ZB Group

Thought Leadership

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5 Reasons Not to Pause PR this Fall

Image by Jackie Ramirez from Pixabay

You might think it’s prudent to pause your PR campaign this fall due to the media’s emphasis on the upcoming U.S. presidential election on November 5th. However, this strategy could be short-sighted. Here are five reasons to consider not hitting the pause button on PR this fall.

1) Many Journalists Don’t Cover Politics. Even though political news is a main focus right now, many reporters, freelance writers, producers, podcasters, bloggers, and newsletter editors, don’t cover politics or the election. Their beats may be lifestyle topics, consumer trends or products, travel, dining, technology, real estate, education, or small business. Therefore, they will need credible sources and experts to interview, interesting content and engaging stories to cover this fall and year-round.  

2) ‘Tis the Season for Holiday Gift Guide Pitching. The fall is a very busy time for media professionals who produce, write or contribute to holiday gift guides. Many have already requested 2024 holiday gift ideas for products and services and held workshops on tips for getting coverage. HGGs provide opportunities for brands and businesses to be featured by influencers, journalists, or TV and social media personalities, who consumers follow for ideas and advice. Pausing outreach efforts will greatly impact your chance for inclusion in these popular guides.

3) To Capitalize on early 2025 Media Opportunities. Perhaps you would like to create story ideas, an event, contest, giveaway, etc., for your brand pegged to the Super Bowl (February 9), Valentine’s Day (February 14), American Heart Month or U.S. Black History Month, (February 2025) or Women’s History Month (March 2025). If so, fall is a good time to get your strategy and action plan in place.

4) Consider Your 2025 Priorities and Inherent Lead Time. The time required to plan and implement a targeted media outreach campaign, special event, new product announcement, or facilitate thought leadership tactics such as bylined articles and speaking engagements, can take several months. Don’t wait until after the election to get started on these PR activities if they are among your priorities scheduled for 2025.

    5) Maintain Momentum for Successful Results. Your communications team may currently be working intently with reporters to arrange media interviews for your company or campaign’s spokesperson, coordinating details for an industry conference, a grand opening, or other focused project with a fall 2024 timetable. Pausing before or after the election will interrupt their progress and potentially impact the results.

    Please reach out with any questions.

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    How Brands Can Build Positive Touchpoints with Four Media Types

    Creating brand loyalty in the digital age is challenging but it’s on a more-level playing field. You must get consumers to think positively about your brand via different touchpoints. Shira Ovide, a technology writer for The New York Times, explores this in her column with the headline, “The Internet Broke Brand Loyalty.” Here’s a telling part of her piece:

    “Think about the ways that you might have bought something in the Before Times – like, before 2010. Maybe you drove to your local hardware store looking for a cordless drill, and it stocked only Dewalt models. You trusted the store to sell a good product – or if you didn’t, it was your only option anyway. That’s what you bought. The retailer essentially made the choice for you, Mr. Levin and Mr. Lowitz said. (co-founders of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners) That’s not usually how we shop anymore. Instead of having that solo choice, we can browse the gazillion cordless drills on Amazon from our sofas and evaluate online customer reviews.”

    The pandemic intensified “going online” making it often the first place consumers turn before purchasing goods and services whether by checking-out Amazon or major retail websites, company or brand websites, the news media, blogs, social media, online communities, trade publications, or influencers they follow.

    Today, brands need to utilize the four main types of media under the communications umbrella to effectively reach and engage with prospects and customers. The PESO Model, created by Gini Dietrich, the founder of Spin Sucks, demonstrates how each media type ideally provides the greatest benefit when it’s integrated with the other ones.

    The model blends paid, earned, shared and owned media, to establish credibility, trust and authority that fuels a brand reputation. Earned media includes building relationships with journalists, bloggers, podcasters, editors, writers, producers and influencers, so they share your story with their audiences – be it readers, viewers or listeners. For example, we garnered these for different clients; a major market radio interview, an interview with a national wire service, a featured story in The New York Times, a Q&A on a blog, a magazine article, a newspaper feature, a bylined article, and a conversation on a podcast.

