Tag: PR

As marketing communications specialists, we’re tasked with raising awareness of our clients’ products and services. Public relations activity, therefore, features heavily in the majority of our campaigns.

Reaching the right people at the right time with a targeted message is key, and we believe a media campaign can be the perfect way to increase brand awareness, engage audiences and build great relationships.

Whether it’s announcing the latest company news, launching a brand new product or revealing an innovative programme, keeping front of mind and reaching out to customers is all down to great media coverage.

People often ask me the secret to publicity and PR – how to take a press release and encourage top news outlets to feature the content.

The answer is simple – the perfect PR phone pitch.

Long gone are the days of emailing a press release to hundreds of reporters in a vague effort to achieve a few small news stories. Instead, you need a surefire way to get your news noticed and your company remembered.

To give you a helping hand, here’s some top tips to making the perfect PR pitch:

Cut the small talk
It’s no surprise that the typical reporter receives hundreds of PR phone calls every day. Unfortunately there’s a limit on how many times they can discuss the weather without collapsing into boredom – so keep your call concise and clear.

If you can, be sure to get the key facts across in the first 15 seconds – most importantly the who, what, where, when, why and how.

If a journalist is interested in your story, they’ll have made a decision almost straightaway. Follow this up with a well-written press release and you’re on the right track to great media coverage.

Keep it simple, stupid!
Although you may be an expert on your company, product or service, don’t expect a journalist to share the same specialist knowledge.

Just as you would write a press release, keep your pitch simple. A long speech about the latest technology or technical specifications is more likely to confuse and deter, rather than engage and entice.

Stick to the basics and focus on the benefits so that you engage with reporters, increasing the chance of seeing your news printed.

Believe in your story
There’s nothing worse than talking to a salesperson who doesn’t have any passion for their product, and it’s the same with PR – if you don’t believe in your story, neither will an editor.

However, if you show interest, enthusiasm and can demonstrate how relevant your story or idea is for readers, you’re more likely to find yourself featured in the press.

Timing
With more and more publications moving to a weekly, quarterly or annual print basis, it’s becoming ever more important to pick the perfect time to pitch.

Research the publications you want to target and know their deadlines. If the outlet goes to print on a Thursday, pitching a front-page splash on Wednesday afternoon is unlikely to be worth your while.

Planning is key, so don’t leave it to the last minute.

Don’t fall at the last hurdle
Even if you have the perfect pitch, a sloppy email or press release can be the difference between a lead story and missing out on being featured.

Grammar, spelling and syntax are essential. Proof your release, take time to send a follow-up email and make sure the publication has everything needed for a story to go to print.

Storytelling is part of human nature.

Whether it’s through prehistoric cave drawings, fireside folk songs or 140 Twitter characters – how we do it might have changed a bit over the years but that desire to tell the world our story is as strong now as it ever was.

The big challenge for businesses in the digital age is how to make their story stand out, with so many different ones being told in so many different places. Most of us see hundreds if not thousands of marketing messages every day – on the bus, on TV and on our Smartphones.

Book sales might be falling but storytelling through advertising and news stories is as important as ever. Developing your ability to do it well is vital. Here are five quick tips to bear in mind:

Know your audience
Who are you trying to talk to? If your answer to that question is ‘everyone’ then you need to think again. Socially, we are less homogenous now than ever – our relationships with the brands and businesses we buy from are complex and differ from person to person.

Identify your audience and research what they enjoy reading already. Then, if needs be, adapt your own writing style to suit.

Get to the point
Be clear in your own mind about the purpose of your writing and make sure it’s clear to the people reading it. Work out the important points you want to say before you start and include them early on – don’t make readers have to work for it.

The genuine article
No one likes a tall tale so make sure everything you write is authentic. You should believe in what you’re writing in the same way that a salesperson should believe in the product or service they’re selling

No-nonsense
Keep it simple and write in the same way you would talk. A good way to check you’re doing this is to read what you’ve written out loud to someone else and ask them whether it makes sense. It sounds obvious but don’t overlook it.

