Tag Archive for: North West

How To Best Use Influencer Marketing

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Influencer marketing is increasingly being used by businesses and brands to extend their range and reach into new and lucrative markets.  Although the marketing tactic has been used for several years, influencer marketing is set for exponential growth in 2023.

PR agencies have always been the preferred partner for businesses looking to engage in influencer marketing.  From the more traditional media briefings in which companies sought to inspire editors and the media agenda, through to brand collaborations when the reputation of an established brand is used to leverage exposure for a new or emerging brand – the right PR agency can help reach and influence new audiences like no other marketing medium.

Today however influencer marketing primarily refers to collaborations between brands and ‘influencers’ on digital platforms whether social media, blogs or other digital channels. The question often asked by clients is ‘what is an influencer?’ and how to gauge whether they have a genuine ‘influence’ amongst target audiences.

Influencer Marketing – Breaking It Down

One common mistake is to not differentiate between a celebrity and an online influencer. Admittedly many celebrities can extend into the role of influencer but in many cases, they are quite separate entities.

Most influencers have built a loyal and enthusiastic audience by posting relevant and engaging content that resonates with their followers.  People organically elect to follow these influencers based on their content, which in turn can vary from quite generic topics such as food & drink, parenting and travel right down to very specific subjects such as photography, wellness or types of gin (and everything in-between!).

Influencer marketing is not limited to consumer brands as an influencer can be a well-read business expert or blogger who tweets relevant content, or a respected marketing executive on LinkedIn with insightful views and opinions. Within any industry, there are influential people—you just need to find them – and that’s where working with a PR agency can help.

Some influencers have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of followers but there are also plenty who seem more like ordinary people. They may have less than 10,000 followers but they have developed a reputation for being the experts in their field. They are the go-to people who are trusted to provide the answers to people’s questions. Depending on their sphere of expertise, they can often be the people who make the most engaging social posts on their specialist topics. They share the best pictures, make the most entertaining videos, and run the most informative online discussions.

It’s important to realise that the influencer’s audiences don’t really care about brands specifically, more the opinions of the influencer towards the brand.  It’s therefore important to work with the influencer rather than push your rules, ‘brand guidelines’ or business practices into their actions as they can simply walk away, taking their followers with them or worse still become antagonistic.

The growth of influencer marketing

The statistics speak for themselves.  In 2016, influencer marketing was a $1.7bn industry worldwide, while last year (2022) it had grown to more than $16.4bn.  According to an influencer marketing hub report,  90% of survey respondents believe influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing and currently more than two thirds (67%) of brands use Instagram for influencer marketing.

The growth is set to continue as 75% of the survey respondents suggested that they would be dedicating a budget to influencer marketing in 2023. This rate is up substantially from the 37% who claimed they would allocate a budget to it just 6 years ago in 2017.

Tips for influencer marketing

So, for brands or businesses looking to engage with influencer marketing, we’d suggest that to be most effective, start with a plan that includes objectives, target markets and a budget and then begin careful research into who would be a good fit and provide you with a platform for targeted exposure.

When researching influencers, don’t be overtly swayed by their follower numbers but instead look at their levels of engagement.  How many people like their posts, comment or share as these are the key metrics to consider.  Often big name influencers may not be right for a brand or too commercial to develop genuine and lasting relationships.

Decide also how you are going to find and approach the influencer.  This can be time consuming so working with a PR agency that works with influencers can be a big help as often they may have existing relationship or the resource to target them organically.

When you have found the perfect partner, work with them and develop a schedule of activities.  Consider how their posts can integrate with your existing social media or content marketing schedule, what agreements are in place to ensure the right number of posts, reels or blogs are included in exchange for a product or service.  Is money changing hands and, if so, are the right contracts in place? Also remember the influencer must declare if a financial agreement or if a product has been gifted.

It’s also worth considering what doesn’t work.  Buying influence does not work as many influencers have spent time building their following and so wont risk tarnishing their reputation by selling out and promoting products they don’t like, relate to, or would not recommend to their followers.

It’s also not necessarily about quick results and fast sales.  Although this can be the case (most famously when Delia Smith recommends a kitchen product, they sell out fast!) the main objectives of influencer marketing is building the exposure of your product, its reputation and taking it to new potential audiences through the strength of third party endorsement.

Remember also to be specific as one size does not fit all.  Spend time to find the right fit with an influencer and when that’s achieved it’s proven to pay dividends.

For more information on influencer marketing, contact a member of the Source PR team and let us help build you reputation, product awareness and take your brand or business into new and exciting areas.

