October to December is often a busy time for PR. Seasonal celebrations provide more creative opportunity, while businesses push to end the year on a high. It can be tough to cut through the noise and get your message heard.
I have seen many changes during my decade in the PR industry. The strength and power of digital advertising has grown incredibly, and the development of online tools and apps makes it easier for everyone to create, publish and share.
This October, I’m leaning in to the Halloween spirit and highlighting four PR ‘ghosts’ which could help you reach your audience and stand out in a 24/7 world of over-consumption and constant communication.
1. Going offline
With around 350 billion emails sent and received globally every single day, it’s no wonder people may be feeling the inbox drain! While email marketing is still a very effective way of reaching audiences, especially if it’s personalised, other traditional methods can be equally effective in cutting through the inbox noise and grabbing your recipient’s attention. A traditional letter posted directly to a named contact, a face-to-face informal chat, voice notes, personal video messages, or even a simple phone call. While a landline phone might not sit on your desk anymore, I still find such value in making a call and speaking directly, person-to-person.
2. Listen before you speak
People often know what they want to say and will be eager for the world to hear it. The skill of listening to your audience first is becoming overlooked in favour of a quick reaction or following the crowd.
By taking time to listen, you can understand where your audience is, what interests them and what challenges they face. You can then tailor your communication to address their needs and help to create a genuine connection, which can lead to greater engagement on a human level.
Start by going to where your audience is and tune in to what they’re saying about your sector or your brand – such as Facebook community groups, WhatsApp group chats, user-generated forums like Reddit, or conduct your own third-party research to gather honest feedback.
3. Professional visual content
When I first began my career in PR, I was arranging media photocalls and professional shoots on a weekly basis, but now it’s seemingly all too easy to capture a quick snap on your phone. Free online sites and apps also claim to make it simple to design quick graphics and create social content.
Whilst a candid, unpolished look can sometimes be relevant for a brand or campaign, professional visual content will elevate your brand and help you to stand out. People’s perceptions of a brand are often based on how it looks, so it’s important to establish a cohesive brand identity through bespoke, high-quality visual content.
Professional visual content is an investment, but it offers more scope to tailor for different audiences and outlets across PR and digital, and it can be repurposed for years to come.
4. Print media
Experts have been predicting the ‘death of print media’ for some time – when The Independent went fully digital in 2016, it was expected that other newspapers would quickly follow suit, but that wasn’t the case. While print readership is in a gradual decline, newspapers are adapting to survive and it remains an important media target for traditional PR.
It’s physical, tangible nature and the lasting impact of ‘ink on paper’ has led print media to be a trusted form of news. Print is less stimulating than digital with no pop-up adverts, it can be easier to read and is often picked up out of habit by its typically older readership.
Printed community magazines should also be remembered when targeting your audience on a hyper-local level. These are often delivered free to households or left in popular community locations, ready to pick up and read.
At PLMR Genesis, we champion an integrated approach by supporting organisations with a mix of digital services and traditional PR to reach their audiences and deliver impact.
To find out how we could support your brand, get in touch with our team at hello@genesispr.co.uk.