Sending a press release to the right journalists, scheduling your social media posts for the optimum date and time for your audience, and keeping your web content fresh for SEO are all important foundations for healthy comms, but delving deeper into how these tactics succeed as one integrated function can create comms harmony.

Whether you want to raise the profile of your start-up or launch an exciting new product to a different audience, here are 10 key ways we lead our clients to comms success.

Do…

Embrace corporate comms

Be transparent with your corporate news! Shout about your new appointments, promotions, head office news and socio-economic figures. It’s an excellent way to build a picture of your brand to stakeholders and competitors and celebrate your successes with a wider audience.

Set key messages

Define your key messaging around brand, sales, and community. This’ll give you the opportunity to build a strong and consistent brand identity that your audience will recognise you for. Plus, identifying key messages gives you the visibility to see what news is driving exposure and what type of stories or content to explore further.

Have visuals in mind

Having access to the right visual assets might not be your top priority, but it’s one of the most important factors to remember. You must be able to illustrate your comms activity, so think about creating a bank of assets that showcase your key messages and can be formatted for different channels. Think strong people photography, hero product shots, key infographics with translatable data, and video assets.

Use real people

Add authenticity by using employees, customers, or suppliers in your comms. Bring your brand to life by including your people in photography and videography, and ask them to highlight their expertise by writing an article and sharing it on their LinkedIn profile.

Utilise UGC

Ever come across a social media account dedicated solely to documenting a new journey such as travelling the world, moving to a new house or bringing home a new family pet? There are millions of social media accounts out there posting about pretty much any life event that comes to mind.

Perceived as more trustworthy than brand-owner content, user-generated content (UGC) is a great source of visual assets and testimonial endorsements for your brand (just make sure you ask their permission before sharing).

Don't...

Assume your consumers’ point of entry

Don’t start your sales-focused comms where you assume you’ll find your consumers. Review where your audience and target demographic is consuming their news; with such a varied news environment, you never know who might be in your market. So, start the conversation early with social and web content, and think about exploring PR with trade and regional business media.

Force the same message across all channels

Remember, it isn’t one-size-fits-all when it comes to comms tactics. Just because something is suitable for social media, web content, and email marketing, it doesn’t mean it’ll be suitable for PR and vice versa. Forcing messaging into the wrong channels is a no-no.

Have only one spokesperson

Remember the key messages you read about earlier? Designate a spokesperson per message to demonstrate representation across the brand. Having a group of spokespeople from your business to comment on different types of activity creates authenticity.

Forget micro media

When you really get to know your audience you understand that they aren’t always finding their news in the most obvious places. Keep issuing news to your tier-one media publications, but add another layer to your targeting by sourcing contacts for independent news outlets and community social media groups.

Be afraid to be the leader you are

Don’t shy away from being a leader in your sector. Nationally and regionally, through PR, social and content, comment authentically on trending topics within your industry to position yourself as a trusted leader.

Becoming a go-to name boosts brand awareness and potentially reaches new, engaged audiences.