PR Predictions for 2016 – how to grow your brand
“Public relations agencies are now regarded as stewards of the whole communications strategy. PR practitioners have never been held in higher regard.” Andy Polansky, CEO of Weber Shandwick .
2016 is going to be a very exciting year. Why? Because wonderful, entertaining things are going to happen to your brand. How do I know? Because if you invest time, effort and resources in communicating and REALLY connecting with your audience and community, it will happen.
You’re going to find PR-led things in print, online, on TV and radio that will make you gasp, giggle or shock you. The brands that do that are the ones that are successful in standing out from all that noise. Fancy being one of them?
I am Jo O’Connell, Founder of JellyRock PR and Marketing and here are some of my key predictions for 2016 to help you consider how best to grow your business this year. It all starts with creative PR-led content.
Content is key
Yes, I know people have been saying this for years now, but it’s now more important than ever. There is so much content to read, watch and listen to, and people have less time than ever. You’ve got to stand out.
Companies fall into three categories in the business world: Doing nothing, Curating or Creating
Doing nothing
Why the silence? Right now there are people actively searching for your product or service and there are others who need you, but just haven’t discovered you yet. By creating content; whether via a blog, YouTube, your social media channels or in a magazine article, you’re communicating your messages. But, you’re not overtly selling your product or service; you’re selling your knowledge and expertise. That makes you an authority in their world – and that means your potential customers are more likely to buy from you than anyone else.
Curating
New to the game? Don’t know where to start? Begin by curating a collection of your favourite blogs, tweets, posts, videos and podcasts. You then start to communicate your brand values through others. Automatically, people start to see you as an expert in your field. You can then start to create. If you want more information on this point, have a listen to a podcast called “The Content Marketing Academy with Chris Marr.” It’s good.
Creating
The most exciting brands are the ones who OWN their space. They ARE the media. An example that’s always used, but illustrates the point perfectly, is Red Bull. They started as an energy drink company, pushing a horrible product that’s full of sugar and caffeine. But, they grew exponentially when they turned into a media production company – creating and distributing footage of their own events such as Red Bull Air Race, Crashed Ice and King of the Air.
To showcase local talent, there’s an excellent Dorset company, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee who are creating exciting content beautifully. The Brother and sister duo have only been in the game five years but already have over 13K followers on Twitter and are outselling Starbuck’s Iced Coffee. They are using home-grown content, such as Jimmy’s rap video, to promote who they are and what they do. Co-founder Suzie Cregan tells me that most people are watching the 3 min 30 sec video all the way from start to finish. That’s highly unusual. They’re not relying on traditional media to promote themselves, they ARE the media.
Live Streaming
Periscope is so new it’s still in newborn nappies. Most businesses haven’t even started to consider how to use it. The Twitter-linked technology enables live streaming with real-time message responses from the audience. All you need is a phone and it can offer your community immediate insight into who you are, what you’re doing and why.
BUT
Periscope’s defining moment so far in the UK? Earlier this month #DrummondPuddleWatch kept 19,000 Brits glued to their screens, watching people decide how to cross (or not) a large puddle in Newcastle. It was funny, it went viral (19k people watching a puddle!) and introduced Periscope to the masses via mainstream media.
But it’s the smart companies that are pioneering this new technology. Anthony McCrossan of Cyclevox, the cycling commentary, production and PR company says:
“Live streaming and Periscope is becoming an increasing demand when putting together broadcast and digital strategies for our cycling clients. In 2015 we streamed events worldwide on YouTube for clients including British Cycling and the world governing body, the UCI.
“Periscope is an interesting addition to the tools we can use for clients, particularly on location, when getting live content to cycling fans is paramount. During last year’s British Cycling events, our presenter and production team live-streamed the finish of domestic bike races and gave fans the immediate chance to hear from the winner. We’ll be developing coverage further in 2016 across 17 events.
“Additionally, in 2015 we launched a women’s cycling hub, Voxwomen. Periscope has helped build the profile of teams, events and athletes across the world. We have also used it to give our sponsors content to live stream. In 2016 we will be utilising it more and looking for clever ways to innovate Periscope coverage.”
So that’s a few points to help you think about developing your brand and where to start. Just get out there, start doing it and learning. If you need a bit of help along the way, you know where we are.
Thank you for investing your time reading this article. I hope you’ve found it useful and welcome your feedback and comments.
Next time I’ll be talking about relationships with journalists, online reputation, bloggers and vloggers.
Jo O’Connell
JellyRock PR & Marketing
T: 07977 714 787
Passionate about results
Jo O’Connell is a public relations consultant with over 12 years’ experience in many areas such as travel and tourism, consumer, arts, sports and lifestyle.
