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Abode PR, the Bath-based, award-winning global B2B technology public relations and content agency, is celebrating its 5th birthday and a record 400% growth in revenue during 2021.

The agency was masterminded by Founder and Managing Director, Jessica Gillingham, a Bath native and former director of Visit Bath. It originally set out to help raise the profile of transformative technology solutions operating within the travel accommodation industry through specialist public relations.

Under the strong leadership and vision of Gillingham, the scope of Abode PR’s work branched from PR into Content Marketing. The team now comprises a team of 10 all based in the South West, with a hub in the centre of Bath.

In the last eighteen months alone, the agency won retained and project work for companies leading in their sectors and was recognised on the shortlist for ‘Agency of the Year’ at the Creative Bath Awards 2021. During this time Gillingham, who regularly is invited to speak on travel tech and female entrepreneurship panels, podcasts, and webinars, has been nominated for an award as an industry pioneer.

Jessica Gillingham commented, “It’s very unusual for a UK-based agency to have its entire client base located around the world, and a sign that we have well and truly carved out a niche for ourselves within this dynamic sector. I’m particularly proud to credit our company’s success to the talented team we have built, who all hail from within the South West and delighted to celebrate this milestone with them and our clients today.”

For more information about Abode PR, please visit abode-pr.com.

Originally posted on: www.carnsight.com

“Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution – more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to.”

Lisa Cron, Wired for Story

Did you know that this week is National Story Telling Day? (April 27th)

Storytelling is built into our DNA. For as long as we’ve existed, humans have shared stories. As Margaret Atwood once said “You’re never going to kill storytelling because it’s built-in the human plan. We come with it.”

Quotes aside, storytelling is absolutely vital to humanity (can you tell how passionate I am about this?!) and therefore storytelling is of course absolutely a vital tool in creating a successful business. You may not think so, but here is why being able to tell a good story is key:

People buy from people

What’s your story?

People don’t buy from businesses, they buy from people and this has been proven time and time again. Humans look for points of connection. We want to be understood and to understand. We want something to relate to. You have to be that for your customers.

Having a clear story that highlights who you are as a person, the journey you are on, and how far you’ve come thus far is key for building strong relationships with your customer or client base.

Especially in this day and age, where social responsibility is increasingly important to consumers, people want to know who is behind the brand.

They answer the why?

And the why should we care?

Stories provide the background information that gives the consumer context. It tells them why you were driven to do what you do, and perhaps most importantly, why they should care about that. In PR, the why is incredibly important – if we can’t communicate to a journalist or publication why their readers would care to hear about a business and its news, then it simply won’t get featured.

What makes a good news story is another topic entirely – and definitely one we’ll cover in a later blog so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Stories inspire engagement

Being able to relate to something and having a good understanding of it gives us a reason to engage. We all have stories to share and our experiences are very likely (undoubtedly in fact) going to overlap in one way or another. Stories offer us a point of connection and are a great springboard for conversation and engagement.

Storytelling in business is a mammoth topic with so many areas to cover (I’ve written a post in the past about finding your business inciting incident that you may also find helpful) and so I want to write a whole series of blog posts covering different elements of storytelling in business. We’ll talk about what makes a good story, how to structure your business story, personal brand and telling your story, and so much more. Reach out to us on socials and let us know what you’d like to read more about with regards to storytelling in business.

First posted on: www.carnsight.com

The story feature on Instagram first launched in 2016 and allows your followers to view a more personal side of who you are as a business. This means less advertisement-based and more story-lined to encourage conversation. This engagement, whether it be likes, shares, or comments, works to boost the algorithm which then prompts Instagram into showing your posts on more users’ feeds. Read on for my seven top tips for boosting engagement using the stories feature on your Instagram page.

Schedule your stories

Although most users enjoy watching stories in real-time, it can be a good idea to have a schedule for your story posts to gain optimal coverage and engagement. Instagram stories can only be watched for 24 hours, so it is also important to have knowledge on what days are busiest in the world of Instagram and aim to post your stories on these days.

