Tag Archive for: communication strategy

In today’s world, what is the role of public relations, and how should you create a public relations strategy? Many people think of PR purely in terms of articles placed (earned media), when in fact, PR strategy is a cross-functional objective that enhances business goals through reputation management.

How Does PR Support Business Goals?

PR is not a strategy – PR supports a business’ over-reaching goals. It’s completely possible for a company to be successful without PR, but it’s near impossible for a company to become a household name without PR. So whether your objective is raising capital, recruiting better talent, quickening the sales process, or preparing for your pre-IPO, a proper PR strategy is a critical partner in success.

How PR Supports Business Goals

  • Build credibility or trust.
  • Reputation management.
  • Brand/company awareness.
  • Harnessing media to support business goals.
  • Incorporating digital media in a brand and business-relevant manner

What is a Public Relations (PR) Strategy?

A public relations strategy answers the following questions:

  • What is the desired outcome of a positive company image with stakeholders?
  • Who are the stakeholders and target audience?
  • What company key messages resonate most successfully with the target audience?
  • What trends can the brand utilize to improve its image with stakeholders?
  • What research is relevant to stakeholders?
  • What content are the stakeholders consuming?
  • What activities are the stakeholders attending/participating?
  • What is the existing media coverage on relevant topics and key messages?
  • What assets does the company have to support PR initiatives, or what needs to be developed?
  • What PR initiatives are competitors utilizing, and how can the company differentiate?
  • What KPIs will be tracked to measure the effectiveness of the PR strategy?

Ultimately, a PR strategy provides the roadmap for the PR campaigns. It will incorporate data, messaging, and brand research to develop a positive public opinion of an organization, brand, product, or person for a specific business goal. PR strategies are often cross-functional and stakeholder-dependent. For example, you may have an overarching PR strategy for the brand with the goal of attracting financing, but within that strategy is PR for consumers and even an internal communications plan for employees.

In the above example, you would expect the CEO, CFO, and/or board members to be actively engaged in investor relations, a CMO, product manager, or marketing manager to be involved in consumer PR, and HR to be involved with an internal communications plan.

We believe in crafting PR strategies that align with our clients’ overall goals and values. This includes identifying key messages, choosing appropriate communication channels, and engaging with the media and the public in a way that enhances reputation.

Our approach emphasizes proactive communication to showcase the positive aspects of our clients, address potential issues, and foster strong relationships with the media. We leverage various platforms, such as social media, press releases, and events, to create a consistent and compelling narrative that resonates with the audience.

An effective PR strategy is about responding to crises and building trust and credibility over time. By staying attuned to industry trends, monitoring public sentiment, and adapting our strategies accordingly, an effective PR strategy will ensure companies maintain a favorable image in the eyes of their stakeholders.

How to Develop a Good Public Relations Strategy in 2024?

In order to create an excellent PR strategy, there will be considerable research, internally and externally, including audience analysis, media trends, and competitive analysis. A public relations strategy can take anywhere between 4 weeks to 4 months to create, depending on the ambition of the goal and how complicated the strategy will be.

A good public relations strategy aligns with the goals and the company brand and incorporates hard data and insights. There are different expectations of a PR campaign vs. an ad campaign; transparency and authenticity are expected in PR, as is an understanding of how to communicate with the media.  Communicating with the media is different than direct communication with your target audiences. Journalists have different expectations and requirements to satisfy before a story will be published, and journalists don’t see themselves as marketers – the role of PR is to bridge the gap between the journalist’s needs and the company’s. At its best, it’s symbiotic, but the any PR strategy will go awry when it doesn’t meet the needs of the journalist.

Understanding your metrics and KPIs is essential as well. Experienced PR professionals know how to analyze goals and ensure they match the plan and vice versa. For example, if the ambition is to be a household name, then the media budget – earned, paid, owned – needs to match that ambition. We’re fans of saying all things are possible, but the lower the budget, the longer it takes.

