Archive for January, 2010

Publicity Train: Fly high with great customer service

Monday, January 25th, 2010

I’ve been lucky enough to fly to the northern hemisphere twice in the past two months. On my most recent trip, taking my ma back to the UK, I gave her my business class seat whilst I took her return economy chair. The crew were happy enough to let me pop up to see her but although there were around eight spare seats in business, wouldn’t allow me to remain longer than ten or so minutes at a time.

Compare this to an economy flight in November to LA when, shortly after take-off, cabin crew announced there were spare seats in business class and economy passengers were free to relocate – at no extra charge.

Fantastic customer service is great publicity for your business. Considering that retaining customers can cost up to seven times less than attracting new ones, customer service is an economic imperative. Airline A, being stingy with their unsold resources, won’t be attracting my business again in a hurry. Airline V (guesses anybody?) has my absolute loyalty and I’ll happily rave about and fly with them again and again.

If you have happy customers, you’re pretty much assured of having great material for your PR and marketing. Testimonial quotes and user success stories help sell your business far more effectively than anything you say about yourself. So list all your raving fans, and start creating your own testimonial marketing today!

Publicity Train: Don’t write off the humble newsletter and news release

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

I came upon a blog recently where the author wrote about press releases and newsletters being a waste of your time and money.

Rubbish. Marketing is about diversity and getting people to come to you. It’s about knowing your client profile. Newsletters – both printed and electronic - have their place. With an eNewsletter you can contact all your clients cost-effectively, offering value and staying top of mind. It’s a great, regular PR tool and leading successful informational marketers across the globe swear by them.

Similarly press releases. Not necessarily for the press, but as another weapon in your search engine optimization arsenal, they are wonderful tools to post on the like of PRWire.

What was odd, when I researched the offending blog’s website, one of the services being promoted was article writing for newsletters.

I realise the writer was going for the controversy hook, and, yes, it certainly hooked me. But there’s controversy and there’s authenticity. If you don’t believe in newsletters, don’t offer an article writing service for them. And if you’re going to be controversial, do it in such a way that it gets you noticed, but also brings some long-term benefits.

Publicity Train: Do I do my own PR or do I ask an agency?

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Ok, you’ve realised PR’s going to work wonders for your business. It’s going to give you third-party, independent validation. It’s going to stop you talking 1;1, taking you to thousands, possible millions. So do you DIY PR or ask for agency help? Here are a few considerations:


1) Are you already an active marketer with set goals?


By that I mean launching products and services and communicating to clients regularly, through advertising, direct mail, events etc. You’ll have a set plan for your marketing that you follow, with knowledge of what your ideal clients look and feel like, and you’ll have some set goals you’re looking to achieve.


2) Have you a regular budget you commit to marketing, and have you allocated a portion of that to PR?


Agencies, particularly larger multi-nationals, quite rightly charge for their expertise. They add value through innovation, good ideas and long term experience and you will need to be prepared to budget for that.


3) Have you reached the point where you need outside help?


Perhaps you’ve done DIY PR so well, you want some extra ideas and support. Or perhaps you just aren’t confident writing your own news releases, or simply need extra hands with media pitches.


If you’ve said yes to all of these, then maybe it’s time to explore agency PR support. Feel free to drop me a line if you’re not sure what you need and I’ll happily help with some recommendations.