March 2017 – brookscomm

The Changing Landscape of PR & the Demand for Digital

Posted by michaelbrookscommon March 23, 2017August 3, 2017in Marketing, PRLeave a comment

No More Stuffing Envelopes!

PR isn’t what it used to be. Traditional PR and its methods are still relevant, print is still in high demand, along with favorable reviews and recommendations proving to be incredibly influential. However, with increasing Social Media channels, The Independent moving to digital only, Vogue focusing on their digital magazine presence, and the rise of online influencers, the need for additional digital services is ever growing.

Utlising traditional PR methods has many benefits. Content published by reputable journalists is deemed timely, relevant, newsworthy and perceived as a trusted third party endorsement, therefore making it more credible, compared to Advertising. Explore our in-depth comparison here.

PR in the beginning:

Alison Scarrott, Senior PR/Media relations manager reflects on the changes….

“When I joined the world of publishing and marketing back in the 1980’s, reaching the media was fairly straight forward. You either advertised, or issued a press release. A press release would be printed out on headed paper and posted out to the magazine. This process was extremely time consuming and expensive! Many hours were spent stuffing envelopes.

Advertising was also a popular means to get a message out to the market place. Advertisements were designed by hand by a creative artist, and colour separations with a proof on high quality photographic paper were produced. This was one of the few options available to companies to ensure a message reached a target audience. It also had a lengthy production process.”

Press material is now written and distributed electronically, at a click of a button, improving efficiency and enabling material to be supplied instantly to any journalist request. It has also become a 24-hour job, with a good PR agent able to respond at any time of day or night to a journalist request.

New Team Members, New methods

PR in today’s market is no longer viewed as one entity. What is now being required by busy professionals encompasses aspects of PR, marketing, advertising, content creation and SEO. In a survey carried out by brookscomm last summer, clients rated a more measurable, strategic and results driven service, which aligns with their objectives, as a priority.

Joining the company last year Micheal Bull, Head of Digital comments,

“PR and marketing professionals are seeing the benefits of providing an integrated service, and how digital tactics can be used to further amplify the reach and influence of existing content. Digital also provides much greater insight into which PR and marketing activities are achieving the best results.

When working on behalf of clients, it is an essential element of the service we provide, especially taking into account how much digital content is out there. Having a clear strategy combined with key performance indicators (KPI’s) built into a project timeline delivers the best results, which keeps everyone happy! It’s also really important to keep abreast of the latest digital PR and Marketing technologies and best practice. The landscape evolves quickly, especially when it comes to SEO and Keyword strategies, but, being a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing is particularly valuable”.

The reach achieved from a good piece of press coverage in a magazine can be greatly amplified through the implementation of a well thought out digital strategy. To achieve optimal exposure a multitude of avenue streams and tactics need to be implemented, from Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blogging…. The list goes on!

At brookscomm, we offer our clients an integrated PR and marketing service, such as writing press releases and media relations, combined with additional services such as social media management, paid search and SEO.

Find out how an integrated PR and digital marketing strategy can complement your brand, raise its profile and achieve your goals, providing return on investment. Call us on 01483 537890 or, alternatively, email michael@brookscomm.com

Advice On Creating Successful Events

Posted by Chaz Brookson March 17, 2017March 17, 2017in How To:, PRLeave a comment

Oscar Wilde (1)

We have held hundreds of media events for clients in differing industries over the past three decades. Here are some top tips for creating a successful event.

Visualise your goal

What do you want to achieve? Knowing and understanding what media coverage you want to gain helps you define your target audience, timescales, budget, impacting choice of venue and style of event. Do you want to create a buzz and raise awareness of a new product or service, improve media relations, increase coverage in a niche sector, or increase sales in a specific timeframe?

Research

Before finalising details of an event, ask yourself “Does this event clash with another? Could there be travel disruptions? Is the venue easy to access? Are the acoustics good?” Put yourself in the shoes of the journalists you are inviting. Will the choice of date and venue be appealing to your target media?

Focus on your audience

Do you want to attract niche or mass market media? The demographics of your desired audience and the platforms to which you want your content shared will decide the key influencers, bloggers and journalists you need to target. Along with invitations, provide detailed timings and story outline to the potential attendees.

Preparation is key

Do as much preparation before the event as possible. Ensure collateral e.g. banners, press releases, goody bags, name tags etc. are organised in advance. To reduce the possibility of technical glitches, check the WiFi and that the venue has the necessary equipment.