    The PESO Model illustrated in the graphic below, provides a clear framework for communicators like us to explain how the different media types work best in concert in today’s fast-paced evolving media landscape. Kudos to Gini for launching it in 2014 and sharing it widely ever since.

    2020 PESO Model Graphic
    Credit: Spin Sucks

    At ZB Group, our services focus on the earned and shared media spheres within the headings earned media, community, partnerships, reputation and marketing communications, to achieve our clients’ goals. Please reach out to learn how we can add value and turbocharge your marketing campaign so that your brand is top-of-mind.

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    As the Year Winds Down Plan to Rev Up Your Brand with PR in 2017

    PRAs the saying goes, “out with the old and in with the new.” This is the time of year when communications budgets are reviewed and new ones are set. Consider including PR in 2017 as there are many unique benefits you can expect.

    PR is an investment in your brand’s equity. It’s a valuable adjunct to your marketing, advertising, influencer, social media and other promotional expenditures.

    PR strengthens authority, reputation, goodwill, relationships, community connections, revenue, visibility, credibility, thought leadership, SEO and engagement to spur action.

    PR uses many different strategies and tactics to tell your authentic story so that customers learn, better understand and develop loyalty for your products and services over a competitor’s. As Susan Credle, Global Chief Creative Officer at FCB says in this WSJ article, “When you are telling your brand’s story, you aren’t spending money – you are investing.” We couldn’t agree more!

    Consumers are savvy and skeptical when gathering information by checking online and with those they trust before making purchases. Thus they are familiar with native ads, sponsored or paid editorial that must be labeled accordingly as required by the FTC. However earned media coverage, the type that PR delivers, appears in news outlets reported by journalists and bloggers who your audience knows, follows and trusts. Contributed content via bylined articles, OpEds and guest blog posts, are other effective ways to convey credible information under the PR umbrella.

    To help you understand how to evaluate and measure PR results, we’ve cited an ebook and a few articles worth reading.

    Diane Thieke, President and Founder of Simply Talk Media and a former Executive Director of Marketing, PR and Communications Solutions at Dow Jones & Company, wrote “Talk to Me” 10 Tips for Explaining the Language of PR into the Language of Business. This concise ebook explores the perceptions and attitudes of both PR professionals and senior executives toward the impact of public relations on business success among other topics.

    The Barcelona Principles are the industry’s accepted method of how to measure PR. They state Measuring Outcomes is Preferred to Measuring Media Results. This principle suggests that: outcomes include shifts in awareness, comprehension, attitude and behavior related to purchase, donations, brand equity, corporate reputation, employee engagement, public policy investment decisions and other shifts in audiences regarding a company, NGO, government or entity as well as the audience’s own beliefs and behaviors.

    A new Google ranking study shows that links are very important to highly rank in Google from reputable sources. PR does just that by generating coverage that brings visitors to your website or blog.

    This article in the Harvard Business Review says making an emotional connection matters more than customer satisfaction, which effective PR helps bridge and strengthen.

    Bospar, a boutique tech agency, surveyed 500+ CMOs, vice presidents of marketing, marketing directors and marketing managers. The results are here indicating that after top-tier media coverage ran, survey participants saw an increase in brand awareness followed by an increase in:

    • Brand value
    • Web traffic
    • In-bound sales leads
    • SEO improvement

    Once a significant story is published those surveyed recommended it be supported with these activities:

    • Promoted in social media
    • Showcased on a company’s website
    • Included in a company newsletter
    • Sent to prospects and customers or clients

    To properly evaluate the ROI of a PR effort it must be tied to your defined communications goals set upfront and monitored along the way. This will ensure it is a worthwhile expenditure with lasting long-term value.