector.”
AMBITIOUS PR currently works for Bristol-based, Neighbourly and Xledger and Bath’s, Truespeed. Outside of the region, they work for prop-tech businesses, COADJUTE and Redirect; and sport tech business, Play More Golf. AMBITIOUS PR also works for companies engaged in providing consultancy, investment and professional services support to the tech sector including Deloitte, BGF and Albert Goodman.
AMBITIOUS PR is a member of the IPRN (International Public Relations Network) – the international network for independent agencies providing clients with access to a global network of PR agencies.
Originally posted to www.carnsight.com
At Carnsight we always work hard to ensure that every client has a positive experience while working with us. A big part of this means creating an excellent first and last impression. It’s vital to start and end on a positive note to provide an overall satisfying experience to our clients. To ensure that we start and end a project with a client in the most positive way possible, we always keep three things in mind: clarity, connection, and openness.
At the beginning of a project we work hard to lay the foundation for a positive working relationship with the client and set a good tone for the entire project.
To achieve clarity, we make sure we’ve clearly defined the project goals and objectives. This means discussing and documenting the client’s expectations, ensuring we’re all on the same page when it comes to deliverables, timelines, and any potential challenges. It’s all about establishing a clear roadmap from the outset and aligning our efforts.
Connection is also vital. We take the time to establish a personal connection and show genuine interest in ever client’s needs and aspirations. We’re proud to be expert active listeners and take the time to really get under the skin of every client’s business. We often start projects with something called a messaging session. You can find out more via our messaging session blog, but in essence a messaging session is a meeting we hold to bounce ideas, really draw out key themes and nail messaging.
Openness is essential to create a transparent and collaborative environment. We always maintain open lines of communication, encouraging the client to share their thoughts, suggestions, and feedback throughout the project (not just the end – but more on that later). We’re always willing to adapt our strategies or make necessary adjustments based on their needs.
We’ve also prepared a set of communication templates that can be used at the start of every new project or during client onboarding. These templates ensure that we get all the information we need from the client and provide a clear overview of what they can expect from us. By consistently using these templates, we can be sure that important details aren’t overlooked, and both we and the client have a shared understanding of the project’s scope and objectives.
This communication is always maintained throughout a project and we’re on it when it comes to addressing any concerns or questions promptly. Repeating important messages, sending summary emails after meetings or key milestones, and providing actionable steps help reinforce our shared vision and minimise the chances of miscommunication or missed nuances. By actively involving the client in the decision-making process, we encourage a collaborative atmosphere that improves the overall client experience.
We understand that the final impressions you leave with the client will greatly influence their perception of the entire project and their likelihood of working with you again in the future. And so we always approach the ending phase with the same dedication to clarity, connection, and openness that we maintained throughout the project.
Communication plays a pivotal role in the project’s closure. We clearly communicate the project outcomes, summarising the key achievements, and demonstrating how the project has met or exceeded the initial goals and expectations. We present the results in a clear way using visual aids like CoverageBook to highlight the value we’ve delivered. We want to make sure we’re re-enforcing the client’s confidence in our abilities and the overall experience they had working with us.
Active communication is always maintained until the very end. Instead of letting communication drop off during the final stages, we send multiple cool-down emails that update the client on the progress of the remaining tasks and outline the steps being taken to wrap up the project. This proactive approach ensures that the client feels informed and involved until the last moment.
As mentioned before, we would never wait until the end to seek feedback from the client. Throughout the project, we regularly ask for their input, allowing them to express their thoughts, suggestions, and concerns. By the time we ask the client for a review at the end of a project, we’re confident that they’ve had an excellent experience working with us. And we’ve got the the twenty-one 5 star reviews to prove it!
By consistently focusing on clarity, connection, and openness from the beginning to the end of a project, you we make sure we’re creating a positive overall experience for every single one of our clients. This approach improves client satisfaction, strengthens relationships and increases the likelihood of future work together. And it’s the right way to behave.
