Welcome to 2016! As with the start of every new year there is a sense of optimism in the air and the determination to stick to all those newly made resolutions. These resolutions are usually personal but have you thought about making a resolution for your business and your PR strategy?
It’s important to reflect and assess how your PR strategy performed throughout the year, what worked and what didn’t. By assessing these factors, you can review your PR strategy to plan what you would like to achieve in 2016 to reach your PR goals.
Here are some tips on what to include in your PR strategy to achieve your 2016 PR goals.
Review your key messages
Key messages are what you want people to remember about your business. It is a good idea to review your key messages and determine whether they still communicate the right information for your business. It is important these messages are clear and concise, communicating what you want your audience to remember. This is especially important if the business has experienced significant change or a rebrand. Start by considering the key points you want your audience to hear and remember and make sure your key messages communicate this.
Review your media coverage
Did you achieve as much media coverage last year as you wanted? Review the media coverage you achieved last year and the publications in which they appeared and determine if you need to review your approach to pitching to the media. Perhaps all that is needed is a review of how many pieces of media coverage you secured each month. Sending out more pitches per month or ensuring a spokesperson is available for comment may increase the amount of coverage you achieve, increasing the opportunities for your audience to connect with the business.
When you receive media coverage, it is worth communicating. Promote your media coverage on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as well as company websites sharing the links to your coverage. It is a great way to increase audience exposure to your stories.
Research new publications
Is your media list up to date? A lot can happen in a year, and with the current landscape of the media, journalists are often changing roles, publications and contact details. It’s important to make sure your media lists are up to date so you can continue to contact the appropriate journalists.
It is also a good idea to review the publications you currently pitch to determine if they are still suitable and conduct research into other publications your audience engages with and start pitching to them. Think about what other publications you could pitch to, this could be daily newspapers, online blogs or vertical publications such as HR, small business, finance, entrepreneur and retail. It is important to remember your audience receives information daily from numerous publications, the more you pitch to, the greater chance your story will be published.
Network more
Networking is a key ingredient for gaining new clients. Networking is designed to create relationships and connections with other people that may lead to business opportunities. As a business owner or representative, it is important to be able to walk into a room full of strangers and pitch your business. This is not an easy task and requires determination, courage and plenty of practice. A good tip is to use every business or social event as an opportunity to pitch your business and yourself to potential clients.
A PR strategy can be great tool to help you achieve your business goals. It will help you maximise the success of your PR efforts and help to grow your business. Let us know what your PR business resolution is for this year. Let us know in the comments below.
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Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.
