FAQ

A lot of people think that PR stands for Press Release but it’s a lot more than that! PR is the acronym for Public Relations. Public Relations is a series of techniques and strategies that can be used to manage how information about a company is presented to different different groups of people. Tactics can include media relations, social media, events, internal communications and digital content, among others.

No. Advertising is predominantly aimed at directly increasing sales and is usually a single message pushed to the consumer. Public Relations is about managing an organisation’s positioning in its market and how it is perceived. Done well, it involves two-way dialogue between stakeholders and the organisation. There is generally more scope to communicate wider, more meaningful messages via PR than advertising and campaigns typically build over a longer period of time.

Not necessarily but if you want to make more people aware of your organisation, build understanding, change perceptions, educate decision makers or influence behaviour, PR almost certainly has a role to play in your strategy.

Media relations means working with media organisations to develop editorial content that communicates something about your organisation while adding value for the media outlet’s audience. Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV channels, podcasts and websites all need different content; the key to success lies in tailoring your approach for each channel, rather than using a blanket, one-size-fits-all approach.

A press release is a formal communication between an organisation and the media, providing information on a story/development that may be of interest to them in a concise way. The story is typically summarised in the headline and first paragraph (who, what, where, when) before expanding out into more detail (how and why). It should include all the information a journalist needs to run a story, along with contact details should they have any further questions. Any detail shared in the press release can be published by the media outlet.

No. The old adage ‘A picture paints a thousand words’ has never been more true i and, ideally, every story needs a good quality, high-resolution digital image that media outlets can run alongside any text. This should be a jpg (minimum 300dpi resolution) that you own the rights to publish. Don’t forget to add a photo caption and photography credit too!

Think carefully about who you want to hear about your news and identify which media outlets they are likely to read. Tailor your press release to the needs of that media outlet, research which journalists at that media outlet cover the topic your story is about and find their contact details. It’s no good sending a corporate finance story to the lifestyle editor and vice versa. Busy journalists don’t have time to forward a misdirected message to the right person!

First, identify your goals and what you are hoping to achieve. Do you want to increase traffic to your website? Raise awareness of your brand? Boost sales? Engage with and receive feedback from customers?

Once you know this, you can plan how to achieve it.

Which social media channels do your target audience use? How old are they? What sort of language and imagery do they respond to? What times of day are they most active on social media? How do the algorithms on those channels choose which posts to push and why?

Create a social media calendar, including deadlines, to map out  what  content you intend to publish, when and where. Then get creative!

All social media campaigns need good visuals for optimum engagement. There are various online tools that can help you to really bring your ideas to life including Canva and Adobe so explore which one works for you.

Across all platforms, the most common age group using social media in the UK are 25 – 34 year olds. However, Facebook in particular is used by an older demographic:

• Facebook remains the most popular social media platform. 41% of Facebook users are 45 and over and 31% are 25 to 34.

• The majority of Instagram users (49%) are female, and more than half are under 35.

• Over 59% of Twitter users are between the ages of 25 to 49 years.

• LinkedIn is used by almost 57 million companies worldwide. Over half (59.1%) of LinkedIn users are aged 25-34.

It’s good to remember these numbers when planning your social media campaign to help inform your messaging.

*https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-demographics/

This is a difficult question to answer as social media platforms are constantly changing their algorithms. The answer varies depending on the platform and what you are trying to achieve. Social media software specialists Hootsuite recommend the following:

• Instagram: Post between 3 and 5 times per week.
• Twitter (X): Post between 2 and 3 times per day.
• Facebook: Post between 1 to 2 times per day.
• LinkedIn: Post between 1 to 2 times per day.
• TikTok: Post between 3 and 5 times per week.
• Pinterest: Post at least 1 time per week.
• Google My Business: Post at least 1 time per week.

This may seem like a lot but you can work your way up to this, keeping an eye on how your social media is performing for your business as you go. Or why not start with one channel and build your campaign out from there?

Digital marketing is any activity using digital channels (such as websites, social media and email) that is designed to connect with potential customers. It uses a range of tactics, from SEO and PPC to ad retargeting, emails and website analytics.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a valuable marketing tool that can drive traffic to your website. Getting your SEO strategy right can help raise awareness of your organisation or products beyond your existing customer base, even putting your offer in front of potential customers searching for your competitors. SEO takes a variety of factors into account, from the relevance of your website to a particular search term, to the quality of your website’s user experience, how it ranks against competitors and even the location people are searching from.

It is important to stay on top of SEO. The world of search engines is continually changing as they update their algorithms which can affect how your webpage will rank.