For more PR and communications tips, check out ‘The Best PR Tips for Small Businesses’
First published at Carnsight.com
In case it’s not obvious, reputation matters. A business’ internal and external image can have an impressive sway on its success. Yet, when we think of brand reputation, we usually go to the consumer aspect. We concern ourselves with how reputation can affect purchase intent, or our brand compares to competitors.
This outward, customer focus is very important – but reputation also matters quite significantly when it comes to recruitment. Attracting top talent is less of slam-drunk/proven formula and more of a proactive effort in today’s competitive job market – it takes more than a competitive salary or impressive benefits to sway high performers. So, for today’s blog, we’re taking a statistical approach to guide the way, highlighting compelling research and trends that indicate the importance of nurturing a positive image in the digital landscape.
Recruitment trends have started to take a decisive shift, with 86% of employees and job seekers now evaluating companies based on their reputation and brand as an employer pre-application. Recent research and studies support this conclusively; like this research paper published in 2022, which makes clear that corporate reputation and employer branding heavily mediate jobseekers’ intention to apply for a job. Like much literature on this topic, the article further validates the connection between attracting and retaining top talent with achieving better market/brand positioning.
It seems that Glassdoor and Indeed users include roughly half of the active job seeker pool, with top candidates typically only applying to companies with great reviews; 75% of prospective employees would not take a job if they found that the company had a bad reputation. This is all to say again that reputation matters – it can boost or damage a business’ ability to acquire valuable talent, which in turn can boost or damage its performance and success.
Leverage good, effective reputation management and keep a thumb on the pulse of your online reputation as an employer. Cultivate a positive online presence and take control where you can – take ownership of business profiles on public review sites like Glassdoor, as well as job boards like Indeed. Be proactive and manage the public, employee, and jobseeker facing communication channels/platforms you have the opportunity to. Monitor and assess the activity that goes on and you will give your business a better footing to be strategic about its reputation management. Importantly, this gives insight into the opinions that prospective employees may be exposed to. In turn, this awareness allows the business to realign and readjust where necessary to better attract top talent.
The best of the best will take this idea a step further and build up a company culture that truly walks the walk. It will nurture a low-maintenance, high-asset reputation that flows more naturally and genuinely inspires positive reviews and discourse online.
Removing or taking down a genuine review is not something we recommend. If you try to censor a genuine review or fall into an aggressive defence, you run the risk of escalating the situation. It can also go against good faith management and can send the wrong message to past, present, and even future employees who could view removal as confirmation or censorship.
So, what can you do instead? One route is to acknowledge and respond – but be consistent about it. If you’re going to take ownership of a review and extend communication, it’s important not to be selective about which ones you respond too. Hence, we recommend an all or nothing approach; choose to make comments on all feedback or take a reserved path and leave every review without a formal response. When making this decision, it is worth nothing here that one study recently revealed that 80% of users agree that their perception of a business improves when employers respond to a review.
Sometimes it can be difficult to face critique, whether unfounded or not. But it’s important to take onboard reviews with an impartial lens where possible and consider if what is said rings true. If it does – maybe it’s time for some reflection. If you genuinely think the review is unfaithful, then try to analyse what lead to the reviewer writing that comment – what underlying issues or miscommunications could be at play, might it be an internal or external influence? Considering context and motivation can be quite insightful. Gut instinct is also a useful tool when it comes to differentiating between meaningful critiques and
Either way, it’s important to keep in mind that these are public forums, and key points of interest for prospective and even current employers to evaluate your reputation as an employer. So be strategic, considered, and mindful in how you approach any public reviews or commentary. Think about who may read what you write, and the kind of image it may create – because again, reputation matters.
It’s clear – a business’ reputation and brand as an employer are vital for attracting and retaining top talent. Company reviews and ratings are increasingly sought out by job seekers, with Glassdoor and job boards playing a significant role in their decision-making processes. By investing in reputation management, actively responding to reviews, and cultivating a positive online presence, businesses are more likely to enhance their employer brand, reduce turnover, and attract high-quality applicants. Hence, in today’s competitive recruitment landscape, a strong employer brand and positive reputation are essential for long-term success.
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.
