Webinar: What SMEs and start-ups can really expect to gain from a PR campaign
Kate Hartley, a PR consultant and a start-up business owner, shared top tips for growing businesses in yesterday’s Cision webinar about PR for SMEs and start-ups.
Kate Hartley
As a PR and crisis comms specialist, co-founder at Polpeo and owner and MD at Carrot Communications, Hartley identified the many ways in which SMEs can benefit from PR and communications services.
Working with smaller budgets she said means ROI is even more important: “Value quality over quantity: one great article is better than 10 mentions on ‘no follow’ sites, and one good lead is worth 100 poor contacts.”
She added: “Begin with a small investment, and build upon that once you see results.”
Measurement is crucial for ensuring that all PR efforts are creating value.
Hartley suggested that SMEs and fast-growth companies measure engagement both online and offline, measure impact on search and that they make some assumptions at the start of a campaign, and then track progress from there.
She also suggested a range of useful actions for SMEs to take when setting up a PR plan:
- identify audience
- refine message
- agree tone of voice
- create shareable content
- connect PR with other marketing disciplines
- join networking groups
- accept every invitation to speak publicly
- ask for endorsements from customers and investors
In conclusion, she urged businesses to engage their staff in PR: “PR is everyone’s responsibility – treat PR as you would sales, commit to it.”
- The webinar – What SMEs and start-ups can really expect to gain from a PR campaign – took place on 16 February 2017 at 3pm. See Hartley’s blog post here. See past webinars here.