Skills You Need To Be A Successful PR In 2023

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It’s no secret that working in public relations and managing successful PR campaigns can be a stressful yet rewarding at times. One day you could be pitching in a hot new client story to the media, the next you could find yourself in Milan conducting a video shoot (okay, that doesn’t happen all that often, but it did for me recently, so I had to mention it!). Working in PR, means you get to add many strings to your bow and here, we explore the essential skills that’ll help you to enjoy a thriving career in PR.

 

Strong copywriting skills

Possibly the cornerstone of any role in PR and comms is solid copywriting skills. A huge part of the role, you’ll need to turn your hand to writing blogs, white papers, reports, press releases, case studies…the list goes on. If you’re in an agency role with several clients, it’s important to nail the tone of voice for each client and have the ability to digest sometimes complex information before drafting it up in an easily readable and understood manner.

 

An eye for news

A must-have skill in PR is knowing which story is going to hit the sweet spot with the media. In meetings or interviews, being able to pick out those golden key pieces of information that will leave journalists wanting to know more isn’t a knack that should be taken for granted.

 

Passion

Passion is what gets us through on the hardest days. Maybe you’re struggling to get in touch with a journalist, your social post isn’t performing how you wanted it to, or your event sign up numbers aren’t as high as anticipated – these things can really put you on a downer after weeks or even months of planning and hard work. A dash of passion and desire to do your best work is what is needed to get us through those tricky days!

 

A thick skin

Unfortunately, like many industries, delivering successful PR isn’t for the faint hearted. You may come across a cranky  (we all have bad days), challenging crisis comms work, or get some unexpected feedback on an article you poured your heart and soul into and it can be dis-heartening. Feeling this way isn’t a bad thing, it just shows we care!

Adaptability

“But that’s how we’ve always done it” isn’t a welcome phrase in our industry. As professionals, it’s important to be able to adapt, change and embrace new trends, techniques and technology. Gone are the days of cutting out individual press clippings and compiling them into a book to then send in the post to clients – and aren’t we glad of that!? If PRs had ignored this new method of communication called social media 10 years ago, then I wonder where we’d be now. Arguably, SEO only became a thing in the late 90s, and look how much that has evolved over the years. For me, there will always be a place for genuine content and print media, but there’s also plenty of room for the newer stuff too!

 

The team at Source PR have all of these skills in abundance, to find out how we could help you and your business, get in touch.

Crisis PR Management & Another Lesson From KFC

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No brand or business is immune to the challenges presented when a PR crisis erupts.  Equally, in today’s digital world, no company can guarantee that a PR crisis won’t happen to them, as such all companies should at least have plans in place to prepare for the unexpected.

Crises typically fall into two camps – internal crises, generated by a business decision, action or fault, or those developed externally either by a changing consumer landscape, political issue or an unforeseen issue with a product or service.

Hopefully effective business planning and preparation should mitigate a PR crisis erupting, so it must be particularly frustrating when an ‘own goal’ is scored by simply being careless and taking your eye off the ball.

This point is perfectly highlighted by the recent PR crisis to envelop KFC.  Earlier this month, KFC sent a promotional message to German customers encouraging them to celebrate Kristallnacht by having extra cheese on their tender pieces of chicken:

“It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!”

The issue is that Kristallnacht is widely seen as being the start of the holocaust when in 1938 the Nazis led a series of attacks on Jewish businesses and community that left more than 90 people dead, and widespread destruction of Jewish properties and places of worship.

Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) is remembered on the 9 November and marked with numerous memorial events and discussions to reflect the Nazis’ murder of more than six million Jewish people.

The PR issue was placed firmly at the doors of their automated push notification that sent the message directly to their customers without human intervention.  The system effectively identifies significant days in the calendar and attaches a promotion to them, before sending to customers.

Daniel Sugarman, Director of Public Affairs at the Board of Deputies of British Jews described the original KFC message as “absolutely hideous” and left KFC having to quickly apologise and re-examine their internal systems to prevent the company from having to manage future PR crises.

The company’s tried and tested crisis PR procedures quickly kicked into place but despite the rapid response, the issue had spread to online national and international news outlets.  The issue was quickly amplified via social platforms, illustrating the speed that a PR crisis can spread in today’s digital world.

This was an unnecessary and bad own goal by KFC.  Even if the business managed to convince its audiences that it was not actually in favour of celebrating Kristallnacht with extra cheese, it exposed the business at the very least as being uncaring, poorly run and single-mindedly promoting sales without due care.

We should really have expected better from KFC, particularly after they were able to turn an externally influenced issue into a master class of crisis PR management.

Back in February 2018, the company’s biggest nightmare turned into a reality when the restaurant ran out of chicken due to supplier issues. The net result was that the company was forced to shut down more than half of the stores in the UK.

How to manage a PR crisis

With a crisis PR team, plans and creative thinking in place they were able to turn the issue into a positive PR campaign – saving not only the brand’s reputation but also building relationships with customers and maintaining their trust.  How to manage a PR crisis? They simply followed the plan.

