Category: Hiring a PR Firm

PR + Marketing in a Post-COVID World

Dana PhelpsBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, Marketing, , , ,

Things have changed. Has your marketing strategy followed suit?

The COVID-19 pandemic has left indelible imprints on every sector of life. Social values, beliefs and behavior patterns have evolved as people reevaluated what they truly want and who they trust to partner with them.

As communication professionals, you can no longer rely on the stalwart strategies, formulas and personas that guided your pre-pandemic marketing strategy. Growth won’t spring from a dry well. Instead, it’s time to rediscover your customer base and the most effective means to meet their needs. Things have changed… and so has marketing in a post-COVID world.

Your Audience Demographic Has Changed

Start with the basics and rebuild your audiences’ demographics and psychographics. Granted, many of your trends might remain the same, but according to McKinsey, a surprisingly 36 percent of consumers are experimenting with new products or brands — including yours. One plastic surgery center, for example, noticed a dramatic increase in its male clientele from 10 to 25 percent during the pandemic, spurred by the rise of self-reflection on Zoom. Likewise, has your consumer base shifted to include a new audience segment since 2020? Ensure that you’re precision-targeting active, warm audiences that find value in your product or service.

Your Audience Location Has Changed

While buildings are still standing, brick-and-mortar shopping took a significant hit during COVID, a trend that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. According to Deloitte, online grocery shopping grew 40 percent year-over-year during the pandemic; Chipotle saw a 134-percent growth on digital orders, and Walmart saw a 79-percent online increase in the latter half of 2020 alone.

The familiar faces in your store have now transformed into IP addresses on your webpage, and with such a migration, companies need to perfect their audience’s online experience. In addition to investing in e-commerce, online chat support and strong SEO, work to increase high-quality touchpoints across multiple channels. Kasaa revealed that 70 percent of consumers use three or more channels when researching a purchase, and nearly 14 percent of consumers shop on social media, according to Deloitte. So if you’ve been waiting to dive into Instagram Reels or TikTok as a nurturing tactic or sales channel, now’s your time. 

Also, use this opportunity to snag a bigger piece of the content pie. Create, target and remarket DIY and how-to blogs, videos and podcasts to snag more of your audience’s virtual attention; since they’ll be online anyways, they might as well be reading your content, valuing your expertise and falling in love with your brand!

Your Audience’s Motivation Has Changed

At first, virtual shopping increased out of necessity and safety, and 75 percent of U.S. consumers changed their purchasing behaviors. Now, nearly two years later, people have grown accustomed to the ease and speed of online shopping, making accessibility the leading motivation for buying, according to McKinsey. The bronze and silver medals for purchase drivers were safety and value; people put a premium on health and hygiene along stretching each dollar further amidst an unpredictable economic climate.

Audit your connection points. Are you readily offering the products or experience you promise? If products are backlogged, slow or unavailable, audiences will look elsewhere. Under-gird your messages with transparency, showing your company’s commitment to safety, health and social responsibility. Ensure you are offering strong value and highlighting the quality that the consumer gains from your brand. 

Now what?

Dig into your data. Pore over the items you already have in place (Google Analytics or purchasing records, for example) and launch data collection methods to garner new insights:

  • Interview customers in-person or over the phone with open-ended questions.
  • Provide concise surveys via email to recent buyers or conduct web exit surveys when a consumer leaves. (Use quick, single pop-up questions on this one.)
  • Carve out a strategy for meticulous social listening; through basic grounded theory research, you can mine a wealth of information from your social media comments and online reviews.
  • Interview your front-line personnel regarding their customer interactions.
  • Track the customer’s digital journey using Google Analytics.

And…

Partner with an expert.

We’re here, and we’re adept at helping you craft a PR, marketing communications and social media strategy to reach these ready-and-waiting audiences. Ready to tackle the next steps in your growth?

Drop us a line!

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Marketing: Why Work with a PR Firm

Clairemont InternBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, Marketing, , , , , ,

Marketing your business can be a daunting task, but it’s a crucial element to success in today’s world. Working with an agency is an efficient way to bring more to the table than just brand awareness. Businesses large and small can benefit in many ways by hiring an agency including:

1. Introducing Investors

Having a steady source of income is, obviously, the linchpin for a successful business, especially at its early stages. PR agencies can help to attract investors by demonstrating your credibility and producing strategies to target investors at the right time.

2. Creating a Rockstar Reputation

Reputation is a part of attracting new clients, investors and great employees. PR professionals help you refine your brand messaging and increase industry awareness, which ultimately generates new clients, coverage and talent. 