Location, tags, and mentions

Make sure to add as much information to your stories as possible. If you are at a nice cosy coffee shop, or a market or fair that you think your followers might be interested in, make sure to tag it! These organizations are then able to re-post your story on their stories, which may encourage traffic to your page (if your story is interesting enough!) Instagram users who search the locations you have tagged will also be able to view your story, which increases story views and may provide you with some new followers.

The same goes for mentions, which is the feature where you tag other people/businesses that are involved.

Collab with influencers

Nowadays, a lot of influencers are running campaigns of their own where followers can tag them or use a certain hashtag that they have promoted. Take part in these campaigns as if your story may get re-posted by an influencer with thousands of followers which will bring in more views.

Referencing your photo feed through your stories

Sharing behind-the-scenes footage from a recent post in your Instagram stories is another way to keep your followers interested and engaged. It shows the more human side of business and encourages followers to interact with your page.

Offer solutions that others can’t

Remember that the story feature on Instagram is a place to be genuinely helpful. This could be sharing relevant articles, free guides, or discounts that you have spotted online. This also encourages followers to be loyal fans of your business.

Encourage conversation through question / poll / survey option

Instagram stories allow you to post questions, polls, and surveys in which your followers can take part. This is an incredible feature as not only does it allow you to engage with your followers, but it also allows for data collection. Polls can be fun and silly, or they can be used to analyse what your followers would like to see from you in the future.  An example could be “Are you enjoying our cute dog posts? Y/N” or “Do you want us to post more PR tips or more blog posts?” Results will help you tailor better future content to your followers.

Engage

Respond to your story replies! This is extremely important when using stories to improve engagement. You must encourage users to interact with your page. Take the time to write a personalised response to each of your messages and take part in other users’ stories as well. This proves that you are not just trying to sell but are truly interested in building relationships and strengthening bonds with your followers.

PR expert Jessica Morgan has been a Bristol Creative Industries member since 2016 when she founded Carnsight Communications. She speaks to Dan Martin about her business journey, the importance of flexible working, how BCI has benefitted the business and her tips for getting your story in the press. 

How did you start Carnsight Communications?

“Around 20 years ago, I started working in advertising in London. After a few agency mergers, I ended up working at Proximity which is an amazing agency. However, I had come from a small, incredibly creative ad shop, and now I was at a big agency. I was at a transition point in my career and the PR consultancy that used to work for Craig Jones, the niche boutique agency I was at, approached me and asked if I was interested in doing some PR instead.

“I was told about 50% of the job would be similar to advertising because it’s still about building relationships, communicating and getting messages out there, and 50% would be totally different. My CEO at the time said it would be another string to my bow and so I made the leap.

“I joined an agency called Pumpkin, a specialist in agency PR, in 2009. I was there until 2015 when prompted by my daughter being about to go to school, my husband and I thought that after 15 fantastic years in London, we wanted something different. We didn’t necessarily want our children to grow up in London and we’re both from villages. Cornwall, where I’m from, was calling me, and my husband’s from Kent. We compromised with the Bristol area. I studied at the University of Bristol and I absolutely loved it. It was great to move back.

“In 2016, I started working for myself. I was on maternity leave and had my first client who I worked with during evenings and weekends. Early on a brand specialist suggested I think about a brand name rather just going under my own name. I settled on Carnsight Communications. ‘Carnsight’ was the name of the house in Cornwall where I grew up.”

What were some of your start-up challenges and how did you overcome them?

“One of the biggest challenges was that it was just me. I knew early on that I wanted to work with other people but when cashflow is tight at the start, you can’t employ a second person. I had to find ways to work with others, be that client meetings, co-working or networking, so I had people around me to bounce ideas off.

“Another challenge was doing everything myself. I did get an accountant to help set up the business, but everything else was me. That was something I had to learn to balance well. How much time do I spend pitching to journalists or updating my website?

“In terms of finding clients, I’ve been lucky with my network. I had my contacts from London and and I knew some people in the west. However, I still needed to know more people and networks like Bristol Creative Industries have been very useful. Someone suggested early on that I join Bristol Media [the former name for Bristol Creative Industries]. It wasn’t expensive to set up my profile. I very quickly had people reaching out to me after seeing my profile and four became clients. It was really helpful.”