  1. To start, they apologised and made themselves accountable for the crisis.  Rather than attempt to shift blame they apologised to the customers directly via social media channels and newspapers
  2. Secondly, they kept communication open and honest. KFC was very effective at using social media to address customer questions or concerns, even using twitter to share customer Q&As
  3. Finally, by being transparent with the issue, and how they are dealing with it, KFC showed they were taking steps to bring the operations back to normal, with web links sharing information.

The company was also humble and showed gratitude towards its customers for bearing with them and apologised / thanked all the stakeholders for their patience.  Throughout the crisis PR management they kept the emotional balance right.  This involved being apologetic when things went wrong, professional when showing they had the matter under control and yet maintaining a sense of humour in their messaging.

A sense of humour when managing a PR crisis

Finally, they were consistent with their communications and ensured that the issue went to the very top with all messages on social media coming from the fictional KFC’s founder, Colonel Sanders, himself.

It’s clear that PR crises can come quickly out of the blue, from a simple slip up or from an issue that has developed gradually over time.  In today’s digital age, they can erupt more quickly than ever so it’s important to have plans in place.  KFC had a visible presence on social media prior to the crisis and made sure they used it to reach the affected parties.

If you find yourself in crisis or in a similar situation, contact Source PR as we can provide you with hands-on crisis management support or better still help you put a robust crisis management plan in place before an issue arises.

How Much Do PR Agencies Charge?

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As we head into what is likely to be another economic slowdown, there is often an uplift in businesses wanting to raise their profile in an increasingly competitive market.  With budgets tight and ambitions high, prospective clients often ask us ‘How much do PR agencies charge?’.

The short answer is how long is a piece of string, as there are a number or variables that can influence the amount PR agencies charge, whether it’s the amount of time spent supporting the account, the specialist nature of the work or the seniority and experience of the team required to deliver the results.

But it’s equally an important question as the predetermined budget is one of the key factors when selecting the right PR agency to support your marketing goals.

Here we’ve tried to outline some of the key elements that go into determining a PR budget, to help prospective clients pick the resource and team they need to support their business ambitions.  Knowing the information will hopefully help internal stakeholders understand why the costs are what they are and the agency is the right one for the business

Before appointing a PR agency, the first question must be whether the company has existing skills and resource available to deliver the plans.  If not, there is always the option to recruit a ‘PR manager’ to help, with typical costs of £35 – £50kpa depending on location, experience and skill set.  If selecting this route, ask whether they have all the required skills and industry resources to deliver the campaign as well as what plans are in place to cover holidays or other absences?

Another option could be to use a freelancer.  Freelancers often cost more than an in-house resource and can bring specialisms and experience, but often deliver tactically the strategy that’s been determined in house. Freelancers have specialities and niches, so if considering this you may need to hire one freelancer to handle your social media while another for media relations.  Costs can range from £150- £250 a day again depending on skills and experience and can quickly rack up if not managed carefully.

Selecting the right PR agency

When it comes to selecting a PR or social media agency, these typically fall into three categories, large, small and specialist PR firms.  Hiring an agency gives you access to a team of experts across the full spectrum of communications services from media relations, social media management, crisis communications, public affairs, SEO and more. Unlike a freelancer, agencies usually offer a team to deliver the strategic planning, measurement and evaluation along with tactical delivery and execution.

Smaller or ‘boutique’ agencies, typically have a staff of less than 20. Their monthly fees usually range from £1,500 – £5,000 (potentially more for a London based or highly specialist firm). The value is in the easier access to senior PR counsel as well as the agility and close working relations built with the team. Boutique firms can also specialise in specific sectors and services within the PR and marketing spectrum but offer a more personalised service to client businesses.

Large agencies usually have staff of more than 20 and have offices across the UK or world, offering support to clients that require that reach. Some of the brand names like Edelman, Weber Shandwick and Hill and Knowlton fall under this category. These agencies cost the highest with typical retainers more than £5,000 per month. These agencies are best suited for big corporations and governments, especially those needing PR support for multi-national launches and campaigns.

When it comes down to working out how much do PR agencies charge, most PR and social media agencies operate either on a project or retained basis.  Project rates tend to be for shorter term contracts between one and three months and can be used to support an event or crisis.  Project-based contracts tend to be priced higher than annual retainers because agencies spend a lot of time in winning the business, researching the company and getting to understand the various products or services. The short-term aspect can also put a lot of pressure on the agency’s resources to deliver within the time frame and the time spent on learning the account cannot be recuperated six months down the line once the project has ended.

