DIVERSIFY, BUT TELL YOUR STORY WELL

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Adding income streams through diversification projects is focusing the business brains of many farms and estates in this post-Brexit landscape. And while a new farm shop, glamping enterprise or festival requires concentrated attention, it’s also vital to think about PR and marketing for your rural business to actually tell customers about your rural business or scheme.

People are wanting more from the countryside – more to see, do and experience – and this behavioural change creates opportunities. Estates and farms may be thinking of outdoor film nights, festivals, high-end camping experiences or demonstrations of local goods: these are all great stories to tell via social media and structured PR.

Rural Marketing and brand building

Take the example of creating a high-end product by rearing extensively farmed meat;  research shows that some customers are keen to pay more and travel further to make a special purchase of say, Longhorn beef. The story that needs to be told includes the health benefits of the meat, the welfare enjoyed by the cattle, the rearing system, (e.g. a grass-fed diet) and interesting breed traits. By promoting provenance, you can build a brand.

The benefits of nature are increasingly cited as helping with mental health problems; this offers opportunities for creating low-cost schemes such as walking and cycling routes or woodland glamping. With the possibility of outdoor therapy being prescribed by the NHS in future, these are good stories to tell. Likewise, with broadband and the prospect of 5G opening up rural areas creating opportunities for diverse businesses, it’s important to publicise an exciting enterprise, engaging with the local community as well as broader  promotion.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the detail of setting up a business. A different perspective on reaching out to a wider customer base can be illuminating – that’s where professional PR and marketing come in and can pay dividends.  Get in contact with our specialist rural PR and marketing team for a free business consultation.

 

HOW PR INFLUENCERS ARE SHAPING THE HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE

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If you’re a regular user of social media, you’ll know that so-called ‘Blue Monday’ has not long passed. This extremely successful marketing scheme, originally created by Sky Travel in 2005 to sell holidays, is debunked yearly. Yet despite the pseudoscience, it seems to resonate with people: we have post-Christmas fatigue, aren’t drinking or going out so much, and it’s cold and dark. January continues to be the month in which advertisers for travel companies spend the most money, as the trends indicate that this is when people want to start looking forward to a holiday.

 

One of the most sought-after destinations, largely popularised by influencers and celebrities, is the Indonesian island of Bali. In 2017, Bali was voted as the world’s best tourist destination by TripAdvisor reviewers. It can regularly be seen in the backdrop of Instagram influencers, and is a popular destination for Love Island contestants past and present. The appeal is clear: once the pricey flights are paid for, the cost of eating, drinking and travelling within the island are low by comparison to more traditional holiday destinations. Money aside, it’s also one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. It boasts white sands, blue beaches and waterfalls, to name but a few of its ecological attractions.

 

The price to pay for popularity?

 

There are some downsides to the huge surge in popularity for the island. Bali fares better than its neighbouring island of Lombok. Due to Lombok’s Muslim population and governance, it has tighter rules around alcohol, pork and adult entertainment. This severely impacts its popularity. However, the Indonesian government is still pushing for other islands to be visited, since the influx of tourists to Bali is reaching a maximum capacity. Over five million tourists visited the island last year, a million more people than the island’s actual population.

 

Over-exploitation by tourists has led the Indonesian government to declare a ‘garbage emergency’. It now plans to build ‘ten new Balis’ in order to keep up with the demand for tourism.

 

A similar incident occurred on the beach of Phi Phi Leh, the beach made famous by the novel and Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach. It has now closed until 2021 in order to recuperate and let the wildlife thrive. As many as 5,000 visitors per day came to ‘The Beach’, causing a surge of population that the infrastructure and habitat couldn’t handle.

 

Social media campaigns to blame?

 

The over-popularity could be due to the increased awareness of the island’s beauty from social media. TripAdvisor now offers so-called ‘Instagram tours’ around Bali. Does this indicate the true intention of many of its tourists might be less about observation and appreciation, and more about likes and showcasing? Likupang, an Indonesian island similar to Bali, suffers from ‘empty beaches’ despite its beauty. Eliza Borello writes for ABC Australia, ‘With almost no one in the water, there’s a sense tourists are bused to the beach for a selfie and bused back to town not long after […] Beyond the Instagram veneer, rubbish is a problem.’

 

The nature of Bali may carry its own appeal to Westerners. As somewhere less accessible, and in many cases a less conventional place to holiday, it might be seen as a more ‘exotic’ destination than a Spain, Greece or Canary Islands trip. Its exoticism therefore increases its appeal, and it becomes the more sought-after destination for influencers and young travellers.

 

New horizons

 

With any luck, the Indonesian government will be able to curb the over-exploitation of what is a beautiful and unique destination. Whether this comes down to the promotion of islands that are similar to Bali, or creating entirely new destinations, it would be regrettable if an island which appeal stems from its seclusion becomes unable to cope with its capacity for tourists.

