Our hyper connected world allows us greater reach and exposure than ever before, in theory increasing our awareness across a range of issues, accomplishments and events.
As a PR consultant, I am always looking for angles, stories and interesting content to share from my clients that is timely and relevant to current affairs and news, and tagging onto these celebratory and awareness days and events seems like an easy win…
With Emirati Women’s Day this week, World Entrepreneurs Day last week and International Day of Charity next week, it had us thinking about the ways that we recognise these days/events in our communications.
Whilst it is easy enough to acknowledge the day with a graphic or video on social media, or an email greeting to your mailing list, this doesn’t really do much for you as a brand – and often is lost among the noise of everyone else sending the same messages at the same time.
Your activity of course depends completely on your communications strategy, what your objectives are, who your audience is, and what time resource and budget you have. If you choose to simply acknowledge the occasion on social media because it is appropriate, respectful and/or expected from you, then a graphic or video may be enough. Although, if you want to stand out from the crowd of posts, then you need to develop something really unique and attention-grabbing, or work in partnership with others to combine your reach and exposure.
If you want to maximise the opportunities these days present however, if it’s something particularly relevant to your brand/industry, then you should think about how you can build on the day and add value to those interested, rather than simply joining in celebrations and recognition.
So, how can you add value?
– Do you have any genuine inspirational stories, case studies or testimonials on the chosen subject within your organisation, among your staff or clients/customers?
– Do you have experts on the subject who can offer tips and advice, or answer FAQ’s, or debunk common misconceptions/myths on the day’s theme?
– Are there any community or industry events already taking place for the day that you could get involved with, whether as a speaker, a sponsor, or as participants. If there aren’t, could you create one?
– Would it be appropriate to bring people together to celebrate and recognise the day more informally through a breakfast/lunch relationship building and/or networking event – whether that’s your staff, your customers, or the industry/business community?
– Is it a good opportunity to do some research and get some deeper insights into the day’s topic? Could you commission a survey or audit, or hold a focus group event to ask key questions on the subject? The results of which could be shared as a news piece.
As with most communications campaigns, the best approach is an integrated campaign that incorporate PR, social media, internal communications, events, influencers, sponsorship, CSR, and more traditional advertising/marketing. If you decide that the day’s topic is particularly relevant for you, or would be of particular interest to your target audience, or that you have content that would really add a lot of value, then it might be worth taking the time to develop an in-depth campaign around the day.
If you’d like to know more about maximising PR opportunities and newsjacking, please do drop us an email: sam@footstepcommunications.com
