Developing PR Plans For 2022 – 5 Things To Consider

/in , , /by

As we look ahead into 2022, the team at Source PR shares below how they feel the pandemic has changed the way brands interact with customers and what PR and communication trends we’re likely to see as we head into 2022.

The pandemic has accelerated the changes in PR that have been coming over the past decade.  The move from more traditional ‘siloed’ communications towards a more holistic and integrated approach is complete.  For example, pure media relations can’t exist without reflective web content or supportive social media management – each communications silo needs to integrate and relate.

This has naturally led to a blurring of lines between PR, marketing and advertising, digital and offline – essentially requiring PR and marketing teams to develop plans that reflect an integrated approach to communications.

  1. Complete the shift to digital-first

The pandemic has ushered in a more digital world meaning companies should be looking at new ways of getting in front of their audiences and ‘meeting’ them in new ways.

In 2022, traditional PR strategies won’t work as well and companies need to adopt a digital-first strategy.  Marketers should however remember that although the platform is online that they’re targeting real people. We thrive on being liked, making conversation, and having meaningful interactions that we can relate to.

As we’re all individuals, this means that when it comes to engaging with customers, brands need to understand that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Customers care more now than ever about their experience with the companies they are buying from and don’t want to be bombarded with generic emails or social communications that just aren’t relevant to them.

Always remember that consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that they trust, have a relationship and can relate to.

  1. Engage with, or become an influencer

It’s hard not to be aware of the growing influence of the influencer.  But what is an ‘influencer’?  In short, it’s someone with a strong following who ‘creates unique content that reaches and engages people within a specific target audience’.  When chosen correctly, they can add credibility, authenticity, and personality to campaigns, providing they are harnessed in the right way.

PR agencies are well placed to work with companies and brands to shape and foster a community of advocates and influencers.  Influencers can also help humanise the brand in addition to boosting appeal and trust, promoting products and services to new cohorts, providing invaluable user-generated content (UGC), word-of-mouth recommendations and social media chatter.

When considering an influencer be sure to undertake the due diligence and to create genuine partnerships that have strategic alignment with brand values. As ever, key performance indicators (KPIs) will play a crucial role in demonstrating whether the return on investment (ROI) is beneficial.

If you’re a business leader with proven experience in a sector, what’s to stop you from developing your own profile as a thought leader in the sector?  2022 could be the year for this and we are looking forward to working with our clients to achieve this ambition for them.

Finally, although we live in the digital age, brands need to be backed up by real people, otherwise, they risk becoming faceless.  Analysis of the social media platforms we manage clearly show that consumers want to experience the human touch and to understand the people behind the brands.

  1. Develop a social conscience

There is also greater pressure coming from consumer organisations and the public to ensure the products we are consuming have been delivered in a sustainable way, haven’t unnecessarily damaged the environment or caused distress to people or the planet.

If companies are doing good work, it’s important to share the news or at least give a vision for the future that stakeholders can buy into or be part of.  In short, communicating with a conscience has never been more crucial.

We are however still at the stage where companies are positively viewed for their good works, however, in 2022 it’s likely that there will be a shift towards the greater expectation that a company is doing the right thing.  Not acting or doing the ‘wrong thing’ therefore poses a risk to an organisation’s reputation, which can quickly spiral out of control in a digital world.

Be careful not to virtue signal or publish ‘green guff’ as the public are getting increasingly savvy and there is a risk it could backfire.  If you keep your actions aligned to your vision, values and core principles you can’t go far wrong and always keep the communities you are looking to influence in the forefront of your mind when selecting a campaign to support.

2022 will be all about developing a PR narrative that allows clients to demonstrate their credentials in a meaningful way.  When done well, community-led storytelling is more acceptable and authentic than direct brand-led communication, but this community advocacy needs to be consciously harnessed and not left to chance.

  1. Create the right content

As we continue to embrace the digital era, social and web channels are only going to gain more momentum and be an increasingly critical communication tool. In the coming year, ensure that the content provided is authentic and relevant to your audience’s interests.

There has already been a monumental rise of short-form video this year, but more companies will use the format for sales and information, not just entertainment. Of course, the sales messages conveyed via video will have to be entertaining and engaging to capture and hold the viewer’s attention.

The power of speech as a search tool will continue in 2022. Already nearly a third (29%) of people in Britain now own a smart speaker and Forrester predicts the number of households with smart speakers in the EU will reach 57.5 million by 2024. When creating content consider speech search terms as well as those typically typed into Google as increasingly consumers will rely on voice to search for their favourite product or to request information.

  1. Manage your messages

As we develop a multi-channel PR and communications strategy, communications professionals should not be lazy but adapt their messages to suit the platform.  Whether LinkedIn, Twitter or TikTok adapt the message and content to suit.  As new platforms develop, they also become more mainstream so don’t write off Snapchat and TikTok as only being relevant to younger generations.  More and more Millennials and other older generations are becoming active there.