Be yourself
Like any good spoken story, a written one engages and entertains through the way it’s told. Bring your business’ personality into your writing. Ask yourself: ‘Would I want to read this?’ Make sure the answer is yes before you expect someone else to.

Lava, the integrated marketing agency, has been appointed to handle PR and social media engagement for Festival800, Lincoln’s artistic response to Magna Carta.

Organised by cultural solutions UK on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council and supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Festival800 will offer ten days of live music, comedy, spoken word, street theatre, lectures and debate. Unlike previous celebrations of Magna Carta’s 800^th anniversary, Festival800 will focus on how the document’s powers of liberty, justice and freedom of speech have shaped today’s society.

Some of Festival800’s highlights include performances by acclaimed musicians Billy Bragg and the Levellers; author, screenwriter and comedian Shappi Khorsandi; YouTube sensation Alfie Deyes; and Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy, DBE, FRSL. A host of national and international artists and human rights activists will also visit Lincoln for Festival800, which takes place between 28^th August and 6^th September.

Lava, which offers copywriting, design, PR and social media marketing services, started work this month and will provide a full press office service along with audience development and social media engagement for Festival800.

David Lambert, director of cultural solutions UK: “We’re all really excited about Festival800. It’s going to be an amazing event and we have a varied and challenging programme. We need to create an audience and raise awareness of Festival800 quickly. Lava has an incredibly strong track record of delivering impressive results for arts events and festivals – that’s why we chose to work with them. We’ve been working with them for just over a fortnight now and we’re really impressed with their understanding of our needs, their contacts and the speed at which they work. We can’t wait to see the results of their campaign.”

As well as Festival800, Lava has an impressive track record of helping festival organisers build audiences, having worked on the visit of Black/North SEAS to the UK in 2009, Lincoln Book Festival and SO Festival between 2010 and 2014.

For more information about Festival800 visit www.festival800.co.uk

It may be more than 20 years since Bob Hoskins delivered the killer line ‘It’s good to talk’ for BT’s hugely successful advertising campaign, but even in this digital age of e-mail, text and social media there is still no substitute for a good old-fashioned chin wag, especially when it comes to business.

BT certainly struck a chord with their 90’s campaign, which delivered the company an incremental £5 billion over the five years it ran, and whilst the technology has moved on the sentiment remains relevant today.

PR and marketing is all about communicating, telling stories and conveying messages. Whilst much of this can be done via e-mail and social media it’s essential that we talk too! The days of the AbFab-style PR lunches may be long gone, but we do still need to make time to have conversations and face-to-face meetings to ensure we build and maintain solid relationships.

Relationship building
Whatever business you’re in it’s all about developing relationships and a winky face or smiley on an e-mail or text is just not the same as sharing a joke over the phone or chatting about weekend plans over lunch. This may seem time consuming but it is time worth spending to get to know your clients and key stakeholders.

Winning new business relies on personal connection and there is no substitute for those initial meetings and conversations with a prospective client, where you can often tell within minutes whether the person and business is a good ‘fit’ with good old intuition and ‘gut feeling’ playing a part.

Be Clear
If you’ve ever sent a text or email to the wrong person, with your heart sinking the second after you’ve pressed send then you know how easy it is to get communication wrong. Also irony, sarcasm and banter don’t travel well over e-mail and comments can be taken the wrong way. To be sure you’re getting your point (and personality) across properly hit the call button.

Let’s face it we would all be completely lost without e-mail and and it definitely has an essential place in working life but it shouldn’t replace conversation, rather enhance and confirm it. Social media is also a fantastic tool that is fast becoming another essential communication business tool, but behind every like, share and follow is a person.

A quote shared on LinkedIn sums up why making this personal connection is so important in business – “People do business with people because they choose to, not because they have to. We can always find others doing the same thing or selling the same product.”

The reason you stand out may just be because you picked up the phone and decided it was ‘good to talk’.

If you fancy a good old fashioned chat about how Lava might be able to help your business communicate better call 01522 842 800.

Back in 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill killed 11 people and caused unparalleled damage to the environment. Yesterday, BP reached an £12bn settlement with the US Department of Justice.