On the day

To maximise brand coverage across the media, ensure attendees are aware of any relevant hashtags. It’s important to ensure the venue is well lit to allow for photo opportunities. Make sure you connect with all attendees. Key influencers unable to attend are important, so you might be able to follow up with individual meetings with them. Taking an interest, knowing and understanding each journalist and blogger’s style, areas they cover and how they prefer to be contacted are important. This level of personalisation means that you are more likely to achieve success. Good relationships with journalists and bloggers make it more likely that they will want to work with you in future.

After the event

Journalists and bloggers are busy. Following up afterwards is vital, allowing journalists to ask questions and giving you relevant feedback for future events.

To summarise:

Establish your goals, conduct your research, prepare, maximise exposure and follow up.

Organising successful events, developing strong media relations and providing a high return on investment can be a daunting task. brookscomm has extensive knowledge and experience of co-ordinating events globally. Regardless of budget, we can introduce or increase awareness and media profile of your product or service, successfully attracting positive coverage in target publications.

Email: chaz@brookscomm.com or call us on 01483 537890.

Celebrating International Women’s Day with two successful brookscomm women

Posted by mandybrookscommon March 8, 2017August 3, 2017in Marketing, News: Company Updates, PRLeave a comment

Congratulations on CPD success to Jo and Nirvana!

After what they describe as a whirlwind few months, Jo and Nirvana have successfully completed the Chartered Institute of Public Relations continuous development scheme, or, CIPR CPD scheme as it is better known, and achieved 60 CPD points each! With technology innovations impacting the business world, PR and Marketing is constantly evolving as a service. Therefore, it is vitally important that we keep up to date with new thinking and best practice, so that we consistently deliver the best service to our clients. It is also really important to us all personally that we expand our knowledge and stay curious.

However, this is challenging. The CPD scheme involves a commitment to hours of learning on top of serving our clients and it was quite right that we celebrated Jo and Nirvana’s success and the efforts they had put into this.

We have been reflecting on the importance of the CIPR, and this learning scheme. CPD provides us with the opportunity to constantly learn, develop, achieve new skill-sets and to effectively put theory into practice.

I asked Jo and Nirvana why they took part in continuous development and what they gained from it…

Nirvana says,

Never Stop Learning

We believe that it is vital to ‘never stop learning’ and, especially in PR and marketing, the landscape is forever changing and evolving. Whether it’s the latest social media updates, the emergence of digital marketing or the sudden rise of bloggers and influencers; there are always new developments, changes in legislation that impacts advertising protocol and best practice to perfect.

Jo talks about,

Empowering Employees

Having an outlet such as the CIPR, CIM or any other governing body with webinars, recommended readings and workshops, with the flexibility to learn at your own pace, and refer back to a topic or aspect, is beneficial in so many ways. It certainly helps boost staff moral as they feel empowered to learn, and it pushes them to be the best version of themselves, in an environment that nurtures and promotes continual learning and development.

Learn, Do, Review: Theory into Practice

Newest team member to brookscomm Nirvana also comments, “It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to be a member of the CIPR. I strive to be on top of PR and marketing trends and to have the ongoing educational support of CIPR, along with a strategic and forward-thinking manager and mentor to help with guidance and provide useful advice, is so refreshing. I learn best utilising a variety of approaches so I find the various methods of online learning, reading and then being able to construct, receive feedback on and then distribute press releases, for example, is incredibly useful.”

Joining the team last summer, Jo has found the combination of a manager who believes in investing in their people, together with the accessibility of the CIPR CPD programme, to be a great platform for development. Jo says she learns best when supported and encouraged, and given the right tools and environment, results in knowledge gained being converted into useful practice.

I myself am a huge supporter of continuous learning and development. I have completed 12 years of the CPD scheme. It helped me achieve my PR and my Internal Communications Diplomas and gave me the confidence to become a Chartered Practitioner. The development of our team has always been an integral part of meeting our clients evolving needs over the years and ultimately to running a successful business. The learning and development of current and previous team members have significantly contributed to our 21 years of success. We are lucky to be part of the CIPR and to have access to the CPD scheme which makes this vital learning more varied and more accessible to all. So – be curious! – And as Nirvana says – never stop learning!

You can read my thoughts on CPD in the CIPR interview here.

Mandy