Retained contracts run longer and are usually around 12 months duration, however at Source PR we are proud to say that we have supported several clients for more than 10 years on a rolling retained basis (as they value the work and results we deliver!). Retained contracts often cost lower than project-based contracts because the time spent and the research done in the initial few months by the agency are paid off in the long-term.

PR Agency Services

Services like media relations are offered on retainer contracts because the best results are achieved in the long term.  A one-off press mention in top-tier media can lead to a short spike in brand awareness or traffic to a website, but only consistent press coverage over the long-term will genuinely build and enhance a company’s brand and reputation.

Retained contracts typically allow clients to pay a fixed rate every month based on a specified scope of work or a fixed number of hours. Some months the work may be slower but it is usually balanced by months when the workload is higher.

One of the key influences into PR agency prices is based around the team allocated to support the business.  PR prices are proportional to the agency day rate card (i.e. how much time a member of the team would be required to support the business and the seniority / experience of the person or team). Naturally the hourly rate of an account executive is lower than that of an account manager, which is lower than that of an account director etc.

When looking to choose a PR agency, it tends to be best to work with a firm whose typical client is of the same size and budget as yours. Some clients with moderate budgets make the mistake of selecting a ‘big name’ agency only to have junior or less experienced PR staff working on the account as the client (or fees!) are not deemed as important to the senior team.  Smaller or boutique agencies typically give better access to the senior team at a more affordable rate.

Finally, one of the other key influences in determining ‘How much do PR agencies charge’ comes down to the services required by the client.  Some services like strategic planning, branding and public affairs understandably cost higher as they require more senior expertise. Crisis communications cost much higher as it requires the PR professional to be available 24X7 to respond to the crisis as it evolves and can take them away from other scheduled work

Similarly, services like media relations or working with influencers – where a PR professional brings their relationships built over the years also cost higher.  Services like social media management or blog writing can cost lower because they can be successfully undertaken without needing years of experience or decades spent building relationships.

The last question to ask is how much would it cost you not to recruit a PR agency?  What is the value of your time, do you have the skills and time to deliver a campaign yourself.  Equally what are the sales and opportunities you’re missing by not building your profile?  All are valid questions when asking ‘how much do PR agencies charge’.

Speak to us

If you’d like to speak to someone about PR pricing and what agencies can deliver against specific budgets, feel free to contact a member of our team.  Source PR is one of the North West’s leading boutique agencies and offers a full range of services to client business across the region and UK.

The team would be delighted to discuss your PR, social media and digital communication requirements and to meet to discuss your ambitions and how best we can deliver against your PR budgets and priorities.

WHY COMMUNITY MATTERS IN YOUR PR STRATEGY

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Community relations – sometimes known as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) – can be overlooked in the face of immediate, tangible benefits. However, a good PR strategy will consider community and the value of it for your brand. Whether that’s using your platform to champion smaller businesses, or actively supporting charities and organisations.

This was proven very recently on April 12th, as pub beer gardens opened across England as part of the Government Roadmap. With the hospitality industry arguably one of the hardest hit amid the Coronavirus pandemic, Tesco decided they would dedicate their advertising space on this monumental day to a better cause. On Monday, they launched the following ad in multiple English newspapers.

Tesco April 12th Print Ad

This kind of media coverage would have been costly, so the idea that Tesco used it to champion smaller, local outlets as opposed to their own business, was very well received. It’s the perfect example as to why community relations matter in any PR strategy. Whether your business is large or small, you cannot go wrong with CSR.

Let’s explore why…

Why You Should Consider The Role Of Community Relations In PR

Community relations are so important to any brand for a multitude of reasons. Some of which include:

  • Building a better brand reputation
  • Making your brand more recognisable in the local area
  • Giving your brand a personality
  • Showing consumers that they’re buying from a brand that cares

For these reasons and many more, is why a whole host of brands work hard on their CSR strategies. Community relations isn’t a black and white area of PR, there are different things that businesses can be doing to improve their image, and it doesn’t matter how big or small your brand is. Some of the things a business can do include:

  • Adopting a sustainability policy
  • Fundraising for charity
  • Donating a portion of sales to charity, such as a % of a sale from a certain product
  • Using a bigger platform to champion smaller businesses
  • Working with local schools and organisations
  • Supporting employees and their own community initiatives
  • Backing smaller sports teams
  • Lobbying for change using your own platforms
  • And so much more (why not ask us what would work best for your brand?)

Why The Tesco Ad Worked

Going back to Tesco and their print advertisement, though it didn’t directly promote their products, it still helped to give the brand a push and generate positive coverage. Tesco’s selfless community relations act ended up returning far more than we can assume a traditional advert would have. Results included more conversation on social media and more positive feelings towards the brand.