Flexible working was important for you from the start. Tell us more about that.

“It started with me thinking that I wanted to create a business I’d really like to work for. Ever since I’ve had children, I’ve worked four days a week. It’s really important to work hard, but I feel my team is probably more productive because we do fewer hours. My ambition is for everyone in my team to work three or four days a week or whatever suits them and the business. If they work four days, they are paid for full time work.

“The nine to five, Monday to Friday is a construct. It’s something that has evolved. If we were going to start again, would we still work it like that? Or would we be flexible and fit in more outside passions and time off? I feel I can offer people something that’s more suited to the work/life blend. I don’t talk about work/life balance. We don’t just work and then stop and do home life. During the day, we do things like take a personal call or go to a doctor’s appointment.

“This approach has enabled me to work with a variety of people. For example, I’ve worked with an amazing consultant who could only give two days a week for a certain amount of time and that was absolutely fine. I’ve also worked with MA students who need to do a certain amount of work and a certain amount of study. That has worked really well too.

“My approach has opened up the talent pool to more people and set the tone for the business.”

Do you also apply the flexible working approach when finding clients?

“Relationships in PR work best when there’s mutual respect between the client and the agency. I’ve said ‘no’ to people because I felt they were not the right type of client for us. I strongly believe that if they don’t buy into us and our approach from the start, they’re probably not going to be satisfied at the end.

“This needs to be a sustainable business that people are delighted with the service from and that people enjoy working for. Lots of places don’t get that balance right, so I wanted to create it.”

You are very active at posting content on the Bristol Creative Industries website. Why do you see that as a key benefit?

[Self-publishing content on the BCI website is a member benefit. Find out more here.]

“Posting wherever your target audience or peers can read your commentary is really valuable. Also, the content doesn’t just sit there; BCI actively uses it by posting it on Twitter and LinkedIn and sending it out via newsletters. It’s a great way to get your message shared.

“I’ve also attended Bristol Creative Industries events, such as the member lunches, and met really interesting people. It’s nice to feel connected to other local creative businesses, especially during recent times when we haven’t been able to meet face-to face. It’s a good way to keep tapped into what’s going on. It’s a great community.”

What’s your advice to business owners looking to get coverage in the media?

“You need to think about why you’re doing it. Why are you doing PR and what do you want to say? I think people often start with the fact they want to communicate without stripping it back and thinking about what they actually want to say.

“We start off new clients with a ‘three lens messaging session’. We get all the key messages written down and ensure that we know exactly what we’re saying, it’s clear and there’s a story behind what the client wants to say.

“Make sure you’re already in the process of communicating that story through any channel available whether that’s free social media or other content.

“Before doing PR, get yourself ready. For example, are you happy with the copy on your website? You need to be ready to face the outside world and take enquiries before you send your first press release.

“It doesn’t start with a press release, it starts with talking about yourself and your story and what’s different about you.”

What are some common PR mistakes?

“We always assess if a story is newsworthy. For example, a new website isn’t very interesting or particularly newsworthy, but the fact that you’re rebranding and relaunching could be more interesting. I often see stories I think are lazy and are what the agency desperately wants to say rather than something that’s interesting for the outside world and what journalists want to write about.

“I still hear all the time about the scattergun approach where people send press releases to everyone on a massive media list. All that does is give PR a bad reputation and make journalists cross. You need to research which journalists could be interested in your message, whether they are still at the publication and if they are the right person to contact.

“I also think people often don’t treat each PR push as an opportunity to communicate broadly. They might have a story that’s great for local media but that’s all they do. However, people are often doing brilliant things that could be of interest to the national media. You need to think wider. It’s very easy to get into the habit of just communicating with the same group of people every time.”

Fancy joining Jessica Morgan as a Bristol Creative Industries member? Benefit from industry expertise, training, leads, curated news, kudos and more. Sign up here.

