lead generation – brookscomm

Intern Life At brookscomm!

Posted by michaelbrookscommon August 18, 2017August 18, 2017in Marketing, News: Company Updates, PR, Social MediaLeave a comment

Ever wondered what life is like at brookscomm? Our latest PR and Digital Marketing intern Calum Ridgewell reveals all…

My time at brookscomm

As I’m a politics undergraduate, I am frequently asked “So, do you want to be an MP then?”. Whilst I absolutely love studying politics, a career in that field is not my calling!

However, it has influenced my preferred career path. Politics weaves its way into many disciplines, the world of Marketing and PR being one of them. After learning how imperative aspects such as branding, marketing and public relations are to political parties, I became intrigued in the workings, and found myself researching Marketing and PR career options.

Having established a keen interest in Marketing and PR, I decided the next step was to secure some real-life exposure, and the best way to do this was through a summer internship. My research led me to brookscomm, an integrated PR and digital marketing agency. After exploring what brookscomm has to offer and their work in action I quickly realised that this company was a leader in Surrey in the field of Marketing and PR, and this was where I wanted to kick-start my career.

After a great phone call with the Head of Operations Jo McKenzie, I was invited in to the brookscomm offices, to discuss my aims and what I could gain from the role. I was given a fantastic overview of the busy workings of brookscomm by Head of Marketing Michael Bull and Senior Marketing and PR Account Executive Nirvana Wright, and I walked away full of excitement to start my summer internship!

First Day at brookscomm

From the first day, I was made to feel incredibly welcome by all the team, and the friendly, productive atmosphere of the brookscomm office was a pleasure to work in. Even after the first few hours of being at brookscomm I felt like I had learned a lot, which was a great sign!

I thoroughly enjoyed all daily activities, finding each task rewarding and insightful. Nirvana taught me a great deal about social media management and creative content creation, and after being given some top tips I found myself creating engaging blogs, tweets and Facebook posts for clients! Additionally, Nirvana showed me the ropes on sourcing and pitching to journalists using a media database.

Putting into practise PR, Digital Marketing & Social Media

Senior PR Account Manager Alison Scarrott talked me through composing and sending effective press releases to journalists, which was very interesting and an area of PR I was keen on learning more about and Ali certainly taught me a lot!

Michael, a marketing expert, gave me a fantastic insight into digital marketing, learning about SEO, Facebook targeting ads and how to use e-mail marketing tools. Michael was more than happy to answer my (many) questions, and the exposure I gained has given me a solid grounding in digital marketing.

My other daily activities included searching for press coverage of clients, sourcing new business leads and opportunities through LinkedIn, as well as working around the areas of Marketing and PR Alison, Nirvana and Michael had taught me.

I enjoyed all the tasks I was set by the team and was made to feel I was genuinely contributing towards the business, which is very rewarding!

brookscomm Culture and Ethos

brookscomm is a fantastic place to gain valuable experience in Marketing and PR, and I am very grateful to the team for giving me the chance to broaden my skillset, learn valuable aspects of the Marketing and PR discipline and develop a stronger work ethic. The organisation of brookscomm was flawless, and the effort and care they dedicate to their clients was truly inspiring.

Following the internship, I feel I am ready for the Marketing and PR industry after graduation, brookscomm has given me a firm foundation and deeper understanding of the discipline. One day in the future when I am a successful Marketing and PR Director (can’t fault my ambition!), I will look back at my time at brookscomm as a key stepping stone.

We absolutely loved having Calum as our intern!

At brookscomm we have over 20 years of PR & marketing expertise and a proven track record of providing an integrated, measurable PR and Digital marketing strategy. We can help you boost your business. Email hello@brookscomm.com or call us on 01483 537 890.

Twitter @PRexpertsUK Linkedin: brookscomm Facebook:brookscomm Website: www.brookscomm.com

Learn new ways of reaching your customers

Posted by michaelbrookscommon February 28, 2017February 28, 2017in Hints and Tips, How To:, Marketing, PRLeave a comment

In today’s busy workplace people don’t like being “sold to” and resent being bombarded with emails and intrusive phone calls.

Successful businesses are using a new approach to reach new customers. An approach that combines the latest proven PR & Marketing tactics to reach, inform and educate your target audience about how your business solves their challenges.

Find out about the difference between old and new style lead generation tactics with our handy comparison infographic:

The Benefits of Outsourcing Social Media

Posted by brookscommon January 20, 2017August 3, 2017in Hints and Tips, Marketing, PR, Social Media1 Comment

Social media isn’t just for teenagers! Whether you are a start-up company or an established brand, utilising a variety of channels to increase brand awareness and generate leads has many benefits. In fact, the possibilities are endless. Google aside, Facebook accounts for approx. 40% of website referral traffic.

Social media presents the opportunity to engage with your target audience, potential clients, easily become a thought leader in your sector and cross promote content. With 90% of businesses attributing increased brand exposure, and over half reporting improved sales just from social media, you should seriously consider optimising to reap the rewards.

Arguably, the most attractive aspect of social media is that it’s free! However, the consistency and regularity of posts is vital and an active social media presence is great for your business.

So, here’s why you should outsource your social media…

Messaging:

Although social media is a great tool for promotion, being perceived as too overtly salesy can do more damage than good. Therefore, it is imperative first and foremost to establish a genuine connection, listening and conversing with a human, empathic voice. Anyone can buy 1000 followers, but just as in real life, relationships aren’t built overnight and a loyal customer base evolves over time.

