“You’re on mute” was widely recognised as one of the most used business phrases of 2020. The pandemic saw millions of people forced to grapple with video calling technology, perhaps for the first time, often struggling to make themselves heard because they hadn’t pressed the right button!
The last thing any business wants is to fail to be heard in its marketplace. To this end firms spend vast sums of money on marketing, business development and PR but often these work within their own silos and fail to co-ordinate effort. Imagine how much more your message could be amplified if these disciplines worked in tandem?
Budgets are likely to come under pressure if, as widely predicted, the UK economy is entering a period of inflation, so working to find synergies and deliver results is likely to become even more important in the coming months and years.
The way that marketing and PR teams communicate with their audiences will vary significantly. The latter through third party endorsement from journalists, websites, influencers etc and the former more directly with customers or potential clients for example, through online advertising. However, by working more closely together there are considerable benefits for both, ultimately delivering better results for the organisation. Here are my top tips for using PR more effectively to get the marketing message across:
- Communication is key: It might sound obvious but, any PR team needs to understand what the firm’s current marketing priorities are so that they can focus on getting coverage in the right places and on the right channels to support those ambitions. For example, if there is a push to win corporate clients in a certain sector, placing thought leadership pieces in appropriate trade publications will be extremely helpful. Without knowledge of the marketing strategy resource may be wasted on placing articles in consumer publications which would not support the strategy. A thoughtful, joined-up approach is likely to reap the best results so keep the channels of communication open between the two teams and talk regularly (not on mute)!
- Share knowledge: By working with journalists and others, PR specialists are exposed to information about market changes and external factors all the time. This gives them a real insight into trends and topics starting to come up, or currently dominating the news cycle which may impact potential clients. This intelligence could be invaluable to marketing teams who can use it to pivot their product or service in an appropriate way and, hopefully, get ahead of competitors. By sharing this knowledge early on, the PR team can add significant value.
- Co-ordination reaps benefits: Good PR establishes and enhances the credibility of a brand. By co-ordinating with marketing teams, PR can support and amplify the message of marketing efforts. For example, timing the publication of an interview in a legal publication with a particular partner who is booked to deliver a client seminar. This would allow marketing to distribute the article by a third party along with seminar materials, adding a layer of credibility. This works both ways, of course, marketing strategy can also be a great source of inspiration for PR in terms of what stories and articles to pitch.
Getting PR and marketing talking to each other to share insights and identify trends can only enhance both outputs, a co-ordinated joined-up approach really is something to shout about!
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