Thankfully, most of us won’t face a crisis on the same scale as BP, however, every comms team should be prepared for something to go wrong.

Have a crisis plan
Rather than panicking when a crisis hits, having a plan ready to go when it does will make life much easier. Start by jotting down the potential scenarios and then assume that they have happened.

Crises fall into two categories uncontrolled (employee death, fires and the like) and controlled (job losses, takeovers etc) so you will need to have a plan in place for these different scenarios.

Decide what you will need to do – issue press releases, schedule media interviews, update your website – and create action points. Align these with the level of the crisis, assign specific people/roles responsibility for each task and create a crisis plan document so you’re prepared when disaster hits. And don’t forget to include an internal communications chain!

Use one voice
When a crisis hits, it is very tempting for different people to answer questions and queries – often giving different answers. But it is essential to ensure a consistent message is delivered by one central spokesperson – at the highest possible level within the business. Make sure the elected person has the knowledge, sensitivity, authority and interpersonal skills to deliver your message and is accessible to the media.

Be prepared
Before speaking to the media make sure that you are prepared to answer any difficult questions. Be informed about the situation and understand what you can and can’t say. Don’t volunteer potentially damaging information and make sure to stick to the facts.

Don’t overlook social media
In this digital age, social media is one of the biggest headaches facing companies in crisis. Within minutes, the whole world can know – and be making comments – about your crisis. Use this to your advantage and be proactive in communicating with your customers – answer their concerns and provide information. It’s also a great tool to gauge public reaction to a situation.

Be honest
No matter how many bad examples of crisis management you read, many businesses still insist on learning the hard way. A network of smoke, mirrors and untruths will be discovered and you will end up with egg on your face and your reputation in tatters. Combat this by being as honest as you can with your customers and taking responsibility – they will respect you for it.

Don’t hide
Another mistake many companies make is falling into a black hole the second a crisis hits. Make sure to keep communicating – even if nothing has changed – and be proactive.

Monitor public opinion
Make sure to keep on top of public opinion – social media is a great tool here – and respond accordingly. This will help you to evolve your crisis communications plan as the situation develops.

Learn & improve
Once the dust has settled, get your crisis team together and evaluate your response. What worked well? What didn’t? What could you do better? Make sure to update your plan.

Do you have any other tips to share about managing a crisis or issue? Let us know by posting a comment.

madonna-fall-off-stage-brit-awards-2015-billboard-650.jpg

Madonna and her now infamous plunge this week got everyone in the office wondering the same thing: why has Madonna’s gaffe gotten loads more media coverage than anything else having to do with the Brit Awards – including the winners?

After a bit of a discussion, we concluded that media simply love a bit of drama and unexpected controversy. This isn’t new news, though. We know this because we’re all blessed with seeing Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s faces in print and online on a near daily basis.

What makes the Brit Awards different is that it in itself is an extremely newsworthy event and a PR generator that all of the nominees and winners were likely banking on to provide a bit of a boost for their own publicity.

Instead, after a quick search on various websites for ‘Brit Awards’, we found that all of the top-of-the-page articles included Madonna’s fall in the headline – and when we clicked to read the stories, text about the fall was at the top and the winners were way down at the bottom of the page.

Yes, Madonna’s fall was part of the Brit Awards, but it was a five-second blip of a two hour long event, yet it got the majority of the headlines in the end – as well as several follow-up stories about her cape being tied too tight and experiencing a bit of whiplash, which have kept her name in the headlines in the run up to her new album’s release.

So what can we learn from this blunder? It’s that it doesn’t matter if you lose the competition, or even if you take a bad step or say the wrong thing. You can still ‘win’ if your mishap helps you stand out from the crowd at an event.

**Lava does not condone or take responsibility for injuries acquired as a result of trying to make your presence known at an event.

Newer Posts

Older Posts

Pitching to journalists – a key part of PR

The art of storytelling in marketing

Lava To Provide PR And Social Media Support For Festival800 – Lincoln’s Artistic Response To Magna Carta

It’s good to talk especially in PR and marketing

PR & Crisis Planning

Making The Most of a Misstep