As Ireland slowly wakes up, from lockdown hibernation, small businesses are beginning to come back to life - there is a lot of noise going on at the moment and you need to make sure your voice is heard above the crowds.
Times are tough and hiring a PR agency may be outside of your budget so we've asked two of Ireland’s finest PR gurus, Deirdre Waldron, founder of Fuzion Communications, and Paul Hayes, founder of Beachhut PR, to give us tips on how to do your own PR.
Have a digital presence – whether this becomes the new normal or not all businesses need to have an online presence, from something as simple as a landing page to a fully-fledged website with ecommerce platform and multiple social media accounts you need to be somewhere online. "There’re loads of organisations offering free courses on how to connect with your customers digitally," suggests Waldron.
No one tells your story better than you – know your strengths before broadcasting your message. "Not everybody is a great performer or maybe they're not the greatest writer but almost everyone has a unique talent," says Hayes. "Lean into whatever you think you're better at, if it’s recording, do podcasts, if you're better live go for interviews or try and become a commentator. If you're a better writer, write written pieces and get them out there, the world wants content."
Once you start, don’t stop – "You have to be authentic to yourself, because otherwise you'll give up. The problem is everyone has one good blog post and if that's all you got, don't do it because it'll just wither on the vine and age. You've got to have a plan. You've got to have a plan for six or twelve blog posts. PR can’t just be turned on and off - it's a marathon, not a sprint. You never know which part in PR is going to work so it needs to be constant," explains Hayes.
Harness the power of social media - "With social media in particular, you get to engage - it's two way conversation - you get to tell the softer stories about the business," says Waldron. "In an ad, you're going to say '€65 for a barbecue hamper’ but on social media, you might say, ‘meet Joe, he’s just put this hamper together and it's being delivered today’. It's a nice softer message that you’ll probably engage with it more knowing that you know Joe, you might remember him from the shop.
Twitter's a clever platform to be on because 94% of journalists are using it and a lot of them use it for their research," advises Waldron. "They often put out shoutouts or they let you know what topics they are going to be covering."
Make your content engaging – "You need to start speaking or writing about issues or things that are of interest to your potential audience. About a fifth of the time, you're talking about yourself, four fifths of the time, you should be commentating on what's going on in the world," says Hayes. "The worst thing in the world is just constantly blaring out your own ads, nobody cares. PR is about getting other people to talk about you."
Invest in good photography – if you are going to be published in print or online you need to have great photo’s - it is your chance to draw eyes to your feature, make it count. Always have a mixture of landscape and portrait in the portfolio.
Research who you are sending your press release to – if you are going to send out press releases make sure they are to relevant journalists. "Spend the time finding out the journalists you should be talking to. Who's your target audience? Is it really your local papers and your local radio who’ll connect with those people rather than trying to connect with someone in the Irish Times?" says Waldron.
Personalise your emails - "Twitter has just been phenomenal for anyone doing PR because you see the personality of the journalists, what they like to cover, even sometimes when you can see the hobbies they like or if they have kids or what part of the country they're in, you get to know the person." Referring to an article they wrote, or something that will resonate with them, will go a long way to getting your email noticed in a busy inbox.
And finally, don’t ask journalist’s for copy approval - "The value of PR is that it's being interpreted by objective people, before it's being put in front of their readership, so don't look for that. You can always get a feel for which way things are going to go. If you're looking for approval, do advertising," says Hayes.