Tesco Exaxample Of Community Relations

This links into the age-old debate that PR is not always about ROI and sales. It’s about building a better and more engaging brand. One people recognise as caring and community-driven. This reputation is worth way more than a single newspaper advert. Furthermore, Tesco still got great coverage in the online media as well as from their print ads. Not to mention the fantastic reaction on social media. A traditional advert would never have piqued attention quite like this.

Whilst linking up and supporting your community – whether on a local or national level – might not return immediate sales, it’s a crucial brand-building exercise that any good PR strategy should consider.  At Source PR, we often work with our clients to bring them together with the local area. We often support with this kind of community relations PR work with Miller Homes, one of our clients in the property industry. If you’re interested in finding out more about how this works in a PR strategy, read our case study. Want to know more? Why not reach out to our team?

HOW TO BE AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITION BY 12TH APRIL

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If the Government roadmap goes ahead as planned, then 12th April is set to be an important date for the hospitality industry. Not only can self-catering accommodation open once more, but also outdoor attractions can reopen, as can gyms, leisure centres and beer gardens. This means that between now and then, it needs to be all-hands-on-deck for those businesses to ensure that come 12th April, you’re ahead of your competition and ready to welcome your customers back with open arms once more. Is your business ready for the lifting of lockdown?

To be on the front foot amongst your competitors now, you need to be looking at a PR, social media and marketing strategy – don’t wait until April to start communicating. If you were really on the ball, you may have already been communicating through lockdowns, as we can’t stress enough the importance of keeping in touch with your consumers, even when you’re not open for business.

If you’ve not started yet, then now is the time to. Below we’re laying out some tips and advice for how to be ahead of your competition by 12th April – especially if you’re in the hospitality industry – with the help of a little PR magic.

Beating Your Competition With Communications

Plenty of businesses have been communicating with their customers throughout lockdown, but not all have. Those that have continued to retain a PR strategy, have already started seeing the benefits of it as restrictions ease. Our client Combermere Abbey, for example, in the last lockdown enjoyed almost 100 bookings in the first few weeks after reopening them; and they’re set to enjoy similar successes this time around too. Don’t wait to start talking to your consumers, start now. This is what we’d advise.

Spend time on CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often wrongly overlooked as a PR exercise. Brand reputation is so important, and you want to be getting your name out there for all of the right reasons. You might not be able to trade at the moment, but what’s stopping you from supporting your local community or charities? We actively encourage our clients to get involved with local schools, care homes and other organisations as much as they can, not only does this open them up to new audiences and reinforces their brand reputation; but it also heightens the chance of some great regional media coverage too.

Become a regular on social

If you’ve not already been utilising a social media strategy, then now is the time to start. We’d recommend communicating with your customers regularly every week – talk about what’s coming up, what they can expect when they return and what you’ve been up to during lockdown. Everybody wants something to look forward to at the moment, and you have the potential to capitalise on that. For hospitality businesses, we’d recommend focusing on Facebook, Instagram – and perhaps Twitter and LinkedIn. Don’t forget about TikTok too – a relatively new platform but one that can do your business many favours if you get it right.

Jump on every press opportunity

Press opportunities are coming thick and fast at the moment, in only the last few weeks we’ve landed client coverage on big publications such as The Telegraph and the Daily Mail to name just a couple. Look out for where you can insert your business into the media and generate some extra exposure, either locally or nationally, to help put yourself in front of your competitors come April 12th. To speak to the team about how to jump on press opportunities like this and get your business some great media coverage, get in touch with us via our website.

Start direct communications now

If your customers are signed up for an email database… Then they’ll want to hear from you! Start putting together a plan for newsletters, but don’t overdo it either. It’s good to give your consumers an update, but make sure you’re tying it into something important, for example, you might have opened reservations or given the go-ahead to open from 12th April. Keep your communications consistent but relevant, and always on-brand.

Work on your website

Finally, don’t waste this period of closure – use it to put your business in a great position for when you can reopen. We recently wrote about how to navigate through the third lockdown and part of this included working on your website, optimising content, updating meta descriptions, page titles and so on. Also, put together an SEO blog strategy that focuses on relevant long-tail keywords, as well as including content that your customers will want to read about. With the right strategies in place, the work you do now may well be ranking where you want it to be by mid-April.

Ready, Set, Go…

If you really want to get competitive and have a great communications plan in place to ensure a successful spring and summer, then why not get in touch with our team of experts? We have a wealth of experience in hospitality PR, and would love to chat about what we can do for your business? Get in touch now, or why not check out the case studies on our website?

IS LOCAL MEDIA COVERAGE JUST AS VALUABLE AS NATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE?

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At Source PR, we have plenty of experience gaining coverage for our clients, from the nichest of publications to some of the UK’s largest. From the BBC News to ITV, the Mirror Online and the Financial Times, we’ve got a track record we’re proud of.

