Emma Speirs
If you have a ‘warm’ audience, your PR activity is more likely to result in sales as well as raise your profile.
The summer has been arrival of autumn brings with it ‘back to school’ vibes and those ‘fresh start’ feelings of hope, focus and renewed motivation.
October is also a great time to get ‘PR ready’ for the coming year. You have the final quarter of the year to plan your approach and ensure that certain fundamentals are in place and start thinking of any potential campaign ideas, what news you may have going on in your business over the next few months and how to reach your target market through PR.
Whether you are new to PR or have been doing it for a while but want to hit the ground running in 2022 with everything ready to go, a good place to start is with a photo shoot.
Hire a photographer for an hour’s shoot at your workplace to give you a bank of high resolution, professional photos that you can use across the whole PR and marketing mix throughout the year, from double page printed magazine features to social media posts and your website.
Pull together a list of images you think you might need and give it to the photographer ahead of the shoot. These could be photos of you and your team ‘at work’, individual headshots, team photos in front of some signage, or some external shots of your building.
If you know you will be launching a new product soon, try and get some product shots too. Not only does it make life easier to have a folder of good- quality images ‘on tap’ it means you can turn short notice press enquiries around quickly too.
Other things you can do now to be ‘PR ready’ for next year is to create a one-page bio document. This is a chance to summarise your career and what makes you an expert at what you do. This can be used when pitching to journalists with any article ideas or when responding to media enquiries from journalists looking for experts to comment on stories. They can also be used for pitching yourself as a podcast guest or speaking opportunities at conferences and other events, which all help to build your profile as an expert in your field.
You can also use this time to create media lists, sourcing contact information for magazines, websites and radio shows in which you might want to be featured.
Lastly, look at your own communications platforms. Do you engage enough with the audience you already have? Can you grow your audience on social media or via email lists? If you have a ‘warm’ audience to tell about any PR successes, your PR activity is more likely to result in sales as well as raise your profile.
For more advice on all things PR and communications, visit www.ballyhoo-pr.co.uk or contact Emma Speirs on 01536 682800 /