It’s hard to think of a brand subject to as much controversy as BrewDog lately. A recent BBC documentary brought a fresh raft of accusations against the company – off the back of which, it has emerged, boss James Watt hired private investigators to scrutinize former employees. Here, AgencyUK’s Sammy Mansourpour digs into what brands can learn – good and bad – from BrewDog’s stratospheric rise and tumultuous second phase.

A punk community

No one can say building BrewDog was just blind luck. Look at BrewDog’s ability to define itself precisely, then talk about it. The core of its image is ‘punk’. You might think building out an anti-establishment vision based on troublemaking would be easy, but the alcoholic drinks market is highly regulated and getting a foot in the door is expensive. To dodge those rules you need to know them – particularly the ones you intend to break.

To build an establishment-challenging brand, you need mass and movement. BrewDog delivered both in spades. It quickly grew a following into a sizable community.

BrewDog seized on every challenge it faced, using them to talk about how industry titans (and regulators) leveraged legislation, introduced red tape and increased cost. This messaging made the small but growing BrewDog community feel duped and enraged. This galvanized them around the BrewDog brand and started to distance them from other beers.

Who pays for the revolution?

With social media in hand, Watt (and co-founder Martin Dickie) were able to start a revolution, then get their revolutionaries to pay for it. Their crowdfunding investment gathered millions before private equity got involved and these investors are the same folks buying the beer.

If you read Watt’s book, you’d believe this would never end. But for anyone with a grasp of social media and a flair for stunts, this is where the lesson begins.

Truth and reconciliation

Harry McCann famously said that advertising is “truth well told”. But did BrewDog always stick to the truth? Some of its social media marketing has been called out as false or misleading. The promotions team pledged to plant trees for every investor and drinker of Planet Pale Ale. The land they bought reportedly remains empty and an application by BrewDog for a Scottish grant to pay for the trees has now been made public.

And with all the attacks on beer brands and the need to fight the good fight – even blowing up cans of rival products on Facebook Live – it turns out Watt invested in Heineken.

Oh, and did anyone mention the reported non-disclosure of banned additives present in BrewDog beer that may have rendered some shipments illegally imported into the US?

Can punks make a meaningful difference?

Through all of BrewDog’s punk rule-breaking, no one asked why the rules and regulations existed until they came crashing down around them. If they did, the media gave them little airtime.

No one seemed to adequately explain the reasons behind regulating a market and constraining companies from acting so freely. BrewDog stuck with its belief that the consequences were always minor when compared to the commercial advantages of a breach – until it was no longer possible to keep telling that story.

Building a brand that is meaningfully different is the key to success and that success can only be realized for the long term if you’re not lying about it. So perhaps authenticity is what makes a brand brilliant. But who wants an authentic brand that nobody wants?

Sammy Mansourpour is co-founder and managing director of AgencyUK.

First posted on www.carnsight.com

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s used to promote organic traffic to your webpage via SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). The importance of this is that it increases both the quantity and the quality of page viewers, which results in more attention from prospective clients or customers. SEO also helps your website and web pages appear higher up in SERPs. This is very important as studies show that 75% of users do not look beyond the first page of search engine results.

Choosing your blog title

This may seem a little obvious, but the way you choose to word the title of your blog post is essential for SEO. Your title must include target keywords (without overdoing it), be interesting enough to capture the attention of potential viewers, and convince them to click onto your page. It is recommended that your title is 55-60 characters long so that it’s shown without breaks in SERPs. Good title examples include “How to… “ or “A step-by-step guide to… “

Structuring an SEO-friendly blog

It is important to use headings to your benefit when writing an SEO-friendly blog. Headings help search engines grasp your main topics and rank your page appropriately. You should try to use keywords in some of your headings, but not all of them! If it doesn’t sound natural, there is no issue with skipping this step. Keep in mind that long, in-depth posts give more clues to search engines which allows a more organic flow of traffic onto your page. Aim for a minimum of 300 words but remember to keep paragraphs short. Many readers are on their mobile devices and larger chunks of writing may be off-putting.