A solid PR strategy also needs to have a firm grip on the trends and tools that can support or derail a strategy. The media landscape is constantly evolving, and it’s important that any PR strategy take into account the entirety of the media and analyze which of these items presents opportunities and which presents threats. Further, there are hundreds of thousands of PR crises a year, and in the volatile and dynamic post-pandemic landscape, companies who don’t plan for a crisis are creating a very expensive scenario for themselves. Crisis like cyberattacks put hundreds, if not thousands of startups and mid-size businesses every year.

Ten steps to a modern public relations strategy

  • Consider your 6, 12, 24, and 48-month goals, and review the budget you have allocated to ensure your budget matches your goals.
  • Determine KPI and metrics baselines.
  • Research your target audiences using social media conversation, data, and stakeholder surveys.
  • Research media cycles and trends to identify media opportunities throughout the year.
  • Determine what key messages will work most effectively with your target audience.
  • Determine what gaps exist in the marketplace communication.
  • Identify three types of content and channels that will support your strategy.
  • Determine what PR platforms will support your strategy.
  • Identify relevant metrics and quarterly KPIs to track.
  • Develop or update the crisis communications plan.

What Will a Good PR Strategy Do for You?

Your PR strategy is like a finger print – there really isn’t one quite like it. Others may have the same business goal in mind, but the path to getting there should reflect your company’s distinct voice and brand. The goal of a public relations strategy isn’t to set everything in concrete but rather to provide a deep understanding of the goals, audience, and measurements so if changes are made; they are done so specifically to adjust within the necessary parameters. For example, if your goal is to attract investors, it’s important to consider what investors want to know and how to articulate that into PR campaigns; it will look very different than a campaign targeted towards consumers. Consider these parameters so your entire process from content to outreach is consistent.

A good PR strategy should include:

  • Identify proven key messages that are effective to the target audience and reflect the brand.
  • Identify baselines of metrics and growth goals that align with budget and timeframe.
  • Identify what PR objectives will be most effective for the target audience and the brand’s desired outcome.
  • Develop corresponding PR campaigns.
  • Identifying corresponding content opportunities.
  • Identify potential brand crises and create a crisis communication plan.

Digital PR Strategy

Is a digital PR strategy different from a PR strategy? No. Today’s PR strategies should incorporate digital platforms, content, and communication channels. A PR strategy that doesn’t incorporate at least some of these considerations isn’t incorporating modern PR principles. Avaans Media was originally founded as a digital communication agency, so our roots are firmly planted in the earliest days of social media. Today, digital media is a vibrant arm of public relations, as are content and earned media online. Digital perspectives should be included in your PR strategy as an integral part rather than a separate aspect. There may be other elements of your overall digital plan (pay-per-click for example), but your PR should be firmly integrated with the rest of your digital programming. And, of course, all these elements should work together to deliver trackable improvements toward your business goal.

A good PR strategy should incorporate at least three digital PR components

  • Organic search audit.
  • Keyword analysis and opportunities.
  • Social media audience audit and opportunities.
  • Social media brand audit and opportunities.
  • Brand mentions across platforms and forums audit and recommendations.
  • Owned content or native content development.

 

The importance of a strategic PR in 2024 approach in supporting business objectives cannot be overstated. Beyond its traditional role as a reputation management tool, PR has evolved into a dynamic and integral part of overall business strategy. From building credibility and trust to driving brand awareness and fostering stakeholder relationships, PR plays a multifaceted role in shaping the success of a business.

Companies that recognize the strategic significance of PR are better positioned to navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and cultivate a positive and enduring presence in the market. As businesses continue to face unprecedented levels of scrutiny and competition, a from startup to IPO, well-executed PR strategy remains a linchpin for sustained growth and success. For PR expertise, contact Tara Coomans and her team at Avaans Media, who are PR experts for ambitious companies.