 

Whatever happens, Bali’s success story shows the power of social media and influencers. At Source, we can give you the low-down on the latest in the digital world, including social media and online communications. Get in touch with us on 01829 7208789 to learn more, or follow us on Twitter (@source_tweets), Facebook (@SourcePublicRelations) and LinkedIn (The Source).

 

 

Social Media Management

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We’re often asked by clients about social media management or support in developing and devising social media campaigns as often they neither have the time nor necessary skill set to effectively attract and engage with their chosen audiences.

When looking to hire outsourced marketing support the key is to ensure you align your broader marketing communications strategy to incorporate what you’re saying to customers through your social channels.

It’s critical to get it right so you’re able to deliver consistent, timely and relevant messages.  Once the strategy is agreed, here are some top tips to getting your posts right:

  • Content is king – remember your audiences and make it relevant to them, not just a sales message
  • Don’t post if you’ve got nothing to say – ‘Happy Friday’ is a waste of time
  • Be consistent – know what you want to say, why and what you’re saying elsewhere
  • Share insight – entice and engage by providing audiences with relevant content that supports their needs or makes them relate to your brand
  • Use pictures or video to tell a story – audiences tend to spend less that 3 seconds per post, using visual aids can quickly convey a message

Outsourcing the management of your social media to a team of people that do it every day has some obvious advantages.  Not only will the team have the time and expertise to develop posts but will also provide you with the valuable insights into post performance and customer interactions.

Benefits of Social Media

Other benefits of effective social media management include having the option to:

  • Manage multiple accounts across various platforms
  • Analyse social engagement
  • Schedule posts in advance
  • Receive comprehensive reports of analytics
  • Monitor comments and respond efficiently
  • Collaborate with team members on content

The ultimate goal of social media management is to save you time, increase awareness of your products or service and therefore ultimately customers and profits.  If you want to know more contact us or slide into our DMs.

 

WHAT’S THE INFLUENCE OF INFLUENCER PR?

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Public relations has always been about influencing audiences and ensuring a brand or product is portrayed in the right light – the secret now is to use influencer PR.

Ensuring you are able to influence those who have influence over others is a crucial part of the work whether targeting journalists, MPs or celebrities.  The advent and exponential growth of social media has however seen the emergence of ‘influencers’ whose sole purpose seems to be to share their experiences and influence others.

Admittedly, the successful influencers focus on a market segment as their area of authority, whether mums, teens, fashion bloggers or people with a passion for their homes to name just a few sectors.

‘Being an influencer’ is now one of the most popular career options for primary school children. Gone are the days of kids aspiring to be lawyers, astronauts or firemen – it’s now all about becoming an online influencer.

A survey by  global affiliate network www.awin.com showed that one in five (17 per cent) of kids now wants to be a social media influencer and 14 per cent wanted to be a YouTuber – only doctor (18 per cent) scored higher.

The role of influencers is can pay dividends for the individual as well as the brands looking to engage with audiences.   A Marketingcharts.com surveyfound 22 per cent of 18-34 year-olds made a large purchase after seeing an online influencer endorsing the item – be that games, fashion, make-up or hotels.  The challenge however is finding the right influencer, with a genuine following and who has authority and an ability to engage with their audiences.

This year’s Love Island is already spawning a new wave of ‘influencers’ with huge numbers of followers.  However, research has revealed that many of their followers are in fact fake, undermining their credibility.

Tommy Fury, the most-followed contestant, has 971,000 followers but well over half (60%) of those are fake.  The contestants whose Instagram profiles have the highest concentration of fake followers are Amber Rose Gill and Jordan Hames, at 65% each.

Six of the 17 contestant accounts were reported for suspicious activity, just weeks before the contestants were publicly announced. Strangely Anton Danyluk would appear to have great influencer and support in India, Brazil and Mexico – some of the most common countries where ‘bot farms are commonly located.

Last year, Instagram claimed it was intending to target fake likes and comments from users who use third-party apps to boost their popularity.  The issue is a serious one as research from Social Chain has reported that brands are being defrauded by up to 96% of what they spend with some influencers.

The message from this seems to be clear that when used correctly, influencers have a key role to play in successfully targeting audience groups.  However, remember to do your research to ensure you know exactly how much influence your influencer actually has.

SOCIAL, SALES & REPUTATION

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Social media is ever-changing and ever-growing, with new updates bring the capability of sharing more and more information in different forms month on month. For businesses, this can seem like a perfect sales platform, with the ability to use strategic spend to target potential leads.

Of course, as social media companies recognise their worth to businesses, the cost to advertise goes up. But those looking to generate sales on social media shouldn’t be down-heartened – as a well-thought out and strategic ads campaign can still bring valuable results.

But we’re not here to talk about advertising strategies – let’s be honest, we’d be here for hours – but rather the value of non-sales focused social content. It can be tempting to see any posts that don’t directly link to sales goal as pointless, but it’s important to remember that social media shouldn’t be a platform with the sole purpose of sales.