Targeted keywords

Using appropriate keywords throughout your post helps search engines identify your page as relevant to users who are searching for specific information. It promotes organic exposure to your webpage and draws in potential clients/customers. A tip is to always keep your audience in mind. It may seem like a good idea to cram as many keywords into your posts as possible, but this is not necessary. Remember that at the end of the day you are writing for human beings, not search engines.

Use links

Using appropriate links gives search engines hints on your page content and allows the discovery of new pages on your website. Links also encourage users to branch off onto other posts on your blog that they may also be interested in, resulting in more time spent on your website. An important tip is to only use links when it makes sense to do so.

Optimize your META description

A Meta description provides a brief summary of your blog and appears on SERPs. They should be short but stand out. Make sure your meta description includes 1-2 keywords and is informative as well as interesting. The more users you can get to click onto your webpage, the more exposure your post will get.

Proofread your work

Proofreading is a crucial step that cannot be overlooked when writing an SEO-friendly blog post. Search engines favour quality over quantity so do make sure to have someone else read through your work and give you their input before you post online. It’s easy to overlook typos and grammatical errors when you’ve spent a long time typing away in front of a screen. Make sure your piece is polished and always aim to post a better piece of writing than what is already available on SERPs.

For more information on this, you can read our blog post containing our top tips for avoiding typos.

With Facebook announcing the rebrand of Meta in 2021 and the push towards the metaverse many have looked to the social media platform with a fresh pair of eyes whilst newer platforms like Snapchat and TikTok have been taking the limelight.

Facebook is maturing as a business and whilst some view it as an older form of social media it still has a very large user base that spans across different platforms and message services including Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp and more.

SEO on Facebook follows similar patterns to the best practises outlined in our article on Instagram SEO and many of the same basic principles may apply as we look at ‘Metaverse SEO’ in the future. Here we share our guide to getting found on Facebook both in terms of the search feature of the site and the timeline.

As a side note, we will continue to refer to the platform as Facebook for the purposes of this article, however, we appreciate we may need to update in the future to keep up with the SEO best practice of keeping content up to date!

1. Ensure your business page is optimised with as much information as possible

The Business page of your Facebook profile is essential for marketing purposes and getting the correct information on there will help you optimise the page and your profile from an SEO perspective.

Having a profile with all of the correct information around business specialisms, opening times and contact information will help your customers find you and provide the best possible user experience.

Additionally, having relevant keywords and concepts in your profile descriptions will increase the overall effectiveness of your Facebook SEO efforts.

2. Link through to your Facebook business page and build backlinks

Adding backlinks to your Facebook profile from your website and other areas will help increase the visibility of the page on other platforms and search engines. This will increase the chances of your page being viewed and potential customers getting in touch.

3. Include custom tabs within your page

If you have other information you would like to share on your Facebook page then make sure you include custom tabs within your page architecture. This is a powerful tool to leverage when it comes to Facebook SEO and can be used to add sections on content, job listings and much more.

4. Share your on-site content on Facebook and optimise for SEO

If you want to increase the awareness of your onsite blog content then adding links to the pieces from Facebook will help you to increase coverage. This can drive social visits to your site and increase the overall reach of your website and Facebook profile.

5. Use keywords on your business page to optimise your Facebook SEO

As previously mentioned using keywords on your business profile page will increase the chances of searchers finding your business when they are using the relevant keywords that you are targeting. Make sure that you are not too spammy and the keywords are relevant and organic.

6. Optimise your Vanity Facebook URL

One of the quick wins that you can get on your Facebook SEO is optimising your vanity URL. This will give you better brand control over your page and make it appear a whole lot more polished. To optimise this go to your page settings and change your username.

Provide good content and tailor your sales pitch

The jab, jab right hook methodology popularised by Gary Vaynerchuck is a good principle to follow when it comes to your Facebook content strategy and indeed all of your marketing communications. If your users feel they are getting something of value then this will increase the chances of them buying your product or service further down the line. Great content will also improve your Facebook SEO, so it will definitely be worth pursuing.

Get in touch with the expert SEO team at Varn to find out more about using SEO on your website and social channels, we can help if you want more guidance on getting found in a Google search.

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