 

But we’re no stranger to local media, either. In fact, a majority of our press releases go directly to local media journalists and publications. Forming good relationships with journalists and keeping up-to-date with the goings on of regional media is essential to our role in securing coverage for our clients.

 

But with smaller readership numbers compared to national media, is local media worth trying to get coverage in?

 

We say a resounding, loud yes: and here’s why.

 

1. A relevant audience

 

It’s obvious that directing a press release towards those who will benefit from the information most is the best course of action.

 

We work with Cheshire pubs for whom the target audience of their coverage is, naturally, local readers and viewers. While a viral Buzzfeed article or a national news story on BBC News is certainly not going to hinder their business prospects, it goes without saying that a pub first and foremost has to win over the local residents – and keep them coming back.

 

Targeting local media is the best way of helping them achieve this goal, both for online and offline coverage.

 

It’s not only smaller businesses that try for coverage in local media, either: national corporations that run campaigns and events in one particular area benefit from the local media’s ability to inform local residents, meaning they’re perfect to use for advertising and features.

 

Whether it’s a pub, a logistics company or a builders’ merchants, at the end of the day, it’s those local to the business who will be giving the business the most trade – so it makes perfect sense to reach them in their local media.

 

2. Trust is key

 

Did you know that, according to an American-based study by the Knight Foundation, local journalists are seen as more caring, trustworthy and unbiased in comparison to national media journalists?

 

The same study found that 45% of participants trust local news reporting either ‘a great deal’ or ‘a lot.’ Currently, there is a lot of mistrust for mainstream media from all sides of the political spectrum: from Donald Trump’s infamous rhetoric of citing news outlets such as CNN as ‘fake news’, as covered in our previous blog; to complaints in the UK of biased reporting from the big news outlets such as the BBC, sparking a national conversation about the need for a TV license fee.

 

Right now seems like the perfect time to invest time and energy into local media, which not only has the trust of its readership, but also keeps them informed of the most immediately relevant information to their day-to-day lives.

 

3. Keeping connected

 

Similarly, readers tend to feel more connected to their local media than to national media. A Government-backed study found that for every percentage point growth in a local daily newspaper’s circulation, local electoral turnout goes up by 0.37 percentage points. Informing readers of relevant local happenings leads readers to being more in-tune with goings on of their town or city, thereby making them feel more active participants in local democracy.

 

Some corporations have intervened in order to help keep local democracy thriving. To help combat the deficit in local news reporting, the BBC launched a Local Democracy Reporting scheme, which created up to 150 new jobs in local media throughout the UK. The reporters cover top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.

 

In Facebook’s new ‘journalism project,’ the social media giant posits an initiative specifically for local news, stating that: “We will be collaborating with news organizations to develop products, learning from journalists about ways we can be a better partner, and working with publishers and educators on how we can equip people with the knowledge they need to be informed readers in the digital age.”

 

As Facebook has, in the past, come under fire for its lack of scrutiny of ‘fake news’, this is a great way for the corporation to step in and help make local news more accessible and verifiable.

 

Keeping it local

 

Some people think they have only made it in the world of PR if they’ve secured national media coverage. We say there’s a lot more to being successful in PR than only targeting the nationals. Targeting where your customers are reading is where it’s at, always.

 

Need some advice?

 

If you’d like some tips and support on the best ways of getting coverage for your business, you can get in touch with our friendly and experienced team via our website. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram – why not follow us?

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA ADVICE FOR B2B COMPANIES

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Social media marketing is pretty vital to every company, but it’s easier for some than it is others. Marketing plans can be particularly tricky to navigate at the best of times, so we’re here with some social media advice for B2B companies from The Source team. We have a wealth of experience in B2B PR support, which includes content marketing, social media and media relations and from that experience, here’s what we recommend.

Top Social Media Advice For B2B Companies

Click on the links below to jump to specific social media advice for B2B companies…

  1. Find the right social media platforms
  2. Utilise industry news
  3. Remember that people like people
  4. Keep things interesting
  5. Leverage appropriate hashtags
  6. Don’t underestimate Facebook groups

Find The Right Social Media Platforms

Not every platform will work for every company, that goes for B2C industries as well as B2B. For example, TikTok marketing is a great opportunity for brands with a visual appeal, such as tourism providers, wedding dress manufacturers and cosmetic companies. Other platforms, such as LinkedIn, work much better for B2B marketing, especially for service products such as CRM software, for example. There’s no one way to decide which social media platform will work best for your B2B company, so the best way to approach is through trial and error. See which types of content get the most engagement, and where. Traditionally, though, we’d match the following top platforms to the following sectors..