Imagine your advertising and marketing becoming 2X more effective overnight. Using emotions in marketing and branding is the key to more effective campaigns

According to Roger Dooley, emotional ads work TWICE as well as rational ads. So it’s important your campaign incorporates emotion from the start. You can deploy these emotions through copy and creative in all formats, analog and digital.

Before you create your next campaign, check in with these powerful emotions in marketing and branding.  Be sure you’ve considered your strategy, both long and short term before deciding which emotion works best in your marketing.

Fear
Fear comes in many forms, and it creates a sense of urgency.

Fear also heightens any other emotion created alongside it and it drives us to make deeper connections with those we share the fear with-this is why scary movies create deepen relationships. 

There are several different kinds of fear, but two common types include:
“Fear Of Missing Out” (FOMO): This particular fear tends to work well on younger people in social media. This works particularly well for items with time sensitivity.
“Fear of Isolation”: closely connected to FOMO, fear of isolation, used in connection with health products, deodorant for example: “use this so you don’t smell, because when you smell, you become a social pariah.”

When to Use Fear in Emotional Marketing/Branding:

  • To drive leads
  • You have a specific and actionable solution
  • You have an easy, no stress way to buy

Happiness/Joy
What happens when we feel happy? You might be surprised.

It’s a fine line because if we’re too happy, we might not be motivated to purchase. But happiness DOES make us want to share. It seems good news travels fast. According to a study by Fractl these are the Top 5 emotions which drive viral content:

  • Amusement
  • Interest
  • Surprise
  • Happiness
  • Delight

When to Use Happiness in

in Emotional Marketing/Branding:

  • You want others to share your message
  • You want to build trust and loyalty
  • You can commit to happy content as a brand

Inclusion

One of our oldest motivations is the need to be part of a tribe, included in a group. For our earliest ancestors, it was a requirement for survival, today, that need is still a powerful motivator and when we have it, we feel safe which leads to loyalty.

When to Use Inclusion in

in Emotional Marketing/Branding

  • To attract or retain customers
  • When you can also utilize the fear of missing out
  • When you have the processes and platforms to create and sustain community

Anticipation

We’re hardwired to anticipate outcomes. We’re not always right, but we are always anticipating. You can use anticipation in a couple of different ways, to attract and retain customers.

Attracting customers with anticipation typically comes with a stimuli and an outcome. The faster the outcome, the more likely we are to repeat the stimuli. Once we’re hooked on the stimuli, the outcome frequency can become variable (you might have learned about Pavlov’s dog, this is the same theory). Gamification uses anticipation brilliantly.

Keeping customers with anticipation requires a product commitment (free sample with every order) or an anticipation experience connected to the product (why subscription boxes are so popular). You can create variables in the anticipation (products, frequency) that will actually heighten the anticipation.

Something else about anticipation: it DECREASES when we’re stressed and change can be stressful. This is why consistency in branding is so very important and why big changes for big brands are big-time risks. Can you think of a brand whose big change created major negative upheaval for them?

When to Use Anticipation in

in Emotional Marketing/Branding:

  • You have the willingness to keep the anticipation fresh
  • You want to build loyalty and repeat buyers
  • Your brand is elevated and/or lifestyle oriented

Expertise/Leadership

Making your customer feel like they’re the smartest/sexiest/most influential is a great way to get people’s attention. People love to be the most “something” of their friends and people will work to achieve this effect.

This marketing emotion is closely connected with our need for mastery and our innate value of time. Because of these two addition motivations, the harder you make it the more committed they will become to the process. It’s all about our emotional triggers again, we’re hardwired to commit more time to something we’ve already committed time to – this is the same theory behind the test drive and keeping you at the dealership during a car purchase.

Again, games do this quite well. Successful fitness trainers do this quite well.

When to Use Expertise and Leadership in your Marketing/Branding

  • When you have a unique process people can move through and see improvement
  • As a relationship builder, such as influencer marketing or tips and tricks your customers can use

Good luck and I look forward to hearing how you’re using emotion in your marketing and branding.