The final point to make is to ensure your messages are adapted for various audiences.  Although much of the above relates to acquiring new customers, don’t forget that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” and that retaining customers that are already engaged should be an equal focus for companies and brands in their PR and communications.

 

We’d love to know your thoughts on what you feel are the topics and trends for 2022?  Whether you agree or disagree with the above, I’m sure we can all agree that the only real risk is to those who choose to do nothing.  We’d happily meet to discuss or support your plans in 2022 and always love to hear or share ideas – you can contact us here.

Whatever you choose to do – we wish you the best of luck and hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022.

Photo by Djordje Vezilic from Pexels

Do We All Have The Same 24 Hours In A Day As Molly Mae?

/in , /by

Written by our Senior Account Manager Jessica McDonnell…

There’s an age-old saying in the industry: ‘there’s no such thing as bad PR’. This is a statement that for the most part I’m inclined to agree with.  

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll have likely seen the online backlash that 22-year-old social media influencer, businesswoman and reality TV star Molly Mae Hague has received. The reaction is off the back of comments made on a recent podcast. In Steven Bartlett’s podcast ‘Diary of a CEO’, Molly talks about how we all have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce. In Molly’s words, “I just think you’re given one life and it’s down to you what you do with it. You can literally go in any direction.”  

Molly, who in 2021 was appointed creative director of fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing, has been slammed across the press and social media, being called ‘tone deaf’, ‘a hypocrite’ and ‘out of touch with reality’. The comments have also unearthed allegations of PLT paying workers just £3.50 per hour to work in their factories. 

However, many have leapt to Molly’s defence, stating that this short clip was taken out of context and in fact, podcast host Steven Bartlett agreed with the comments and has not received any backlash. 

The question is, is all this publicity going to have a long-term impact on Molly Mae and her brand?  

Social inequality has been placed at the forefront of many people’s minds due to the COVID19 pandemic, and arguably awareness on the devastating impact fast fashion can have on the planet is increasing, so the comments possibly couldn’t have surfaced at a worse time for Molly.  

During the backlash, the press reported a huge spike in searching ‘how to cancel PLT order’ by 2,967% – so that’s not ideal! However, as with many media scandals, these things are often short-lived. Remember when one half of TV presenter duo Ant and Dec, Ant McPartlin, was convicted of drink driving? He was back in the nation’s good books by the following year. Pop favourite James Arthur once sent abusive tweets to One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson and former X Factor winner Matt Cardle and has gone on to sell over 30 million records worldwide. 

Like any good PR team, Molly Mae’s people have released a statement defending the words she used and she herself has released an apology on Instagram, stating that her words were meant to inspire rather than offend. While we must always choose our words wisely, I don’t think that it’s fair to ‘cancel’ a young woman, for some potentially naive words. It will be interesting to see what Molly and her team do next to help with image damage control, watch this space! 

If you’d like assistance with your business’s social media (drama-free, we promise) then visit Source PR’s social media page and find out how we can help you. 

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

A Look Inside Google’s Year in Search 2021

/in , /by

Written by our PR intern and university student Bridie Buckingham…

This year, more than ever, the world is searching for “How to Heal.”

Google premiered its 2021 ‘Year in Search’ film in 50+ languages worldwide. The highly anticipated short is built from Google Trends data highlighting the world’s most asked questions and most searched topics this year.

Take a look at what was revealed.

Last year, Google’s ‘Year In Search’ asked “why?” more than any other time in history. This year, the process of reflecting on the global events that have changed the world forever began. The challenges and tragedy of recent years became an opportunity to summon collective strength. It became a time to embrace scars and come back stronger than before.

We asked “how to honour someone?”

We asked “how to take care of your mental health?”

And we asked “how to be strong?”

There was a clear theme to this year’s searching. With all of us fighting our own battles, big or small, the desire to overcome was evident. Reflected in our Google searches, the motivation to get better, and to do better, was an important factor in our actions throughout 2021.

It goes without saying that various questions surrounding the pandemic featured in the top searches. “Will there be another lockdown?” and “when can I get the vaccine?” featured heavily as well as the heart wrenching “when can I visit my family?”.

2021 saw the return of (semi)normal life. Shops reopened, businesses began to recover, and sports, music, and theatre made a comeback. Clearly the search for “how to be resilient” was fruitful.

Spending a lot of time with ourselves also made many of us introspective. Searches for “how to be yourself” and “what is my purpose?” appeared frequently and with the coming out of Elliot Page and others this year as well as the outpouring of love and acceptance, 2021 has seen a lot of people step into their own.

Despite this, it was not all of us who felt the love. Searches for “how to move forward” and “stop Asian hate” spoke of the vast amount of people suffering from the world’s unkindness. With racist abuse targeting the BLM protests and Asian communities, many felt the need to turn for help.