Social media acts as the face of your business’ brand. Any potential customers will check social media pages to get a feel for what your brand does, and how you work. The amount of content you post, its relevance, the reactions you spark, your engagement and interactions all help to shape who you are in both your current and potential customers’ eyes.

Social media

Social media can, of course, support sales, but it’s also there to build and maintain reputation – an exercise which should never be underestimated. Having a solid, reliable reputation has no quantitative metrics to measure success, but it is vital for business growth. Constantly working on proactive reputation building essentially gives your business credibility points in the bank – credibility as a successful, industry-leading and valuable service for a customer to invest in.

So, when looking at your business’ social media: keep an open mind, and remember that thought out, strategized posts are still working to build your reputation and secure your long-term growth.

IT’S MORE THAN JUST THE MESSAGE

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Anyone who’s been involved in media training or been interviewed on TV or radio has probably been advised to focus on three or four key messages to ensure that they get their point across.

Fair enough, and there’s no denying that is some pretty sound advice, particularly if there is the potential for the interview to become complex or to be pulled in different directions.

There is however one problem, and that problem has been beautifully highlighted by someone who should quite frankly know better.  Our esteemed PM.

She could be accused of running perhaps the worst political campaign this century when she squandered a 20 point lead in the polls, to nearly lose the General Election to an opposition that many had predicted would be wiped off the political landscape.

What went wrong?

So, what went so wrong? In my view it was the over use of the ‘Strong and stable leadership’ message.  People started counting the absurd number of repetitions and it was not long before the memes started and social media undermined the message – along with the robot like delivery.  I believe Ikea even used it in their advertising along with a picture of the PM seated at a desk with the caption “strong and stable” shelving.

Theresa May, and many of her ministers, forgot one of the most important elements of an interview and that’s to add some personality and dynamism if you’re looking to attract support and get people to back your cause.

This is not meant to be a party political broadcast for any party or policy, but I fear that she’s falling into the same trap when looking to secure the votes needed to deliver on her Brexit proposals.

Let’s keep an ear out for how many times she says; “It’s a good deal for our country that takes back control of our borders, laws and money…”.  We have less than a fortnight before the ‘meaningful vote’ so no doubt plenty of time to be driven mad by the repetition.

If she wants the message to cut through she will need to not just repeat it like a small child on a drum kit, but instead install confidence and support through her body language, confidence in her convictions and even tone of voice.

If not, she’ll run the risk of only ever beings seen as ‘May-bot’ who is good at reciting messages but misses the bigger picture.

Looking to develop your communications strategy or develop messages? Get in touch and let us help you through the process.

BLOGGERS: A BRAND’S BEST FRIEND?

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Despite their increasing presence in the modern media landscape, the subject of working with bloggers will still make many business executives cringe. To several, the “blogosphere” remains a rather nebulous and untrustworthy concept which can be a little hard to grasp.

However, what initially began in 1999 as a fairly insignificant space for individuals to document their online diary has radically transformed into a bona fide digital platform and essential PR tool. The influencer landscape has a crucial impact on today’s consumers and can carry a lot of weight in terms of managing a brand’s reputation online.

Here’s why…

Blogging is everywhere

With two in every three people now reading blogs on a weekly basis, blogging has transformed from a hobby into a legitimate career choice. Studies have revealed that 23% of current total Internet usage time is devoted to social networks or blogs. With consumers spending so much time in this sphere, brands are well advised to have a presence.

Blogging affects SEO

Even if you’re only well-versed with the very basics of search engine optimisation, you’ll be aware that generating links back to your website can be enormously beneficial in terms of boosting Google rankings. Once a relevant blogger has written about your brand or services and included a link directly to your website, not only will Google recognise it as a sign of page authority but visitors to that particular blog will also be presented with a direct call to action to visit your website.

Bloggers have an influence

As bloggers give such an honest insight into their daily lives, their readers relate to what they write on a much more personal level and are therefore more likely to mimic their behaviour. In an increasingly technological world, people are turning to the internet for ‘word of mouth’ opinions as opposed to their friends and family, and that is precisely the role the blogosphere is currently playing.

As an agency, we always err on the side of caution when it comes to blogger partnerships, as there are many things which need careful consideration. Firstly, choosing a blogger that closely matches your brand ethos is essential as you’ll want to ensure the message is reaching the right audience. Secondly, ensure that you’ve done a thorough background check on your blogger’s stats. Simple sites like Coveragebot will enable you to check their domain authority and will also give you an indication of their monthly online readership. Lastly, check their social channels to ensure that their engagement rate is consistently high, not just for high following figures.

Ultimately the message is clear: if you proceed with careful consideration and choose your partnership wisely, a blog partnership can be enormously beneficial to the awareness and reputation of a brand.