The Communication Strategy Everyone Will Thank You For.

We’re inundated with messages every day. As communicators, it’s up to us to have  some empathy for our audience, whether that audience is the press, an employee, a customer, or an investor.

Yet, this single communications strategy I’m about to share with you is so simple, so basic, you’ll wonder why you’re not doing it already.

Before we go any further, let me ask you, which would you rather be:

A product or a movement
A cause or a movement?
An idea or a movement?

If you don’t care, I’ll save you-you can stop reading right now.
If you want to be a movement, it’s time to re-frame your thinking.
If you’re going to have a movement that matters, you’re going to need people to get on your side.
PEOPLE.
Not Twitter accounts, not Instagram followers, not Facebook likes.
These are vanity metrics that provide little insight into the passion and interest people have in your brand, product, or personality.

Are You Really Ready?

If you’re ready, you’ll re-frame your thinking.
If you re-frame your thinking, it will change everything.

So get ready…
The world is crowded now with communicators, marketers, messengers, and “me, me, me.”
Some days it’s soul-sucking.
It’s why everyone who uses social networking says brands ruin everything.
And yet…people WANT to receive messages, they just want messages tailored to them.
One of the reasons digital marketing is so powerful is that it creates a give and take in the relationship.
It provides an opportunity for the customer, the reader to think about their favorite subject for a moment: them.
But here’s the rub:
It takes strategy, focus and creativity to create content that your consumer wants to see.

So, please.
As you review your communication goals and communication strategy, stop for one moment and think about the reader, whether they’re a customer, a client, an investor, or an internal employee.
Make it about them.
That single phrase is the one thing so many brand communicators ignore.
Why? Because it takes serious work to “Make it about them.”
It means getting serious about audience identification.
It means getting serious about your brand, it’s voice and how it relates to the audience.
It means diving in on messaging and strategic choices in advertising.
It means actually creating a relationship and even (GASP) an in-person relationship with your customer or client.
It means, communication and branding for the long haul,  not some flash-in-the-pan-make-it-go-viral-I-need-some-vanity-numbers-now kind of campaign.

And while we’re thinking about it, let’s consider language and what it says about our strategy.
If you’re saying you’ll “use influencers,” do you think you’re thinking about it from the “All About Them” standpoint?
If you’re talking about how you’ll “promote”  your message, event, or idea, does that sound like you’re getting ready to make it interesting to others?
If you’re talking to a PR agency, a strategist or a social media consultant who is using words like “promote” and “use” you really must ask yourself if you’ll have an opportunity for a customer relationship.

I still see and hear this language every day on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, everywhere.
It’s gotten to where my eyes glaze over.
Guess what?  So does everyone else’s.

Let’s step it up, together.
We can do this.
We can make what you have to say interesting and relevant to the right people at the right time.

Now What?

Here’s my communication strategy challenge to you.
Go check your last 10 social posts.
See how many times you used the words “we, us, or I.”

How much of your content was about the consumer?
How much of your content was strategically shared to reinforce or create relationships?
Is there anything there that would make someone curious?
Is there anything at ALL that makes people feel ANYTHING?

How do YOU make people feel?
If you make them feel ANYTHING you’re miles ahead.
If you make them feel stronger, smarter, special, you’re really hitting on something.
If you made them terrified, scared, outraged, you’re really hitting on something.

People rarely forget how you made them feel.
But YOU’RE utterly forgettable when you make them feel nothing.
Digital branding and marketing is a long game, with peaks at appropriate times.
But always it surrounds emotion.

Regardless of the movement you’re trying to start, start with the idea that “you” are not necessarily interesting.
What’s interesting to people is what they do with “you.”
How you make them laugh or think.
How you make their lives easier, better, or richer.

Here’s another reason to re-frame your thinking: it takes discipline and thought to create content that makes people pause.
That’s why so few marketers do it.
So while everyone else is “zigging” go ahead and “zag.” and watch how it changes the way people respond to your brand or product.

That is all.