3. Maximizing Media 

PR agencies are masters at forging new connections, reigniting old ones and integrating digital media tactics, thanks to their built-in knowledge and strong relationships with media outlets. 

4. Increasing Productivity

Marketing, especially good marketing, is a lot of work. Hiring a PR agency can free up valuable time, energy and resources for you and your employees. Experienced PR pros can take the work off your plate so you can focus on growing your team and business. 

However, we understand that sometimes it’s not possible to immediately collaborate with an agency. We’ve put together a list of low-maintenance and cost-friendly marketing strategies that can jumpstart your business and brand, and make agency collaboration seamless down the line. 

  • Create a Google My Business account. This (free!) listing allows your business to show up on Google Maps, the local section of a Google Search and the right-side Knowledge Panel for branded searches. 
  • Post and engage regularly on social media. Increasing social media presence and engagement (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok) can build a community online and allows you to express your brand’s personality as well as build trust with your audience.
  • Start a blog. Blogging is still a great tool to make content a regular part of your marketing efforts. You can share your posts on social media and it’s an easy way to direct potential clients to your company site, increase user engagement, improve visibility and strengthen your overall SEO. 
  • Apply for awards. Applying for awards can generate buzz for your business and, if you win, boost credibility. 
  • Collaborate with others. Double your exposure and reach a new audience by collaborating with another business in-person (post-pandemic) or virtually. Teaming up can also mean placing business cards, flyers or brochures at your partner’s physical location or taking over/guest-starring on its social media account — get creative!

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of hiring a PR agency and what Clairemont Communications can do for you, drop us a line. We’d love to work with you!

Curious about more marketing resources? Check out our blog for some stellar social media tools.

By Clairemont intern Maia Guterbock, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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The Five Love Languages: PR Edition

Kelli FletcherBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, Public Relations, , , ,

In 1995 Gary Chapman wrote a book that promised to enlighten you on “how to express heartfelt commitment to your mate.” It was dubbed the “secret” to making a relationship last and promised a path to truer, deeper love. The book was titled, The Five Love Languages. Twenty years later a revised edition of the book was released and since then, pop culture has seen a resurgence of the concept: that there are five ways to express and experience love, and that each person has one primary and one secondary love language.

Well, call us silly, but we do fancy ourselves in the business of love and commitment. As in, we LOVE what we do and who we do it for, and we are COMMITTED to making our clients happy, day in and day out. In fact, to take it a step further, our team strives to not just make these relationships with our clients but also to maintain them for years to come.

And because each client’s needs are different and each views success in a variety of ways, we’ll argue that we’ve become somewhat of a group of experts at this whole theory and each of its languages. Bottom line: Every day we strive to present our clients with all the languages of love!

Here’s a little snippet of ways we at Clairemont “speak” the five languages of love:

Receiving Gifts: Some people love flowers, but we think nothing says “I love you” more than a big fat clipbook of media hits in our client’s target outlets.

Quality Time: We not only connect with our clients weekly but we also try to do it in person whenever we can. We love hosting kick-off meetings and “calls” at the Clairemont House. This way our clients (and potential clients) can see where all the magic happens.

Words of Affirmation: Whether it’s feedback on a recent camera interview or acknowledging a fantastic idea, we want to let our clients know they’re doing a great job. We think we work with some of the best clients in the biz, and, well, we’re going to tell you about it.

Acts of Service: For us, this is our most fluent. We’re not just going to talk the talk; we’re going to walk the walk! Maybe it’s connecting our clients to the community or to each other. Or perhaps we are tasked with executing a flawless event. Whatever it is our clients need, we’re going to make sure it gets done.

Physical Touch: Often times we’ll kick off a client relationship with a strong handshake and celebrate successes with a high five. But there’s no hiding that we’re a group of huggers at heart, which means we often hug it out with our clients when we say hello and good-bye.

Maybe one of these languages speaks more loudly to you, or heck, maybe you and your business need them all. Either way, our team is up (and excited!) for the chance to show you we care! Want to learn more? Drop us a line!

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“Secret Sauce” for Client Relationships

Tracy LathanBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, , , Leave a Comment on “Secret Sauce” for Client Relationships

The foundation of any good relationship is built on several fundamental values, such as trust, transparency and mutual respect. But there also needs to be that spark, or chemistry, to really make the magic happen. The same holds true for successful agency/client relationships.