Searches for “how to use my voice” also increased with many of us wondering how we can make a difference and use our voices to implement change and raise awareness for causes near and dear to us.

“How to help our planet”, “ways to help your community” and “how to be hopeful” round out the top searches and bring back a bit of positivity. With the influence of COP26 and the evident climate change we experienced in lockdown, people are looking for ways to help our planet as well as give back to their local community who supported them through the last year and a half.

Currently, the world is searching for “how to be hopeful” and I think that is very poignant, especially now. We have made it through the trials and tribulations 2021 has thrown at us, and while some of us have taken to looking forwards, many of us are looking inwards.

Let’s hope for the best for 2022. For ourselves and for the world.

Stay safe.

 

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Our Take On The Latest Social Advertising Bans

/in , , , /by

The news broke last week that adverts promoting cosmetic procedures to under-18-year-olds have been banned in the UK. And that got us thinking… Is blacklisting the best way to eliminate controversial campaigns?

 

According to The Guardian, adverts promoting “breast enlargement, nose jobs and liposuction at under-18s” are included in the crackdown, which was orchestrated by the UK advertising watchdog.

 

Where won’t they be?

 

The new rules, which come into force from May 2022, bar these ads from appearing on all media outlets, from Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, to billboards, posters, and newspapers. Magazines and radio are also subject to this new legislation, and influencers don’t get off scot-free either – they can no longer advertise to young, impressionable audiences.

 

Why has this happened?

 

Over the last ten years, the rise of social media, reality TV shows and the ‘influencer’ have led to more and more of us striving to achieve unattainable physiques, looks, and even new personality traits.

 

The saying ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ is quite apt here, and, sadly, many of the companies and individuals advertising these products and procedures have, in some cases, taken advantage of their younger audiences.

 

Arguably, we’ve all become a lot more impressionable throughout the pandemic because all we’ve been able to do is scroll and chat online. We’ve spent time looking into other people’s lives, routines, and health and fitness regimes on the socials to distract ourselves from the external circumstances, like the pandemic.

 

Has anything else changed?

 

Yes. Not only are companies unable to advertise their cosmetic procedures, but private doctors also aren’t allowed to practice them either. If they continue carrying out cosmetic operations to under-18s, they’re at risk of going to jail and paying fines.

 

Is this the first time this has happened?

 

This isn’t the first-time adverts and marketing campaigns have gotten out of hand. First, it was tobacco companies with the Tobacco Advertising & Promotion Act 2002 that prohibited tobacco products from advertising and sponsorship, and then more recently fast food and ‘junk food’ industries have been told to put a muzzle on their television and online advertising campaigns after 9 pm starting from 2023.

 

By implementing this latest ban, the UK government hopes it can reduce the obesity crisis and lower the number of people eating late in the day. The online aspect of the ban affects all aspects of paid online marketing, such as Facebook ads and promotions on Instagram.

 

 Are bans like these a good idea?

 

Yes, I think so. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some great campaigns in the past connected with food, cars, and even cigars and makeup. But, in the olden days, once you switched off the television or radio, they were gone. Now, they make their way into our inboxes, social media direct messages, and into our SMS messages.

 

These bans will prevent younger people from being too heavily influenced by their idols and feeling under pressure to purchase a product, or undergo a potentially costly and unnecessary procedure, to be relevant or to ‘fit in’.

 

Why Do Christmas Ads Lose Their Appeal?

/in /by

During lockdown 1.0 (which feels exactly 472894790 years ago), I began studying an ‘at-home’ psychology course to better understand the human mind and the way we think, because as communicators this is fundamentally important to our practice, and it’s pretty instrumental in doing a good job on behalf of our clients too.

I picked up plenty of interesting facts during the time studying for my diploma and have very recently had the chance to observe that in real-time. As, once again, John Lewis has released their highly anticipated Christmas ad, only to be met by a level of criticism that can be said have grown exponentially year on year.

So why have we gone from loving these famed campaigns to being bitterly disappointed by them? Here’s what I think.

The Rise & Fall Of Iconic Ads

Critics haven’t held back when it comes to the new John Lewis ad (which, in my opinion, actually carries a pretty sweet message and is perfectly adequate for a Christmas campaign). It’s been described by viewers as “underwhelming”, “boring”, and “below their usual standard.” But we wouldn’t say this about every festive ad that dons our TV screens during November and December, would we? So why do we probe John Lewis just so much?

Expectations Are Too High

The elephant in the room, and it doesn’t take a psychologist to tell you this, is that our expectations are simply too high for John Lewis. We all have our favourite Christmas ad of theirs, which oftentimes tends to be one of the first we ever seen. We were impressed by it, and we crave that feeling again. When the business doesn’t deliver, we’re disappointed. John Lewis were truly on to something golden when they near enough monopolised the Christmas advertising industry for a time, but we have to accept that they simply can’t retain that level of amazing content forever.

