6 PR hacks from the experts

In a society where consumers are bombarded by thousands of brands every day, cutting through the noise and getting your brand on the radar of parents and families can feel overwhelming for any business. One tactic to consider is using positive PR to drive awareness and engagement with your brand.

Yellow Days catch up with Matt Peden, Managing Partner at established consumer PR agency Hatch to provide you with some benefits to using PR to promote your business.

Third-party endorsement

Through earned press coverage, such as reviews and articles published by journalists and media outlets, you can build trust with audiences. It’s widely recognised that earned media coverage is considered to be more credible than paid advertisements amongst consumers who have a greater level of trust in the third party endorsements of journalists. Beyond press, influencers, celebrities and partnerships can also strengthen the advocacy in your brand.

An example would be promoting a new offering or an experience to parents. Consider inviting media to come along and experience it, provide them with quotes, offers and imagery and drive reviews for your brand. Competitions also offer value to their readers and can provide a data capture element.

Specific Audiences

Fishing where the fish are is key for any business. Not all media is national / hard to reach titles and while these titles do have substantial reach, it doesn’t always mean they’ll have the greatest impact for your brand. Understanding who your consumer is and what media and platforms they consume is crucial making sure you target the right people with the right solution at the right time.

We don’t expect every business in the UK to get promotion on BBC Breakfast for example, but media outlets offer you the chance to speak to a very specific audience. Consider regional media titles, broadcast media, podcasts and trade or sector specific outlets. If you have a business with a very specific niche audience, there is likely a media title for you to explore, either regionally or nationally.  Who knew there was a family specific title in Rotherham? But there is…

If you are considering using the media to tell your story, ask the media outlet to provide you with a publishing pack via email or on their website so you can explore audience profiles.

Tell your story

PR is all about storytelling – what makes you stand out? How can you relate to an audience? Be honest, authentic and sell your point of difference – why would your audience want to choose your business over a competitor?

Traditional media titles like you to provide them with a write up and the information needed to tell the story – a press release for example, including key messages on what makes business news so interesting to their audiences. Video content and photography are even more important than ever in securing coverage.

PR allows you the opportunity to tell your story in your own way – and who doesn’t love a good story?

Sales support

PR provides businesses the chance to increase awareness levels and if done well, it can increase sales* for any business (*disclaimer – PR can lead the horse to water but doesn’t necessarily mean the horse will drink it….)

Recruitment

A hidden gem of PR is that increased awareness can also naturally increase your attractiveness to potential talent. By making people aware of your offering, you’ll be surprised at how this opens up conversations with people potentially wanting a job – or to sell you something – but either way, it can potentially find you your next candidate without having to pay for a recruiter. Win, win.

Agency / freelancer support

PR can be done by yourself – it’s worth doing a bit of desk research to see best practices and some examples potentially relevant to your business / sector. However, there are various agencies (including ourselves 😊) who can help businesses depending on sectors and budgets, but also freelancers which might be more relevant to a smaller, niche business. Either way, practitioners are always willing to offer some advice so it’s worth a little search around for support should you want it.

In short, PR can be help but as with any marketing technique, it needs to be considered around wider options. PR helps people discover you, trust you, and choose you, but it has to be done right.