Social media can have a direct impact on your website’s visibility on traditional search engines like Google or Bing.
While it doesn’t have the same effect on SEO as with content marketing, social signals such as gaining more followers, likes, shares and retweets can increase your visibility to potential customers by increasing traffic to your site and helping you to rank higher.
In other words, while social media efforts don’t influence SEO directly, they do influence SEO indirectly.
Social media signals are activities that contribute to your page or website’s search engine rankings. Some examples of social signals include likes, shares, retweets and pinning.
Google has never explicitly stated that social signals affect rankings. But there’s no denying that the more traffic you receive through social media networks, the more your material will be shared. This may significantly affect how you rank in Google search results.
The social media platform you choose should be directly related to the type of business you run and your marketing objectives. It should also be determined by where your target audience prefers to spend their time. However, in terms of SEO functionality, the following social media and digital marketing networks offer several advantages:
We’ve established how social media impacts SEO. Now, we can look at ways to boost SEO through social media marketing. Here are four social media algorithms and SEO tips to help boost SEO on social media.
Did you know that social media profiles are frequently shown among the top search results?
Up 75% of customers use social media to evaluate brands before making a purchase. They look for reviews, genuine recommendations, inspiration, high-quality images and brand information. As a result, social media profiles should be optimised as part of your SEO strategy.
Optimised social media profiles can drive your target audience to your account and convert them into customers. Your goal is to make all your content accessible. Here are some easy ways of optimising your social profiles to get results:
Good social media profiles increase trust by giving your brand authenticity. They should be able to teach your target audience everything they need to know about your company in a matter of seconds. Your profile should sound natural, honest and carefully written, and it should showcase your own personality.
Creating and releasing high-quality content is crucial for social SEO.
It can enhance organic web traffic back to your website, improve search visibility and assist you in obtaining quality backlinks.
By distributing long-form content such as a high-quality blog post, written with specific keywords via your social platforms, you can encourage your social media followers to share your content further. This will boost your content marketing strategy and strengthen your social signals by amplifying reach through social SEO.
Be wary though, using too many keywords, otherwise known as keyword stuffing, can be frowned upon by traditional search engines and may have a negative impact on your online visibility.
Traditional SEO stands you in good stead when you aim to create valuable content based on a customer’s needs, so be sure to stick to the most relevant and important keyword clusters.
Search engines and shareable content go together like bread and butter. The more people that engage with and share your content, the wider reach you’ll have on keyword search pages and the better your social media visibility. You’ll also generate more backlinks, or inbound links, and enhance brand recognition.
When you publish content that your audience will want to share, it can help Google with the indexation of relevant searches for your posts. This can lead to more organic search traffic and better Google rankings.
Did you know that the images you upload to your social media accounts can actually make a difference to your social SEO? The act of making the images you publish with your social media posts as SEO-friendly as possible is referred to as image optimisation.
Optimising the images across your social media platforms can improve user experience. Search algorithms also tend to prioritise the images that follow best practices, meaning you could appear higher up in search results, improve website traffic and reach more potential customers.
Here’s how you do it:
Image optimisation across all your social networks is a simple technique that may make a major difference in your social media marketing efforts.
A high-quality image will also boost your overall social media performance. It can improve the appearance of your brand by making it more appealing, intelligible, relatable, and memorable.
One strong tactic for improving your social SEO and social media strategy is to use social listening. This is the process of monitoring online conversations on major social platforms and media networks to learn what your audience is saying about you. It’s also a great way to keep track of your competitors.
Social listening can help you find opportunities for link-building. You may discover that your brand has been referenced on blogs, forums, Facebook pages or news sites. You can find these mentions using a social media monitoring tool and contact the writers to ask them to include a link to your site.
Social listening is an effective method for conducting audience research and learning what people are talking about in your sector. This will help you in discovering new ways to contact your target audience and increase your social media presence.
Social media helps SEO in several different ways. The best method is always the successful combination of social media and search engine optimization efforts.
Marketers everywhere understand the importance of having a blog on a business website, either for SEO purposes or to provide a valuable information resource for customers and prospects, but one of the biggest barriers to business blogging is finding the time to come up with content and write copy.