Not to mention, other brands are upping their game too. In a nutshell, we expect too much of John Lewis, and therefore our expectations not being met translates to disappointment, typically on a bigger scale due to this ad being ‘the one’ that we look forward to the most.

I believe that when we start cutting John Lewis more slack, when we stop craving so much from them, and if we recognise, as many have been saying this year, that their “best days are behind them”, then maybe (just maybe) we can allow ourselves to be pleasantly surprised once more.

Under More Scrutiny

With great power, comes great responsibility. And though John Lewis positioning themselves as one of the big brands of Christmas is unarguably a good thing, it also has its cons too. For example, every year the ads are critiqued more than most, which is why viewers are often left disappointed like I mentioned just above. But not only this, they’re also far more visible than most competing content.

Every year of late, there’s been opposition to John Lewis’ epochal Christmas ad, this year – UK alt-folk duo The Portraits have claimed that the corporation copied their record that was initially produced for charity last year, without their permission. Do you think this would have made headlines if the brand wasn’t so prominent for its Christmas campaigns? All of these stories work to damage a brand’s reputation.

And though in the grander scheme of things, this isn’t nearly enough to impact the legacy that John Lewis has built for itself – thanks in a large part to its festive traditions – it certainly doesn’t do them any favours.

Some Brands Do It So Well, We Can Never Hate Them

To put it simply: John Lewis is undoubtedly one of the big names of Christmas, but only on the premise that they produce a showstopping ad campaign year on year. Why don’t we expect that from the likes of Coca Cola, who are another flagship brand of the festive season?

Well, that’s because thanks to clever marketing by Coca Cola (the same company that gave their design team a brief to make the bottle recognisable without a label once upon a time, which was achieved with commendable success), our brains link the brand itself to the festive season, as opposed to a specific campaign. Fun fact: this brand was actually instrumental in turning Santa Claus’ outfit red. Before the drinks brand got involved, he donned a green suit! The Coca Cola truck doesn’t change, its reliable and safe, and we trust it. I know I’m not the only one who judges when I can start feeling festive, by when I first see this iconic ad. As humans, we love this feeling, we find it comforting. That’s why Coca Cola, to many of us, is at least partly the face of Christmas.

The holidays are coming? Credit: Shropshire Live

If we are to experience change, we want to be impressed by it. So, John Lewis made a rod for their own back, so to speak. By producing a number of amazing Christmas advertisements back-to-back, we got used to being impressed by them every year. Their legacy will only last as long as they keep sharing content that surprises and delights us.

That’s the difference between these two Christmassy giants.

So, What Can We Learn From This?

Why The Underdog Always Wins

Where once, the archetypal John Lewis ads ‘won’ the Christmas campaign battle every year, now it seems they’re falling at the post when pitted against newcomers, and big brands with new ideas. Why? Because as humans, we love to be surprised and delighted. We expect John Lewis’ ads to do well, so that becomes less interesting to us.

Credit: Yahoo

When a company comes along with something unusually charming, it piques our interest. This year, Tesco’s ad which depicts Santa swerving quarantine rules due to having his Covid-19 pass ready and waiting at border control, along with Aldi’s new Kevin The Carrot ad which takes a neat dig at supermarket rival M&S, seem to be more popular. If this doesn’t prove what I’ve said above, then I don’t know what will!

What Can Smaller Businesses Do?

The lesson to take from this, is that content that surprises and delights always keeps your customer and your stakeholders interested and engaged. Switch it up every now and again, share new things and messages from your business that you haven’t before. As humans, we like to feel ‘amazed’, and I believe every brand can achieve this one way or another. Maybe not on the same scale as John Lewis, but every business has someone to communicate too. And if you need support in doing so, please do contact our lovely team, we’re always happy to help.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Was The Social Media Blackout A Good Thing?

/in , , , , , /by

Last week, the world experienced a six-hour social media blackout. The three social media giants: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, all crashed at once. Disaster! In light of this this, and other semi-apocalyptic events that have happened over the past 18-months, many thought this was another sign of humanity’s untimely demise!

But thankfully, it wasn’t.

Our thumbs were spared from scrolling while Mark Zuckerberg delved into what went wrong at Facebook, the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp. After some tinkering on the Monday night, he got the planet’s scrollers scrolling again by Tuesday morning.

According to BBC News, the outage was caused by “an internal technical issue which took Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram offline at about 16:00 GMT on Monday.” After this, what we’d like to know is whether you think temporary social media shutdowns are a good idea? Drastic I know, but hear us out…

 

The Idea of a Social Shutdown

What if, for two months out of 12 every year, the social media giants went quiet, and we were all logged out?

After a couple of years of only being able to interact with each other on our phones, we can certainly see the benefits of social media, and admittedly a blackout would be a challenge. Over the last couple of years, social media outlets have enabled us to continue to communicate with our friends and family from all over the world.

