As the send half of
the year begins, you must devise ways to better serve your clients in meeting
their goals for the year. Amanda Munroe is the Vice President for Shift
Communications puts these together.
Clients’ goals
might be the same, but once you review company performance against those goals,
you can start to see where PR is needed most. Perhaps there has been less
traction in a specific vertical, a new competitor is on the scene that has been
winning more proofs of concept, a new sales director has been hired to grow a
certain region of the company or a particular product has failed to meet sales
goals.
Armed
with this information, do these:
1. Dig into relevant data.
Any
good PR plan should be data-driven. Your PR plans should be data driven.
It’s
ok to have a good “feeling” that a story or tactic will bear fruit but it’s
essential that PR pros back up gut feelings by looking at data. With that, a PR
guru makes informed decisions for the overall benefits of the clients.
2. Analyze new topics.
Use
analysis tools to review all the relevant coverage or social media
conversations over the past year. Are there topics that are resonating within
the industry? Where is the white space—areas where the client can dominate
because no one else is talking about it yet)? Are there topics that the client
wants to own that are clearly decreasing in popularity?
3. Check on competitors.
Ensure
the competition isn’t gaining ground by reviewing their earned, paid and owned
results. What publications have driven the most traffic back to competitors’
websites? What topics are competitors dominating (through their own content and
earned media)? Have the competitors changed the keywords they are placing ads
against? How much are they spending on everything? Just be armed with
information about what competitors are doing.
4. Take advantage of influencers.
Use
influencer engagement and conference content to learn more about the current
state of the industry. What are the themes discussed the most during a
conference on social media? What influencers are getting the most traction
(i.e. the influencers we need to reach)? Are there publications and story
themes being shared virally? While you’re at it, analyze and visualize
conference agendas using IBM Watson and Tableau to map the topics that the
conference thinks attendees care about.
5. Review content.
Learn
more about engagement by analyzing clients’ content.
Which pieces of the client’s content have been shared the most
on social media? This will help determine the topics that are resonating. Which
content and topics are getting the most clicks when marketed through owned and
paid channels? This is key to your success as a PR expert.
6. Take a step back.
If you were going to pitch this client as a prospect, what would
you tell him or her about their current PR program? What would you do
differently and what suggestions would you make? This exercise can push teams
beyond “the usual” and removes frustrations that can fester after a client
continuously declines opportunities.
7. Be ready to convince.
Pushing clients beyond a comfort zone requires a smart strategy,
solid arguments and data-driven recommendations. For clients that are used to
the status quo during the planning process, it’s paramount that the team is
ready to show the data and evidence that backs the new recommendations.
When PR programs enter into the execution phase, there is often
less time, ability and tolerance to reset and try new ideas. While any good PR
program should be nimble and change with real-time information like breaking
news or company fluctuations, the best time to really push the envelope and think
differently is during the planning process
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