Copywriting for a consistent business blog requires time – something most businesses do not have in abundance. Even marketing agencies are often so busy looking after customers, including writing copy for their client’s business blogs, that they don’t have time to update their own. It’s not easy! But it is possible with a little help from a freelance friend.
A great solution for the time-poor is to employ a freelance copywriter. They offer a cost-effective solution to generating consistent copy for your business blog, and the flexibility to tailor a solution to your business. But what do you need to think about before you take this step? What do you need to have in place before employing freelance help?
Implement one point of contact
To get the most out of freelance support, appoint an in-house contact to manage the process. This doesn’t have to be a time-consuming role, in fact with the right freelancer it shouldn’t be, but there does need to be one consistent person to liaise with. And only one! Too many and communication could get messy. With one internal person liaising with the copywriter, all ideas from within the company can be managed and filtered to ensure clear priorities are passed on. It also means the copywriter is clear who they need to supply the finished work to and who to direct any questions to.
Work out an internal process for managing the freelancer
Following on from the idea of having one individual for freelance support to deal with in the company, there should be a clear process in place too. Who is going to come up with the ideas for the blog – internal staff, the freelancer, or both? How will this process be managed – who will the ideas go to and how will they be prioritised? What will happen to the copy supplied? What will the approvals process be and how will you let your copywriter know their work has been signed off? These are all things to think about prior to engagement.
Set communication preferences
It’s worth considering how you want to work with a freelancer before you hire one too. Do you prefer to speak to people on the phone, or would it suit your other commitments better to interact mainly by e-mail? Thinking about this up front will help establish a better relationship and might even help you find the right freelancer for your business in the first place. Clear communication channels are a must for any successful business relationship, and interacting with a freelance copywriter is no different.
Talk about the money up front
As well as considering how the relationship is going to work day-to-day, it is also worth thinking about the payment process up front too. If you want regular work from your business copywriter, you may be able to agree a monthly budget and regular invoicing system for work completed in the previous month. If, however, you are looking for a one-off project, you can expect to pay a deposit up front, with the rest of the payment due on completion. (Read more about ad-hoc Vs consistent blogging here). Whichever path you choose, it’s important to think about your needs, the freelancer’s requirements, a budget for the work you want completed, and discuss payment terms openly before embarking on a relationship to avoid any difficult conversations further down the line.
Employing freelance support of any kind can require a bit of a deep breath if you’re used to doing everything in-house, or if you haven’t used external resources in this way before. But with a little forethought, utilising a flexible third party to pick up the slack from your busy workload can be hugely successful.
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.
At JMP, are delighted to welcome Matt Joy to our growing team, joining as Managing Partner.
Matt has a wealth of industry experience, having spent more than 10 years in the sports industry, and most recently four years at a strategic brand agency.
His previous roles have included five years as Marketing Manager at Stoke City during their Premier League golden years, before moving south and helping create the Marketing team at Bristol Sport during the rebuild of Ashton Gate. Following that, he spent four years at Mr B & Friends in Bristol.
In regards to his responsibility at JMP, Matt will be a crucial cog in our ability to excel as an agency, offering additional strategic insights and creative campaigns to our clients.
Managing Director Joe Meredith expanded on this.
“It’s a significant role, the biggest addition we’ve ever made to the business,” he said.
“It’s something that I feel we’ve both wanted to happen for a long time. Everything just needed to align. Matt is in a position to elevate the offerings of JMP and I’m really excited to work with him to take JMP to the next level ”
Matt expressed his excitement about what lies ahead, for both himself and JMP.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ve known Joe since I initially moved to Bristol and how he has grown the agency in that time has been great to see. It’s an exciting time to now get involved and add to the recent successes.
“My role is going to be quite broad but ultimately I will have a real focus on the growth of the agency. First of all to define who we are, our offerings and identify where we can add real value to our clients, both current and new.”
Matt joins our newly-formed Senior Leadership Team, alongside MD Joe and Operations Director Vicki Theobald.
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