Businesses also rely heavily on social media to promote products or services. But this still risks creating a revenue shortage because there’s no one to advertise to. And, following the outage, the BBC revealed that Zuckerberg himself might have lost in the region of £4.4bn, while Facebook’s shares dropped by almost 5%.

So maybe it isn’t a good idea after all. But what if there was a way of solely targeting private social media users? Stay with us…

 

Would Routine Blackouts Work?

So, the financial implications for some companies are quite severe… Granted. But, if we take another look at the human side of things, ditching our social platforms for a while has been proven to help people’s mental health.

According to Parade.com, ceasing to use social media can cause people to feel anxious at first, and some even develop withdrawal symptoms. But, after a couple of weeks, your mental health should improve. Parade states that “studies have shown a direct correlation between depression and excessive social media use.”

After interviewing Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and Columbia University professor, Parade found that of “6,500 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S, those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at heightened risk for mental health problems.”

 

The Key? Focus On Yourself

Finally, I feel like the most compelling reason why we should all be forced to take a break from social media every now and again is because of comparing ourselves with others. This can cause disillusionment with your own life, and you can start to doubt yourself, which is a pretty precarious situation to be in.

Even though many of the ideas discussed above will not come to fruition anytime soon, the message to take away from this blog is that social media, unless you use it to make a living, shouldn’t be the be all and end all.

What do you think?

Our BrightonSEO Autumn 2021 Takeaways

/in , /by

At Source PR, our bag is traditional PR and social media, but we also offer digital services too. With the incredible growth of this industry, it would be crazy not to! With this in mind, we packed our bags and headed south to BrightonSEO last week to meet up with, and learn from, some of the GREATEST minds in search and digital. There’s been a handful of blog posts since rounding up the whole event, and so instead we wanted to focus on today our top 10 actionable takeaways, and how we can apply those not only to digital, but the traditional PR space too.

Digital PR And Its Place In Traditional

But first, let’s quickly talk about digital PR and how it has its place within the more traditional sectors of the industry. Digital PR is prominently focused on building backlinks to a website for SEO purposes, and whilst this is an important exercise endorsed by the likes of Google-whizz John Mueller himself, we like to make our PR efforts work harder. So, whilst digital is one of our focuses, we find it works best when bedded in with a solid social media strategy and more traditional PR activity such as events, features, interviews, and CSR initiatives. That’s the future as we see it, and it’s an exciting place to be!

10 BrightonSEO Takeaways For The Traditional World

Below, you can find out what we learned at BrightonSEO and how we’ll apply it to our PR practices. Afterwards, if you’re wanting to learn even more, we’d recommend heading over to this great blog post by Gemma Flinders which includes a whopping 89 tips.

#1 – You Can (And Should) Optimise For Instagram

Social media is huge for us at Source, and should be part of any good PR strategy. But did you know that SEO and social media can go hand in hand? One of the first talks on Friday morning by the wonderful Freya Jones covered exactly this, and she revealed some actionable tips on how to improve the visibility of your client’s posts on the ‘discovery’ page of Instagram. These included utilising alt tags, being consistent with hashtags, making sure your content is ‘interactive’ and going ‘live’ where you can too.

#2 – Traditional PR Can Earn Links Too

The one downfall of the digital PR industry, and I’m sure many would agree, is the lack of relevancy in some campaigns. It’s often spoken out about on Twitter and was actually covered in depth by Beth Nunnington in Auditorium 2 at Brighton on Thursday. As traditional PR and digital PR become more and more aligned, gone are the days of campaigns that bear no resemblance to clients. We’ve always been focused on activity that is directly related to the businesses that we work with, and this is important as it works better for your SEO too. With this in mind, it also proves that traditional PR can earn links as well! Where we’re focusing on stories that are very relevant to our clients, industry research covered at the conference shows that journalists are more likely to add links to their piece, as it directly relates to what the story is about. Win win…

BrightonSEO traditional PR

Team Source touches down in Brighton 🌤

#3 – Your Content Might Be A Win For SEO Too

For years, there has been an ongoing thought that traditional PR and digital PR disciplines need to be kept separate, but why should they? Ultimately both efforts (should) work towards improving the performance of your client. Though our type of PR is focused more around establishing a proficient reputation for the businesses that we work with, there’s no reason why it can’t work to achieve links in the way that digital PR does either. In a fantastic talk by Liz Gration, the idea of ‘content that doesn’t need outreaching’ was put to us. Think statistics pages and thought leadership-led content on behalf of contents. The latter is something we do often here at Source PR, so the idea of posting particularly strong comments to static pages and letting them work their magic is very interesting for us.