Quality, Consistency & increased ROI:

The best results are achieved by curating clever content which resonates with and benefits your target audience, in addition to joining in and responding to key trends and customer queries. A combination of commentary by a brand, mixed with agency input ensures the best of both worlds. An agency can organise and schedule PR and marketing activities to seamlessly align with social media efforts, generating an integrated campaign to achieve greater return on investment. Since content creation alone can take as much as 18.5% of the day, it’s worth outsourcing these activities, allowing more time to be spent on other areas of a business.

Paid Advertising:

Creating a social media account might appear to be free, but. in doing so the platform uses your profile and demographic information as currency. These social media platforms offer sophisticated segmentation tools enabling users to advertise, for a fee, to whoever fits the profile of their target customer. Additionally, the reporting features offer a wealth of metrics such as engagement, click-through rates etc. which provide valuable insight. Knowing how to set up advertising campaigns, how much to spend, which adverts work best and how to convert clicks into sales requires in-depth experience. When utilised correctly such strategies can be highly cost-effective in meeting sales and marketing strategies.

Efficiency:

It’s a fast-paced world, especially in social media, so it’s paramount to have a team who really know their stuff, from the latest Twitter updates to knowing which social media platform is right for your target audience. There’s no need to stress about self-teaching yourself the basics. Instead, leave it in the safe hands of an agency who can easily and effectiveness understand your goals, implement a blend of organic and scheduled tweets to grow your following, engage your audience and report back with key performance indicators.

So, what are you waiting for? Find out how you can benefit from outsourcing your social media right now.

Call us on 01483 537890 or, alternatively, email us hello@brookscomm.com and we can help you engage with your target audience successfully using Social Media.

How to generate leads when you are short of time

Posted by michaelbrookscommon June 16, 2016July 28, 2017in Hints and Tips, How To:Leave a comment

Business leaders and sales and marketing professionals are often incredibly busy, short of time and are looking for quick ways to generate leads.

For many of our customers this is their primary business objective and knowing where to apply your time and resource when you are in this situation is difficult, especially if you have to prove a rapid return on investment.

How PR delivers leads

Lead generation is made quicker and easier when a good reputation goes before you. Effective PR communicates a positive impression of you and builds customer confidence in your business and your products and services.

Quality PR enables you to reach potential customers by non-invasive means, who will convert much faster if they are reassured of your reputation.

Here are three quick and effective PR tactics that you can quickly implement to generate leads:

Draw up a simple connection map. Put yourself in the middle and then map out around you, your top 4 best potential known future customers and your top 4 best potential vocal supporters. Make a point of contacting each one individually and personally, explaining clearly why they should buy your product or service or why they should recommend you.

Establish your business on social media. According to a recent report detailed by Forbes social media is now the number one driver of website referral traffic. Social media generates 40% of overall traffic to B2B websites. Set up your profiles, then tweet and post content which informs and educates people. Demonstrate your industry domain expertise and how your company solves customer challenges.

Draw up a media distribution list. Identify the websites, publications and newspapers that your target market are likely to read and interact with. Then, find out the authors, bloggers and journalists responsible for writing content. Follow them through your social media platforms and try to engage with them to draw their attention to your business’s unique selling proposition. Establishing relationships with these people will increase the likelihood that they will produce and publish content about your business, generating awareness and leads.

Follow us: Twitter @PRexpertsUK Linkedin: brookscomm Facebook:brookscomm Website: www.brookscomm.com

HOW TO GUIDE: Customer testimonials

Posted by brookscommon May 9, 2014September 27, 2016in How To:Leave a comment

Customer testimonials are a fantastic endorsement of the great service that you offer and the value that you bring. With platforms like LinkedIn, it’s easy to endorse and recommend each other, and third party praise greatly enhances your personal and your business reputation. When you’ve worked hard to provide an exceptional service, it’s extremely rewarding to get good comments back!

Quotes from an external source give you credibility. However to maximise opportunities for testimonials from willing clients and to use them to best effect, we suggest that you make sure they are:

Specific

Although it is good to have some general endorsements for your company, it’s the specific quotes that will add the most value. These will help in your prospects’ decision making, and provide a key insight into how you operate as a business and what you ultimately deliver. If a client is writing a testimonial for you, give them direction where you can by suggesting particular services and topics to mention. We find that clients are generally very happy for us to write them on their behalf as this saves them time, but that they like to tweak to add some of their personality. 🙂

Convincing

Make sure each testimonial is realistic. It needs to be believable to be powerful. This testimonial could be one of the first impressions that a prospect will have of you so it needs to be engaging enough to impress but not over the top in its praise – it’s a balancing act. Value for money, cost/time savings, economic benefits and superior quality or performance make for compelling reading, as does a positive statement regarding your business relationship/trustworthiness.

Used correctly

Take your time when deciding where best to place your testimonials – websites are usually the best place to start, but you may need to think carefully about when and how often to put them into emails or written documents. Again, it’s a fine balance – you don’t want to use them so much that your prospects find it insincere, but you do want them to be aware of others’ recommendations.

Diverse

It’s wise to have a range of testimonials to best represent your services. Try to cover as many services as possible to show that you’re not a one-trick pony, but expert in a range of fields. This will make you more appealing to a wider variety of prospects.

Approved

Make sure your client is happy for you to use their quote as a testimonial. This is not only courteous, but also crucial for maintaining a good relationship with your client in the years to come.

For more advice on how to maximise your content, please leave a comment below or tweet us @UKmarketingUK.