  • Instagram – mainly B2C, with opportunities for B2B
  • Twitter – mainly B2B, with opportunities for B2C
  • Facebook – both B2C and B2B
  • TikTok – mainly B2C, with opportunities for B2B
  • LinkedIn – mainly B2B
  • Pinterest – mainly B2C

So, if you’re heading a B2B company and want to give social a go, it’s worth dipping your toe in the water with LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and potentially Instagram and TikTok also. We have some more social media advice on what kind of content to focus on below.

Utilise Industry News

You shouldn’t be content curating all of your posts, as most of your audience will be following your accounts because they want to hear from you, however, utilising relevant industry news in posts is a good way of keeping your audience informed of relevant and interesting developments. It keeps you abreast with your sector and positions you as an expert in that field, furthermore, it creates a good mix of content to keep your strategy fresh and current. We’d recommend around an 80:20 ratio of curated to original content, but don’t be afraid to mix this up week on week.

People Like People

As we mentioned above, people like people. Though you’re selling ‘business to business’, there’s still a person behind that brand at either end. A study by Princeton University proposed the stereotype model, which boils down to the fact that people judge others on their warmth and competence. The more ‘friendly’ you appear, the more likely people are to trust you – this applies to your social media followers too. Though it’s important to draw a line and remain professional, it’s also a good idea to be conversational in your content and help build trust in your brand. Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy says it’s important to demonstrate warmth first and then competence, especially in business settings. A lot of effective social media marketing begins with an understanding of human psychology.

Keep Things Interesting

It’s a common misconception that B2B communications have to be stiff and corporate, try injecting a light tone of voice into your content or experimenting with light-hearted competitions for engagement. With one of our B2B clients Altecnic, they ran a 12 days of Christmas giveaway which included a daily video of their Technical Manager dressed as Santa. You need to remember that your audience is human and keeping things engaging is a sure way of retaining engagement and growing following. If there’s a certain lull, never underestimate the power of a social media giveaway either, no matter your industry.

Social media advice for B2B companies: competitions

Leverage The Right Hashtags

Researching into hashtags is never time wasted. You can now use hashtags in your posts across LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and more recently, Facebook. One of our B2B clients frequents the ‘#PlumbersHour’ hashtag because this is where their core audience is. Hashtags are often followed by those interested in that kind of content, so if you have a specific audience of your B2B brand, then find out what the kind of conversations that they’re already in, and join in. You can discover hashtags through researching related terms on Instagram and Twitter, and also by looking at what other influential accounts are tapping in to.

Don’t Underestimate Facebook Groups

Finally, our last piece of social media advice for B2B companies is not to underestimate the power of a Facebook group. Similarly, to leveraging hashtags, Facebook groups can be a great way to find your audiences. In 2019, Facebook announced that Facebook says there “are more than 400 million people in groups that they find meaningful”, meaning there’s a huge potential audience if you know where to look. Start by searching keywords on Facebook that are relevant to your brand for example “food manufacturing”, “plumbing” or “health and safety”.

 

For more advice and support for B2B PR, social media, content marketing and more, please get in touch with our friendly and experienced team through our website. Or, you can keep up to date with what The Source is up to on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

WHAT MAKES THE BEST PR AGENCY?

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As the new year begins and we enter a third lockdown, now seems the right time to think about what will make the best PR agency for clients whether in Manchester, Liverpool or the North West.  Here, we share our thoughts on what makes a PR and social media agency successful and how good client relationships are the secret to taking marketing results to the next level.

Key Characteristics Of The Best PR Agency

Know the client. I mean really know the client

One key skill for PR executives working in agencies is the ability to juggle various client demands at any one time. It can be very challenging working in a PR agency, but it does allow executives to get a broad range of experience under their belts, which in turn adds value back to clients.  You can really become mini experts in a number of different industries in no time, and the best PR agencies will always be the embodiment of this skill.  After working client side, I realised that there’s always more to know about a business, to understand its strategic decisions and its relationship with stakeholders.  If you can take this in-depth approach and apply it on the agency side, whether for B2B clients or B2C clients, you not only offer better communications advice but can also help shape the client’s business direction.

Put substance before style

I’ve never been a big fan of the PR stunt or more general ‘PR puff’.  Although creative ideas remain the backbone of what we offer, the best PR agencies should always consider whether the proposals are achievable and whether they deliver real returns and impact for clients?  There’s nothing worse than a Mr Negative in a creative brainstorm or planning process, however the best PR agencies always keep an eye on the prize and an effective balance between style with a healthy dose of substance behind it all.  Over promising and under delivering is the worst of all worlds.

Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

When looking back on my career, I do recall a moment when working in house for one of the UK’s leading retailers and we were advising the board on how to handle the media in light of a poor set of annual results.  The CEO was his usual bullish self, pushing for us to make this claim or that.  I realised then that my boss, a very successful director of communications, was essentially the grey man of the boardroom by only telling the CEO wanted to hear.  I made a vow to myself never to be that grey man and to always offer honest PR / communication advice based on experience.  Clients are at liberty to adopt or ignore it but for effective relationships, always be honest (perhaps that’s why I never became a Director of Corporate Affairs..!?). To us, this is one of the most important things that makes the best PR agency.

It costs how much?

The days of big spending PR campaigns may be over, but the requirement for showing a return on investment is omnipresent.  It has never been more important and the best PR agency will always demonstrate that great ideas shouldn’t cost the earth to deliver. We live in a quicker, more transparent society and one that does allow great stories and content to be shared easily.  Also, if you know your client, you should know what they need to spend to succeed – don’t turn your back on big budgets but always be aware of what will be delivered in return.

Know what PR campaigns work

You’d be amazed how many clients still view being on a breakfast TV sofa as a success.  Be honest from the outset and tell B2B PR clients that sales of their new widget are rarely achieved after an interview with Phil or Fern.  Be targeted, selective and know their customers and where their products or services need to be – this adds real value.

Be supportive and flexible

With Covid 19 still causing business disruption, the best PR agencies will continue to be flexible and supportive of their client’s changing needs and priorities – including knowing how to handle a crisis situation.  Having the right strategy and the flexibility to evolve it ensures a client’s business remains focussed on priorities and the changes on the ground.  Our work with Combermere Abbey is one such example of a business that faced hardship due to lockdowns but came out stronger on the other side.  Let’s hope the same is true for other businesses as we eventually emerge from this pandemic.

If you’re looking for a PR agency or social media agency in Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire or the North West, please get in contact and let us show you why we are the best PR agency.

JO MALONE’S MISJUDGEMENT – THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING ON TOP OF CURRENT AFFAIRS

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While some businesses have folded due to the impact of COVID-19, others have managed to find their feet during it. We’ve seen tongue-in-cheek advertising slogans emerge, such as KFC’s switch from ‘It’s finger lickin’ good’ to ‘It’s good’ as a reference to the importance of hand-washing and personal hygiene,  showing an increase of sense of humour in brand communications in the past few months – a far cry from how we were all feeling back in March.

 

Staying on top of current affairs has always been an efficient way of plugging into the latest trends and hot topics, from newsjacking in PR, to keeping your social media strategies relevant. Gymshark is particularly adept at this, whether it’s voicing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement via a $125,000 donation, or something smaller, such as using the latest Twitter meme format to generate a healthy volume of engagement.

 

 

 

But it’s not just important for brands to stay on top of current affairs for their own inbound marketing, it’s also an essential way of knowing what not to say and do.

 

Gently does it

 

Jo Malone (the brand, not the person – she sold the company in 1999) recently faced backlash for exactly this. The candle and fragrance creator changed an ad that previously starred, and was conceived by, actor John Boyega to include a Chinese actor instead. The use of Liu Haoran instead was to allegedly cater to its Chinese consumer base. The original advert explores Boyega’s beginnings in Peckham, London, with the ad even starring his friends and family. The slogan for the Jo Malone campaign was ‘A London Gent’. With Boyega’s London roots, it simply makes much more sense than when compared to Haoran, who was born and raised in China. Boyega has since dropped his partnership with the company, saying that he does not condone ‘dismissively trading out one’s culture.’

 

Whilst the decision by Jo Malone was a mistake whichever way you look at it, it comes as an even bigger sting following not only the rise in protests in the last few months from Black Lives Matter, but also the actor’s own vocal support for the movement. The erasure of Boyega for seemingly no apparent reason is a reminder of the subliminal racism that is perpetuated by some within advertising industry. The Force Awakens brought in $124 million from China’s box office: though it fared much less strongly than the Avengers movies due to the lack of a nostalgia from Chinese viewers, there’s no doubt that he is known not just to Westerners, but Easterners too.

 

Keeping it current

 

If the powers that be at Jo Malone had their fingers a little more on the pulse when it comes to current political situations, would they have continued with the replacement of John Boyega for their Chinese advert? It’s difficult to say – many more factors must have been at play behind closed doors. But what we do know is that the company would have retained its partnership with the actor. There’s also no doubt that the Jo Malone will have lost the support of some of its British customers in the wake of the upset – something that could have been avoided with a little more planning and consideration for current affairs.

 

Whilst an outright support for Black Lives Matter is a risk some brands simply won’t take, many are. Some, simply to keep their fingers on the pulse, but for others like Gymshark, it’s a clear expression of their brand values.

 

Get in touch with us

 

At Source PR, we always have our eye on the ball when it comes to all things digital. For advice on PR, digital marketing and social media, including working with influencers, get in touch with our team here.

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