#4 – Awareness Days Have Multiple Benefits

At the beginning of last year (wow, doesn’t that seem an age ago now?), we wrote about leveraging awareness days in both PR and social. In a talk by Jen Macdonald, the benefits were reinforced and then some. Interestingly, Jen covered B2B industries which are famously harder to market within but are actually one of our specialities here at Source. She spoke about how events such as #MensMentalHealthWeek can be linked to case studies in construction to win trade and national coverage, largely because these awareness days and weeks, especially the very popular ones, provide lots of article opportunities for journalists who want to link into anything topical. Time to whip out our ‘days of the year’ calendar and get planning!

#5 – Journalists Get A LOT Of Content, We Need To Make Our Stories Worthwhile

In a talk by Dan Snow and James Carson of History Hit, the very first one of the conference, James revealed that as a former journalist of the Telegraph, around 250 articles a day was the norm. In traditional PR, creating captivating stories is in our DNA, but we need to take this revelation into consideration when putting together our campaigns, asking ourselves whether our story is not only compelling enough to be covered, but also will it be looked at by readers? Where digital PRs might see links as the end goal, our purpose is to create content that will reach our audiences, and when our PR is competing with upwards of 250 other pieces, stories need to be ‘readable’ as well as ‘coverable’ by journalists’ standards.

#6 – We Could Ditch The Discovery Phase Of The Content Marketing Funnel?

Any marketeer will know the content funnel, which is (or is some variation of): Discovery ➡️ Awareness ➡️ Consideration ➡️ Conversion. In an insightful talk on content strategy by Lucy Dodds, she revealed that we ought to ditch the discovery phase and stop focusing on traffic for traffic’s sake. As PRs, awareness (and generating it) is our thing, but this point sparked an interesting thought process. Whilst we want plenty of people to hear about our clients, we also have a responsibility to ensure that the right people are hearing about them. If your target demographic is retirees for example, is there any point in writing content that will appeal only to teenagers? Absolutely not. Even if there’s low hanging fruit there in the form of website rankings, it’s simply not worth it, as these visitors are highly unlikely to be convertible. We’re glad these conversations are being had more and more often, as it means that our industry is working harder and smarter in its efforts.

#7 – Podcasts Are The Future!

At the beginning of the year, it was predicted that revenue from podcasts would grow by around 35%. This notion was confirmed by the one and only Azeem, who taught us about the exponential opportunities that audio has. As traditional PRs, we leverage multiple channels to build a great brand image, what’s interesting to us is that it seems that podcasting is here to stay. What’s really great is that podcasts don’t have to be about niche topics either, as Azeem explained those that cover a wider range of areas of interest to the audience often do better than those that are hyper-focused. You should always have at least 4 or 5 files in the bank and hundreds of ideas before launching a channel. Certainly food for thought! Watch this space?

#8 – Traditional PR = A Winner For SEO!

A theme we identified throughout multiple talks is that search volumes often have more impact than any number of backlinks to a website. The more your brand is known and searched-for, the more likely it is to rank on Google (and other search engines). This was highlighted in particular by Stephen Kenwright during his talk on getting search, social and PR efforts working together. This tells us that as PRs, our focus remains the same as always: to build an excellent brand for our clients. Though the digital world is fast-paced and we must keep up with it, good old fashion exposure still works perfectly in creating a reputable brand. This in turn has its own benefits online, proving that traditional PR is very much here to stay.

#9 – PPC Can Support Traditional PR Too

One of the reasons that some people think the traditional PR industry is dated (it isn’t, mostly!) is because of the stubbornness of some to stick to what they know. The truth is, we live in a world that is changing by the day and what might work today, mightn’t tomorrow. One thing that was covered by multiple speakers over in Brighton was the idea of using PPC to make your other campaigns work harder. Just produced a banging blog post that you think more people need to see? Put some Google spend behind it! Or if you’re working on bigger campaigns for your clients with an aim of attracting PR coverage, generating views via PPC isn’t a bad place to start first. Speaking more ‘digitally’ (though none of this is linear), this can also help your website’s SEO too.

#10 – We Need To Talk More About Burnout In The Industry

Finally, let’s end on a note that applies not only to PR, but the whole working world. Since the pandemic, reports of burnout have increased at an alarming rate. In a compelling talk by Sean Butcher, his actionable tips to help combat mental health issues in our day and age included organising your day, managing Zoom time and being realistic with your to-do lists. As we think this is incredibly important for everybody to hear, you can find the full presentation here. Later on the Friday, keynote speaker Stacey MacNaught revealed a stat which I think gave a lot of us that sinking feeling in our stomachs. 32.1% of people say they feel bad at their job every single day. Just take that in for a moment. That’s almost 1 in 3 of us. A further 39.6% said they feel this way at least once a week. No ifs, no buts, this is simply not okay. As an industry we have a responsibility to raise up our peers and our own employees, PR is a tough job but when we’re all happy within it, it’s amazing too.