Throughout my career, I have worked on numerous account teams and navigated through all types of client relationships. The one common thread among the accounts where we really moved the needle for the client and produced big results were the ones where we had the secret sauce.

Wondering what the ingredients are? Let me share a few with you.

Mutual Respect – This should go without saying, but sadly that is not always the case. The client and the agency team members need to have a mutual respect for one another as well as for their roles and responsibilities on the account. They need to be able to really listen to each other and understand their respective areas of expertise.

Trust – Trust is key. As an extension of the internal team, clients need to be able to trust their agency partner as they would their in-house colleagues. Confidential information must not be shared and deadlines need to be consistently met to establish that trust. They also need to be able to trust that their agency partner has their back and is looking out for issues and opportunities that could affect the business.

Good Rapport – Often during a busy workday it feels like there isn’t much time for chit chat. But sometimes taking those extra few minutes at the end of a call with a client to ask about her weekend or family can make all the difference in the world. You are building a relationship, and while it must always be professional, taking the time to also make it personal can make all the difference in the world.

Honesty – I think we all would agree delivering bad news to a client is never easy, but it is always best to be upfront from the beginning and for the agency contact to alert the client at the first sign of trouble. If a project is going over budget or there are hiccups when planning a big event, pick up the phone and let the client know where things stand. That approach will eliminate any big surprises at the end and will help build the trust I mentioned earlier.

Sometimes it’s effortless, and all of these elements fall into place naturally. Other times the dynamic doesn’t start out as smoothly, and you need to cultivate the relationship. Either way, it’s in everyone’s best interest to put in the extra work to make sure the key ingredients are in the secret sauce. It will pay off in the long run. I promise.

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Why Hire A PR Agency?

Cherith AndesBlog, Hiring a PR Firm, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , ,

Investing in public relations can feel like risky business, especially if you’re hiring an agency for the first time. When entrusting your hard-earned budget to a partner, you want to ensure that the agency will deliver a worthy ROI as well as provide a seamless cultural fit. You want some serious bang for your buck.

And we could not agree more.

When considering a public relations agency, we encourage business leaders to first clearly identify their needs. What areas do you sense are lagging that need support? Where and when are your sales dipping? If you had a magic wand, what members would you add to your team? And most importantly, what would home-run, out-of-the-park success look like to you?

Here’s where the good stuff comes. A strong agency can help with every one of those areas, and when you find a skilled, adept PR team, your investment will come back with solid, measurable results.

So what value can a strong PR agency actually offer?

Provides A Comprehensive Point of View

Business leaders are the champions, the visionaries, the hard work that spearheads the company. While they’re focused on specific goals or revenue growth (and rightly so), outside opportunities may slip by unnoticed. A PR agency proffers the critical benefit of a third-party point of view independent of the internal dynamics.

With a strategic audit, we can help pinpoint the strengths you should leverage as well as your opportunities for growth. What elements carry the ship, what needs bolstering and what is missing completely from the picture? A keen agency team can provide the critical 10,000-foot view, identifying fresh partnerships, show-stopping ideas or creative campaigns that are vital next steps.

Expands Your Team’s Capacity

Business leaders don’t think twice about hiring a lawyer for legal counsel or an accountant for taxes. Public relations professionals offer the same critical service — honed expertise that can prevent damage and skyrocket growth. Rather than serving as some sort of distant consultant that hollers esoteric advice on a conference call line, Clairemont integrates itself with your team. We meld with your dynamics, support your staff and alleviate pressure from the company by offering additional expertise. You don’t have to be an expert in every niche of marketing. We are, which allows you to breathe easy and fully invest in your role.

Champions Your Cause

We find that many individuals — and even companies — shy away from self-promotion. Perhaps it’s a sense of natural humility or a mindset that values teamwork (all good things!); so we understand the challenge of calling up a big-shot national editor to toot your own horn.

Let us champion your cause. An adept PR agency should easily identify your pitch-worthy stories, opportunities for visibility with your customers and hot media targets to raise your company into the spotlight. It’s what we do day in and day out (and we love it).

Improves the Bottom Line

No matter how you slice and dice it, public relations is a vehicle for sales support. A strategic PR campaign will grab the attention of new prospects, nurture the interest and loyalty of current customers and motivate your target audience to act — buy your service or products. By adding a thorough marketing and communications strategy to your business model, you launch a new avenue for sales that will ultimately increase your revenue.

Got questions? Ask us. We love ’em. Share where you want to grow in your business, and we’ll brainstorm your next steps together.

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