In our blog earlier this year, we spoke about the foundations of PR. The importance of issuing regular press releases to keep your company brand front of mind with press contacts; the benefits of rapid response in building your spokespeople up as the go-to experts; and the advantages of quality bylined articles in giving your company credibility. Yet, it’s worth noting that the bedrock of these activities should be a clear understanding of the company’s mission and messaging, as well as creativity.
Anyone and everyone in public relations can attest that it has been getting harder to ‘do PR’ compared to years past, especially in the tech/cyber space. Harder to capture the attention of journalists, harder to secure placements, harder to maintain interest among readers. And the reasons for this vary…
On the one hand, we have witnessed a proliferation of vendors enter the market, generating greater competition as we all vie for a few seconds, and if we’re lucky, a few minutes of our target audience’s time. What’s more, the incessant drum of cyber-attacks, and the drive for news à la minute, has introduced a certain time pressure on journalists to churn out their pieces while they remain relevant. The media are no less immune to Google’s tough and ever-changing ranking criteria either. In a bid to stay relevant and at the top of engine searches, publications must prioritise their SEO. That means working only with exclusive, relevant and insightful content. Long gone are the days of placing a single article with a myriad of publications.
They say you need to touch a prospect 8 times in order to convert them into a viable lead. Methods such as rapid response are key to achieving this and have become the equivalent of a screwdriver in our toolbox – an essential tool, and one Eskenzi PR is renowned for effectively leveraging. But sometimes, particularly when audiences are inundated with information, it’s futile to simply shout into the ether. Your messages also need to stick.
The only way of turning your screwdrivers into power tools is by infusing all you do with purpose and creativity. In other words, it is crucial that you sit down to assess the company’s current messaging. Is it in line with the organisation’s values? Is it tailored to the audience you intend to reach? Do you have a clear view of your USP and objectives? Add to this, a touch of blue sky thinking; adding ‘quality’ to the ‘quantity’ of your content. Whether that means asking thought-provoking survey questions, or running a campaign like we did when we broke a Guinness World Record, the best PR comes when we take a bit of risk, think out of the box and step out of our comfort zone.
Yes, it seems PR has become increasingly difficult; but in fact, it is only PR as we knew it. The best PR agencies never cease to ideate, push the boundaries, experiment to determine what works and what doesn’t. The best PR agencies don’t claim to know it all; the best ones pivot because when the world changes, sometimes we should too.
