How to do PR in times of uncertainty
COVID-19 has left an immense uncertainty for small businesses and is forcing everyone to rethink their strategy. In these testing times working on your PR is more important and relevant than ever and keeping your brand awareness going can help you stay afloat. Wondering how to do your PR in these unpredictable circumstances? Here we share some information and tips on how to best PR your brand and product right now.
The press is still working
The press is very much still working and looking for brands and products to feature. Just last week we received call-ins from Metro, YOU Magazine, Woman & Home, ELLE Decoration and more.
With more and more people working from home, consumers are actively going to be looking for ways to entertain themselves and whether it’s reading publications or articles online, they are going to be turning to the media and consuming a lot more press for their entertainment. Staying on the radar of your potential customers now means they’re more likely to visit your website, keep you in mind and purchase from you when life starts to return back to normal again.
Most editors will also be working from home meaning they will likely be having a few more Instagram breaks than usual to break up the day. This is a great time to up your interaction with the press that you follow on Instagram.
Online publications are likely to be posting more frequent content to meet the increasing demand for at-home entertainment so by pitching to relevant online editors now you’ll be able to build a strong rapport with digital press and build meaningful press relationships. Online features will also make you appear more visible on Google which could help you capture a wider audience.
What is the press working on
Press is still covering its regular content including weekly shopping-focused features and similar, however, they are tailoring their content to the current situation and are shifting their focus to topics that are relevant, tailored and sensitive. Time Out London is changing from TimeOut to TimeIn and Stylist Magazine has launched the initiative Working from Home with Stylist.
We’ve spotted a high number of features putting the spotlight on independent brands including WhoWhatWear, Grazia Daily and Stylist Loves. Press understands that it’s more important than ever to champion smaller businesses across their content.
It is also important to bear in mind how relevant your products are at this particular time. If your product range is focused around holidays i.e travel accessories, be careful as to how you pitch it and what angles to use. Instead of incorporating the current usual seasonally focused angles such as the summer holiday season, what to pack, Bank Holiday getaways, festival must-haves and similar think about other general ways in which your product is relevant. Be more careful than ever about the wording you use in your email pitches as you don’t want to risk leaving a bad taste, potentially damaging a press relationship or your reputation.
Aside from your PR strategy, the messaging you communicate through your marketing and social media is very important to carefully consider. Posting social media content manually opposed to scheduled content is also recommended as you’ll avoid any unfortunate insensitive backlashes. The same goes for your digital marketing. Do you have any ads live containing wording which could potentially be misread or cause complaints from customers or press?
How to share coverage
It’s still important and great to share your coverage as you want to communicate to your customers that you are a credible business and demonstrating press features can help extend the reach of your success. Saying this, because a lot of small businesses are struggling and are feeling worried about their future, you might want to think about how you share it and how you could potentially use it as an opportunity to put the spotlight on other indie brands. From tagging the other brands featured in the article to referencing other similar brands (if relevant), championing other businesses is more important than ever. Kind gestures like this will be much appreciated and can go a long way during times like these.
Thinking about your sales strategy
With so much uncertainty and anxiety in the air, now is not the right time to bombard your customers with sales-heavy marketing. You need to and should of course still do everything you can to keep your business going as best as you can, but there are tasteful ways in which you can do so across your marketing. If you are going through tough times it is absolutely fine to voice this on Instagram and you’ll be amazed to see how much support you might receive while feeling less alone about the challenges you’re facing.
Utilise the power of social media to give a shout out about other small businesses and help raise their profile. Round up your favorite indie brands or local eateries in your next newsletter or create a blog post on where to shop Mother’s Day Gifts made by independent makers and talk about this on your Instagram Stories.
We’re all in the same boat and we need to do the best to support each other.
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