BrightonSEO traditional PR

A note from me: though most of this blog is written on behalf of us all here at Source PR, I wanted to jump in at the end and say that enough is enough. I’m so fortunate to work in a place that values us and makes us feel rewarded all the time, but sadly this is not as common in our industry as it should be. I’ll forever campaign against this until we see a real change in the industry, and that’s also why I’ve just pitched for my first ever talk for an event proposed by Hannah Butcher. So, keep your fingers crossed for me! 🤞🏻

Featured image credit: BrightonSEO.

My Take On Kim K’s Met Gala PR Stunt

/in /by

Written by our PR intern and university student Bridie Buckingham…

The 2021 Met Gala was earlier this week, and it has taken the internet by storm. Like most, I know little about designer brands or high fashion looks, however, that doesn’t stop me from giving my two cents on the red-carpet lineup. Sharing opinions on the best dressed of the night is one of the highlights of the night, especially on social media.

The fashion is extravagant and bold but most importantly it gets people talking (peep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Tax the Rich’ dress). Visiting Twitter on the evening of the Met Gala is like walking into an explosion of colour, however, this time, it was the absence of colour that really caught my eye.

The theme of this year’s exhibition: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion served many homages to memorable icons, yet of the most surprising looks of the night was brought by none other than Kim Kardashian West.

Dressed in black from head to toe – complete with black face covering, Kim took to the carpet distinguishable only by her signature silhouette. The outfit, designed by Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia featured a T-shirt dress over a bodysuit, worn with a balaclava and matching gloves, which left nothing on show apart from Kim’s sleek long ponytail.

Being PRs, we know exactly what this was.

This publicity stunt (because yes, it was a publicity stunt) sparked a fountain of hilarious memes to commemorate the eye-catching look (you’ll find some of my favourites at the end of this blog), whilst others speculated the meaning behind her attire.

The stunt could have been to commemorate Kanye’s mother Donda, which is also the name of his recently released album in which Kim participated in the promotions. Kim took to Instagram to ask of her haters “What’s more American than a T-shirt head to toe?!”

This may seem a very flippant answer considering it took me several minutes to even spot the ‘t-shirt’ she was wearing. However, she may be actually very smart to not give the real meaning away, instead of letting people speculate and continue the conversation.

Initially, I couldn’t see past the death eater memes but once I did, I began to realise that this PR stunt was actually a pretty clever message. As I mentioned before, even though she was covered head to toe, her famous silhouette was undeniable. It’s a “fame flex” that bolsters just how strong her brand and influence are in the world. She can change or lose form almost entirely and you would still know it’s her. She steals the spotlight without even trying and in this instance, she doesn’t even need to show skin to get attention. She can wear anything and be recognized by the world.

After a carpet full of overdone outfits, her take was somewhat refreshing. No one has ever done this before, particularly because no one has her fame or the guts to do it. Who else could make this work? She is metaphorically screaming ‘only I can do this, and I own it.’

Love or hate Kim, you can’t deny she gets excellent media coverage!

And, as promised, some more of my favourite memes of the night:

 

Featured image credit: Twitter.

Our Tips On Securing Media Coverage

/in , /by

Having worked both as a journalist and a PR person for nearly a quarter of a century, I have had a few years of trying to figure out what works when it comes to securing coverage in the media.

My take on it is there are a lot of factors to getting your news written about. But it really isn’t a dark art.

Here are a few tips on what works.

Make it newsworthy

The number one priority when trying to get a journalist to cover your news, is that it has to have a strong news hook. It needs to pass the ‘so what?’ factor. Don’t go to them with a weak story.

What makes a good news story is a whole blog post in itself but there are some basics to consider.

Is it of interest to the readers of the media outlet and is it the sort of story it normally covers? Look at what information creates headlines and what the media has written about other companies.

Just a side note on this though. You can have the best story in the world, but if it’s trumped by a bigger event or your timing’s off then you can definitely still fail your goal. Make sure you’re aware of the bigger news agenda that’s going on or coming up so you don’t try and compete.

Also, make yourself familiar with the media’s deadline. If you want your story to appear in print, you need to know when each copy/issue goes to bed, for example. When is all the editorial signed off?

It needs to be personal

Whilst it’s not always true these days that ‘people buy from people’ due to the marvellous invention that is the internet, it is still true that the personal touch goes, a very, long way.

This is important when you send out an email to a journalist with news attached. Don’t leave the greeting a blanket one. Use the person’s name when addressing them, not just a ‘hello’ or no greeting at all. No one wants to feel like they’re getting an email that’s gone to everyone. Everyone likes to feel that something is tailored to them.

On top of that, what’s going to get you the best chance of coverage is building a relationship with a journalist. Years ago, relationship building was about lunches, drinks and coffee but now it’s more likely to be about email or social media rapport.

Plus, you need to earn trust, which can be achieved through always providing a strong news story (see above) that’s relevant to the journalist’s readers. If a journalist knows that you always provide a decent story, they’re more likely to open your email from the very many they receive each day! This is the first hurdle you need to get past.

Always do what you say you’re going to do

Talking of trust, obviously working in PR is not always about being proactive, sometimes it’s the reactive activity that can land you the best results. We see this often here at Source PR.

That’s why, if you get an enquiry from a journalist, it’s imperative that you get back to them within their deadline. Not only does this give you the best chance of getting your client included in a news story, but it also shows that you are a reliable PR who can provide relevant information for a story on time. This means the journalist is more likely to think of you next time they need something.

If the journalist is reaching out to you, rather than you chasing them, then you’re definitely winning ☺️

I Explored The Psychology Behind Fear Mongering In The Media

/in /by

Written by our PR intern and university student Bridie Buckingham…

I was wondering about what to write on the Source blog this week, until a spirited office conversation piqued my interest. Whilst discussing some current media trends the phrase fear-mongering cropped up several times and I began thinking, beyond the obvious, just what does fear-mongering (or indeed scaremongering) mean in the world of media, PR and communications?

Google defines fear-mongering as “a form of manipulation which causes fear by using exaggerated rumours of impending danger.” Fear-mongering can make people anxious about the wrong things and use an excessive number of resources to avoid rare and unlikely dangers, while more probable dangers are ignored. For example, some parents have kept their children at home to prevent abduction, whilst paying less attention to more common dangers such as lifestyle diseases or traffic accidents. In short, it can be dangerous. So why do we fall victim to this type of messaging so often?

Why Does It Work So Well?

According to evolutionary psychology, humans have a strong impulse to pay attention to danger due to the awareness of dangers being important for survival throughout our evolutionary history. This effect is then amplified by cultural evolution, as the media caters to our appetite for news about dangers – world floods, civil unrest and a Covid-19 third wave to name a few – and that’s just in the last week!

What Psychological Effects Can It Have?

Fear-mongering can have strong psychological effects, some intended and some not so intentional. One hypothesized effect is ‘mean world syndrome. This is where people perceive the world as more dangerous than it is inhibiting their daily life and optimism for the future. Perhaps the scariest impact that fear-mongering can have is the ‘rally around the flag’ effect, which is most commonly seen in increasing support for incumbent political leaders. To give you an example, official warnings about the risk of terrorist attacks led to increased support for Donald Trump which eventually led to his election in 2016.

How Often Is Fear-Mongering Used?

Fierce economic competition over the years has led to commercial mass media relying extensively on scary stories and bad news in a competition that has been characterised as an ‘emotional arms race’. Stories about crime, and especially violent crimes and crimes against children, figure prominently among newspaper headlines. These stories sell. Though not overseas, an analysis of US newspapers found that between 10 and 30% of headlines involve crime and fear, with a tendency to a shift of focus from isolated crime events to more thematic articles about fear. The story is not so different over here on home turf. In the UK, media outlets often use gory sex crimes as a parameter of competition. The continued focus on emotionally touching sex crimes has had a strong influence on politics and legislation today.

Where Does It Occur?

Aside from the aforementioned used in the media, advertisers have also entered the arena with the psychological discovery that ‘fear sells’. Ad campaigns based on fear, sometimes referred to as ‘shockvertising’, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Fear is a strong emotion, and it can be manipulated to persuade people into making emotional rather than reasoned choices. Think car commercials that imply that having fewer airbags will cause the audience’s family harm, and disinfectant commercials that show pathogenic bacteria lurking on every surface… Fear-based advertising works.

Recent Uses

Fear mongering has been rife in the news of recent for obvious reasons. And whilst it is important, we know the facts and are aware of the statistics, perspective is paramount but often discarded. My colleague recently reported that there are over 2000 covid patients being admitted into hospital every day and I was shocked. I thought “wow that’s a huge number, that has got to be near enough everyone admitted into hospital in a day” – how naïve of me. According to official statistics, there are approximately 50,000 people admitted into hospital every day. After that revelation, I was now seeing those initial figures in a new light. That is the power of perspective. The news delivers stats like this every day but consistently fails to put them into context. The huge number puts everyone on edge when there’s no need. I remember at one point, during the first lockdown, the coronavirus death rate was lower than the rate of people dying from the flu every year. I don’t think I have EVER been scared of dying from the flu, however, I was terrified of catching and dying from Covid-19 many times in the past 18 months.

Going Forward

These figures should not be disregarded, nor the lives that sadly contribute to these figures, but perhaps instead of the consistent fear-mongering delivered by the press, how about a little more perspective. I’m sure we’d all like to breathe a little sigh of relief after the last 18 months, however, this will never happen if scare tactics like those we see every day continue. As marketers and communicators, we have a responsibility to relay messages ethically and use honest and genuine tactics to sell our stories, as opposed to putting fear into people. This remains an ongoing problem, and one the communications and media industries ought to actively tackle.